One Miss You Die
Quitters never win. Winners never quit. Maririnig mo yan kadalasan sa mga sportsfest. Patok yan nung grade school ako sa Montessori. Ginawan ko pa yan ng cheer. Pero nakalimutan ko na ang tono. Tapos biglang tutugtog ang We are the Champions. Sabay laglag ng confetti. Pana-panalo lang. Never quit daw so kahit 14-5 ang score sa volleyball (take note, grade school pa ‘ko, so up to 15 pa lang not 25), dapat manatili ang tiwala ng team na may score na 5. E service pa ng kabila. Wahahaha! Kami yata ung 14.
Minsan kelangan ding maging hindi winner. 'Ung iba, quit na agad. Suko na. Eh nyeta, 14 na ung kabila. One miss you die ang eksena. Wala na rin namang patutunguhan, pagod lang. Just like in life, we quit or contemplate to qit often times -- well, most of the time.
We quit relationships. Burned out ka na. Wala ka ng nakikitang future with your partner. Your relationship is already heading to Baguio para tumalon sa bangin dun. May iba sya. May iba ka. Lumalandi kayo pareho. Incompromisable differences. Grave misunderstandings. Umalis, nag-migrate, ayaw mo ng long-distance. You won’t see yourself walking the aisle with her or him. Busy ka or kayong dalawa masyado, walang time. He or she cannot fit in to your lifestyle. Maraming dahilan. Sometimes you simply cannot understand. What you do is to simply just accept and move on.
We quit jobs. Positive muna. Better job offer and benefits package. Career growth. Passion. Mataray na job title. Dagdag sa CV. More training and expatriation opportunities. Company name… Go negative. Sawa ka na. Not for you. Bratty bosses. Energy-draining shit. Gargantuan workload. Sacrificing time for yourself, your friends and family. Career stalemate. Unstable company. Being underpaid. Maraming dahilan. Sometimes you simply cannot understand. What you do is to simply just accept and move on.
We quit bad habits. Smoking is dangerous to your f*cking health. Drink moderately. Be high on school, not on drugs. Cleanliness is next to godliness. Keep the campus clean and green. English speaking campaign. Exercise is a must. These are slogans we read almost everywhere. Bumili ka lang ng kaha ng yosi, andun agad. Welcome kamatayan ang drama. Some people call it “clean living.” Others say, “Ang tatanda nyo na, ayusin nyo nga buhay nyo.” Pero bilang ka ng 1 to 1,000, ayun… kasama mo na ulit sa smocket at hihiram ng lighter sabay hihingi ng tagay. Tatag. Quit daw. Maraming dahilan. Sometimes you simply cannot understand. What you do is to simply just accept [we are bad] and move on.
We quit… showbiz. Finish schooling. Vacation abroad. Stressed from project-after-project. 1994 MMFF scam. Take-up a crash course on fashion design. Pregnant. Drug addict. Alcoholic. Wala ng nagpo-produce ng ST, TF, bomba, wet-look films. Career opportunity in Japan. Pero ang totoo, naghihintay ka lang ng tamang time para bumalik tapos magge-guest ka rin sa MMK at tiyak mataas ang rating! Maraming dahilan. Sometimes you simply cannot understand [or you understand pero ayaw mo intindihin]. What you do is to simply just accept and move on [to Japan].
There are many other instances that we choose to quit. We quit thinking pag may exam or pag may paper kaya we do kodigo or plagiarize. We quit our religion and be non-practicing or agnostic for some time. Others even quit lives. Maraming dahilan. Sometimes you simply cannot understand. What you do is to simply just accept and move on. Ayun, kapag suicide, move on na talaga. Move on to another dimension.
Quitting is somehow associated with negative thoughts of losing or giving up. We quit pushing ourselves up the ladder thinking that we might fall hard rock bottom. Hence, we settle for mediocrity or not to settle to any levels at all.
However, on a positive note, quitting is a humbling experience. It is accepting the fact that you have given everything. You gave your best but your best isn’t good enough. You gave your all but your all may have been too much… to the point that other things are being sacrificed already. It is lowering down your pride with a capital P. Sometimes a bow is not enough. Others need to kneel or to be on all fours. It teaches you how to swallow… your pride. (Ops. Too graphic. Too vivid.) No wonder pride is such a capital sin. Pero take note, if you simply quit with no valid reason at all, that’s quitting with capital Q and double T. Mamatay ka na. Isa kang mababang uri ng nilalang or ‘di ka tao at all. Wahahaha!
Makakamtan lamang ng tao ang tunay niyang pagkatao kung kanyang natatalos ang kanyang pagmemeron. Nananatili ang tao sa kanyang pagphy-physis (pusis) upang patuloy niyang malaman ang nagkukubling katotohanan ng kanyang pagmemeron. At sa kanyang pagpapatuloy, nararapat niyang matutunan ang pakikipagkapwa kasama ng pagpapakumbaba. Sa pagpapakumbaba, nakapag-uugnay ang tao sa kanya kapwa. Sa ganitong paraan, patuloy ang pagtubo ng tao, patuloy ang pag-alam sa aletheia, patuloy ang kanyang pagmemeron.
(C+ lang yata ako sa Philo)
Hindi sumuko ang team na may 5 points. Sumabit sa net ang service ng team na may 14 points. Umabot pa sila sa 7, then naging bola na ng kalaban. Ako nag-serve… service ace. The team with 7 points didn’t quit during the 14-5; they fought until they made it to 7. They just thought the ball was out of bounds, but then it was a lineball.