Whew! Like so many other people in the world, I am still in the "happy new year" mode. I am still at the point in my life where I look back and sigh as I remember (and try to forget) all the things that happened in the past year.
Yes, 2008 may have come and pass as swiftly as it could but I could still count a few things that I have learned in the short time that I had been living it. If truth be told, I could not quite remember what exactly I've been doing in 2008 except that I had learned something from it. I think I'm suffering from selective amnesia or some kind of memory disorder.
Anyway, let me share to you some of the things I have learned in 2008.
First is, of course, SELF CONTROL. I admit that my temper has always been a problem. I also admit that I have a problem in anger management. I could never control myself especially when I get irritated or annoyed. I say things without thinking or do things that are so irrational and would often regret it after.
I am still a little bit like that though not that bad anymore. I think I had become a better person in 2008. For those who know me and thinks I'm still bad, then you might be right. But I think you would also agree that I am no longer that bad. I was worst in 2007.
At least now I could already control my mouth and my hands. My mind reacts faster now than before. I used to retort offensively before but now I could at least bite my tongue and save myself from feeling guilty.
I still hope, and still trying, to totally control myself. Sometimes I do lose control and hurt the people around me but I am just thankful that its not that frequent anymore. At least now I learned the value of SILENCE at the right time and at the right place.
The second thing I learned is that I am never meant to be a leader. Responsibility makes my head spin, my heartbeat to go fast, and of course, my temper to go out of control. I am a disciplinarian and I guess I will always be. In my attempt to make the people around me understand the importance of duty, discipline, dedication and respect, I become a Nazi to them.
I torture them, maybe not physically, but emotionally and maybe psychologically also. I noticed that whenever I speak or I say something, they keep quite and assumes the expression of a cornered animal. Maybe they do it unconsciously, I don't know, but it really bothers me. When there is a need to threaten the writers, the other editors asks me to do it. In a way, I had become a terrorist.
I know I could never become a good leader because I want people to follow my instructions out of respect and not of fear. I don't even want them doing it for the sake of my position or the authority that is given to me by my position.
One other thing, and probably the most important thing I've learned is that, never question God's plan in your life. You don't need to reach the end of the tunnel to see the light, there is light in the tunnel, sometimes we are just too blinded by our selfishness and distrust to see it or notice it.
I wish I could have learned more. I wish could have done more. But of course, there are still 359 days left for 2009, I still have a lot of time to learn new things.
I will not set any standard for 2009 nor would I expect anything. I had learned a long time ago that it is better to do the right thing without telling others because, oftentimes, people don't do what they say they would do.
I just hope that I will be strong enough to face and survive whatever trials I am going to face this year. And hopefully, I would still be pounding this keyboard (or any other keyboard for that matter) 365 days from now.
And with this, I am leaving behind 2008 carrying with me the few precious remnants of the things I had learned from it. Hopefully, these are enough to help me survive 2009.
Happy new year!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Woman
Since the beginning of time, women has always played an important role in the shaping and changing of history. They were loved, hated, praised, and condemned. Some were enthroned and adored while others were scorned and burned at stake.
The way society views women has changed as many times as the changing of the millenia. History tells us of a great many women who had made their marks and left their prints in the horizons of the great. Through out history, a great many women has proved themselves greater and braver than their male countreparts. A lot of them has proven that women could stand on their own and fight the way men does.
Literature tells us the same. Though women has always been casted as weak, delicate, meek, timid, submissive and always has to be rescued by knights in shining armors, there are also works that depicts women in a more positive light.
Despite what history has proven to us and the many other things that proves women's strength, we are still leaving in a society which treats women as a secondary gender, weak and should be submissive to the whims of the males.
Despite efforts to change this view of women, almost nothing has changed. Yes, laws that protcets women have been passed and a lot of organizations are eagerly and zealously fighting for women's rights and protections but discrimination and inequality against women is still present in the society.
We are living in a time where we are taught [and indoctrinated] that male is the dominant, stronger, rational, and more logical gender. Books and movies tells us a story of women who are always the cause of trouble, the weakest link in the plan, the burden, the one who has to be rescued and the one who decides impulsively and are therefore prone to faults. Even fairytales are biased to men.
