Its one of Steven Covey’s way of letting others help themselves, by first understanding themselves better. It is also closely tied to his 7 habits… by way of habit number 3: ‘First Things First’, which says that one must know what is important in their lives – and in said manner, get to know one’s priorities better. This helps anyone into becoming an Independent person – one filled with a personal victory.

To do this, one builds up his/her own ‘mission in life’ through a series of questions… geared as to how they see themselves, or how they perceive themselves as having certain traits (or wanting to strive to have said traits – hence making it a goal).

I did mine… and once in a while, I revisit it – to both validate and update what I’d written down.

Now – in case I’ll transfer machines, or in the possible chance that I would misplace certain files or suffer crashed drives, well, I’ve decided to place my Journey Mission Statement in my personal blog, thus making it easily accessible anywhere I may be in – so long as there is internet connection, that is. So here it is…

My Journey Mission Statement:

Explore what the universe has to offer as captain of a Starship:

I see my life as a journey… an exploration – not unlike those fictional Captains of Star Trek; meeting new people, experiencing different cultures, being ready to face any challenge and eventually gaining new allies through the process of ‘First Contact’ – of diplomacy, of cooperation and trust. I would then be ready to fit the roles of being a leader, peace keeper, and ambassador of goodwill any time the need arises.

I have confidence in what my team can do. With the resources we can muster and our often times differing – yet never disrespectful views, we can understand any mystery, overcome any obstacles and surmount any obstacles. Where the challenges are difficult, diversity and unity will help us come up with new – and even better solutions.

I keep the counsel of trusted and capable friends and family, and should the need arise –as it will most often to, I’m not afraid to make decisions that will affect my life and theirs – though I will always tread with caution for I know what I do will affect their well being, and they should not suffer for my mistakes; my pride.

I may stumble, for I am not prefect… but with every mistake comes a lesson learned. I will not ignore these lessons. One lesson I will always heed is that you can get up whenever you fall. Only you can decide to give up.

As would a Starship captain – I ‘boldly go where no one has gone before’… life is filled with risks – and these risks hide opportunities. Fortune favors the bold…  but let us likewise remember the difference between bold and arrogant, brave and foolhardy. Wisdom and Compassion will ensure that my leadership will remain sound and principle-based. I need always keep this in mind.

Build a legacy for better understanding and tolerance:

I aspire to make the world a better place, by emphasizing on improving communication and espousing a better understanding and acceptance – not just tolerance, of others. Though tolerance helps keep one civil to what does not meet one’s norm or expectations, understanding leads to acceptance of the fact that we are not always right – and if we are, we may not always be the only ones that are right.

We need to understand the others’ viewpoints – to better realize where they are coming from – in this regard, I follow Steven Covey’s statement – “Seek first to understand, then be understood”. This can lead me through difficult situations that, if not treated carefully, can easily escalate into an argument. Passions are fine, but they should be tempered on any table of negotiation or debate. Ideas – the best of these, regardless of to whom they come from, must surface and guide us all.

Exerting effort for negative actions are equally tiring – if not more so than those of positive efforts. Negative traits or thoughts help destroy the efforts of others – it shows no respect, and no concern for what is beautiful or right.  It put one on the defensive and extra effort may be necessary to provide for safety. Why bother wasting time on negatives? Positives are easier to focus on – I help others get inspired with positive thoughts and, in the process, these positive energies energize me with adrenaline and inspiration… the natural high needed by anyone who wishes to make a positive impression -  to leave a legacy for others to enjoy.

I will focus on living a positive note – not falling into or being baited to fight on any negative manner. Respect for others… their beliefs and their right to practice such beliefs, so long as such does not forcefully undermine mine or another’s belief in one way or another… each one is entitled to the freedom of following their beliefs. Mutual respect will have to be practiced and accepted.

We will always need a surplus of patience, as we put one’s self in the other’s shoe to understand their concerns and needs. After all, we may accidentally be giving them some pain. Ignorance may be an excuse – but damages done by these need to be addressed – with anyone aggrieved, respectfully and fairly compensated. In this regard, an eye for an eye may not be the best compensation – for getting even only gives a temporary succor… and it does not uplift anyone’s karma by doing so.

Too often do I see indifference, bias… I strive not to add to these global woes.

Ensure my children’s future as successful, independent and caring leaders:

My children are my real legacy – they should and will endure, long after I am gone. My main responsibility in life is to give them the important lessons of wisdom and intelligence – those two traits that can make them strive for a better life, and allows them to be better human beings – to be looked upon as great and caring leaders.

Independence is important and I strive to make them learn to stand on their feet – knowing full well that they are capable of whatever challenges life will throw at them. They should use this with compassion – with principles, for being intelligent should not mean superior to the other’s detriment.

