Foolish people never learn.
That is, what experience and life teaches them never really sticks. They remember it while the licks are still fresh, but as soon as the flesh cools down, the memory of the lesson supposed to be learned vanishes like morning mist towards the midday.
There is a reason why we say, "history repeats itself." The most common is that because it does. If you want to go academic, there are plenty of proof that this is true; the Dialectic, the Principle of Socio-Political Cyclical Movement, Psycho-Social Patterns etc. Even the Bible says, we look for things that have already happened, in the future.
Given this premise, it is then logical that we really should "learn from our mistakes", or "heed the wisdom of those who have gone before" or "remember the lessons of the past for reference to the future". Because if history repeats itself, it follows that the difficulties that come with it also repeats itself. In which case if you've encountered a particular problem in the past, you will encounter it again today or tomorrow and you're in trouble if you don't remember how you can solve it.
This truth applies not only to singular aspects of life but in multiple occurrences in a several alternate planes.
After all a man is not just a man. He is a son, a brother, a friend, a master, a husband, a lover, an enemy and the list goes on. And each of these alternate planes have its own history of decisions and indecisions. And all these realities are intertwined in a single complex fabric of experiences that encompass the entirety of a person's life memory.
It follows then that if a person sees a pattern that recurs several times in one of his life planes, it is understandable that he take measure to prevent any negative effects that this may bring about. If it persists, then he can continue trying to shield himself or he can simply change the way he looks at it. Maybe the pattern is an integral part of the fabric.
Most of the time, it is.
As such, there would be no sense fighting it as doing so would only disrupt the fabric and possibly even create a tear.
Don't miss the forest for the tree.
Friday, February 20, 2009
October 30 - Thursday Bloody Thursday
***Author's Note: This article has been written months ago. I had just recently had the chance to post it here.
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Last Thursday was an emotional roller coaster.
I accompanied my daughter to her school's children's party. It was okay. Aside from her throwing a tantrum early in the morning because she got into a "minor misunderstanding" with her mother regarding her hairstyle, she immediately lightened up as soon as we got to the school and she saw her friends.
They presented a Hawaiian dance and I think it was cute with all their costumes and inability to keep up with the beat. You can see they were having fun though. Some classes presented a variety of other dances and songs. It was fun. I enjoyed it.
When food was served during lunch, I heard some of her classmates complaining about not having enough cake or ice cream or not liking the way the spaghetti tasted or that the spring roll tasted funky or not being able to finish their food after just a few mouthfuls and all.
The usual whining that children of that age class usually had.
My daughter was quiet though and tried to finish her food. I have always trained my children to finish their food the best they could. So she tried - in between glances to my direction. She left only half of her serving of chocolate cake which was okay by me because my wife actually put a lot of it on her plate - I think she put half a cake on it!
The party was okay.
In the afternoon, I joined my officemates to tend to another children's party. This time, it was in line with the City Government's culminating activity for the observance of Children's Month. We sponsored a Trick or Treat event for street children.
That's where the roller coaster began.
When I arrived at the venue, the committee members were getting ready to feed the children. A local restaurant sponsored lunch for the streetchildren consisting of rice, fried chicken, buttered vegetables and a brownie.
It was pandemonium.
The children were rowdy and undisciplined. As soon as they saw that we were ready to distribute the food among them, they started yelling and shouting and scrambling to get their share. It reminded me of a movie I saw where a wounded man accidentally slipped and fell into a piranha infested pool. Knowing, Hollywood, you probably know how it ended for the poor guy.
Fish food...
After noisily finishing up their food in like a split second, the children saw that one of the committee members still had an unopened food pack. As soon as he announced, he's giving the food to whoever was still hungry, he got mobbed!
Huge mistake!
I was half expecting him to lose an arm or half a leg when 60 children lunged at him asking for their share of that one food pack. Poor guy!
During the actual trick or treating activity to store owners in the city owned mall, we got smart and assigned one marshall for every five children. We know how stubborn these kids can be so we made it as manageable as possible for the marshalls. Before they did though, the children gave a special presentation. They sang three songs; the Dagupan City Hymn and a couple other church songs.
It seemed as if the entire mall went silent when they began singing and I felt a small pinch in my heart as I listened.
It was done in acapella. Amidst the dissonant sound and their off-key singing you can hear them try to please everyone. With every rise and fall of their small voices and every wave of their skinny arms with the simple choreography I saw, for the briefest moment, a flicker of hope in their young eyes. Hope that there is, somehow, some bright future awaiting them.
I don't easily get moved by these things. I get glassy eyed watching a movie sometimes, but seldom do I get emotional about anything. This however, hit me straight in the gut like a blow from a professional boxer - okay an amateur boxer - or maybe even my 4-year old son. Point is that I got hit.
The hypnosis ended as soon as they finished their songs and started to get excited about all the goodies that'll start filling up their bags.
We fed them dinner afterwards and it was a sequel to their horror story of a lunch. Worse even, they started throwing ice at each other and when ice ran out, they started throwing food. One boy even chased a little girl who was making faces at him and gave her a quick right-hook that hit her smack on the kisser - but not before she hurled a left counterpunch that would have put most Mexican boxers to shame.
