Asyang and Crossroads

Fine, strictly speaking, hindi crossroad ang picture.  Kasi hindi sya cross.. pero yan ang binigay ni google (credits to the owner), na nagustuhan ko ang effect.

Finally, wala na akong tinanggap na excuse today para hindi gumalaw.. meaning mag exercise.  Well, medyo legit naman yung sumakit kasi talaga ang tuhod ko.  And nagkatime naman na 3 hours straight ang dance practice (counted naman yun as exercise).  But anyway, tumakbo ako ulit today.  At naalala ko na ito nga pala ang pinakamunimuni time ko.

So today, ang muni muni ay about sa mga dreams ko pa in life, and choices in life.  Well, nung bata naman ako ang sabi ko dream ko maging doctor, so check na yan.  But syempre, marami pa din akong random things na naiisip na gusto kong gawin.  Pero naisip ko nga, paano ba ako nakarating dito? Like, ang daming (major) decisions na ginawa ko in life, kaya ako napadpad dito.

Seriously, never kong naimagine na maachieve ko kung ano man ang meron ako today.  But looking back, I feel so blessed, because during the times when I felt like the future was uncertain, God has always provided the answers.  Parang, ‘di ko pa nga napagppray ng bongga, may answer na si God.  And some of them, ay hindi ang preferred answers ko at that time.  Syempre hindi naman always masaya lang, or keri lang lahat, or yung gusto mo lang ang pwede, but being a Christian, you learn to see things differently.  Eventually, it becomes so easy to find the greatness in the simplest things.  (So, seryoso naman nga ako nung sinimulan ko ang paragraph with seriously.)

With that, I am super happy and thankful for my life, with all its imperfections.  Pero, sabi ko nga, hindi naman always masaya.  So kung masaya ako sa major decisions ko in life, kabaligtaran yan ng mga minor decisions ko in life.

 

Like sa pagpili ng line sa buffet.  Umattend kasi kami ng convention, at di ko alam kung kaninong bright idea ang buffet (for a convention na P6,000.00 ang registration!!!).  So madami naman ngang set, pero super haba ng pila sa lahat.  Pero gutom na talaga kami ha.  As in.  Tapos, nung mga 3 people na lang ang nasa harap naming, dun pa naubos lahat.  At tsaka pa naisip ni kuya na sabihan kaming lumipat ng line.  Sa buffet table na may pilaaaaaaaaaaaa pa din.  (Seriously?!? End of the world na ba kasi wagas na yung gutom ko!!)  Tapos hindi masarap yung food.  And then nung isang araw, sa grocery, kakapili ko ng cashier, dun pa ako napunta sa naubusan ng paper for resibo nung ako na.. as in, na-bag na lahat ng binili ko, pero di ako makaalis.  Ugh.  Bakit ganoooooooon?? Sinabon ko naman!!!!!

Reposting: “The Future Begins in School - and in the Pool” By Rene F. Concepcion

September always reminds me of my UAAP days.  Feeling nostalgic... might write about it, but for now, I'm reposting my Coach's article, so enjoy!

“The Future Begins in School - and in the Pool”

By Rene F. Concepcion 


Student-athletes are the best students in any school. But many of their teachers and classmates would probably disagree. Athletes are always absent, have poor grades, and slip through the system. But for every sports star who reinforces this negative stereotype, there are many who prove they are the best kind of student in any student body. 


For example, LC Langit, a De La Salle University (DLSU) varsity swimmer, got a near perfect grade point average during the year she was training hard for the Doha Asian Games (where she set the Philippine record in women’s triathlon). Langit’s current DLSU varsity teammate, Enchong Dee, who everyday juggles early morning and early evening swimming workouts with school work, has a weekly show on TV and does modeling work. He, too, got into the Dean’s List.


The daily life of a student-athlete isn’t easy. Training is murder, and the academic work gets harder after a killer workout. Practices are normally four hours daily, and it isn’t the kind of exercise that you can escape with an iPod to read a magazine while pedaling on a stationary bike. Muscles burn, lungs scream, and the coaches scream too. Plus there is the added pressure to excel in both school and sports. A student-athlete’s competitive nature wouldn’t be satisfied with passing grades, or finishing a race without a medal. They need to be the best. And when they graduate, they bring this attitude to the real world, where life doesn’t get easier. Yet they know they can succeed in anything because their hearts and minds were trained to face all difficulties.


Therefore, it is a shame that many still think of sports as only for leisure. Some might even say sports are not important compared to school. Parents want their children to major in business and finance, or grow up to become engineers, doctors or lawyers. A father might ask - what good would swimming endless laps, or hitting a tennis ball over and over do for my son who needs to take over the family business? 


The answer is everything. Competencies needed in careers are easy to learn. If a student doesn’t immediately comprehend classroom lessons, it can be fixed by tutors, the Internet, and extra effort hitting the books. But confidence needed in life can be learned while facing a match point, or in a painful last lap or homestretch. Here, the teacher is one’s own undaunted spirit that teaches to never lay down hastily to defeat.