My children will continue in this world when I am gone – they will need all the rules and guidelines that they can use in life – I cannot promise to be with them forever nor be beside them at all times… I can make it a point though, that even if I’m gone, my lessons – my beliefs… my principles… will continue to help ensure their safety… their efficiency and effectiveness. They shall hopefully act -  always for the betterment of the world.

Ensure the continuity of a worthy Vision…

In this respect, I consider myself a dreamer, an idealist and leader with a legacy and responsibility to uphold.

Global citizenship needs to make the world a better place to live in – unfortunately, this is not an easy task… and it will take time, maybe even generations – to help fulfill this goal.

Like any journey – it has to start somewhere, and the steps need not be grand, it can start with me – until I can emulate what it is I wish to be – then I can start influencing others within my circle of influence, and hope that they, in turn, will influence others as well. Like any journey, it needs to start small… and when I say small, not necessarily with a small project – but with the future generation. Today’s children… today’s immediate environment can be the focus of these changes.

This life promises to be an experience worth doing and one worth sharing.

So I take those small steps that will lead to bigger steps… and the fulfillment of said Mission.

note: this is the second iteration to said Mission Statement which was originally done using tools by Franklin Covey… then refined by my adding things to the key ideas.

I highly recomend anyone to come up with their versions of a mission statement by going to the Covey site:

http://www.franklincovey.com/msb/

Try it… it will help you.

One book done simply refers to the Star Trek Destiny – Book III that I had just finished reading. I mean, with Facebook and all, I tend to spend less ‘reading quality time’ – a behavior I would like to ensure I do not take for granted.

But spend less reading time, I did seem to have – that is why I try to make it a point that no matter how busy I was, how tired I might have been… if i could squeeze a few minutes (or an hour) to read a chapter (or two… or three) of a book I’d be reading, well that is exactly what I did to finish reading said book.

How was said book? David Mack (author of the Star Trek Destiny trilogy) is a great sotry teller, and his canvas this time covered a great cast of characters – and far as I saw (read) it, I have to say that he was ‘spot on’ with the Next Gen characters (meaning Picard and company), and he likewise wove a tapestry of seemingly unconnected scenes – leading to the untold (until now) origin of one of Star Trek’s great threats – the Borg.

I’d definitely say that if you’re a fan, you will have to read this opus.

Now, as for the one that arrived… I’ve been reviewing books for Thomas Nelson Publishing – well… this is actually the second time I’m doing it. The arrangement is, they send me a book for free – I read it then post a review in their client’s website (in my case, I chose Barnes and Nobles) and my website.

When that’s done, I get to choose another book.

This second book I’m reviewing is “Everyday Greatness – Insights and Commentary by Steven R. Covey”

I chose this book about almost a month ago, and frankly wondered if said book would definitely reach me (see, my first book review was an ebook).

So… having finally received the book and yes, having just finished my Trek book, I’m ready to dive into Everyday Greatness – and once done, make my review.

What is Thomas Nelson’s reason for doing this? Hopefully, by populating comments / feedback from people who’ve read their books, they ca make others become curious – maybe help them decide if a book is worth their time and money… and end up with a purchase of said book.

Take note, though, Thomas Nelson does not care if a review is positive or negative – so long as it is truthful to the reviewer and they simply ask that the reviewer not spoil the boo’s contents to the potential buyers.

So there it is… I’ll start with Everyday Greatness tomorrow. Woohoo!!

You see, I’m the type of person who uses spontaneity in coming up with entries – anything that comes to mind, I’d like to write. The thing is, with so little visible article space< I don't get to enjoy composing my thoughts here. Is there a way to fix this? There should be, right?

Until I discover what it is and where – plus how to use it, I'll just use a text editor like Word to pound out my thoughts into ideas share-able via blogs like this one.

Obviously, some of my concerns were founded. I do not mention names, and I am definitely being vague to offer this trainer the benefit of being anonymous, as opposed to being tagged and bagged as insensitive, inconsistent and yes… seemingly lacking in training capability. I don’t question the content knowledge… nor the direction to be taken – they were explicitly stated… I do question style, and diplomacy… and maybe even candor.

I don’t know if I’m alone in feeling this – but if I can minimize my professional dealings with this person, I would definitely do so.

The irony is, this person is in a position of influence – and I am just glad that I am in a unique position where I can’t just be ignored… having been recognized as a competent instructor/facilitator for years now.

I sincerely hope this person adjusts – and smoothens (smoothen is s mis-spelled word? WT…?) out whatever rough and insensitive edges I’ve observed.

It’s actually the second in a series of books; the first being “first break all the rules”, which I go to read and listen to, since I bought the audio book… and was reading it while listening. Anyway, the second book did have an online test for their readers (or should I say book purchasers – as there is a hidden code you need to scratch and see, then enter when you go to www.strengthfinder.com and register for the test.

