THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED

The article will follow.

For A Friend Named JULZ

“Life is a constant change. And nothing stays the same.”

Sometimes we have to bear the uncertainties of life. Hard it may seem but life must go on.

People come and go in our lives. We make friends. Sometimes we lose them. We meet the love of our life. Sometimes we let go of them. We welcome a colleague. Sometimes we bid goodbye to them. Life is nothing but a constant reminder that nothing in this world stays forever. It’s a roller coaster ride. And that makes life; I guess more interesting, because you’ll never know when you’ll get surprises.

Moving on is a phrasal epitome of easier-said-than-done. Sometimes, the memories left behind are just so poignant that disregarding it is such a shattering task. You can’t help it; it will just evoke a melodramatic feeling. Hypocritical it is to say that “I have moved on right there and then”. There is change and that change will have to gain equilibrium for quite some time. Moving on is a process.

One year is long enough; long enough to know a friend, to gain a friend, to establish rapport with people, to love work, to learn a new dialect, to know new directions and places, to savour new cuisine, and to be loved by everyone. Indeed one year has passed that a colleague has been with us. A year loaded of jovial memories. A year of keen friendship. A year of laughter and little misunderstandings. A year to get to know a good person without thoughts of leaving and sad endings.

Julz, you deserve a space in my mundane albeit precious blog. This is a memento of your fleeting yet fruitful stay with us in the department. On the book that we both read “Man’s Search for Meaning”, there is meaning and purpose to all of these, though you may have not realized that at the moment.

Thank you for the time that you have shared your life to us. For allowing us to get to know you. For bringing joy and laughter to the people in your midst. For sharing your fresh ideas and ideals. For lighting up our mood when we are in despair. For appreciating what we have done. For singing along with us. For understanding our inequity. For challenging us to do better. For listening to us. For caring when we least expect it. For being you that we all love and we will all miss.

Endings are also beginnings. Julz, wherever life takes you, always remember that once in your life’s journey, you have made an inalienable and lasting mark of friendship in the people of San Miguel Bacolod Brewery. You have etch your name in our hearts that forever we will cherish that once in the crossroads of life, we know a person as remarkable as Julienne Eve Algabre. Farewell.

Area 33 Speeh Contest

Cheers to the Riverside Toastmasters Club in the Area 33 Speech contest held at Kauswagan Hall, Hawaiian Philippine Company, Silay City.

Champion - Impromptu Speaking Constest - CTM Jam Grandea

2nd Place - Prepared International Speech - CC Jay Cris Famoso

Congratulations to all the winners and see you in the Division Speech Contest on April 25! Smiles!

LIVING IN SOLITUDE

This is a previous post that i developed for the prepared international speech contest.

“It is only when we silent the blaring sounds of our daily existence that we can finally hear the whispers of truth that life reveals to us, as it stands knocking on the doorsteps of our hearts”.

“Language... has created the word "loneliness" to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word "solitude" to express the glory of being alone”.

I may be living alone but certainly not lonely.

I asked recently a colleague if there’s a term in psychology that refers to a person who enjoys in solitude most of the time. She seemed preoccupied with her analysis that she just earnestly smiled as an answer to my query.

"Why do you live alone in your rented house?"

That question has been asked to me innumerably that in fact I have gotten used to it. And this is how it usually started.

Commencing a conversation with a stranger, (Let me first qualify the word “stranger”. It could be a friend of my friend, an auditor from another brewery, or a new colleague) one of the informations that will be asked is the location of your house. Guilty? Then the trail of questions will follow. Take for example my case. Once they know that I am renting my own place. The follow-up question to that would be, "How many are you in the house?" I’d say "I live alone". As a follow-up to the follow-up question, would be "Why do you live alone?" If I may deduce the question, they wanted to know if it is a personal choice or a pure circumstance. So I would say it’s a choice. My answer will always elicit a conspicuous, pensive gaze shown in their eyes riveted on my face. "Are you a loner", they would ask. "I am not", I would answer.

My growing up years is not extraordinary. I am just like any other child.

When it rains, I play mud, trying to make artistic forms and shapes of anything conceivable. I am an addict of playing hide and seek under the rain, when running is made difficult by the slippery ground. And then we choke in laughter when we see someone slide over and fall.

When the sun shines at its brightest, the fields and the outdoors are the best place on Earth. I swim with friends from sun dawn to sun dusk on weekends On some days when we become lazy to walk the long distance going to the beach, we would busy ourselves creating the most gaudy and gigantic kites. And then we compete whose kite soared the highest.

Dissecting my childhood memories, I am certainly not a loner. I take pleasure in the company of friends.

More so when I was in school. You will rarely see me singly in the campus. I practiced badminton with co-varsity players. I interviewed campus personalities for my feature story in our publication. I camped with fellow classmates during science week celebrations. I led as an officer in student organizations and clubs. Long before I know that it is fun to be with other people.

