List your top 5 grocery store items.
1. Bread
2. Meat
3. Vegetables
4. Fruits
5. Sweet treats
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Describe a man who has positively impacted your life.
The first and the warmest childhood best friend I ever had, she came into the neighbourhood when I was in 4th grade. Little by little, a friendship was forged between us. At first glance, I mistook her to be a snob and the kind of kid who might not befriend someone who’s not on her level. I was wrong, we became friends, shared dreams and all.
How she positively impacted my life?
We were two different worlds, her family’s well off. Mine is below average, we were poor to be specific. Then she came, befriended me and made me her closest friend in the neighbourhood. Contrary to the first impression I had of her, she took me into her world. Shared everything she had with me, toys, food and even things that I did not know. She was the first person who showed me that a bigger world is just around somewhere, and I started seeing it too.
The way she treated me, I told myself. Everyone can be kind and nice to anyone…even to a nobody if we only choose to be kind. Without having to put up walls that separate us from others. Be kind, be warm, be the nicest person you can ever be.
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Is your life today what you pictured a year ago?
Something happened, life has its own set of shits, and you can’t help but face it once it’s thrown upon you. I planned my 2023 for the entire 2022, yet out of three only one did and that was the least important plan.
Bad decision….
Well, it was my fault for trusting people, for believing that my family would have my back. Turned out, that they just watched things drift from my own hands. It was a hell of a crazy 2023, I thought I’d be crawling asking for death to come and take me. A devastating year, yet I have managed to crawl.my way back up. Rather than asking for death and becoming pathetic, I mustered the courage and will to get through things.
Courage above all..
I am glad I have made it so far, that decision I made in November of 2022 cost me a two year struggling. Which means, I still have 2024 to get through.
Be patient enough and walk through it!
But instead of crying myself and overthinking, I choose to live it out. Think clearly and you are going to think of getting through things, be patient and everything will fall back into its proper places.
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What skills or lessons have you learned recently?
I started collecting books last year since I have decided to get back into writing, I indeed need to collect things that could fuel my desire. I don’t want to leave and throw away writing ever again, this has been my thing since I was young and up until now. It helped me a lot, clearing my head and building a bridge to the world that I chose to get into.
Friends…
My friends found out, I used to be discreet with my pieces. Things do change though, at this moment I want to develop this writing enthusiasm into a burning desire in which a goal is set. They started finding ways to support my passion and provided me with books. Not to mention, books that are quite famous and great. Let’s admit it, collecting books is not easy as well. Some of them costs a hefty. My new found friends just found a way to help me fuel my desire without me having to think of whether or not I should buy the book or save money. Well, I still am going to collect the books that I have read. I already had collected few.
This one very book…in particular
The Art of Thinking Clearly by Rolf Dobelli is his very own journal of how he’s going to take things into his life. How he’s planned to manage his stuff in life turned into a best-seller book! I was curious that I could feel myself thinking deeply, realizing and reflecting on every page. Those words written are and have been carved and engraved in my entire being before I even got a hold of that book, some issues remained unsolved and a lot has been applied.
Lesson, Skill?
I have realized, in particular. The more you get awareness about your self, your behavior and your attitude. The way you treat people and the way you treat your self. Leaves an impact which eventually, and certainly contributes to the development of you, your entity, your well-being, and your all. It’s the most impo
rtant skill and lesson one should and must learn, may sound simple but takes a battle to get through it.
Self-awareness! We listen to our ego and pride, we listen to just one side of us. Most of the time, we make decisions based on our emotions, well…humans are humans. It’s a given, in love, career, friendship, family etc., with self-awareness. It allows us to be us, to be true. Admit mistakes and accept corrections, we allow growth. Not unless…we just let wrongs be our rights and we refuse learning from each mistake.
I, my self, is still learning. I know that I can never master and turn my self into a flawless being. But, with the lessons I learned from my mistakes I get to develop a skill.
To be more aware, not conscious, not paranoid….
I am still learning, and I will continue to learn. You see…there is no age or time limit to learn things, it just takes courage and will to learn. -
I was once sorry for the things I do, for giving my best yet failed to impress you. Those times that my heartbeats were racing fast, not because of butterfly effects but for the fear you inflicted on my inside.
The tears I’ve wept for every pain, I was even sorry for getting hurt by your complaints. Nights and days have gone cold, and I have no one to blame but accept that those are my faults.
I was even sorry for telling you the truth, sorry for how my words do not have their worth. Those times I yearn for your attention, I was even sorry for feeling that much like an orphan.