Since the book is less than Php600, I’d say that is the price for getting the test. Though remember, its not just the test you are paying for – but the wisdom within the book’s pages as well. So what does this test – seemingly worth six hundred pesos, tell me? Well, for starters, it will analyze the plethora of answers I gave, and in so doing, score what seem to be the 5 signature themes I show a natural leaning towards. So what are these five?

Well, let me present my results…

JOSEPH ANTHONY SYYAP

Your Signature Themes

Many years of research conducted by The Gallup Organization suggest that the most effective people are those who understand their strengths and behaviors. These people are best able to develop strategies to meet and exceed the demands of their daily lives, their careers, and their families. A review of the knowledge and skills you have acquired can provide a basic sense of your abilities, but an awareness and understanding of your natural talents will provide true insight into the core reasons behind your consistent successes. Your Signature Themes report presents your five most dominant themes of talent, in the rank order revealed by your responses to StrengthsFinder. Of the 34 themes measured, these are your “top five.” Your Signature Themes are very important in maximizing the talents that lead to your successes. By focusing on your Signature Themes, separately and in combination, you can identify your talents, build them into strengths, and enjoy personal and career success through consistent, near-perfect performance.

Communication

You like to explain, to describe, to host, to speak in public, and to write. This is your Communication theme at work. Ideas are a dry beginning. Events are static. You feel a need to bring them to life, to energize them, to make them exciting and vivid. And so you turn events into stories and practice telling them. You take the dry idea and enliven it with images and examples and metaphors. You believe that most people have a very short attention span. They are bombarded by information, but very little of it survives. You want your information—whether an idea, an event, a product’s features and benefits, a discovery, or a lesson—to survive. You want to divert their attention toward you and then capture it, lock it in. This is what drives your hunt for the perfect phrase. This is what draws you toward dramatic words and powerful word combinations. This is why people like to listen to you. Your word pictures pique their interest, sharpen their world, and inspire them to act.

Relator

Relator describes your attitude toward your relationships. In simple terms, the Relator theme pulls you toward people you already know. You do not necessarily shy away from meeting new people—in fact, you may have other themes that cause you to enjoy the thrill of turning strangers into friends—but you do derive a great deal of pleasure and strength from being around your close friends. You are comfortable with intimacy. Once the initial connection has been made, you deliberately encourage a deepening of the relationship. You want to understand their feelings, their goals, their fears, and their dreams; and you want them to understand yours. You know that this kind of closeness implies a certain amount of risk—you might be taken advantage of—but you are willing to accept that risk. For you a relationship has value only if it is genuine. And the only way to know that is to entrust yourself to the other person. The more you share with each other, the more you risk together. The more you risk together, the more each of you proves your caring is genuine. These are your steps toward real friendship, and you take them willingly.

Individualization

Your Individualization theme leads you to be intrigued by the unique qualities of each person. You are impatient with generalizations or “types” because you don’t want to obscure what is special and distinct about each person. Instead, you focus on the differences between individuals. You instinctively observe each person’s style, each person’s motivation, how each thinks, and how each builds relationships. You hear the one-of-a-kind stories in each person’s life. This theme explains why you pick your friends just the right birthday gift, why you know that one person prefers praise in public and another detests it, and why you tailor your teaching style to accommodate one person’s need to be shown and another’s desire to “figure it out as I go.” Because you are such a keen observer of other people’s strengths, you can draw out the best in each person. This Individualization theme also helps you build productive teams. While some search around for the perfect team “structure” or “process,” you know instinctively that the secret to great teams is casting by individual strengths so that everyone can do a lot of what they do well.

Strategic

The Strategic theme enables you to sort through the clutter and find the best route. It is not a skill that can be taught. It is a distinct way of thinking, a special perspective on the world at large. This perspective allows you to see patterns where others simply see complexity. Mindful of these patterns, you play out alternative scenarios, always asking, “What if this happened? Okay, well what if this happened?” This recurring question helps you see around the next corner. There you can evaluate accurately the potential obstacles. Guided by where you see each path leading, you start to make selections. You discard the paths that lead nowhere. You discard the paths that lead straight into resistance. You discard the paths that lead into a fog of confusion. You cull and make selections until you arrive at the chosen path—your strategy. Armed with your strategy, you strike forward. This is your Strategic theme at work: “What if?” Select. Strike.

Input

You are inquisitive. You collect things. You might collect information—words, facts, books, and quotations—or you might collect tangible objects such as butterflies, baseball cards, porcelain dolls, or sepia photographs. Whatever you collect, you collect it because it interests you. And yours is the kind of mind that finds so many things interesting. The world is exciting precisely because of its infinite variety and complexity. If you read a great deal, it is not necessarily to refine your theories but, rather, to add more information to your archives. If you like to travel, it is because each new location offers novel artifacts and facts. These can be acquired and then stored away. Why are they worth storing? At the time of storing it is often hard to say exactly when or why you might need them, but who knows when they might become useful? With all those possible uses in mind, you really don’t feel comfortable throwing anything away. So you keep acquiring and compiling and filing stuff away. It’s interesting. It keeps your mind fresh. And perhaps one day some of it will prove valuable.

