Life Begins at 30

Whoever said that life begins at 40 most certainly lived in an era when the life expectancy rate was at its highest. I’m close to 30, and I think I’ve learned enough about life to make me wish I could re-live mine so that I can be a better person and live a better life. I’m sharing here some important life lessons I learned before I reach 30, even though they may not provide solutions to world conflicts and debilitating poverty.

1. Take good care of your eyes.

I never expected to wear eyeglasses early in my life, but I had to when I was 23 years old. Wearing glasses is cool at the start. You can fool everyone into thinking you’re smarter than half your office population. But later on, you realize that your troubled eyesight is a hindrance to doing some activities you normally do without glasses, like playing basketball or watching movies. Worse, people soon notice that you really don’t look smart at all with your bifocals on. They surmise that you are just getting old.

What impaired my vision was constant exposure to harmful rays from the computer screen. Because I’m a writer, I use the computer most of the time and I would stare at the cursor for hours especially when I’m experiencing writer’s block. Also, reading in the dark during my younger days must have taken its toll. Maybe it’s not just a myth created by mothers to keep their sons from reading dirty magazines.

2. Watch what you eat and drink.

When I was in college, my waistline measured between 26 and 28 inches. I could easily climb flights of stairs and run the full length of a basketball court several times before I got really tired. My metabolism was fast; I could eat as much as I wanted and not a single ounce of fat would appear in my body. I would drink alcoholic beverages and wake up the next morning with a hangover but no bulge in my stomach.

Now, I wear size-31 pants, but when I relax, my waistline goes up to 33 inches. Climbing stairs has become a hard task and playing basketball has been replaced by a minute of brisk walking up and down the court. From the time I started working, I can buy any food I want but every centavo I spend registers on the weighing scale. I would drink beer and a bulge would hang over my belly for days and months until I drink again, so it stays there seemingly until forever.

3. Don’t be late for a flight.

Remember Viktor Navorski in the movie “The Terminal”? I saw myself in the shoes of this fictional movie character when I happened to miss the check-in time for an early morning domestic flight by just 15 minutes. I took the chance of getting on the succeeding flights, but Lady Luck frowned on me. I spent half a day in the airport, waiting impatiently, walking back and forth at the passengers’ lounge and check-in area with my luggage in tow, hoping there would be a seat available in the next flight -- all to no avail. Like Navorski, the airport became my temporary home where I ate, napped and even used the toilet once while keeping my luggage close at hand.

I was able to rebook my ticket for the next day, but the only guaranteed seats were for the last flight in the afternoon. Because I had to reach my destination as soon as possible, I went to the airport at 2 a.m. the next day, hoping I could take one of the early flights. No luck, and I became Navorski all over again. When I finally managed to board the last flight, I didn’t feel relieved. I felt only regret.

The harrowing experience will haunt me for long. And it was caused by my being late by 15 minutes.

I think of the times I also waited at the airport because the flight was delayed due to the airline’s fault. And I realize how life can be unfair: airlines have the right to be late, but passengers don’t.

4. Share your blessings with others.

I was not born a millionaire and I don’t earn enough right now to expect to be one when I reach retirement age. With my pretty decent income, I can buy the things I need but not all the things I want. Still, I’m quite satisfied with what I have.

I’m even happier that despite my meager earnings, I can still give to those who need a little help. Of course, I only share what I can afford, depending on the current state of my finances.

When you want to share your tiny blessings, don’t go out looking for beggars on the street or despondent strangers. Those who need your help may be your family, your relatives or close friends, like a sister needing extra money for home needs, a nephew wanting to buy tickets to a school play, or a friend needing a few bucks to pay long overdue bills. What’s good about helping people close to you is that you will immediately be rewarded with their warm appreciation. They will remember your kindness so that if someday you should find yourself in a ditch, they will most likely offer you assistance.

I believe in karma, good and bad. I have seen many times how giving to others is rewarded tenfold. It’s the same when you do something bad: you can expect trouble to come your way very soon. But don’t do something good and insist that others do likewise to you. Good karma doesn’t work that way.

5. Express yourself.

In this age of information, there is no place for apathy. Those who stay silent become a non-entity. Silence means a lot of things, but speaking out means more.

There was a time when I would just keep to myself. I was not sure if what I said mattered. Until I began trying to write a few words and someone actually listened to my voiceless muttering. That’s when my passion for writing started.

Through the years, I’ve learned that communication is important -- to learning, building understanding and forging ties. It helps a lot that the means of communication are now easily and widely available with the advent of the Internet and mobile phones. You can whisper a word from a remote village in your locality and somebody on the other side of the Earth can hear it. You can express your individuality and the whole world can listen. So I never go out without my old but trusted cellular phone, and I keep a blog on the Internet even if only a few souls can stand reading it or know it exists. At least my thoughts are there for the world to read, and who knows when everybody else would show a slight interest in what I have to say. Then it would mean the world to me.

