Showing posts with label ambition. Show all posts

Ang  Ulap at Pangarap

Ni Apolinario Villalobos

Sa kalawakan, nakakatuwa silang masdan

Lumulutang, animo bulak, iba’t- ibang anyo

Sa isang iglap ay napakabilis ng pagbabago   

Bigay ay ligaya sa nakakaramdan ng siphayo.

Sa kalawakang maaliwalas at kulay bughaw

Animo ay mga gasa at mangilan-ngilan lang

Kaya’t sa kanilang kalat-kalat na kanipisan –

Langit ay mistulang hubad kung pagmasdan.

Mga puting ulap, minsan ay nagkukulay abo

Badya ay masamang panahon, bagyo’t ulan

Sa kapal, kalawakan nama’y nalalambungan

Na nagdudulot ng pagkulimlim sa kalupaan.

Ganyan din ang buhay, mayroong mga ulap -

Sila’y pangarap, maraming hugis, kaaya-aya

Silang sa buhay natin, ang dulot ay pag-asa

At sa bawa’t tao, mga hugis nila ay magkaiba.

Subali’t kung mamalasin ang isang nangarap

Ang magandang hugis nito’t kulay ay nag-iiba

Nagiging abo, nalulusaw, hanggang mawala –

Na sa kalooban ng iba, ang dulot ay panghihina.

Subali’t hindi dapat manimdim ang nakaranas

Dahil may kasabihang sa kabila nitong mga ulap

Ay may pag-asang nakalaan para sa ating lahat –

Basta magtiyaga upang matamo ang pangarap!

Do Not Feel Bad

About Unfulfilled Dreams

By Apolinario Villalobos

There is a popular adage, “life is what we make it”. All of us have limitations, hence, it follows that the life we live is based on our best effort, but hampered by limitations. We cannot be like what others are. We can strive, yes…but the result may not be the same as what others have accomplished. The problem with some of us is that they dream to be like somebody else which is impossible. Successful people can be looked up to as models or be admired, but cannot be exactly copied.

Success is relative. The degree and kind of success varies. In this regard, to avoid getting disappointed, one should accept what he has accomplished based on his capability and just strive a little harder to be able to accomplish more. He should not feel bad, for instance, because he did not become a manager like his friend, or a physician like another friend, or a mayor, etc.

Those who develop grudge because of their “failure” supposedly, equate success to fame which is wrong. Others feel that just because they did not become famous like others, they have become a failure. I can say that such kind of feeling is a manifestation of jealousy which breeds grudge….nothing else. Success in life is the happiness and contentment one feels every morning as he wakes up to another day….it is the joy felt in what he does.

We should not be occupied with gawking at what others are doing or be jealous with what they have accomplished. Each one of us has a different kind of life to live and concerns much different from the rest. On the other hand, the jealous attitude is most often the result of unnecessary and unhealthy rivalry in offices and other work sites. This is called professional jealousy which affects the operation and atmosphere.

Finally, successful people may wonder why some friends have suddenly kept a distance from them for no reason at all that they know of. There is something for these shunned successful people to ponder about…jealousy developed by their friends who have the habit of comparing themselves with others. Such unnecessary feeling made them jealous resulting to grudge that time may not expunge easily. My suggestion: a change in attitude…by being positive in living one’s life….and changing it for the better.

Pangarap

Ni Apolinario Villalobos

Ang pangarap ay hindi maiwawaksi ninuman

Dahil itong bahagi ng diwa’y may kahalagahan

Nagpapalakas ng loob sa maalab na pagsikhay

Lakas na kailangan, habang tayo ay nabubuhay.

May nangangarap ng buhay sa loob ng kaharian

Kunwari’y hari, sa ubod-saya niyang  kapaligiran

Sa isang ungos, mga alipi’y  ‘di magkandaugaga

Sa pagsilbi’t pagkilos, lahat ay  nagkakandarapa.

May nangangarap ng yamang hindi mapantayan

Kaya’t lahat na lang ay gagawin, ano mang paraan

Mayroong gumagamit na ng katawan, hindi talino

HIndi bale nang mabuntis, makamit lang ang gusto.

Yong ang hangad ay madaling makuhang yaman

Ang puntirya ay kahit anong  pwesto sa pamahalaan

Naisip kasi nila, saan man sa pamahalaan ay may kita

Depende sa proyektong “lalagakan” ng nakaw na pera.

Mga batang iskwater, aking nakausap naman minsan

Simpleng mga pangarap, laman ng kanilang kaisipan

May gustong maging titser, isa’y pulis, isa’y mensahero -

Mayamang kapitbahay kasi, sa Customs, yon ang trabaho!