— end of report —

I’ve still got to absorb what this all means – but at least, it gives me something to start with. And as I continue reading the book, I hope to discern more. The site itself can tell me more about the rest of the other themes (from 6 to 34) but I’d have to pay more (why am I not surprised?).

Still, as discussed in “first…” and continued in “now…” these themes give me a glimpse of my strengths – and according to the authors, it makes more sense to focus on adapting to your strengths and make them work for you – than it does to focus on attacking (strengthening) your weaknesses.

According to them, it makes more sense to specialize – make full use of the strengths… as it will get one farther – a lot faster, and with less effort too. Makes sense, when put that way. Thought they also say we shouldn’t just ignore our weaknesses… and when we can find time to spare, it would still be a good idea to improve on these.

At a quick glance though, things seem right. Though I’m slightly wondering if my first theme – communication, came also from the additional years of training with Toastmasters… I guess, I could say I was good to begin with… and got further honed with Toastmasters. So having said that, I guess I was naturally practicing the concept of Strengthfinder without knowing about it yet.

It’s official – after about five (that I can personally recall) visits from their technical support team who tried to check our signal and the cause for all our service time-outs or inability to connect – specially during the week-ends, the official culprit happens to be their web’s inability to connect constantly with our internet-box (for lack of a more accurate manner of calling it),; be it through wireless means, or through the application of an external antenna to get better feed.

Having discovered that, we tried to see if the service would, at the very least, improve – but apparently, the use of an external antenna did not improve the capturing of any internet signal. As I was watching their technician type out a few DOS commands, and use a speed application – all connected to checking/tracking how strong or how fast the signal was… I noted that there was at least one remote site that was causing the failure. Now, recalling what I learned about routing technology, I know that if a signal is not able to move one route, it automatically looks for another route – so why did it not happen here? Are we locked in a certain route – and only that route? Is the route that our signal was going to a central repository that could not accommodate us? These were questions I kept mum about, though, as I simply observed how the technician was trying to discover the perplexing problem – and if possible, close the issue.

Unfortunately, after over an hour (maybe even more than two), he had to admit that the problem was indeed related to Globe’s signal – in this case, its inability to receive our packets. Hence we could send, but it was not receiving… but when it sent, we could receive… as evidenced by the speed tests he tried, when the signal was restored (albeit temporarily).

So yesterday, my wife goes to Globe and delivers her request to discontinue Globe’s service to us – based on those findings. And since it wasn’t our fault… a waive of the ‘lock-in period’ – where we would have to use their service for at least a year; as stipulated in our agreement with getting the service, was granted us.

Over-all, it was rather disheartening – especially since I personally saw how Globe’s people were always courteous, accommodating and decisive in helping their subscribers out… a fact borne out of not just my communicating with them, but by observing Barbie’s communications with them by phone as well. I mean, had it not been for the technical issues, I would have been very happy to continue with Globe – who knows, maybe in the future, I will still consider the possibility of having Globe as a service provider for future internet services.

But… with that no longer an option, we now look towards two possibilities – Smart Bro; which is again, another wireless internet service… or maybe consider Sky Internet; which is the internet service provider of Sky Cable – so yes… internet service through cable connection. Since we’re not too convinced with wireless DSL for now, looks like we’re trying the cable option, as I have had at least two confirmations from friends that cable may be more stable than wireless – further corroborated by my brother-in-law, who’s got a relatively high exposure to a lot of computer hardware and set-ups. Of course, if the cable transmission goes down, there goes not just our cable TV viewing, but our internet connection as well. Ah well… then again, maybe not.

Meanwhile, I’m typing this now in my word processor – as opposed to a free form writing directly to the blog site manner… with the hope that when I get a chance to use the internet, be it here – once a new connection is considered, or maybe by way of using an internet kiosk. Either way, I will have this entry ready to be published for this blog, as well as its mirror site.

Why not Smart Bro? Well… to be fair, it is what my in-laws are using in Cavite… and they seem very happy with it’s consistency and speed, but as I said, our experience with Globe’s wireless DSL left us frustrated, and we didn’t want to chance it. After all, it might be connected to the population density of users, and I would guess that Manila has a whole lot more users than Cavite, so success in one site is not an automatic indicator of success in another – possibly more populated area.

When will we be able to experience Sky Internet? Hopefully, within this week.

