I guess that is expected in this age of instant gratification. But being the norm doesn’t mean it’s correct.

If there’s a trend I would like to see, it will be the “I WANT to help” kind.  I believe that not everything that starts with “I WANT” should be about ourselves. If we see more people wanting to help, we wouldn’t have a problem moving toward solving problems in our society like corruption, pollution, traffic, and population.

Let’s start looking for ways to help our country; we all know the problems, unless you lived under a rock for the past 100 or so years.

Complaining without acting is stupid. If you see the problem, address it.

If you see a good initiative to address a problem, for example the RH Bill, study and support it. Whatever your priests say, our population growth is not slowing down, abortion  is not part of RH Bill, and overpopulation and deficient maternal healthcare is a fact.

You can even start at the most basic. Obey traffic rules. Cross at pedestrian crossings. Throw your garbage in the trash can. Don’t smoke in public places. Pay your taxes.

We all know these. How can we expect major change, if we ourselves cannot do the simplest tasks to improve our society.

Deep in your heart you feel these are the right things to do. Just let the goodness in you come out. Unless, again, you have total disrespect for others, and you are one selfish person.

I lived in Singapore for a couple of years. I was quite amused that the government there had a program to promote graciousness. I found it amusing because in the Philippines, graciousness is a fact of life for me.  I hope we don’t lose that trait.

Let’s reflect a moment and see if we really care for this country and what we can do to help.

We can all start with, “I WANT to Help the Philippines.”

If you feel the same way about helping the our country, please share this article.

Be vigilant, use your brain.

When Facebook decided to create a latest update ticker, they made it mandatory. Not everyone liked it, including me. In my search to get rid of it, I asked my friends in Facebook for help. A friend of mine pointed me to  Google Chrome extensions where I found the Get Back Old Facebook Chat and Ticker Disabler extension.

Try it out, it works for me, for now. I just hope Facebook doesn’t find a way to kill this extension.

I’ve realized that I haven’t shared enough of myself so I guess it’s time I start writing about my life for a change.

So here goes my first try, in less than 1000 words…

———-

Thirty-three years ago I was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around my neck. I guess that was a good start.

At the age of 8, I contracted TB Meningitis because my aunt (nanny) had TB. I was hospitalized for a month where the doctors told my mom that I could end up as a vegetable or my brain will be affected slightly. I just now realized that “slightly” means I have an overactive brain.  I had to endure 3 lumbar puncture sessions where they took fluid samples from my spinal column while I learned to curse at the doctors.   When I came back to school a year after, my homeroom adviser assumed I was mentally retarded because she learned I had TB Meningitis. I proved her wrong by doing great in Science (the subject she taught) and staying on top of my class. I think my performance may have changed her view of me from mentally retarded to an autistic.

My teenage life gave me some of the best moments of my life. It was in this period that I developed my motto in life:

Try everything once.

Because I tried everything once, I almost died 3 times.  In those near-death experiences, I proved that “Your life flashes before your eyes” really happens. Good thing my best friend was always there to save me.

It was also  in this period of my life that I learned a lot about people, life, and human nature. People watching and reading about human psychology became my favorite pastime, and martial arts and physical activities came in second.

Because of my fired up brain, I developed a habit of gathering information. Anything and everything I could read, I read. No information is boring to me and learning came easy. I guess this made my decision to take up Library and Information Science in UP easier. Actually, I was kicked out of the College of Engineering, because for the life of me, I can’t understand why Math wasn’t really sinking into my spongy brain. My career as a technical writer, where information is king, was a natural choice for my profession.

Having a thirst for knowledge also led me to a career in the field of media and broadcast production where I got to meet a lot of people in both the public and private sectors. Unfortunately, I also learned to be apathetic. Having first-hand experience of the different flavors of corruption and greed in both public and private sectors reinforced my earlier observations:

Given and tempted with the opportunity, malicious people will do bad and selfish things.

Getting into a car accident where I was thrown from the backseat to the windshield, losing my dad to sickness, and getting fired from my job all in a span of a month was the lowest point of my life. This was also the moment that I learned the most important lesson in my life:

When you are at your lowest, ONLY God can pick you up and make your life better.

My childhood sweetheart and I became Christians, and then we got married. We have been blessed abundantly ever since. I just want to clarify that I am still a work in progress when it comes to my Christianity, but I’m never giving up.

One thing that I’ve truly enjoy doing is Photography. For me, photography is still the best learning endeavor I’ve ever undertaken. I’m currently in my 20th year doing it and I feel there is still so many things to learn and to share.

Recently, for the past 6 months to be exact, I was in and out of the hospital, collecting prescription after prescription for stress-related ailments. The highlight of those 6 months was when doctors drilled and drained around my right sinuses to decongest them. I was under sedation for the first time, not counting the couple of times I was dead drunk. Those weeks in the hospital taught me a lot about health especially this:

Whatever happens, never get sick during the early morning hours because the ER doctors will get angry with you for disturbing their sleep.

So what’s in store for my next 33 years? My short term goals are:

• Lose 60 pounds
• Share more of my thoughts
• Teach more
• Learn some more