Person of the Month

You know, driving can be tiring. It's very relaxing but at the end of a long drive, when both your physical body and mind ache for rest, you will feel the stress up to the next day when your cells are still shaky,and you're not your usual happy,sunshiny, energizy self.

But today I drove to see an old friend to Mexico, Pampanga. That's over 50 kms I think,but I have not seen Lambert since college graduation, and that's more than a thousand miles of separation and over 12 years. He now resides in London, with a wife and a baby whom he named after him (same birthday, he told me), and he holds this get together for a baptism and a house blessing. He has a farm in Pampanga with mango trees, a pool, rows and rows of rooster and fighting cocks. He got married just a few days ago, too.

He is my person of the month because he is such a risk taker. He formed his own construction company after college with 2 other classmates, it went bankrupt, and disrupted their friendships. He took off with only $600 dollars and went to London with a student visa while working as a Mcdonald's crew. He didn't finish school there but got a permanent resident visa, and is now an area manager for the food chain.

That's nothing compared to a batchmate who's now an international Shell guy travelling to and from europe, to Bossing who's a real estate tycoon in the making, or to Eric Monzon (my crush hehe) who is a bigtime sales guy for Phillips Shanghai. But I admire him for struggling to clean up the bankruptcy he left, working his ass off, not knowing anybody in London but making his own mark. It's been 6 years, and his life has turned around.

Sometimes it takes people a lifetime to turn from loss to success; other people do not have it in their guts to turn the tide, and what's sad is that some even off themselves, lacking courage to go on in spite the loss. Some people say, "Bring it on!" Lambert's like that.

That to me is success- to find the courage and strength to turn your life around, to face life head on, and to do things when you're ready. It's not about the material security, it's knowing you will live on, mamamayagpag ka, in spite and despite of everything.