So once again, here’s hoping that this will be the last of my ‘Lousy Internet’ entries… after all, I don’t want this to be just one more in a series of long rants and raves about the Internet industry – and its inability to offer acceptable quality signal service in particular.

Update on this  update(as of February 13, 2009)

It took Sky Internet much longer than the proffered date, and I was getting frustrated with them – after all, they were the ones insisting that I avail of their free trial service.

Over-all, we waited close to two weeks before they finally came. Meanwhile, I was in the middle of negotiations, and my having no internet connections forced me to look for internet cafe – so it was really a great inconvenience. Not a good start, far as I was concerned.

When they finally arrived, i was confused with the need to install another cable line – their explanation was, it had to be separate form the cable TV’s line… okay. Maybe that was the reason the first installation seemed unable to catch some signal… maybe the first newly installed cable had incompatibility issues which they later realized but did not want to announce… lord knows that happens, as I’ve had my share of LAN frustrations before – only to finally track things back to the cable that was, for all intents and purposes – supposedly compatible  (weird but true). Still, I was just glad they came – albeit rather late, and even helped by assisting them with menial details like holding the flashlight for better illumination, as they worked with their new cable layout.

Then comes the next frustration – for some reason, the internet was having a limited to no access… and their technician could not make heads or tails about it. It was obviously the first time he’d encountered something like this – and he just could not go around the problem. As it was close to 10pm already, we just agreed to continue this the next day – thinking it was just fatigue keeping us from finding the answer.

Why was this happening? For starters, I suspect it had something to do with either their set-up or my PCs configuration – to test one or the other, we tried the same set-up with Barbie’s laptop… and it did not connect either.

So they left… leaving me with some frustration. Then after I had taken a shower, and dinner… I tried once again… this time, double checking my PC’s security options. I tweaked things a bit… and suddenly found the internet just working!

Hnh… so what was the problem? I’d say the number one problem was the fact that the technician was not familiar with Vista… but Barbie’s laptop was using Win2K, and yet they were unable to make it run there too. Of course, Barbie’s PC had a lot of security too. So was having too much security a problem? After all, the PC or laptop coulldn’t very well be withotu any security whatsoever.

Point was, by the time the technician finally came, I showed them a working PC – we then tried connecting to the PC downstairs – and once again, they could not find the reaosn for its not cooperating… and this PC had just been reformatted – so no security problems here.

Again, they left… unable to help, but secure with the thought that we had one PC working with their connection… and again, I was left pondering the problem. My brother-in-law, Benedict said it might be that their modem had ways of making usre only one connection was running – even if we tried a router connection… but the router connection was only tried when the first PC was already working, and the second was not… so it wasn’t the router.

When Barbie finally arrived from work, I twreaked her laptop – basically undoing whatever the technicians did – and viola…! Her laptop cold access the internet by wireless connection – so scratch router issue.

I would have thought that the cable might be a possible problem, but ther was limited connection – had it been cable-related, there would have been no connection at all. So having been bouyed by the fact that I had solved 2/3 of our connectivity concern, I again searched for ways and means to connect the PC downstairs with our router.

Things might have been simpler if I had access to the router’s website – but I did not… and thought restarting from scratch was always an option, I did not want to change things in that manner until I was sure I tried everything.

Apparently… just like the first PC, there were conflicting messages between the PC and once I streamlined those security instructions, things started going smoothly.

So now… no thanks to the Sky Broadband tech folks, I was finally able to get my home network running. a sI said in my Facebook shout out, I was glad tht somehow, someway, i retained what I knew about LAN design… though like the technicians, I was also having some adjustment period with Microsoft Vista… though I also have to say that its auto repair optiosn got things running faster – soon as I found possible problems.

So far, its been three days since we had this connection, and I’m glad to say that we’ve not had intermittent problems with the cable internet signal… and hopefully, with fingers crossed and all, I hope this will be my last internet frustration article.

Well, if there is a way – I’ve not discovered it yet… and if anyone has an idea, i would greatly appreciate the tip.

Ah well; back to the drawing board…

Age because I’m now in my late 40s – slowly creeping into the ‘50s, and lifestyle because I really had zero exercise time for me since… well, since I can’t recall for how long now (and no… that’s not Alzheimer’s creeping in too). My usual routine would consist of waking up early, getting ready for work, bringing my wife to work first, then going to work myself – which would then consist of normally having training sessions – be they whole day or less, and finally taking breakfast when I get to settle down.

When done, I’d be tired, and would just be waiting in Robinsons’ Boni (the mall where the office I go to is located) until Barbie (my wife) would arrive around 6:30 to 7pm. Then it would home for us – dinner, then rest; catching up with how the kids’ days went, then doing the usual routines before finally sleeping. That was my usual routine for the past three, maybe four years.

