Just Another Game

So it snowed today. Yeah I know, this is New York, so that shouldn’t be a surprise  — until you realize it is only October. Well, you do experience something new everyday.

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New York, New York

I took this picture last Thursday while sitting in a soup kitchen on 51st and Lexington. The skyline was hazy, the wind blowing just hard enough to make all those umbrellas turn inside out. It was difficult to imagine that it was only half past four. It was New York’s way of saying — Hey man, this is the real deal.

If you look at my previous post, I sincerely hope that the big change in my geographic location counts as the “upward spiral” I have been waiting for. I am optimistic because of the loved ones I have left behind, my fat dog who I have had as my roommate for the past 5 years, and my friends who have managed to help me realize where I should be. I am doing this for all of them.

Most of all, I am doing this for my wife, who has had to endure several years of what you see in the picture above.

As I resume the activity on this blog, there are about a hundred things on my to-do list. Before I get into that, let me condense everything that has happened in the past few months. Since August, I have managed to get myself immersed in more work (what’s new?), take a much needed 2 week break (more on this later), and turn 31 (not ashamed at all to say it). So why write now? At 1:23 AM in the morning on a Monday? I am still up because I fell asleep for a few hours this afternoon.

Ask the people close to me, and they’ll tell you right away that I’m the type of person who doesn’t like a day to go to waste. If I had the flexibility, I’d want to eat breakfast at 5, be at the gym by 630, and at my desk by 9am, and be able to watch a movie by 6. Sadly, the traffic in Metro Manila makes this kind of schedule impossible. Instead, I am up by 430, at the office by 6, and off work by 430 at the latest. When people hear this, you’d usually hear “ano yan graveyard shift?”.

These people can call it what they want, but while they are still going after a deadline, I am already on my way home.

The main point of this post is this — growth isn’t only characterized by the job title that you have, or the places where you think you should be at, or the amount of money you should be getting paid. At the risk of sounding like some middle aged guidance counselor, growth can also be characterized by the time you have for your other passions. This can include sports, videogames, school, or whatever you think floats your boat. Some people even have to leave their current jobs just to find out how lucky they were.

If you think you are stuck, just keep this quote in mind. My wife Mariel got it from one of her Yoga instructors (who was just inspired by their studio’s move from the 2nd to the 3rd floor lol). You can also read about her experience here.

“It is when when we move around in circles and find ourselves in the same spot that we ask ourselves, ‘Why am I here again? Why is it that I never learn?’ When in fact, we’re actually moving in an upward spiral, not in circles; that when we end up in the same spot, we’ve actually gone one level up.”

If you’re one of the few who have managed to come back and check if I am still alive, well, here I am. Along with my nth blog theme change, I’ve also changed the secondary header of my blog to “So many sports, too few days in the week”. You have no idea how much I would like to define that phrase even further.