Lost Chances

While it may be true that the lessons we learned in the past, along with the resolve to do better despite these shortcomings, have a way of improving the present-day 'you', there can always be times where we encounter a situation that just opens our eyes and shouts into our hearts something we've long tried to hide. For some people, this may be some sort of trivial, immature habit that just keeps coming back. For the unfortunate few though, this little comeback may involve matters that affect more than the literal - it also affects the emotional.

Of course, I'm not going to talk about the clique of people that gets cast out in society because they're either too worried, or they're just plain misunderstood. This post will certainly touch the 'emo' side of things though, but to look at it on the general level of 'emo' would be depriving yourselves the chance to relate to a real message hidden between these lines. So here goes.

Entitlement is something that's gone from being exclusive, to just plain self-proclaimed. It is this certain two-sided characteristic that allows confusion to come into the picture, and eventually make it's mark on a few good people. How can you really give a clear definition of entitlement? Are mutual feelings good enough to allow you to be secure in a relationship? Can passed-along talk about people and happenings be enough to conclude that something is really happening the way you interpret the situation? These are just some questions that I've come to face the past two days, and quite honestly, I believe they're not healthy at all.

There must have been some reason why I loved being a hibernating caveman for the past summer break - it was only then that I could take some time to think about people, about life, without any outside interference and outside influence. And I was lead to thinking that all would be alright once I stopped being a caveman. But what really happened was that I was more than fortunate to have a blessed group of people that welcomed me back into society. I came to realize that only a few days back, because as I went along the daily college-related chores, I found myself lost again. There were a lot of things I didn't want, a lot of things I wanted to change and improve. What was hard though is that a system is more than capable of eating you up once you delve yourself so deep into it. And boy, did I get to receive a big slap on the face for this.

You can't blame people for overreacting to certain events - some of which have no basis at all and are conjured upon by the most tactless, selfish of all people. This pretty much makes the challenge a tad bit more...challenging. The real test couldn't come any sooner. All those hours of contemplation and resolve will finally get to meet it's better match - and only a fight to the death can prove it's value and show us it's true worth.

I don't want to go into general conclusiveness, but for all the bullshit that I'm going through for it, this must be pretty much worth it.

For something that's got the capability of bringing people to new heights, I just want to get this over with.

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here we go again.

Looking At The Globe, Not The Sun

I hope this doesn't get viewed as a political hotbed of an article.

For the most part of the past few decades, we can always adhere to the fact that indeed, people can connect to one another in more ways than how you can position yourself in bed to sleep. With the advent of mobile phones, easier access to the internet, online video conferencing - and get this, cheaper air fares - there has never been a time when the comfort levels of trying to connect to one another have been this high. It's like a trend, but only in some similarities because trends eventually die out. This thing we're having? Oh, it's growing alright. And it's growing bigger than you think.

Welcome to globalization.

Communication has always been vital to the survival of a race. Animals have their owns ways of communicating, sending signals of warning when they know a predator lurks, or give off scents and smells so as to attract their would-be mates. In the case of the dominant primate walking on two hind legs, our best and most efficient way of communicating has always been words. Whether they be oral or written, morse code or podcasts, shortened text or long text, words have always been the main critical aspect when it comes to proper communication and responsiveness.

Most of us might not know how many words we blurt out from our thoughts in a day, but if we did try to trace it, we'd find ourselves in a rut. You see, the simple act of asking yourself how many words you've spoken are words themselves - you'd be like a dog chasing your own tail and feel exhausted for nothing at all. Words have become so dominant in our lives that due to it's enormity, we fail to recognize it's very power.

The internet has been the main culprit of the Information age - it allows us to do things never thought possible a few centuries back. You got a friend living halfway around the world? You won't have to take a plane just to do something so simple like saying "Hi!" - you can just log-in to your Skype account and start your video calls in just a few clicks. This is ease of use tuned to the personal rhythm. This is the power to spread your message out faster than you can say it. Dangerously, this can also become the New World Order. And surprisingly, this has been the best thing that's happened since birthdays were conceived as a celebration.

Our efforts to connect to people have turned from being a hassle to something that we're drawn to do. The concept of having instant communication regardless of the geographical gaps has endeared many people, and has also been embraced by the general public. Our thoughts become words. Words become conversations. Conversations become brainstorm sessions and moments to cherish. And once we get a hold of the power of words coupled with the benefits of technology, who knows.

The New World Order may just be within our reach.

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life has a way of making us fall in love with it.

A Kid's Game, with Implications

Applicable to almost everything in this life, the best way to handle your approach is to expect the worst, yet still hope for the best. It is this double-edged sword version of how to handle events in your everyday lives that has proven to be the most efficient way to get an acceptable outcome to whatever endeavor you wish to undertake. Surprisingly though, it's also the most boring way of doing things.

Back in the last year of my elementary school career, I can still vividly remember me facing a small confusion of interpretations for a single adjective - ambitious. Before I got to that point, I had always thought that ambition was something we all should have. Similar to goal-setting and forward thinking, being this kind of person allowed us to gauge whatever we wanted to do and have a meter for how much we still needed. To me, in my innocent sixth grade train-of-thought, ambition was something that's acceptable to have, maybe even a need-to-have characteristic.

What happened then though was that our religion teacher gave us a group of adjectives that were considered negative, and we had to cross out the ones we didn't want to have. Guess what? The word 'ambitious' was on that cloud of words, and my memory still has that moment of silence and question clearly imprinted as if it happened yesterday. It didn't lead me to start an outrage with my teacher though, but the flood of realizations more than made up for that.

It was here that I started to look into the eyes of duality - that to everything negative, there is always a different point-of-view that would allow us to look into the positive side of things. Similar to that simple questionnaire, it was a simple way of looking at the adjective in the view of the ones who viewed ambition as the cause of selfish endeavor and treachery, or the one where I originally had it - ambition was an inspiration that could be a great factor of getting you to where you want.

Of course, we are taking into account the capability of everyone to have enough respect to recognize the viewpoints of everyone else. While it is a given that the difference between trust and respect is that trust is earned while respect should be given freely without any strings, a lot of people still refuse to open their ears and look into the other side of the glass - they're trapped in looking at a mirror and can't see past that. Instead, all they can see is themselves, and sadly, that won't really get you far in any race. Not even a race where all you're competing against is yourself.

P.S. I've just posted the first article on a new blog site of mine. You can check out Redial Here, and hopefully you'd be following that blog soon when it gains momentum. As of posting though, the server is down, yet if it still is by the time you're reading this, please check back again for your first view of that site. Thanks!

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forever is a many-splendored thing.