Weekends would normally be family-focused week-ends… either just having a simple quiet weekend at home (specially after having a hectic week at work) or occasionally visiting relatives in Cavite (Barbie’s folks), Batangas (my mom) or Paranaque (my dad). More often than not, we’d end up malling (hmm… apparently the word processor does not recognize that last word) and doing our groceries. So unless something else out of the ordinary comes up, I’d say that would be my – and my family’s routine.

Of course, I never mentioned exercise simply because it was not part of my routine… sure, there’d be a few sprinkling of a badminton game – but they were few and far between to count… so I didn’t count them. However, even before my annual physical, I would admin tot feeling sluggish. I was starting to feel tired easily – not obvious to others because I knew how to pace myself, but I knew I was tiring easily – a far cry from my college days for sure, when I’d be actively swimming and doing weights alternately. Still, I was aware that I needed to exercise again – but things kept coming up… and I procrastinated,

Then, come December, I suddenly get all the free time in the world – by way of our training contract suddenly being terminated. Exercise, however, did not jump into our vocabulary at once… guess we were still worried about how not to spend too much during Christmas, and wondering where our next pay would come from, after all… a lot of us were parents or providers for our respective families. So, life threw us a lemon.

After my annual physical – where I learned from my doctor that I had a great and healthy heart, but was just slightly better than an old man – fitness-wise. I made a resolve that I would start exercising – the questions were how, where and when? I told Barbie that after bringing her to her office, I could then go to Greenhills (a shopping center) and join the usual morning crowd of walkers and/or runners who would just go around said shopping center’s premises. That way, I’d get my exercise; then I’d just go home for a much needed bath.

It was a good idea – and a whole lot cheaper than paying for a gym membership too… but Barbie also wanted to exercise. So obviously Greenhills was out as an option, since it would not be equally viable for a brisk walk in the evenings (after Barbie’s work was done). Luckily, there was another option available – one where even at night, I noticed people either walking or jogging in a relatively open space – even if there were a lot of people shopping around or coming from / going to dinner. The place happened to be the Bonifacio High Street, located in the Fort (the now commercialized portion of Fort Bonicafio)… a large chunk of land with a whole lot of restaurants, boutiques, parking and more importantly, a fairly decent walkway where people doing their jogging or brisk walking could pass, with a lot of room for shoppers.

I remember seeing these joggers during times when I would meet Barbie in the Fort, especially when we’d meet at the High Street’s Fully Booked – a large (four-storeyed) bookstore where I could leaf through almost any book while waiting for her to arrive. Of course, if I really liked the book and wanted to continue reading what if can offer, then I’d end up buying the book – budget willing of course. Anyway, that’s another story.

As I said, I noticed these joggers – so when Barbie said she wanted to join me, we decided to set the location and time to High Street after work, which would mean around 6pm or later – but hopefully not too late, that we’d end up eating dinner at so late a time – and too close to our usual sleeping period. One advantage of ending up a bit late though would be that we’d encounter less traffic on the way home… completely avoiding the evening rush hour. And just to have a logical start, we decided to do this once 2009 came in. Well, 2009 did come, and true to our commitment, we started doing our brisk walk.

To backtrack a bit, I have a friend who happens to be among many things, a recent Nursing graduate – and during our training days, he would always become the paragon for healthy living, constantly reminding some of my colleagues to consider stopping their smoking habit (or guilty pleasure) while asking me when I would like to come up with an exercise regimen with him – he’s a cool guy named Jingo, and we talked about possibilities of boxing or aikido or any other exercise cum fitness/self-defence training. None of these, though got the green light – but when I broached the plan of the brisk-walking nights, he was happy for me, and immediately set a goal (or target) for me to reach. Where he got it, I don’t really know, but he gave me 10,000 steps as my target. So I thought about that number as I started walking.

First night of our walk, I asked Barbie to count how many steps we would make during our first round around the High Street block’s perimeter, including the parking lots. It so happened that we were able to cover 1,300 steps – after that, we just made the 1,300 as a basis for every round we made… and that night, we finished four rounds before we decided to call it quits. We both felt tired, but invigorated… and the sweat off was a good indicator that our walk was a great low intensity workout. Granted, we just had 5,200 steps… it was a good start.

As the week passed, we initially thought of doing the walk every other day – avoiding Tuesdays due to the local number coding scheme, preventing us form using the car between 7am to 7pm. Somehow, though, we just mutually decided do make the walk an almost daily activity. Backtracking once again, I remember my doctor telling me that if I wanted to lose weight, I had to at least make sure I exercised for 30 minutes a day, everyday (aside from diet)… and if I wanted to at least arrest more weight gain, then I should exercise at least 3 times a week. So… with that in mind, the almost daily routine would help me lose weight… after all, if a daily 30 minute moderate exercise would help me lose weight, then what would a near hour of moderate exercise, even if its done almost everyday (including Saturdays) do for me?