That night, as I was writing sales and email copies, I remembered the entire day. It started playing in front of my eyes and right at the computer screen like an old movie.
Just as I was banishing the memory to concentrate on work, my kids came to me and gave me their customary goodnight kisses. My daughter was a bit more tender as she hugged me tight and said, "Love you Papa" before giving me a peck on the cheek.
I want to rail and rant at the parents of those children we handled earlier in the afternoon. Their irresponsibility and inambition has left those poor kids with a future that may be best described by Ninoy Aquino's favorite song - probably their parents' favorite videoke song as well.
From time to time, we get a glimpse of that ever widening chasm between the haves and the have nots. But none is probably more mocking in it's blatant ugly truthfulness as seeing the gap in the faces of young children.
I can, at least, do something about my own children.
I just don't know about the others.
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Last Thursday was an emotional roller coaster.
I accompanied my daughter to her school's children's party. It was okay. Aside from her throwing a tantrum early in the morning because she got into a "minor misunderstanding" with her mother regarding her hairstyle, she immediately lightened up as soon as we got to the school and she saw her friends.
They presented a Hawaiian dance and I think it was cute with all their costumes and inability to keep up with the beat. You can see they were having fun though. Some classes presented a variety of other dances and songs. It was fun. I enjoyed it.
When food was served during lunch, I heard some of her classmates complaining about not having enough cake or ice cream or not liking the way the spaghetti tasted or that the spring roll tasted funky or not being able to finish their food after just a few mouthfuls and all.
The usual whining that children of that age class usually had.
My daughter was quiet though and tried to finish her food. I have always trained my children to finish their food the best they could. So she tried - in between glances to my direction. She left only half of her serving of chocolate cake which was okay by me because my wife actually put a lot of it on her plate - I think she put half a cake on it!
The party was okay.
In the afternoon, I joined my officemates to tend to another children's party. This time, it was in line with the City Government's culminating activity for the observance of Children's Month. We sponsored a Trick or Treat event for street children.
That's where the roller coaster began.
When I arrived at the venue, the committee members were getting ready to feed the children. A local restaurant sponsored lunch for the streetchildren consisting of rice, fried chicken, buttered vegetables and a brownie.
It was pandemonium.
The children were rowdy and undisciplined. As soon as they saw that we were ready to distribute the food among them, they started yelling and shouting and scrambling to get their share. It reminded me of a movie I saw where a wounded man accidentally slipped and fell into a piranha infested pool. Knowing, Hollywood, you probably know how it ended for the poor guy.
Fish food...
After noisily finishing up their food in like a split second, the children saw that one of the committee members still had an unopened food pack. As soon as he announced, he's giving the food to whoever was still hungry, he got mobbed!
Huge mistake!
I was half expecting him to lose an arm or half a leg when 60 children lunged at him asking for their share of that one food pack. Poor guy!
During the actual trick or treating activity to store owners in the city owned mall, we got smart and assigned one marshall for every five children. We know how stubborn these kids can be so we made it as manageable as possible for the marshalls. Before they did though, the children gave a special presentation. They sang three songs; the Dagupan City Hymn and a couple other church songs.
It seemed as if the entire mall went silent when they began singing and I felt a small pinch in my heart as I listened.
It was done in acapella. Amidst the dissonant sound and their off-key singing you can hear them try to please everyone. With every rise and fall of their small voices and every wave of their skinny arms with the simple choreography I saw, for the briefest moment, a flicker of hope in their young eyes. Hope that there is, somehow, some bright future awaiting them.
I don't easily get moved by these things. I get glassy eyed watching a movie sometimes, but seldom do I get emotional about anything. This however, hit me straight in the gut like a blow from a professional boxer - okay an amateur boxer - or maybe even my 4-year old son. Point is that I got hit.
The hypnosis ended as soon as they finished their songs and started to get excited about all the goodies that'll start filling up their bags.
We fed them dinner afterwards and it was a sequel to their horror story of a lunch. Worse even, they started throwing ice at each other and when ice ran out, they started throwing food. One boy even chased a little girl who was making faces at him and gave her a quick right-hook that hit her smack on the kisser - but not before she hurled a left counterpunch that would have put most Mexican boxers to shame.
That night, as I was writing sales and email copies, I remembered the entire day. It started playing in front of my eyes and right at the computer screen like an old movie.
Just as I was banishing the memory to concentrate on work, my kids came to me and gave me their customary goodnight kisses. My daughter was a bit more tender as she hugged me tight and said, "Love you Papa" before giving me a peck on the cheek.
I want to rail and rant at the parents of those children we handled earlier in the afternoon. Their irresponsibility and inambition has left those poor kids with a future that may be best described by Ninoy Aquino's favorite song - probably their parents' favorite videoke song as well.
From time to time, we get a glimpse of that ever widening chasm between the haves and the have nots. But none is probably more mocking in it's blatant ugly truthfulness as seeing the gap in the faces of young children.
I can, at least, do something about my own children.
I just don't know about the others.
gift or curse?