After I painstakingly finished all my academic requirements, it marked the time to bid goodbye to the comforts of my home. It signalled the moment to embrace living separately with my parents and live to a place I can consider my home.

Economics tells me that life is difficult. Therefore, people who are perplexed why I live independently in a house is incomprehensible. They may be correct and sound to do that gesture for practicality reasons but I chose to stick to the wisdom of living independently.

Living independently made me a different person.

I decide on where and what food to eat to satisfy my own craving. I manage to wake up without other people pulling off my hands. I plan my activities for the rest of the day without the consent or approval of someone else. I clean my place which makes me conscious of my own litter. I brush the tiles and bowl in my CR. I take time in taking a bath without having to worry for the next users. I read books free from distractions of human sounds. I sing my heart out anytime I want. I trip off or put on the fluorescent lamp any time of the day. \

This is the picture of living in solitude. And that is not to detach myself from other people.

I am in full control of my life. I am a mature, young professional who has found his niche outside the portals of the academe. I am now a person who stands on my feet gripping fully on my cognitive capacity to decide on my own.

I am a person who chose to live in sheer solitude. I, who knows the wisdom of living independently.

JAY CRIS FAMOSO, CC, ALB

Speech Number	Speech Title	Date Delivered	Evaluator
1	Leaps and Bounds	June 23, 2007	DTM Greg Vallejera
2	Brain Drain:An Inconvenient Truth	July 09, 2007	ATM – S Juliana Tan
3	Life’s Instructions From a Marathon Race	Sept 01, 2007	DTM Greg Vallejera
4	Outside the Portals of College	Nov 27, 2007	TM Mhelliton Sillador
5	Frustrations	March 01, 2008	ATM Maricel Locsin
6	Coffee Break	March 08, 2008	DTM Ro Leonora
7	Melamine in Focus	Oct 04, 2008	ATM – S Juliana Tan
8	Ascending to Greatness	Nov 29, 2008	CTM Ester Solidad
9	A Toast and A Smile	Dec 05, 2008	DTM Greg Vallejera
10	Dare to Fail	Feb 27, 2009	DTM Ro Leonora

Highlights:

1. It took me 1 year and 8 months to finish the Competent Communicator Norm.
2. My longest hiatus in delivering a speech is 7 months, that is from speech number 6 to 7.
3. The shortest is one week, Speech number 5 to 6. The reason to hurry is that I wanted to qualify in my first contest in toastmasters. It indeed bore fruit. I was Area 33 Champion in the Speech to Evaluate contest among 8 toastmasters.
4. Among my 10 Evaluators, only one came from my club. One was from First Farmers. Eight were from Barangay TMC. That says a lot. Hehehe.



5. DTM Greg Vallejera held the highest number of evaluations. Three times and that says a lot too.

A TOUR AROUND PANAY

When I was a child, I had this lofty and indefatigable dream of becoming a sales representative. It’s not that I think I am persuasive at people nor I am crazy of the idea to take advantage over someone else’s gullibility, all I wanted is a job that will bring me to new and distant places. On that scenario, work is just going to be a leisurely play. I have already this unrelenting notion that a routine job is tantamount to living in utter banality.

Dreams do come true. Last week, I had my rejuvenating week-long stay in the whole unimpeachable picturesque province of Panay.

Let my recounting commence in Estancia, a municipality of fisher folks. It was like turning back the hands of time where you can see the eclectic and gaudy designs and shapes of fishing boats in multi-colored hues. The placid sea was a flabbergasting reflection of the azure skies painted with the chaste cottony clouds. From the vantage point of the sea port, one can gaze the promising island of Cicogon as if coaxing everyone to step on its fertile land waiting in seconds to be mesmerized and enthralled.

The City of Roxas has an impeccable green environment. It is a city to be envied by everyone who's frenzied of living the hustle and bustle of big cities. People were generally warm and welcoming. Famous for its copious seafoods, one should visit the coastal restaurants and have a blast of its sumptuous, mouth-watering, fresh "talaba".

Kalibo is one serene and peaceful city at night. At seven in the evening, you can hardly see people wandering around. It's one perfect place to be in solitude with yourself, literally and metaphorically. It is also one suitable place for voluminous reading as there are no sound distractions near and far.

Miagao is historically and culturally fertile. Their litter-free surroundings is very glaring and conspicuous that deserves special commendation. The Miagao church in its brazen statue that stand so stately and grandiose in its site is one landmark for visitors. It is also proud to be the home of one of the campuses of the premier academic institution in the country, the University of the Philippines-Miagao Campus.

One week was over, but it seemed like it was just yesterday. Til now I am still captive of its beauty and charm. No, I think that is an understatement! I now rest my case.

DARE TO FAIL

There is nothing wrong with my title. It’s no typographical error. Dare to fail! I am articulating! But, this is not to prove my being a non-conformist.

