Me, Myself, and Whole Lot of Crap---The Second Page

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Aiko Climaco for FHM Philippines February

What's the fuss about? (A Post-Superbowl assessment)

Every year I allot one day of my vacation leave to watch the Superbowl. I have declared this day a personal holiday where I can share chips and football banter with friends and just chill. Of course it would be perfect if the Greenbay Packers would be the one in contention but then---life is never perfect! Still, outside of my favorite team playing, the game offers other highlights to look forward to, like: The pre-game show; the season highlight reels; the national anthem interpretation; the half-time show (Katy Perry was a mind-blower!), even the commercials (I must say Carl's Jr. is my favorite!). Superbowl is one of my favorite days of the year.

So, what happened in Superbowl XLIX? Well, I rooted for the Seahawks and they lost. However, the game was fun to watch since I was at the edge of my seat from the second quarter onwards with the final outcome of the game decided at the last 20 seconds.

I have watched a lot of come from behind wins to declare any winner early on. The Greenbay Packers led 16-0 at halftime during their conference championship with the Seattle Seahawks and then only managed 6 points the next two quarters to lose 28-22. So when Seattle led by 10 points after the third quarter, I was still biting my nails. Come on, we're talking about Tom Brady here! Why just before the end of the first half, he orchestrated an 80 yard TD in less than two minutes! In football, a second can be an eternity.

Both teams actually showed that they can score fast and in the dying seconds of the fourth quarter, Seattle had the ball at the one yard line on second down trying to overcome a four point Patriot lead. What happened after is now the subject of much discussion. Should they have gone to Marshawn Lynch on all four downs? Maybe. But in the game of strategies, that would be stating the obvious and predictability is one thing that a coach does not want. For all we know, the Patriots was on a defensive stance against the run during that last play and the result would still have been a turn over on downs. But may it be a pass or run, Murphy's Law will always be there to foul things up and on that fateful 2nd down it came in the form of an interception. However, I don't see it as Coach Carroll's fault. Yes, he called it but its execution remained with the people running it. Success is not dependent on one decision because everything that we do is a symphony of individual actions

Stop blaming Coarch Carroll. If that pass play had been caught he wouldn't be crucified for it, right? (And Marshawn Lynch wouldn't be bitching about not getting the ball.) Again, coaching is a mind game. Unfortunately, the gambit did not work for Seattle.

Lesson learned. Move on.

Saturday, January 24, 2015

The Stocks of Life

LIfe is like playing the stock market----HIGH RISK, HIGH GAIN. So if you intend to aim BIG in life, you need to: (1) study harder than everyone else in school in order to get employed to the top 100 company; (2) do the needed leg work and give VALUE to all the tasks you are given to climb up the corporate ladder.

Of course, like the stock market, NOTHING IS GUARANTEED. Bottomline is that you are willing to do the job that needed to be done and do it with EXCELLENCE all the time. Eventually, everything will fall into place. If it does not, then comfort yourself that the WIN is in the effort.

Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Lessons Learned from the book "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand

I have just gotten back to reading books and after a marathon of Tom Clancy novels (from "Teeth of the Tiger" to "Command Authority"), I decided to go with something inspirational.

I have read Laura Hillenbrand's "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" and found myself moved to write a blog about the lessons learned from a champion race horse. So I guess it is no wonder that I'm now writing about another non-fiction from Ms. Hillenbrand, this time about the life story of Olympic long distance runner Louie Zamperini entitled "Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resiliance, and Redemption".

While Louie Zamperini's rise to fame as an athlete is a true inspiration in itself, his survival from a plane crash at sea as a bombardier for the US Air Force 372nd Bombardment Squadron and 370th Bombardment Group during World War II and his subsequent survival under brutal conditions as a POW at the hands of the Japanese (I have also seen the movie UNBROKEN and found it tame in comparison to the detailed abuse that he endured in the book.) is a reminder that we may not see a physical God, He is always with us in times of need.

What we call LUCK or COINCIDENCE is God at work anonymously. Imagine being seating ducks on a floating raft as a Japanese plane strafes you in two passes---the raft is riddled with bullet holes--- and yet no one is hit by a single bullet; or, have an albatross land on your raft in the middle of the ocean when you were dying of hunger; or, when the rain pours as you are dying of thirst. God always answers our call for help. The response may not be as what we desire but He will not abandon us.

Living life is not meant to be a walk in the park. Challenges will always come our way. Each one of us have our own problems to go up against and overcome. Like in the making of a durable sword, the higher the temperature that it is forged in, the stronger the steel become. God is our blacksmith and he gives us challenges to strengthen us as we go through life.

This is the reason why whenever I pray I also thank God for all the challenges that come my way. May it be professional (like a problematic project and all the difficult people that come with it), personal, or financial---going through all these experiences makes me a better and wiser person. That is my conviction.

After the war, Louis Zamperini became somewhat of a celebrity. Unfortunately, he suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and with no real support group during that time, he succumbed to alcolohism and depression. I believe that the reason for this was that Louis forgot a promise he made to God as he prayed for help during his 47 days adrift in the Pacific Ocean. He said that if God saved him, he will devote his life in His service. Louis' plight with PTSD was God reminding him of that promise. With civilization already far beyond the time of Moses, God can no longer afford to burn bushes to communicate.

Everything happens for a reason. It can be a nudge from God or a rude awakening. We just need to open our hearts and our mind to understand what God wants us to do and where to go.