It is very seldom that we see women depicted as the stronger one, the leader, the brain, the strength and if they are ever shown us such then they are usually the villains. Women are quite infamous for being impulsive and tends to decide depending on their mood which tends to change as fast as the weather. A belief that is based on mere assumption by people who are, maybe, unfortunate enough to meet women who can't seem to decide for themselves. A trait that, most people refuse to acknowledge, is also present in men.
If you will look closely at history, its telling us that a lot of women has proven that they can actually decide for themselves and become great leaders.
I once had the chance to chat with an American soldier and I was surprised to hear his opinion. He said that what the Philippines need is a man and the Philippines will not progress with a woman president. I asked him why and he told me that women do not make good leaders. I was surpised. I must admit that Gloria is probably not the best woman to be made an example [though she had also proved herself a good example before she had made those blunders] but the statement was not meant for Gloria alone. That statement was made in reference to ALL women.
Not only that, anywhere you go, disrespect for women is still present. Thanks to pornography, alot of men in the society views women as sex objects; a something instead of a somebody. Women are abused left and right with and without the woman reallizing it. Lewd comments and off-color remarks have been so common that people tend to ignore it thinking that if you ignore it, it will go away. With or without malicious intentions, this kind of treatment shows how low the society looks at women.
Even in this modern times, a lot of women are still treated in a medieval attitude. A lot of modern men still treat their women the way medieval men treats thei women. Despite the liberality of this modern times, a lot of women are still oppresed and restrained. The society still has an inclination to think that women's place in the society is right at home and that their main role in life is to become a mother and a housekeeper.
For example, the police and military force of this country employs women and publicly acknowledges their rights and so on. Yet, if you will look at it closely women in police and military forces does not enjoy the same rights as the men. A lot of them are kept in the office instead of being sent out in the streets or in the field. Why is that? A lot fo explanation has been given but one thing is clear, women are kept out of it all because women are supposedly weak and can only do simple things. Women are for the homes not for war.
The sad reality is that only very few really appreciates the strength of women. Women are stronger than the society gives them credit for. They refuse to acknowledge that women is not only created to bear the pain of childbirth, to be a mother, a wife and a housekeeper. A lot of people still refuse to acknowledge that women are made as equals of men and are therefore capable of standing side by side with men. A lot men, even in these times, refuse to acknowledge that women deserves to be respected. And still, a lot of people has this fantasy that the sin committed by Eve in the garden of Eden is worth blaming to every single woman on earth. As if millions of women bit that fruit with her.
Every woman in the world, regardless of what she is, deserves the right to be respected and be given the chance to prove themselves. Every woman has the strength that could match that of men, the mind that could compete with them. A woman should not be judged from a sin she did not commit. Every woman varies, just like every man is different. Not everyone is impulsive, not everyone needs rescuing. Man and Woman was created equally. And it should stay that way.
The way society views women has changed as many times as the changing of the millenia. History tells us of a great many women who had made their marks and left their prints in the horizons of the great. Through out history, a great many women has proved themselves greater and braver than their male countreparts. A lot of them has proven that women could stand on their own and fight the way men does.
Literature tells us the same. Though women has always been casted as weak, delicate, meek, timid, submissive and always has to be rescued by knights in shining armors, there are also works that depicts women in a more positive light.
Despite what history has proven to us and the many other things that proves women's strength, we are still leaving in a society which treats women as a secondary gender, weak and should be submissive to the whims of the males.
Despite efforts to change this view of women, almost nothing has changed. Yes, laws that protcets women have been passed and a lot of organizations are eagerly and zealously fighting for women's rights and protections but discrimination and inequality against women is still present in the society.
We are living in a time where we are taught [and indoctrinated] that male is the dominant, stronger, rational, and more logical gender. Books and movies tells us a story of women who are always the cause of trouble, the weakest link in the plan, the burden, the one who has to be rescued and the one who decides impulsively and are therefore prone to faults. Even fairytales are biased to men.
It is very seldom that we see women depicted as the stronger one, the leader, the brain, the strength and if they are ever shown us such then they are usually the villains. Women are quite infamous for being impulsive and tends to decide depending on their mood which tends to change as fast as the weather. A belief that is based on mere assumption by people who are, maybe, unfortunate enough to meet women who can't seem to decide for themselves. A trait that, most people refuse to acknowledge, is also present in men.
