Angry People

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

I have my issues. You have your issues. We all have our own issues to deal with. There are different ways of coping and I don't think resorting to anger is one of them - definitely not. I can't seem to fathom how some people couldn't seem to control their anger, how they are consumed by so much anger and even rage in extreme cases. These people have very short fuses that anything can and will tick them off. More often than not, you would've to tread on thin ice around these people. They couldn't and wouldn't accept any criticism. It's their way or the highway. Everything will have to depend on their mood swings. Just imagine a light switch and that's literally how fast they go on and off. It scares me to think of the things that these people are capable of doing if and when the time comes that they could no longer control their anger, when they become blinded by so much anger, when rage becomes them. Maybe it's a psychological problem? I wouldn't really know. I couldn't understand either how some people could get so enrage that they seem to lose it altogether. You can no longer knock any sense into them. Anger distorts thinking. Anger makes you say and do hurtful and stupid things. Anger makes you deviate from the real issue at hand. Anger is like opening Pandora's Box, all hell breaks loose. Yeah sure, anger is an emotion, it's something that we feel whether we like it or not. We are after all, emotional beings. However let us not forget that we too are intellectual beings capable of rational thinking, of controlling our emotions and responses to any given situation - it is precisely what separates us from our cats and dogs. Things will go wrong. Things will not always go our way, or as planned or expected. So deal. Count 1 to 100 if you have to! It doesn't give you the right though to lash out on other people. We are all but in the same boat. You feel misunderstood? So does every freaking single person in this planet! So grow up and deal. I've always been a firm believer of diplomacy. Anger should (at least) be the last resort. Anger should not even be an option to begin with. For instance, powerful leaders of small and big nations alike would know that it is but common sense to exhaust all means and venues possible peacefully before even thinking about going to war. Otherwise, it will create serious repercussions and consequences in the international community. They will have to be answerable to everyone as mutual understanding, trust, respect and support will begin to falther along the way. There is absolutely nothing positive in anger. Anger only begets resentment, hate and hurt. Just as in war, there are only losers. To make it even more plain and easy, how could a simple businessman with anger management issues manage his people if he couldn't and wouldn't even control himself? How would he expect his people to respect him and to cooperate? Fear will never earn you respect. How would you expect to get your message across? How would you expect people to understand you? How would you expect people to be sympathetic towards you? I've always tried to tolerate people with anger management issues but I can only take so much. There comes a point when enough is enough. Letting them just be for the sake of maintaining harmonious relationships would just encourage repetitive destructive behavior. I believe that change should come from within but of course, they can always opt to seek for professional or spiritual help anytime. They might also want to try yoga. Who knows, they might find the inner peace that they've been looking for all this time in between stretches and meditations.

Trip ko to'

Friday, April 21, 2006

I really enjoyed Australia. Well just enough for me to want to actually live or even migrate there. I was looking forward to this year's summer or Holy Week trip to Australia because I've never been there but I wasn't really expecting much though. All I wanted was just to have a long break from work - anything just to get away. It turned out to be one of the trips that topped my favorites list. Australia was all positive vibes - place and people alike. It was all good. What I liked most is how everything is so laid back and how they have their "own" thing going on. I mean, I can barely see and feel any traces of Western or European influence around. As of the moment, Australia is the place to be - at least for me, that is. I don't care if the place is potentially boring as some may say or if shops close at 5pm. Really it's true. No kidding, they even close at 4pm on weekends! If only I could, I'd really want to try it out there for a couple of months or so. I'm actually contemplating on finding work in Australia. That is, if I get lucky. Also, I still have an existing contract until the end of February of next year so I guess I'll just have to wait and see until then. Nothing's definite yet though, I'll have to reconsider whatever options that I have next year. Hopefully, I won't chicken out when the time comes. I have this bad habit of getting cold feet especially on extra special or unusual occasions when I need to step up big time. I'd usually choose or take the easy way out as I'm quite comfortably used to how (or the way) things are already that when change presents itself, I get all shaken up. It's funny though how I often think about change but would end up getting cold feet when the opportunity of change comes knocking at my door. Sometimes I admittedly need to put in a whole lot more of effort in the things that I do. I need to push myself a little more to go the extra mile. I also think now is the best time to try, discover and experience something new and different. There's no better time than now. I'm not getting any younger anymore. I guess if I really want to make things happen, I'll have to really follow through. The culture will surely be different. The people, I wouldn't know for sure. Everyone has been fairly nice and pleasant though (except for this Mr. Russell Hilary - well he's been taken cared of by now, I'm pretty sure his superior would've already read what we had to say on their comments sheet heehee!). I know it wouldn't be all easy and fun. I would definitely need a great deal of time to adjust and blend in to the people and their way of life. After all, I've only stayed there for a couple of weeks and I was on vacation at that so I wouldn't really know how the real life in Australia would be like. Who knows, I may even want to go back to Manila after a while. Going into the unknown can be exciting, scary and difficult all at the same time but you wouldn't really know for sure, right? Sometimes you've got to take chances, you've got to take risks to know and figure things out for yourself. Whether you stumble, you fall and you get hurt, at the end of the day you just have to dust off the dirt, pick up the pieces, get up and move on. It ain't easy but it's not impossible either.

Wow Mali!