This week happens to be our fourth week of said exercise, and I’ve felt improvements with myself… first of, from 5,200 steps, we’ve moved to another additional round – so tackling around 6,500 per day since last week. Yesterday, I tried to see if I could add one more round and not kill my feet in the process, and I actually got to go six rounds, or 7,800 steps… albeit having some sore portions in my feet – but not as bad as when I first tried walking four rounds almost a month ago – and yes… there were times I felt like taking some over the counter muscle relaxants or pain killers. I’ve avoided doing this though, looking for a natural manner for raising my tolerance to pain and endurance level. Another friend suggested I take some fat-burning medicine… it may be a good idea – but I’m putting that on the back burner… I’d like to see if I can do this in as natural a manner as possible first.

So six rounds or 7.800 steps are my personal best and (hopefully) new average (as opposed to it being an performance outlier) that I shall try to equal later and the days to follow. I’m taking my sweet time in reaching my goal… as I know its just around less than two more rounds to reach such a goal – but as I said, I wouldn’t want to harm my feet in forcing myself to reach said goal. Will I reach 10,000 within the week? I wouldn’t bet on it… how about next week? That can be possible. How about before February ends? Now that would be… very possible. I even joined an online site’s ability to record one’s progress – thanks to another friend to made me aware of it (thanks Charo), and it, surprise, surprise… also had 10,000 steps as part of its name (hence my wondering if Jingo just picked it up or had a medically acceptable reason for citing the number). The site can be found in http://10000steps.org.au/ for anyone interested in looking it up.

All this will be a wasted effort, though,  if I can’t get my weight down. How am I doing on that end?

All my effort has made me look slightly thinner and I’d like to think that I did lose weight… my face has certainly started to look less puffy or firmer, and though its probably not as dramatic an effect as I would have if I had been serious with my diet, or taken those fat burners or diet suppressors… but I am losing weight after almost five years of just gaining them, so that accounts for something… specially when you think that I have not used any artificial method. At the very least, I feel that I’ve lost a pound or two. I can’t really answer this because I don’t have access to my actual weight prior to the start of my walk.

Having said that, I am now trying a few more things to help with the weight loss effort like trying… and the key word here is ‘trying’ not to eat rice in my evening meal, and possibly replacing it with more greens… using a jacket to keep me sweating, rather than losing sweat opportunities due to the cold winds in the Fort and wearing a sauna strap around my stomach… both to induce more sweat and to support my stomach whenever I feel like jogging a bit. Yes, once in a while, I decide to jog – though I still feel a bit heavy for this. I’d like to hope that this exercise will eventually make me able to jog for longer than a few minutes, but I’m not putting that as a must do right now. And while I’m in the subject of exercise, I keep Sunday as a rest day – just out of necessity, no real religious practice here… while I have at one time or another, together with Barbie and my brother-in-law Ben, started to do some aerobic exercises with a DVD of “Shawn T’s Hip Hop Abs”… as yeah, I’m learning a few dance moves too.

But my main target will still be the 10,000 steps. In line with this, I wear ankle and knee support when I do my walks because I just want to be safe. Barbie said I looked like I had a lot of gadgets… well technically, I just have my iPod and cellular phone as gadgets… the rest are support (knee and ankle) and sweat inducers (jacket and sauna strap), that’s it. What about other problems that have crop up while walking? Thirst is not really an issue, we bring water and leave it in the car for after exercise drinks – but if we really need to drink, its available. Another problem I’ve been experiencing recently? Rashes in my thighs due to all the sweat, and its not purely sweat-related too… apparently my shorts’ fabric can continuously scrape against my thigh skin, and it can build up friction – nothing that some powder can’t solve, though. Guess my sweat’s a bit acidic… but then again, I shouldn’t be surprised. One other problem was felt in my early days exercising was that in one evening, I felt a strong head ache… don’t know if it’s blood pressure related, so I just decided to walk slowly – and if I got dizzy, then I would have stopped. Lucky for me, I was able to set the ache aside, go slow and just take it one step at a time until I finished my four rounds.

My real worry? If I eventually get work that may eat up on my exercise time, will I be able to find the time to continue doing this? Maybe this is why I needed to have this long break from work… it was God’s way of saying, “Butch, you need a break so you can focus on getting healthier.” There is a saying I am reminded of, “For something to become a habit – it needs to be done for at least 30 days.” I’m close to my 30 days of brisk walking, so it’s hopefully getting to be a habit – one that I will ably sustain, come ‘hell or high water’, even during heavy work weeks.

Okay. Some updates… (as of February 12, 2009)
The above article was written during that time when I had not yet had any access to the Internet – though as you can see, it did not stop me from writing. But that isn’t what I wanted to say in this update.