And life brings many defeats that need to be overcome. There’s the loss of a job, unprofitable investments, losing face, and even losing of a loved one. Student-athletes lose all the time. Sadly, in the prevailing culture, they lose more in the classroom. Many athletes have come to accept – and with no help from the academe otherwise – that they are only meant for the physical and not the mental. They quickly give up when facing physics or term papers or oral reports, yet they shouldn’t. There is segregation in schools between the jocks and the nerds, yet there shouldn’t. 


Truly there are outstanding athletes who are also bookworms. There’s a Philippine Olympian who was a pre-med student and history major from a world renowned university, that when he decided to pursue film directing, a friend could only think to compare him to Woody Allen (the very witty, intellectual, and existentialist side of Woody Allen, of course).


The UAAP season is well underway, and it is a marketing dream, once again, because men’s basketball is the hottest ticket in town. Well, somewhere also in town are many other student-athletes competing in other sports. These warriors also need the attention, the sponsorship, the support, the fanfare, and the respect. Media coverage must be thrown their way too, and not just to publicize results. People need to know how much student-athletes sacrifice, how dedicated they are to their sport (even to sports that don’t have prize money nor endorsement deals). 


People need to know these student-athletes have career plans in the future to build skyscrapers, innovate computer software, become diplomats, lead corporations, cure diseases, and fight injustice. They are the best of the country’s youth. It’s about time to nurture them for they can contribute towards a fantastic future.

Asyang's Playlist (Next week na ang kwento!)

Weeeekeeeeenddd!

Magkkwento sana ako kagabi... kaso, sa sobrang pagod ko, 7 pm pa lang, tulog na ako.  Dapat power nap lang sana, kaso 3 am na ako nagising.  Nadisorient pa ako nung nagising ako.  Ang haba kasi ng week na to, from last week, to weekend duty, to convention, to workshop.  Di ko na nasundan ang petsa.

Dahil dyan, guys, dedeposit ko na lang muna ang mga kwento ko.  For now, dahil medyo lutang pa ako, shashare ko lang ulit ang playlist ko (tutal, ten years ago na yung last playlist entry ko).  Warning, mga LSS ko to.

1. Can't Sleep Love by Pentatonix

Dahil super favorite ko talaga sila.  Para sa mga hindi nakakakilala sa kanila, google nyo.  Haha.  Acapella group sila, na super galing, at ito ang first album nila na all original songs.  Problema ko lang dito, nung pinakinggan ko sya, di ko alam ang lyrics, bukod sa title, so na-LSS ako sa part na "womp, womp, womp, womp, womp, womp, womp...." try nyo pakinggan ang first ten seconds, nakakabaliw, kasi isang buong araw (actually hanggang the following day) ko syang kinanakanta... out loud.

2. Sway by Bic Runga

Dahil pinatugtog sya sa car habang nasa kalagitnaan kami ng traffic.  Hello sa mga batang lumaki nung 90's.

3. Photograph by Ed Sheeran

(ctto)

Dahil gusto ko ang album na X.  Pero dahil araw-araw ko nang naririnig ang dalinay, dalinay (hello sa mga sumusubaybay sa Kalyeserye), ito na lang ang nilagay ko sa playlist ko.

4. My Heart is Open by Maroon 5 feat. Gwen Stefani

Ay!! Grabe, after ten years, pwede na ako ulit maexccite sa concert nila.  Humupa kasi for a while ang excitement ko, after ko nabili ang tickets.  Medyo nung March pa kasi yun.  Anyway, bukod sa Lost Stars (actually, mas maganda yung version ni Keira Knightly), ito na next favorite ko sa album.  Hay, see you next week!

5. 2 Become 1 by Spice Girls

Just because super fan ako ng Spice Girls nung 90's.  Girl Power!

6. Life Support by Sam Smith

Ito kasi talaga ang isa sa mga favorite ko sa album nya.

7. Happy Little Pill (Troye Sivan Cover) by Superfruit

Again, may malaking chance na hindi nyo sila kilala, pero ito ang dalawang beki from Pentatonix.  Na kahit anong kantahin siguro nila, bebenta sa akin.  Try nyo, promise.

8. Skinny Love by Birdy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNzCDt2eidg

Kahit luma na, di ko pa rin sinskip itong song na to pag nagplay sya sa shuffle.  Haaaay, kung kaya ko lang tong kantahin nang ganyan, magqquit na ako ng medicine tapos kakanta na lang ako kung san san.

9. I Need Your Love by Calvin Harris feat. Ellie Goulding

Kasi kailangan ko din mag dance party.  Pero ito din, di ko siniskip, sumasayaw lang ako bigla.

10. Missing You (Bedtime Remix) by Case

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhS6W6VkKlA

Ang ultimate hele song! Taaaaabsss! (Medyo anime anime lang yung link, hehe, pero try nyo kung gusto nyo medyo mag emote, o gusto nyo lang matulog)

Ayun lang, kailangan ko na umalis!

P.S. Wala po akong pinagdadaan sa buhay... masaya po ako at hindi nag eemote.  Gusto ko lang talaga mga songs na yan.  (Kailangan ko mag-explain). Muah!