Joy

People know me now as someone who travels a lot.  I sometimes receive sms starting with the question... "Are you in Manila?"  as if I am always away.  (I wish!) It is true that traveling does give me joy.  It is a source of many good memories, experiences and life lessons.  Looking back though, I actually started as an accidental traveler. Back in the day (yes millenial friends... this is for you) traveling out of your own city is a luxury, not a necessity (and yes, my gen x-er friends, it has evolved into a necessity).   I remember that before the dawn of budget airlines, only the rich travel by plane.  Hong Kong is THE destination and Batangas IS the beach place. A year into my job as a counselor in ICA, I attended a fair for overseas schools exhibiting their institutions to incoming collage freshmen at the World Trade Center in Pasay.  That event was attended by almost all the exclusive schools in Luzon and it ran for 3 days.  When I was there alone, bus loads o

Fear Of Missing Out.  This is one phenomenon that governs the modern psyche.  Many of our loneliness can be traced from this inordinate fear. I can only hope I do not have it, but strive as I may to do away with it, my disquiet and easily distracted mind tells me otherwise.  How about you?  When we say we do not want to miss out, what do we actually mean?  Miss out on what? Ultimately, F.O.M.O may mean not being able to be fully happy with the moment because something better might just be happening around the corner.  It means not being happy with our wardrobe because what we buy today is so last season by the time we get home.  It means being tentative in relationships because a better person may just be out there.   It means not being fully engaged in our work because we question the  finality of the path we are taking towards that "calling". What is common in all these? Tentativeness, discontent, covetousness, loneliness. In a world where the first task of the

Believe me, no one needs this blog more than me. I'll tell you why. I was literally doing this one day when I realized that all is fine.  So Buddha, nice thought! In our household, we are problem solvers.  We were brought up by parents who are uber responsible.  They are the most reliable people I know - ever.  Being tardy, being unable to submit anything completely, leaving people dissatisfied, or even not being able to anticipate things going bad is frowned upon. Not to mention that socially, they also tend to be a magnet for people who needs help.  They were caring and always ready to lend a hand.  My tatay and nanay do this very differently, I tell you. But they both have good hearts. So, I grew up wanting to be like them. I might have overdone some parts though. I overthink.  You know the current expression " advance mag-isip"?  I embody that. I googled overthinking and joy and all I saw were posters of how overthinking "murders" happiness. 

I do not like waiting.  If you know me, you'd know that I am almost always on time for a meeting, for a submission, for a reply.  For me, it is a sign of respect to not keep people waiting or wondering. What usually happens when you are on time though?  Yes, you are right.  You wait.  Because everybody else seem to take their time.  So, in the not so short story of my life, there are many occasions when I have to wait.  Its funny that I almost always gravitate to people who are too relaxed for my sanity. When I wait, I feel edgy, too eager, restless, and being the over thinker that I am, I tend to make unnecessary commentaries in my head about the thing, the event, the people that make me wait.  The thing is, I could not begin to work on anything productive, even just to while away the time when I wait.  I'm kinda set like that. However, recently, I have come to accept waiting and look at it in a new perspective. To come to terms with my "little love- lot of ha