12 Gems Handpicked Especially for You (not just for the graduates!)

I would like to share with you this speech that I delivered before the Senior Class of LNCHS last year, when the school had its last Career Day Orientation, a tradition that had started long ago but stopped, for some reason...

Dear High School Graduates,

What's going on inside your head right now? Some of you are already set for the next level that you are going to pursue. Others are still unsure whether they will have a chance to avail of college or technical skills education. Some already know that they will be looking for a job after high school. Still. others have no idea of what the future holds. This is your Career Day... an occasion that each of you should be taking seriously. This is why I picked all the real gems that I've got along the way ---so I can share it with you. Take this not just today. You can have it with you for the rest of your life!

1. GET TO KNOW YOURSELF. Take time to know yourself like how you want to get to know somebody who's interesting. Close the door of the world for a while and get inside of you. Ask yourself what it is that you really want. Don't ask just yet what course you would want to take in college but rather go ahead and envision yourself as a worker. What work would you enjoy doing? Do you want to be a business person or the boss? Do you want to be an employee? Do you want to be with people? Do you want to be nobody? Of course, no one wants to be that. We all would like to take the challenge that this life has to offer.   Everybody wants to be somebody someday. So what are your skills, talents, your interests? Where do you excel? What are you so passionate about? What is something that you would "untirelessly love doing" all the time? Know yourself and...

2. DREAM. Learn to dream. Don't ever think of the barriers. Just dream. Tell yourself what you will be five years from now and then ten years... twenty years... and so on and so forth. When you have already decided on that, still take a look at yourself and ask how you can achieve it in a realistic manner. you will see the dream transform into an achievable goal. Now find time to...

3. PLAN AND WORK IT OUT. Don't ever forget that educating yourself is a sure way to achieve your goal. Focus on the achievement of that target. Stay focused and carry on with the plan until your dream becomes concrete. It may be easier said than done but believe me: if you give up, you will never reach the top. There will be trials along the way but there is no way that you can't make it. Trials are steps that you have to hurdle in order to taste the sweet victory. Take the trials as they come, but have the wisdom to recognize which need to be fought and which just need to be ignored. Some barriers are trivial and better snubbed. Then...

4. BELIEVE AND HOLD ON.  Keep the faith and you'll get there. Have faith in yourself, in the world around you, and don't lose faith in God. Try to...

5. COMMUNICATE.  When things go wrong, don't be afraid to communicate. Talk to the people who can help you through. Don't be afraid, don't be ashamed. Never take it all alone. Communicate whatever it is that needs to be discussed with others so that you won't lose track of your goal. If you get distracted by the trials that come along, you might not be able to get back to the lane that would help you reach your final destination which is success. Go on, however rough the road may seem, just go on and don't stop.Always... 

6. BE STRONG, BE SMART. Find a way to rise after each frustration. When circumstances don't work on your favor, deal with it. Learn how to look at things on the right perspective. When you are angry, deal with it. And never nurture envy. Have a good heart and you will see things positively. You can be bruised and stay happy. Happiness is a choice. Choose to be happy even in the most trying times. Love your life--- for if you don't, who will? 

7.BE YOUR OWN UNIQUE SELF. Don't do things just because everybody does it. You are God's special creation. Don't try to be like somebody else. It's okay to be not like most people as long as you are true to yourself. Honesty is key. Follow your heart. It's your life! Your choices must prevail. It's your decision that counts.

8. ENJOY SILENCE, WELCOME DESTINY. You will never hear the voice of God when you are always talking or you're always amidst a noisy crowd. Master the art of reading the signs and let destiny present itself to you. Everything happens for a reason. All roads will lead you there. Some journey may take longer but you have a place where you really belong, right there waiting to be explored. It will happen with God's will in God's perfect time. You'll be surprised to realize the miracles.

9. DISCOVER THE PURPOSE OF YOUR CREATION. Find out what you were born to be. Why are you on this planet? What are you supposed to do? Learn to be at peace with yourself and you will find contentment that you have never imagined.

10. WORK,WORK, WORK. REST, REST, REST. PRAY, and PlAY. You have to live in a balanced environment. You are luckier now, with the internet, that the world is just a click away. There's a lot of opportunities that abound, but don't fail to smell the flowers and watch butterflies. Take time to look around, walk around and smile.

11. SUCCEED AND BE HUMBLE. Even if you're on top, feel the ground. And finally...

12. HELP OTHERS. Only by helping others will you be fulfilled. Isn't it there at the main gate that you have to "Come in and Learn, Go out and Serve?'

There you have the real gems that I picked along the way to get to my 48th year. Women tend to hide their age. I don't. It is key to wisdom. If I were so young, I couldn't be wiser. I am proud of my age because it is the indication of how strong I have become: physically, mentally, and emotionally. It is my trophy for maturity, and one of the reasons why I was able to share these twelve points to you today. Let me give you this definition of success that I also got in my journey to life...

SUCCESS, ACCORDING TO gesumariajose:

 When you have already found the purpose why you were born

When you enjoy the reason that you are living for

When you have found love by caring for other people

When you are happy and not wanting anything more

You are indeed successful.

When you are happy and not wanting anything more

When you have found love by caring for other people

When you enjoy the reason that you are living for

When you have already found the purpose why you were born

You are indeed successful!

   

SCENT OF A PRINTED BOOK

Last night, I smelled my high school library!

Holy Week does not only give us time to reflect. It also gives us the time to do some cleaning and clearing, aside from cleansing. So I was cleaning my daughter's rented apartment. When I was on the bookshelves, I wiped off the dust from those volumes of encyclopedia and curiously smelled its pages. Just like that, and I was trapped on a time warp that I found myself sitting on a chair when I first had the chance to use our high school library. It was unbelievable, so I smelled it again. And yes, I was not mistaken. I was back to the late '70s when I was but a greenhorn in the campus. 

Thinking that my readers would appreciate this experience, I sat right in front of the computer and started encoding this little story of how the sense of smell can very well take us to places we never imagined. It could instantly take us to a world of fantasy or to the distant past. The smell of a crisp, unfolded paper bill takes me to those Christmastimes in childhood when godparents and relatives would hand me their cash gift. Passing by the house where aroma of Ilocano cuisine diffuses takes me to Ilocos and summer vacations when I was a teenager. The odor of perfume that I used in my youth could take me back to the time when I was so naive and cute guys were an exciting sight. The smell of a spray net takes me to the '80s when using it before going out of the house was as ordinary as brushing the teeth.  

Before closing this little account I stood up and headed to the bookshelves to smell the pages once again. Eyes closed this time, I fell in love with the moment that I was taken back to that part of my life when I was such a blank page ready to be stamped with all of life's new experiences, to take me to the destination where I should be. Now as I close the encyclopedia, the scent of those printed pages vanished in a snap. I'm back to cleaning, happy that I had this reflection which could also remind my readers how grateful we should be to the Lord who created us. The lives that we live are so unique from one another. At some points, there could be similarities, but no two persons have exactly the same fate. And how many people are there on this planet? Have you imagined how many stories of different lives there are on earth? What kind of artist can do that masterpiece? Altogether now, let us thank The Great Artist who gave us life...

Thank you, Lord, for everything

The journey has been worth it

Everything was not insignificant 

Thanks for making me live

Thank you, my Lord, for this day
That you came to send a message

Thank you for coming tonight
Touching my heart, renewing my faith.

Amen!