Saturday, April 01, 2006

We've all probably had some Wow Mali! experiences at some point or another. Well, I had one awhile ago. We had dinner at Heat and as we were walking to our table, there was this girl who was waving and I wasn't sure if I knew her. I was like, "You waving at me?" I smiled and waved back - as in with matching kaway pa. She looked familiar kasi. She looked like a classmate of mine in high school. I wasn't sure nga lang. It's been ages since I last saw her. I thought maybe she just gained a couple of pounds. I was just about to say her name, actually I blurted out her name already "X?!!" with matching "OMG! I haven't seen you in ages" expression when somebody rushed ahead of me. Turns out, I wasn't the one she's waving to. Talk about embarrassing! I had a good laugh though.

Stuck

Sunday, February 26, 2006

You've got to get yourself together. You've got stuck in a moment and now you can't get out of it. Don't say that later will be better now. You're stuck in a moment and you can't get out of it.

And if the night runs over. And if the day won't last. And if your way should falter. Along the stony pass. It's just a moment. This time will pass.

Respect for Thy Self and Thy Neighbor

Friday, February 10, 2006

Surely, we've all been occasional subjects or targets of unnecessary comments or remarks (read: crap) from people who are either a) tactless and/or insensitive - there's a very thin line separating the two b) insecure c) bitter - I guess envious and jealous people will fall under this adjective as well or d) worse, a combination of any of the above. Oh well, let's give these "pitiful" people the benefit of the doubt - due sympathies should be given as well. As discombobulating as this may sound, the initial assumption here is these people are usually just plain tactless - meaning, they don't really mean any harm. O nga naman, we're all guilty of saying stupid things at the spur of the moment. For as long as it's not abusingly repetitive in nature and so long as it's not something that we strongly feel about or it doesn't cross the "below the belt" standard then it's not something worth giving much thought or time of the day and energy for that matter. Most people hit or victims of such comments or remarks are quick to retaliate in the heat of the moment. I really don't think stooping to the level of these people is going to do us any good. Hate and bitterness will only consume us and worst, we unconsciously become like them - yikes! Although no matter how petty or small, whether intentional or not, such comments are most likely going to hit us real hard. It's not going to be pretty. It's going to hurt badly. Egos, prides and feelings are going to be stepped on. But really sometimes it's just best to just let it go, to shrug it off, to walk away, to laugh it off. Pretend to be ignorant (sometimes even more than we already are - for some people anyway hehe). We can't get affected all the time otherwise everyday is going to be a bad day - we'd only feel miserable. It's not worth all the hassle. It will only dampen our spirits making us feel miniscule and inferior. People can say what they want to say but at the end of the day, we know ourselves more than anybody else. We decide who we are and the person that we want to become.

Super Random Acts of Simple Kindness

Saturday, December 24, 2005

With an "every man for himself" dogma in this super material world dominated by superficiality, super egos and selfishness, I remain optimistic. Yes, I would still like to believe in the existence of simple random acts of kindness whether from people known or unknown, close or distant to me. Often it comes when we least expect it. It comes in the disguise of a small gesture. It certainly is possible to give or help expecting nothing in return and not having to offer any explanation, reason or justification. It's not really about my being too much of an idealist. Rather, it's believing in the potential good that we all innately possess - which, for some of us, may have just been misplaced or lost. I believe that there is such a thing as giving or helping freely simply because we want to - nothing more, nothing less. More than the big and extravagant things, it's those simple random acts of kindess that make us feel good all over and doesn't it make you just want to pay that super good feeling forward for others to experience as well?

Are you feeling Christmas?

Friday, December 23, 2005

Gosh, tomorrow is Christmas Eve already. Sure, ang lamig ng simoy ng hangin but I'm not feeling it yet though. Maybe it's because I've started working already - meaning too preoccupied with work and no more long vacations OR maybe it's because Christmas falls on a weekend this year - meaning shortened (already short) vacations OR I don't know maybe the subtle signs of aging are possibly starting to gradually manifest itself already - meaning I'm becoming more corny and more of a killjoy (yikes!). Just the same with or without the excitement or whatever fuzzy feeling, I still welcome Christmas with open arms. It's that time of the year when I truly feel so blessed and thankful for family and friends and for everything in spite and despite of.

Traffic Resolution 101

Thursday, December 22, 2005

I own a driver's license but I don't drive because my dad doesn't allow me and okay, I admittedly still need to practice. However, from a concerned "passenger's" point of view, here's my two cents worth of unsolicited advice to MMDA's infamous Bayani Fernando. Countless observations have led me to the inference that the culprits to Manila's worsening traffic condition are those traffic enforcers whose purpose is basically to just either stand there, do nothing or serve as street adornments and how could those more often than not almost half-empty humongous buses not catch my ire, oops, my eye was what I meant to say.

(1) In fairness to those blue men in uniform, some of them do serve some purpose. To a certain degree, some of them may have somehow helped in alleviating Manila traffic. However, there are some who are utterly useless and stupid. What I hate most is when they just stand there doing nothing to stop an intersection from getting blocked or clogged just because the stoplight on one side says green. Another thing is their habit of letting all the cars on one side pass first for what seems like eternity and sometimes traffic isn't even that heavy on that side of the road. Geez luiz!

(2) A no loading and unloading regulation should be strictly implemented all throughout Edsa. Those buses just start to boldy queue along Edsa waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting (okay, you get the point) to load passengers as if Edsa was some parking lot or bus terminal. Fyi, Edsa is a freaking highway! The number of buses allowed in Edsa should be limited to not more than what is needed at a given period of time. They should learn a thing or two from the organized bus routes of other countries (e.g. Hong Kong or Singapore).

What frustrates me really is getting stuck in Edsa traffic just to get home. I get stuck in Edsa traffic usually from Makati, all the way to Guadalupe, Edsa Central and Mega Mall only to find out that there usually isn't any traffic going to San Juan or Cubao. Those damn buses!