Who wants to fail? Nobody! Who wants to succeed? You’d say, that is a dim-witted question. I am talking of a general perception. In debate, it’s a non-issue. There’s nothing to debate. It’s being truistic that over the time, the notion becomes nonsensical and trivial.

It took me sometime to gather my strength and have the nerve to deliver this 10th speech. To think, I should have hurried so that after, I would become Competent Communicator. Hmmm! That’s quite a big deal! I know it’s being arrogant! But no. I realized that it’s not getting the title that’s of paramount importance, it’s deserving the title. In the same manner, I remember a very striking quote that I read now carved in the recesses of my mind, “It should be the work that should validate the PhD and not the PhD that should validate the work.

We grew up with an indefatigable idea that success is all too nice a thing and that failure is a scrap. The mere thought of failing makes us anxious, pathetic, or even ailing. In our society, the measure of one person is how successful he can be. That way you can etch your name and your story in history books. That has become the standard or the norm they call it.

Growing up, I mean, being a grown-up, I did realize I should not in any way shun away from failure. It is not taboo to talk about failing. Contrary to normal perception, achievers actually fail more times than non-achievers simply because they try more times than non-achievers. One thing that we should realize is that every success story is only one side of the coin. The other side is what we call, failing! Consider the following real stories.

Woody Allen – Academy Award-winning writer, producer and director flunked motion picture production at New York University and the City College of New York. He also failed English at New York University. When Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, he tried over 2,000 experiments before he got it to work. A young reporter asked him how it felt to fail so many times. He said, “I never failed once. I invented the light bulb. It just happened to be a 2,000-step process. General Douglas MacArthur might never have gained power and fame without persistence. When he applied for admission to West Point, he was turned down, not once but twice. But he tried a third time, was accepted and marched into the history books.

According to Dr. Robert Schuller, “Failure doesn’t mean you are a failure. It just means you haven’t succeeded yet. Failure does not mean you have accomplished nothing. It does mean you have learned something. Failure doesn’t mean you’ve been a fool to try. It means you were brave, you had nerve, you had courage; be proud of your self. Failure does not mean you’ll never make it. It does mean it will take longer. Failure does not mean you’re finished. It does mean you have a chance to start all over again, try something new. Failure doesn’t mean God has abandoned you. It does mean He has a better idea. So it is true, failure is never final.

Yes. Failure is never final. When we try and fail. There’s no stopping us from trying again. It is when we fail that we learn and we learn best when we learn the hard way. It is when we are pressed hard, pressed to our limits, pressed beyond our comprehension that we realize our worth as an individual.

Kites. I never thought that my leisure activity as a child teaches a lesson. My fond of flying kites in the sweltering heat during windy days can be thought-provoking in a way. The kite must fly and soar up high. The higher it stays in the sky, the more amazing and thrilling it is. Not to mention how envious my playmates could get! Now, here’s the lesson. How does a kite soar higher and higher? It is by going against the wind. The stronger the wind blows, the higher the kite soars. When a strong wind comes in our life, it is when we develop that firmness of strength and character in us.

Trees. They are simple living things that because of their ubiquity and familiarity, we don’t care much about them. But wait. Trees just like kites teach us a lesson. The lesson lies in the question, which tree is the strongest. The strongest tree is the tree that is hampered by the strongest wind. The strongest tree is the tree that has survived innumerable storms. Because every storm that it survived, is a root grown deeper into the ground.

Diamonds. We all know them. They are symbols of beauty. Charcoal. Yes, charcoal are those black matter we use in cooking when the LPG runs out. Diamonds and charcoal. Unbelievable it may be but they are actually the same in terms of what it’s made up of. I am not in any way bluffing. Both diamonds and charcoal are made up of Carbon. But why is it that diamonds have luster and sparkling while charcoal are flat and unexciting? It’s the extreme heat that makes charcoal turn into endearing diamonds. Yes, it’s the extremely hot environment that transformed these flat, unexciting charcoals into beautiful and precious gem we recognize as diamonds. So when you felt like giving up because life seemed to be so hard, put up a good fight and come out shining like diamonds. They are forever.

I would have opted to stay being a toastmaster. It’s too risky to become Competent Communicator. The pressure to be brazen. The pressure to be superb. The pressure to be at par with iconic toastmasters.

But life is too short to be always on the safer side of the battlefield. Time and again, I should take risks and dare to fail. Just like the kite, I must go against stagnation for growth as a public speaker. Like the tree, I must be faced with every speech project there is to make my foundation as a toastmaster grow deeper and stronger. And like the charcoal, I must be exposed in red-hot-glowing-fire-incessant-evaluations that I will come out polished and shimmering in the pinnacle of every toastmaster’s journey, like Greg Vallejera, a DISTINGUISHED TOASTMASTER!