Excited

I took a leave today after a very tense filled week. Not to rest but to work on a project that came from an idea from an overseas trip last year.

It seems to be moving as planned and tonight, we get to present it to the man who will either give it a thumbs up or its back to the drawing board.

Whatever it is, I do hope it works out as I dreamed it to be : an idea I came up with turning into a business venture that brings me back as an entrepreneur, a chance to work with my wife, a chance to help those who need a break like me.

I have very high hopes and expectations for this and I am very excited about it.

I'll tell you more about it soon.

Hope

Former Singapore PM Lee Kwan Yew once said that religion gives hope to those who believe which is a good thing.

In my case, hope is when you keep trying and thinking of ways to make your life better. You need patience and tenacity to be able to pull this off otherwise you become hopeless.

Just the other day, an idea entered my mind and I did not stop at it so I sent a proposal to a friend. An mere idea now gives hope to my family in these tough times.

I just "hope" it works. But by the way things are going, there is light at the end of the tunnel. A brainstorming weekend and a research and development session also turned out into bonding time with my family which is a wonderful thing.

It is tiring sometimes to get over each hurdle day by day. But when something like this comes up, it seems so easy to overcome each hurdle.

We have exactly 3 weeks before we go through the final test. Funds are dwindling, resources are limited, but hopes are high......very high.

I keep telling myself that if I will be able to pull this off, I will help those who are in need in my family.

Good luck to us all....

Of Door Stoppers, Friends to the End and Starting the Year with an Anxiety Attack

The year ended quietly and simply ( for my family that is), issues between families were settled and problems were forgotten while the holiday vacation lasted.

New years should always be started right, so the entire year runs well. On the contrary, mine started with a "BANG" initiated by our problem star of the show "Mr. Anxiety Attack". His problems need to be the whole family's problem, his sleepless nights are our sleepless nights as well. Now he needs to see a psychiatrist at PHP 3,500 a pop?

For someone who barely does anything in life, he is too expensive to maintain, financially, emotionally, psychologically. Come to think of it, I should be the one to see a shrink? No way, not the type to give up as I see these are all flavors my life has to offer me and all I can say is it could have been worse.

Another flavor is the so called "friend to the end type", the one who seems to care but waits for the benefits you can bring him whatever it may be. Sometimes to the point of being his clown. But in the end, I am the one laughing the most.

At the time I needed help most, was the time this character of a person trades me for an expensive door stopper. You know what door stoppers are used for....stopping doors from closing or opening. For him that is, but this one could have tied me over a couple of months without having to "down grade". Well I guess spreading the sunshine doesn't exist after all. Even if you have no use for the damn thing.

Honestly this year seems like a tough one for me. But in the end, I will come out of this smiling again. Just like the past years. At least now I know who I should be with.

Bring it on!

Alive and Living

It is quite ironic to see people close to you, in their retirement age, doing nothing. Putting myself in their shoes, a lot of "things to do" would come to mind ( bucket list not included as I believe these things are to be accomplished as you go on in life).

But like my wife put it : "They are not like you so....."

Anyway, just for opinion's sake, if only I had that kind of time and resources in my hands, I would:

1. Keep doing triathlons till I'm over 70

2. Do an epic bicycle ride

3. Plant herbs, vegetables, and fruits in my little farm

4. Write poetry

5. Write a book about my uncle who died in the 60's

6. Learn to play a new instrument

7. Keep playing the drums and percussions and form a classic rock band

8. Paint a self portrait

9. Teach in high school preferably about Philippine History

10. Trace my roots

11. Learn how to cook and develop signature dishes for friends and family to enjoy

12. Make my own wine

13. Perfect my method of making pickled mangoes

14. Learn a craft like motorcycle repair, welding, etc.

15. Continue blogging about anything under the sun

........and the list goes on

Sad to say, these people, despite their time, resources, and talent would choose to stay at home and do nothing. Because of this, they become grouchy, unpleasant, engage in gossip, and stare at nothing waiting for other people to make something happen.

The sucks and honestly I can't do anything about it because it's actually none of my business.

So back to the daily grind where we get in that rat wheel and run run run, eat sh%t, sleep, wake up in the morning, and do the same things over and over again until we reach the point where we need to think of what to do.

