I was
25. It was my birthday and I was
supposed to be happy. I was on a church waiting for someone. It was
getting dark and scary and gloomy, and I cannot decipher whether the
waving trees were shooing me away or greeting me a happy birthday. Each
minute became gloomier and wind was getting thicker, and the next thing I
knew, I realized I was in a murder scene. It was that night when my
Beleif was unmecifully massacred over and over again. She stabbed
through my hopes, cut through my passions, and selfishly sucking ever
hope I ever had, stealing all the air I could breathe and savagely kept
it all to herself. Even though the killer was sure the victim was dead,
she kept on stabbing him to rule out the possibility that someone might
and could resuscitate him.
The police report was a total
lie. The killer pretended to be a victim. She reported that it was the
heart who killed her, leaving nothing but an awestruck deathscene whom I
knew will haunt me over and over. and fucking over and over again. From
then on, my beleif in love, soulmates, happy every afters, destinies
were just complete and utter motherfucking bullshit... and so I thought.
I was
19.
She told me to grow up and be a man. I understood exactly what she
meant, but it doesn't mean it didn't hurt. We sat there in the same car,
beside the same bus station. She still wore the same half smile and
sweet scent which started as "thanks sa paghatid" and ended up as, "I
have to go, bus is leaving"
It was then I learned that
Love grows. The jokes a year ago didnt sound as funny now, the giggles
and smiles after all was not as perfect as I thought it was, we grew up
but not at the same pace and same route. I learned that priorities and
expectations will not always meet. It was then I learned the word
'compromise'. And knew what 'benefit of the doubt' means. learned that
there are things that friends see that you don't. I learned that
sometimes, I leave not because I wanted to, but because we have to.
Because I got what I needed to learn and she gave everything she could
offer. And so did I. It was just that both of you needed to get enough
space to grow, and that means growing up apart. From then on, I knew
Love is evolving. Is a process. Love is a living breathing being that
has demands, needs, likes and dislikes that changes year after year...
I was
17.
I've just seen Moulin Rouge for the 8th time. It was then I fell in
Love with the concept of Love against all odds, chances and gravity. Add
Wicker Park and Mula sa Puso and Maging sino ka man and Eternal
Sunshine of the Spotless mind to the stirring pot of moviegenic love
beleifs and I knew I have the formula to how to make myself an Oscar
Award Film. It was then I learned, Love makes sacrifices. and sometimes
one also has to gamble to win big. or lose big.
I was
14.
I was asked to change schools because Dad will be practicing in
Olongapo and my answer was a resounding no. I gave all the reasons known
to man. All excuses I could invent, all names of friends I could
mention. But they didnt knew it was because of one special girl. They
didn't know it was because of her. But neither did she. It was then I
learned conviction. And false hopes.
I was
11. I
was reading the book, Conversations with God. I've always thought that
that book was too heavy and too technical even for me until now. So I
just made it a hypnotic ritual to read every insomniac night until I
drown in the words and fall asleep. But at the end of the first chapter,
I knew I was living this life for a reason. For it said it was not mere
coincidence that I was here reading that page, for God has heard my
questions about God and Life and Love and School and People, and made
all the serendipities in sync to that moment. It was then I learned that
there are no coincidences, that there is a plan, that God always sends
saviors whenever I get lost from too much exploring.
I was
5.
Dad and I were standing at the Balcony of the third floor of our old
P.Noval apartment. We were looking across the skyline, just him and I.
Then he taught me how to whistle. He first pushed air from his mouth and
a few moments later a gush of wind passed by in response. It was pure
magic. I thought he was God who can summon the air by just whistling.
And when it was my turn, a few tries and a few saliva later, the wind
was kissing my cheek. It was pure magic, and I thought I was God. It was
then I learned I was made in the image and likeness of God. I tried
again, but this time, no air responded back. And again. And again, until
I heard Dad's whistle backed me up. Together we whistled and his loud
tweet perfectly matched my high pitched immature sound. The wind
answered back with a loud, comforting push strong enough to deliver a
message... that no matter how alone I might feel, someone will always
back my whistle up and get the things I ask for. It was then, too, I
learned that I will always be loved. It was then I was reminded the
power of wishful dreaming and getting those dreams. It may cost a try or
two, but I know I will get there. All I have to do is to Believe.
Now I am about to turn
26. What have I learned thus far?
The
word out there will hand you fliers of malice and slip doubt under your
doorstep. They will look down on you and render you incapable of being
who you are and what you are destined. Let them be. I am a man way too
big to be belittled, a I have a curiosity farther than any space probe
can explore, and an ego too stubborn from any bullying, pushing and
shoving.
I learned, like in Surgery, that sometimes one
has to hurt before one heals. And that wound healing is a process. Some
wounds take longer than others, and there are wounds that leave scars to
remind you of what mistakes not to do again.
I learned
that we are a summation of everything that we've learned when we were
25, 19, 17, 14, 11, 5 and everything in between. And as years will come,
I'll embrace all the good things that life will throw at me and all the
shit that comes with it.
And when the time comes that I
will again forget what I am here for, when people will try to murder my
beleifs, when failure comes laughing at the car window, and when the
wind comes dry in the third floor balcony, I have to look back, 26
years, and 9 months ago....
I was a
sperm.
I was on a mission. But I didn't know what I was there for, and didn't
know where to go. All I knew back then was that I was brought there out
of Love. Pure chromosomal love brought by passionate thrusts and burning
conviction. I was the strongest and the most able among millions and
millions that raced beside me. I survived a hostile environment that
designed to reject me. I was in a dark uterine labyrinth of pointing
down on me. I was on a journey with an unknown timeframe and
uncertainty...
but despite the darkness and bullying and competition and pointing down and fatigue and the millionth of probabilities...
I lived.
And I am here
and until now, I am on a Mission.