If you will look closely at history, its telling us that a lot of women has proven that they can actually decide for themselves and become great leaders.
I once had the chance to chat with an American soldier and I was surprised to hear his opinion. He said that what the Philippines need is a man and the Philippines will not progress with a woman president. I asked him why and he told me that women do not make good leaders. I was surpised. I must admit that Gloria is probably not the best woman to be made an example [though she had also proved herself a good example before she had made those blunders] but the statement was not meant for Gloria alone. That statement was made in reference to ALL women.
Not only that, anywhere you go, disrespect for women is still present. Thanks to pornography, alot of men in the society views women as sex objects; a something instead of a somebody. Women are abused left and right with and without the woman reallizing it. Lewd comments and off-color remarks have been so common that people tend to ignore it thinking that if you ignore it, it will go away. With or without malicious intentions, this kind of treatment shows how low the society looks at women.
Even in this modern times, a lot of women are still treated in a medieval attitude. A lot of modern men still treat their women the way medieval men treats thei women. Despite the liberality of this modern times, a lot of women are still oppresed and restrained. The society still has an inclination to think that women's place in the society is right at home and that their main role in life is to become a mother and a housekeeper.
For example, the police and military force of this country employs women and publicly acknowledges their rights and so on. Yet, if you will look at it closely women in police and military forces does not enjoy the same rights as the men. A lot of them are kept in the office instead of being sent out in the streets or in the field. Why is that? A lot fo explanation has been given but one thing is clear, women are kept out of it all because women are supposedly weak and can only do simple things. Women are for the homes not for war.
The sad reality is that only very few really appreciates the strength of women. Women are stronger than the society gives them credit for. They refuse to acknowledge that women is not only created to bear the pain of childbirth, to be a mother, a wife and a housekeeper. A lot of people still refuse to acknowledge that women are made as equals of men and are therefore capable of standing side by side with men. A lot men, even in these times, refuse to acknowledge that women deserves to be respected. And still, a lot of people has this fantasy that the sin committed by Eve in the garden of Eden is worth blaming to every single woman on earth. As if millions of women bit that fruit with her.
Every woman in the world, regardless of what she is, deserves the right to be respected and be given the chance to prove themselves. Every woman has the strength that could match that of men, the mind that could compete with them. A woman should not be judged from a sin she did not commit. Every woman varies, just like every man is different. Not everyone is impulsive, not everyone needs rescuing. Man and Woman was created equally. And it should stay that way.
2008 is officially over. Thank God!
And I mean that literally.
The past year has been a year of struggles, trials and discovery. It was a year of tears and heartbreaks but it was also one of the best years of my life.
This has been a year of discovery. A year full of surprises, fun and arguments. A year which tested the strength of the bond we had fostered with our friends.
2008 tested our patience and determination as we struggled in the student publication. It tested our sanities as we try to do our best to keep the publication from falling apart. This is the year wherein our dearest and best writers left us; Riza, Mommy Maja, Mommy Yowh, Ate Merl, Kuya Micho, Ate Nelyn, Ate Steph.
A year where we found our strengths and weaknesses. A year of responsibility. A year of cold wars and petty arguments.
Now it is over. 2008 has come and passed. What have we learned?
2009 is finally here. What will it offer us?
For better or for worse, I know God will be with us.
The past year has been a year of struggles, trials and discovery. It was a year of tears and heartbreaks but it was also one of the best years of my life.
This has been a year of discovery. A year full of surprises, fun and arguments. A year which tested the strength of the bond we had fostered with our friends.
2008 tested our patience and determination as we struggled in the student publication. It tested our sanities as we try to do our best to keep the publication from falling apart. This is the year wherein our dearest and best writers left us; Riza, Mommy Maja, Mommy Yowh, Ate Merl, Kuya Micho, Ate Nelyn, Ate Steph.
A year where we found our strengths and weaknesses. A year of responsibility. A year of cold wars and petty arguments.
Now it is over. 2008 has come and passed. What have we learned?
2009 is finally here. What will it offer us?
For better or for worse, I know God will be with us.
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