Ang pangarap, ‘di lang umiinog sa pera o kaginhawahan

Pati rin sa esperitwal na bagay, o mga gawaing simbahan

Mga pari’y nangangarap din, sana’y dumami ang bumalik

Sa piling ng Diyos, para sa buhay na maaliwalas at tahimik.

Mangarap lang tayo, ito naman ay libre, walang kabayaran

Sa masayang pangarap ang magulong iniisip ay ating palitan

Mahirap kasing sa kaiisip natin ng problemang ubod ng bigat

Baka maikling pisi ng katinuan ay bumigay, dahil ‘di ito sapat!

Pat’s Journey in Life

(for Pat Sulleza Pelletero)

By Apolinario Villalobos

The gauge of the person’s desire to succeed in life is the degree of his or her enthusiasm in achieving such at all cost. A couple of years ago, I met a girl who at a very young age became a discreet prostitute along Avenida so that she could pursue her studies until she was adopted by a retired couple who treated her like their own. Children in depressed areas that surround Divisoria, a bustling center for wholesaling of local produce, derive earnings by waking up as early as two in the morning to gather vegetable trimmings to be cleaned and sold along the sidewalk. Only when they have sold enough to earn a little for their allowance, do they prepare themselves for school.

There are more inspiring stories that can pinch one’s heart, not for pity but for admiration. One of these is that of Pat’s. Upon graduating from high school, she decided to work for her college studies to lessen the burden of her parents whose income could barely suffice for the needs of their family. When she applied as a Student Assistant in the convent of the Oblates of Notre Dame (OND), she was readily accepted because of her outstanding academic record and remarkable character.

The determination to finish her studies boosted her strength as she faced the task that lay ahead. Though a little shock was felt during the early days of her stay in the convent, she got used to waking up at 4:30AM to start doing the household chores, one of which was braving the early breaking of dawn to buy pan de sal, popular local bread for breakfast. Other things had to be done until before 11:AM as during the time, she had to teach catechism at Tacurong Pilot School until 11:45AM. The remaining fifteen minutes till noon was spent walking her way back to the convent. From noon until two in the afternoon, she had to do other chores, after which she was left with thirty minutes to prepare herself for her classes which started at 2:30PM, until 8:00PM. That was her typical weekdays and weeknights. Saturdays were for laundry and weeding of the garden and doing research. Sundays were of course for the Mass and whatever were left of the chores, and the evenings were for studies.

Hectic was not enough to describe the life of Pat as a Student Assistant, but it prepared her for more pressure when she worked at Ramie Corporation (RamCor) when she graduated. She topped the qualifying exam given by the company for applicants. During the early days of Tacurong, ramie fiber was one of the products that it proudly produced. Another company, Kenram, cultivated the fibrous plant together with kenap. As with the abaca fiber of Albay province, ramie and kenap were among the top exported products of the Philippines, until the plantations in Tacurong were supplanted with African palm.

The time of Pat’s employment at RamCor was also the height of the unrest in the area due to the Muslim-Christian conflict which necessitated the stationing of a contingent of the 12^th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army. Call it fate, but due to the unrest which caused the arrival of the men in fatigue, Pat met Ed (Eustaquio Edmundo Pellero), a Cebuano, and who was a member of the said contingent. As love can move mountains, so did theirs that also moved aside mountains of apprehensions because of financial limitations.

After her stint at RamCor, Pat taught for a while at the Sultan Kudarat National High School, now a Polytechnic University extension in the province. When the situation in Mindanao improved, the couple went to Manila and finally settled in Cavite. Pat still did her part as a working mother with her employment at the Philippine National Bank, until she finally decided to quit so that she could spend her time attending to the needs of their growing family. The couple is blessed with three offspring, Brendo Amor, Satea Mae, and Jonah Maureen, as well as, grandchildren, Lourdess Gem, Lorcan Gyo and Vaugn Eric Zain.

Pat grew up in a closely-knit family that espoused discipline and fear of God which molded her character as she was growing up. The traits could have been what the OND nuns perceived when she applied for a job as Student Assistant, and by her husband when he wooed her. She tried her best to imbue the same traits to her children who became successful in their chosen careers.

Pat is a town mate and our path crossed through the facebook after more than thirty years. I knew her as a chatty gal when she was in high school and college, making her easy to go along with. She could easily set the mood of conversation into something lively to put everyone at ease. Her satisfaction in life, proved that success is not spelled by money. She was successful in her hard-earned college degree, well-thought conjugal partnership with an equally hardworking guy, having equally well-disciplined offspring and healthy grandchildren, and today, contented as a retiree. All of these, of course, she owes to the only One whom she trusted ever since in her life when she embarked on a journey along its perilous corridor, beset with challenges.