Now, before you think I am this four-eyed, pot-bellied, tardy, karma-driven, delusional freak of a twenty-something, I’ll stop sharing my life lessons right here. Anyway I still have one more year to learn more and become a better me when my life begins anew -- at the age of 30, not 40.

*Published at Youngblood Section, Philippine Daily Inquirer, February 2, 2008

Link:
http://opinion.inquirer.net/inquireropinion/columns/view/20080202-116318/Life-begins-at-30

The rise, fall, and failed resurrection of Martina Hingis

For the past several months, I’ve been wondering what happened to former world No. 1 Martina Hingis’ comeback bid in the WTA. If I can recall, she made it to as high as No. 6 overall last year after winning a couple of titles, though none a Grand Slam.

Until I learned of her alleged “cocaine” use that forced her to announce her second retirement (Just like Mike). The reason behind her first retirement was self frustration; she couldn’t match the muscled players like the Williamses and Mauresmo power for power and injuries started to nag her body. This time, she said she just wanted to avoid facing such “horrendous” accusation, and so retirement was the option.

You see, Hingis was my ex-fiancée. I proposed marriage to her during the Finals of the Australian Open in 1997 when she defeated Mary Pierce to become the first Swiss woman to win a Grand Slam singles event.

From then on, we were inseparable. We always spent time in the living room. I sit on the couch and she was on television.

What made me fell in love with her was her superb tennis. A close second was her charming smile. She was the best tactician on the tennis court. She outsmarted every opponent, playing decoy and then attacking with precision shots. She was the modern Navratilova, after whom she was named.

Success came to her at a very young age. Fame, fortune, and youth combined are very lethal, unless one has tremendous self-control. Hingis, perhaps, lost her self-control that her fall came so suddenly after a 209-week stint as World No. 1 in women’s tennis and setting several “youngest-ever” records in the sport.

She made a comeback in 2005, but she was never the same threat to the throne now held by Henin and eyed for by the Russians.

Since Hingis’ fall, my excitement watching women’s tennis has dwindled. Yeah, Sharapova is stunning, but only physically. The others who really master the women’s game are those who Hingis termed as “man-like.”

I longed for finesse, guile, and beauty in women’s tennis. Only Hingis rolled all these under one sleeve. But she’s gone.

I miss the Swiss Miss.

Celtics, No Way!

For the record, I don’t hate the Celtics. In fact, the first NBA players I’ve known were Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish. The Celtics were great when I was growing up. I also like Paul Pierce because I’ve seen him in person and I’ve dished out eight assists to him in a shootout game at a local Nike event years back.

What I don’t like about the Celtics right now is their sudden clinging to the idea of greatness just because they have Garnett, Allen and Pierce. They have the best NBA record now, yes. But I believe the team is still immature and not ripe for an NBA title, at least for this year. (Apologies to Celtics die-hards.)

I even have a list of FIVE EARLY LESSONS that the Celtics need to learn before they can be considered a team destined for the championship.

1. DON’T BRAG ‘TIL YOU GET THE RIGHT TO. I hate it when Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce impose their superiority on other players, especially of weaker teams. Boston is leading by double digits and Garnett makes a dunk or Pierce makes a 3-point play, then they stare at the opposing players or act like a possessed superpower, adding insult to losing. Did Michael Jordan ever do that? If Jordan sometimes did, well he has the right to because he has proven his greatness so many times. If Garnett and Pierce believe they are great, they don’t need to overemphasize it. Sometimes being calm works more effectively.

2. DON’T BE HUNGRY FOR OFFENSE. Boston is now capable of scoring at will. But this doesn’t mean they should overwhelm their opponents with point production. Have patience in offense, the speed of making the basket doesn’t count. Make plays and make defense part of the offense. This will later on be good for the team. Rajon Rondo is a better point guard than Tony Allen but TA makes good decisions in offense most of the time.

3. EARLY WINS DON’T TRANSLATE TO A CHAMPIONSHIP. Don’t ever think that the playoffs will yield the same result as the regular season. Win all you want in the regular season, but make sure you still have energy to last you ‘til the next round and round and round. Superiority is not established in the regular season. Detroit knows that so well now. Don’t mind making records, they are just for trivia games.

4. BASKETBALL IS A MIND GAME. Think not about beating the opponent, but how the team can play better. And much better the next time. Think of other ways of beating the opponent than just by scoring. Power is useless if the mind is not working along with it. Don’t rejoice if you beat a weaker team. Be humble when you lose. Losing is okay if you get rewarded with weaknesses discovered and flaws identified.

5. IN BASKETBALL, RESPECT IS ALSO EARNED. Michael Jordan was so good the refs let him do his job on the court without interruptions of the whistle. He could get away with petty on-court crimes because of his reputation and because he gained the respect of both the players and the refs. In the same way, the Pistons can sometimes gain the benefit of the doubt on the defensive end because they have long been an impressive defensive team. The Celtics will not receive favorable calls or non-calls just because they have Garnett, Allen and Pierce. They have still to work out long and hard for that.

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There goes (again) my unsolicited advices; so never mind if they don’t reach Boston at all. ;-)