That is the reality of life, and I will enjoy running the rat race till its time to stop. And stopping means not doing anything but doing what you want, when you want to do it.

Something to really look forward to.....it just makes life more exciting.

Year End

For some strange reason, I visited my own blog after a long long time. Based on my last entry, almost a year since I last posted anything.

Last topic was "The Toughest Sport in the World" and I guess, without going over the post, I talked about how I planned to do this and do that.

Well, do all of them was more like it. In retrospect, I thought it was going to be a bad year for me. I lost a business that was generating good income for the family so things were rough after the second half of this year, but in the end, its been all good.

I finished 2 major triathlons ( Subit and Camsur Ironman 70.3), and I am so far in the best shape of my life.

I've joined a lot of 5, 10, and 21k races, a mountain bike race, another mountain bike race this weekend, and next week, the year ender : The EXTRI

On the business side, I was able to invest in a trading company, might even open a store before the year ends. I was able to visit Australia, a beautiful resort in Bicol, and have more resorts to visit in the months to come.

My kids are all OK to say the least, and my wife and I are falling deeply in love more and more.

What else can I ask for?

........more money? Maybe just enough to make ends meet will make us all happy

With all these good things and bad that happened....I look forward to the coming year.

The Toughest Sport in the World

I visit my blog after months of not posting anything. Last post I think was August and after that, I have not written anything since.

My life has changed since my last post as I have indulged in a new and very challenging sport: Triathlon.

This all started when I was allegedly over training and getting slower because of my strength training so I had to drop everything and switch to swimming for my upper body. Since I have already been running for over a year, swimming was the only discipline I had to learn to be able to try out this sport, a sport that I have been dreaming to do for many years.

Fortunately, I found out that one of my friends was also getting into it. We never trained together but through constant text messages to each other about training and race schedules, we finally joined our first event in August...and the rest is history.

I didn't think I would get to like it as the demands of training was taking a toll on my body needless to say my social life. In fact, I tried to squeeze in a party that almost put all my training in the trash bin.

So to cut a long story short, I ended up at a fun tri or try a tri at UPLB. I had so much fun, I wanted to up it a bit and join a sprint tri and loved every moment of it. I was using a mountain bike then, so to improve my time, I purchased a road bike and fitted it with aerobars and a tri seat, thanks to a good friend who supplied me with them.

Train was all I did, and I felt great. I also felt that anything that got in the way of my training was a hassle that set me back major. All my problems became a blur and everything in life just passed like nothing happened. I can say it was working for me and I was like an evangelist telling everyone I knew to take up the sport.

It infected all of them like a virus to the point that a team was formed with a captain, training coaches and an event that would launch the team. Well, that event that was held a few weeks ago would become one of the memorable events for all of us. The team won 8 medals in different age group categories and third overall. Not bad for a launch.

Lately, I have been finding myself wanting to train more. As I write this blog, I deprive myself of much needed sleep as I type and wait 30 minutes more to call a stupid customer service rep who messed up one of my orders. Situations like these saden me as I value my much needed zzzz's but that's life and I have been there and done that so enough of feeling sad. What needs to be done should be done as I try to keep my customer happy for a delivery that I promised to be completed before Christmas day.

It's tough loving this sport and trying to balance your day to day with training and family life. Funny thing is you get to work everything out when you need to and everything falls in place.

In a few more days, I will be spending 2 days alone with my wife and kids. No training, just bonding and I am so anxious because I want the 2 days to be perfect in the sense that I will not receive a work related call. It will be my first vacation in a long time and just thinking about it makes me smile.

So back to work again for me at 2:41am, there is a problem and it needs to be solved at once. I have a strong feeling it will as I forget about it at the beach sipping my cold drink in the company of my loved ones. Life can't be any better than that can't it?

Marked for Life

My son came home last night with a tattoo on his forearm. I had mixed reactions but to tell you the truth, I did'nt mind at all.

I was more worried about thequality of workmanship and the effect it might have when he tries to find a job.

I admire him for being brave enough to be himself. Unlike me, I made sure my tattoos could not be seen when I wore business clothes to play safe just in case.

It shows that he wants to be himself and I wish all the best for him in the future.

The fruit definitely does not fall far from the tree.

I'll post a picture of it soon.