I'm not trying to sound like Spider-Man.
I like the guy but I'm more of a Superman / Wolverine fan.
Anyway, what I'm talking about is my ability to talk to myself in the second person and listen in the third (sometimes even the fourth depending on my psycho-analytic mood).
Although this has been a great help inasmuch as refining my values and analyzing my beliefs are concerned, for the past few months, the revelations I have been uncovering have been becoming more and more disturbing than ever.
In fact, going through it, I usually imagine myself as St. John the Divine as he was being shown the Revelation of Jesus Christ or as Dante as he descended into the rings of his Inferno.
As I go through this process, more and more do I hope and grope for that elusive and non-existent "Reset Button", or better yet, the "Delete Button".
Oftentimes, it is easy to talk about moral, emotional and spiritual restructuring, but it truly is an impossible task when you can't let go of certain things that you need to.
My second person (the ever-dependable confidante, the one I talk to) espouses, I can just concentrate on the things I need to concentrate on such as family and work. He can take care of all other things I am still having an attachment to and I don't need to know or worry about them. Sounds great, except that I would still be privy to whatever he's up to and that knowledge alone is enough to get me off course like a ship with a broken gyroscope and compass and is caught in the middle of a tempest in the high seas.
My third person (the silent but discerning listener, who's also one hell of a bad ass) believes I usually create my own problems by deliberately refusing to let go of past attachments. He says I'm one greedy son of a bitch, wanting everything but refusing to compromise and giving no quarter whatsoever. He's convinced I have sticks the size of Redwoods up my ass and they're up too deep they're poking my medulla oblongata and my hypothalamus - which explains my inexplicable moral-spiritual-emotional attachments and quirks. He recommends I subject myself to a jumbo-sized enema and rectal surgery by none other than Vlad the Impaler.
My fourth person (the one with logic colder than deep-space ice) says the situation is easy. I just need to make a list of things that I don't really need. Emotions should be set aside as well as any kind of attachment when making the list. Once the list is complete, all I need to do is to let go of those things. Leave them behind and move on and never look back. he says, this is my primordial "Reset Button".
Both my second and my third disagree with him because they know that as soon as I follow his advise, all of them would inevitably disappear. My fourth seems unaffected by this prospect. He's for logical solutions and nothing more. This is the reason why my fourth is usually left uninvited during "Introspective Meetings". But somehow, he still manages to be in the loop with everything.
Sometimes I think he's psychic.
Before anyone of you guys get any ideas, I'm not going cuckoo.
Far from it. I've never felt more sane than ever before.
I think it's the rest of the world that's going crazy.
I like the guy but I'm more of a Superman / Wolverine fan.
Anyway, what I'm talking about is my ability to talk to myself in the second person and listen in the third (sometimes even the fourth depending on my psycho-analytic mood).
Although this has been a great help inasmuch as refining my values and analyzing my beliefs are concerned, for the past few months, the revelations I have been uncovering have been becoming more and more disturbing than ever.
In fact, going through it, I usually imagine myself as St. John the Divine as he was being shown the Revelation of Jesus Christ or as Dante as he descended into the rings of his Inferno.
As I go through this process, more and more do I hope and grope for that elusive and non-existent "Reset Button", or better yet, the "Delete Button".
Oftentimes, it is easy to talk about moral, emotional and spiritual restructuring, but it truly is an impossible task when you can't let go of certain things that you need to.
My second person (the ever-dependable confidante, the one I talk to) espouses, I can just concentrate on the things I need to concentrate on such as family and work. He can take care of all other things I am still having an attachment to and I don't need to know or worry about them. Sounds great, except that I would still be privy to whatever he's up to and that knowledge alone is enough to get me off course like a ship with a broken gyroscope and compass and is caught in the middle of a tempest in the high seas.
My third person (the silent but discerning listener, who's also one hell of a bad ass) believes I usually create my own problems by deliberately refusing to let go of past attachments. He says I'm one greedy son of a bitch, wanting everything but refusing to compromise and giving no quarter whatsoever. He's convinced I have sticks the size of Redwoods up my ass and they're up too deep they're poking my medulla oblongata and my hypothalamus - which explains my inexplicable moral-spiritual-emotional attachments and quirks. He recommends I subject myself to a jumbo-sized enema and rectal surgery by none other than Vlad the Impaler.
My fourth person (the one with logic colder than deep-space ice) says the situation is easy. I just need to make a list of things that I don't really need. Emotions should be set aside as well as any kind of attachment when making the list. Once the list is complete, all I need to do is to let go of those things. Leave them behind and move on and never look back. he says, this is my primordial "Reset Button".
Both my second and my third disagree with him because they know that as soon as I follow his advise, all of them would inevitably disappear. My fourth seems unaffected by this prospect. He's for logical solutions and nothing more. This is the reason why my fourth is usually left uninvited during "Introspective Meetings". But somehow, he still manages to be in the loop with everything.
Sometimes I think he's psychic.
Before anyone of you guys get any ideas, I'm not going cuckoo.
Far from it. I've never felt more sane than ever before.
I think it's the rest of the world that's going crazy.
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