The Best Definition of Love is Stupidity…

   I woke up this morning with a missed call on my phone. I tried to go back to sleep but the phone was ringing again. I picked it up and heard a familiar voice. She asked me how I am? I replied I’m okay with a slight irritation in my voice. I was irked because she disturbed my lazy Sunday morning ritual of staying in bed for the rest of the morning.

   Then she said my name and the phone went silent. After a few seconds she spoke again my name and then again the dead stillness on the other end. I did not say anything but I knew from that point on that something was wrong.
   She said “MAY NANGYARI”.
   I closed my eyes trying to brace myself for the bad news and it was indeed news I don't want to hear.
   In the middle of her sentiments, she could no longer contain her emotions and she cried. It was not a sob of sadness but painful howl of a heart that bleeds.
   I was silent for the whole time, listening only to her story. She poured everything she felt as she retold how her partner cheated in front of her. A familiar scene which I shared a few years ago, the anger and pain which I repressed for the past years came back as fresh as I could remember. She asked me, WHY THEY DO THAT? I was stricken as she did not know I was also haunted by that same question. I was not able to answer.
   I thought she already asked the most difficult question but she threw the most unnerving one. Would she leave him or not?  I honestly said I do not know.

    My mind wanted to tell her to leave the guy because that’s what my experience told me so. Trust binds the relationship and once it breaks, it is hard to bring it back. A cheated partner will almost never make it through the second time around. There will always be doubts and insecurity that eats eventually the relationship. The hate and pain will never fade and will never be healed. It will be like a cancer that keeps coming back.
   Yet I was surprised with myself as I advised the other thing.

    I said let her heart decides. If she can find love and still feels his love in her heart..then stay.
   Do not compare one moment of mistake to a million happy moments he shared. One single temptation is too impractical  to break the relationship, which was built on a hundred little sacrifices.
   The strength of one’s love is measured not on how many times you make that person happy and satisfied but how much your heart endured the sacrifices and the painful bled. It is unfair, yes it will always be unfair but then again love is not about what you will received but what you have given amidst all the pain.
   KATANGAHAN at KAGAGUHAN Yun! Yes, the definition of love is stupidity. Those who used their minds to experience love never loved at all. People who truly falls in love, understands stupidity. We do not find reasons in love; we all become stupid when we fall. We let go of everything because only one thing is  real and tangible -  what you feel.
   The hurt and pain will change the person and will change the relationship. But how it affects and ends, is dependent on the people involved. In a relationship, one is weaker than the other. But what makes it lasts are not the wise and contemplated moves of the stronger partner but the sacrifices they made. Let others call it stupidity but only those who already fall in love recognized what it truly meant.

The Thing A Fratman Fears

I got hold on my old college journal and read again my old writings and clippings during my college days. One of my favorite is a poem published in Today's Carolinian more than ten years ago. I did not write this but this one is good...really, really good. It always makes me smile...Here it goes. 

The Thing A Fratman Fears (By: Brian Dave Bautista)

A fratman does not fear the initiation rites,

He rattles not at the thought of being hit by a wooden paddle

or be kicked and punched over and over again.

He does not fear the cigarette or the

needle that would scar him for the rest of his life.

A fratman does not fear the fratwar.

He holds his metal pipe in the air and chases the foe

with a swirling glee of vengeance.

He dodges past flying rocks and projectiles just to

punch and kick you in the groin.

He does not shiver at the sight of blood of his

fellow brother, in fact this enrages him all the

more.

A fratman fears everything when this stupid thing

called love steps in.

He cuts his long hair, shaves his beard and

mustache and combs his hair.

He stops drinking and smoking. Worst, he stops

attending meetings of the fraternity.

And when the girl turns him down, he cries

like a child deprived of his candy.

Then the whole fraternity gets drunk....

others start babbling, others lie in the middle of the road

and some doze off.

Ang gugma gi-atay gyud!!!

BackPacking: Aloguinsan

A year ago, I already eyed this town after I have seen it in local magazine show - MagTV Na! The idea of paddling in a banca and cruising along the river is something I could not resist. So, when I returned from the upper side of the world, I hooked up with my friends and set out a South Cebu Adventure.

We took a bus going to Pinamungajan for a late morning ride, traversing the mountainous path with heavy rain (there was a typhoon at that time!) yet kudos to local government as the road was well cemented and no bumps! From Pinamungajan, we took a tricycle ride going to the next town Aloguinsan.

We rented a two-room bachelors pad unit and it was spacious enough for the five of us. We wasted no time and headed out to Hidden Beach. True to its name, it was so damn hidden! We have to traverse a rice field from the highway and to a mini forest. We were quite lost actually as we could not see any hint of sea or sand just trees, mud and rice field. Good thing there was a small signage that guide us that we were in a right path.

...i also HATED Accounting...

        I never imagined myself as an Accountant when I was a kid. I used to aspire to wear a white uniform checking out patients, but my parents were tentative if they can support my college aspiration. And such financial limitations made me decide to scrap my dream.  I don’t have a second choice after that, I end up confused, unguided and in DMD situation when I graduated high school.

            I took the entrance exam at USC with my mother’s suggestion to take up Commerce. I thought Commerce meant Business Administration ONLY but I was surprised there were many courses under it!

When I passed the exam my older brother told me to check the box for Accountancy and that’s the first time I heard about the course.(Honestly!)

                First day at the university I felt excited and also fear. I’m walking on a path which I have no idea whatsoever. AC11 (AC501 today), I was under by my favorite teacher Ma’am Dabalos. I could not forget her because I’m the first person called and asked me an IMBA question. Why do you choose accounting and what do you know about the course?

                I could feel how my legs trembled and wanted to dash out from the room at that moment. How the hell am I going to answer that question? It took me seconds to come up with the truth and finally I told her because of my mom and I don’t know if I have chosen the biggest mistake of my life!