Daddy Wisdom

I go with my dad  to work as our offices are in the same city. It’s been like that since I started working so that’s a good 2 years. Wow. That’s long.

I never really gave much thought to it until today. I realized that I spend significant amount of time with my dad. And it’s not just spending time as in simply being in one place. It’s more of spending time talking. That’s a big difference.

We don’t really talk all the time though. Most of those moments we spend listening to our favourite morning radio program. Yes folks, we have the same favourite morning radio program. Actually our whole family does. There would be times when we’ll talk about the stuff happening in the house, sometimes we talk about gadgets, shoes, and even twitter haha. And there would also be moments when we’ll talk about my life in terms of my friends, my relationships, and my career.

I don’t know if it’s just me but whenever I’m having a serious dilemma or there’s a major decision I need to make, I talk to my dad. And for some magical reason, every time I apply what he says, I feel good, whatever happens after.

My dad is kind of a person with a few words. But once he speaks, it’ll always be full of wisdom. I was talking to him just a while ago before he dropped me off to work. We were talking about my career path. I’ve been pestering my friends for advice on what should I do as I’m facing a very challenging problem in my career right now and it needs immediate action. My friends’ advices really helped me a lot but you’ll really feel that even though all your friends’ words make sense, there’s still something lacking. Our friends can only do so much for us. They can offer us advice but at the end, we’re the ones who still need to decide. It was quite different with my dad this morning. I spoke to him, told him about my concern and then boom. I knew exactly what to do. It’s like he took all the factors and came up with the best solution.

It was like I’m searching for this specific flavour of Ice cream. My friends gave me suggestions and all were so close to the flavour I’m looking for that it can serve as a substitute. But my dad knew the exact flavour down to the brand, ingredients and even where I can get it.

I guess parents have that kind of super hero power with their kids sometimes. They just know what to do with you. And to think that all it took my dad is 5 minutes of his time. I’ve been talking to my friends for weeks before that.

Powerful With The Way We Respond

People say we always have a choice. Whatever it is that we are facing, it’s always our choice to handle it. We can choose to handle it optimistically, seeing the glass half full. We can also handle it pessimistically, seeing the glass half empty. But I guess, even if we always have the choice, we won’t be able to choose what situation we are in.

It’s like I decide to handle this problem maturely but it was not my decision to be in such situation. It’s so easy to blame the people and situations that put us to such things and to some degree it’s understandable. We don’t have a choice regarding the situations we would be facing; the choice comes from the situation and not the situation from the choice. But I believe that life in general is that way. The mere fact that anytime after I write this entry, something good or bad can happen to me or to anyone I do and do not know reminds us that we are not completely in control of our lives. We faced and will be facing situations that are consequences of the things we did and did not do. No matter how we would love to blame other people and/or other events that lead us to circumstances that we don’t like, it’s not really much of our say.

Our say comes after the situation happened. Fine, something bad happened, an accident for example that is least likely to happen but it still did. Chances are, it was not our choice to be in that situation. I would have never wished for the bad things that happened to me. I would have never decided to undergo such bad experiences but now as I write, I’m still so powerless with the line of events that I’ll be facing. I have no idea what will happen tomorrow or next week, next month or next year. But the wonderful part is that we could always DECIDE the way to react, the way to handle, and the way to push through. Even if we are powerless to the circumstances surrounding our life all pegged in a vast time line, we are powerful with the way we respond.

I was able to think about this when I was walking along the road on my way home. I was recalling some bad experiences that happened to me. I know I handle things pretty well but I thought to myself that even though it was my choice to be mature and to be optimistic with my situation, it was not my choice to be in that situation.

But then again, power is given to what is important. And as long as we remain powerful with the way we respond to the challenges we will be facing, I would like to believe that we’ll be able to make the best out of life.