I said I was sorry for not being enough, for failing you and not becoming someone who meets your standards. I was sorry for the times I begged your love, and now I am even more sorry for I don’t have enough to give you back.
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What cities do you want to visit?
I don’t have particular cities in mind, but what I do know is that, I wish to be in the busiest cities. Where people from all walks of life walks together, the busier the more lively it is. I have a habit of going into the main city in my hometown, I would sit in a street with roasted peanuts to munch while I observe every people who passes by.
Since I was an introverted person back then, I used that habit to observe people. Despite not having experience in dealing with other people, I somehow developed the skill to know a person without having to talk. I just have to watch and observe keenly.
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Come and taste my madness, savour the silence of night and darkness. Fill me in with heated touches, that could soften my soul in rages.
Linger like a shadow watching over me, let your eyes bring me to an ecstasy. Devour the sweetness of you and me, let the skies and the moon be in envy.
Hear me whisper through your ear, feel my heart beat under your skin. Wrap me up with thirst, come and devour me with your vigorous lips.
Shall I howl with bliss? As you tear me gently with your kiss. Make me yearn for the longing of your caress, starve me until I beg you to love me for countless years.
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Tell us one thing you hope people say about you.
You’ve done very well
It’s the only word, not from the people, but from.my mother which I wish she’d tell me. I have never received any compliment from her ever since, and most of the time she’d only tell.me to face the consequences. I get scolded over things that means nothing, and not scolded over things that matter. -
Tell us about your first day at something — school, work, as a parent, etc.
I was always curious and excited about my life after college, so I went exploring things more independently. I thought it was time for me to free myself, I took off and went far from my home town. With courage and will to survive and thrive, perhaps, in an unknown and uncertain journey.
Job interviews…
Jumped into three job interviews right after making my decision, without any expectations. I did put my courage into great use, the self-confidence I developed mid-college and mustered courage. There I was, for the first time I was asked. What is it that you can contribute to the company? Frankly, I have no idea of how a job interview goes and I was like…This is it? It’s intimidating for a novice like me. I thought I’d fail, but to my surprise, I did make it! Passed all three interviews from different companies, and I chose the one that offered me to start right away.
First day…..
It wasn’t something that I expected, I felt like a rat inside a tiger’s den. People are looking at me with contempt. But, I ignored it all. I thrived and became the favourite of our department head (don’t get the wrong idea though) I became someone our department head trusted since I devoted my time and skills to good use, I was an auditor. I was surprisingly good at investigating things, since I was a criminology graduate, made sense.
But….
That wasn’t the first time kind thing that I wanted to talk about….rather…my first time to be in a medical. clinic for my pre-employment medical appointment. I wasn’t sick, I wasn’t worrying about anything including my health….
I was scared of needles! That pre-employment medical inclusion in my first things as an adult, sent me to a blackout after the nurse extracted some blood from me. I was shaking, I was trembling and I had no choice but to get through it. I fainted…it was the funniest thing I ever had in my entire life, and it left me with such a memory that I could not forget. My first time as an adult, an independent one!
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Have you ever performed on stage or given a speech?
Again, I was not born with the right amount of self-confidence to face a crowd, let alone make friends when I was younger. Oral recitations and reporting tasks during primary and secondary until early college were a struggle.
Never a performer..
When my teacher asked me, I would look down. And as much as possible, I’d never make eye contact with anyone. May it be a teacher or classmate, I was super shy. I always wonder how it is to act, to dance and perform on the stage. My mother has never allowed me, instead of helping me get through my low self-esteem. She would always deny me any c
hance I had in mind. So, I thought to myself, performing is never for you.
Later in college…
I was a sophomore at this university and came upon a professor, English professor whose task was to improve our speeches and public speaking. We’ve done quite a lot, choir speeches, oral recitations, and speech reading, he’s always checking on our performance levels.
Unexpected…
He gave us this assignment, of which each of us will perform in the class with a declamation piece. We choose the piece and we perform it as much as we possibly could, of course, costumes and make-ups at that. All I wanted was to pass the subject since I just needed a passing grade. I was never the competitive type at school, but to my surprise, the professor favoured my performance among others. Without hesitation and doubt, he asked me to perform into a bigger crowd!
The first pride I ever had…
It was the first performance I did, without fear and independently. I gave what I could and I was appreciated for doing a good job, from then, my confidence started to grow little by little. With the passing grades goal in mind, I surprisingly surpassed and achieved higher than my expectations.
MORAL OF THE STORY: I hope that every parent, despite the lack of resources would eventually help their kids achieve better things while they’re young. Support them in something that they wish to participate in, especially when it means making them better versions of their older and current selves.