Remember when I said some paragraphs above that we had 1.300 steps per round? Well, first, let me mention that I proceeded to reach that mythical 10.000 steps by going not just seven… but eight rounds… I mean, simple math right? If four rounds would give me a total of 5,400 – then it would simply mean that seven would give me 9.100 – and I thought… c’mon, why stop 900 steps shy? But I did not want to do the numbers while walking, so I just did the ‘one more round’. Besides, I needed to do some catching up, since we had not walked for a few days, as Barbie was caught up in some out of town work.

Well, this particular night was also a night that Barbie would arrive later than our usual time, and since Jingo was also with me 0 we decided to walk on ahead… after all, Ben (my brother-in-law who is also turning into a regular for this nightly exercise) could wait for Barbie, and I wanted to put in some extra rounds – I had a goal to achieve and I did not think Barbie was willing to take the extra strides with me. Not that she needed them.

Apparently, I may have been mistaken in my calculations.

See, as I triumphantly finished my eighth round… I was about to tell Barbie and Ben about my breaking the 10,000th mark by starting with the basic calculations. I said ‘with every round consisting of 1,300 steps…’ to which Barbie automatically interjects with ‘1,600!’ (remember, she did the counting on our first day – so I guess, shed remember it more)

I was momentarily taken aback. I simply said ‘not 1,300?’ and she simply repeated her correction. It was then and there I did some mental calculations. Four rounds were not 5,200  steps as I had thought, but 6,400. Five rounds? 8,000… and to reach 10,000? A little over six rounds… and it was then that I vaguely remembered Jingo also saying something about 7 rounds being a target – but had thought I might have heard wrong in lieu of my calculations. So enough with the suspense… how many steps had I done that night? Simple…a measly 12,800 steps. I did not just reach 10K steps, but went way beyond the actual target.

I felt both stupid (for the math error) and proud (for accidentally exceeding my goal). I posted the numbers in Facebook via my status update – and Mon Villar asked me about it. I confided in him my mistake leading to my exceeding the target by more than 3K, and he laughed at me. He than asked why I did not use a pedometer… which would surely have helped me count my steps in the first place – and I simply said I had not seen one yet. He said he might be able to help me with that.

Last Monday, as Mon and I were together for a training, he informs he has something for me, reaches into his bag and brings out a small pedometer. I thanked him for it – and now, no matter where I go to walk, I can have a more accurate estimate of the steps I will be taking. Though it’s a very simple pedometer – with a limit of up to 9,999 in its display, this little gadget will serve its purpose… after all, my goal is 10K, so if I glance at the pedometer and it says 9,999 – well… what’s one step short of being recorded?

I have to confess to having possibly over stretched my foot muscle though… hence me need to take things slightly easy these past few days… and with work somewhat intruding into the walking regimen, I just take the time to relax my feet. I did walk again after that extraordinary 12K steps… but I just went 5 rounds – not wanting to injure myself.

But yeah… at least I know it just takes a little over six rounds – not eight… and I’ve a pedometer to keep me aware. I tried to walk yesterday, but plans changed since I had to wait for Bernice and fetch her from school – thus not allowing me to walk, and tonight I’ve got work to do… so looks like Friday (after almost a week’s hiatus) will be my first walk for the week. I’ll take it slow of course… after all, my metrics don’t seem to be as intimidating as I though – or as many as I need. Besides, I want to try my new gadget… plus get to use my new exercise clothing (I bought new shorts and a shirt for the near nightly exercise).

So yeah… the story continues – albeit with a few pauses and surprises along the way.

Now, first of all, I have not been to said mall in a long time, as it happens to be far from my usual stomping grounds in either Mandaluyong, Taguig or Makati – in other words, its out of the usual routes I would normally be going to. So what made me go there? Bryce did. He had a ‘date’ with his girl friend – and yes, even if there’s such a word as girlfriend, I just had to emphasize the separation – not out of a sense of denial for having a teenage son who’s dating, but the fact that I know this dating is far from becoming a serious commitment…yet. Far as they are concerned, they’re close friends, with mutual understandings. But back to the story.

Bryce had asked if we could go to Festival mall, which would give him an opportunity to spend some post-Christmas time with Sharmaine, his friend. And since we really had no plans for that day – owing to our wanting to rest from a very busy holiday season, we kept outings to a minimum… so here was a free day, and Bryce asking to go to Festival mall. Well, we did – and Bryce got to spend the afternoon with Sharmaine… but that is not the story. What they did while spending time in Festival mall, only they can talk about… after all, we… that is Barbie, Bernice and I decided to explore the mall… basically kill time while Bryce had his afternoon.

Well to my pleasant serendipitous moment, I found the comic store I knew was there – namely Comic Quest. Now… I know Comic Quest because 1) I collect comics, so I make it a point to know where to get comics; and 2) I did frequent a Comic Quest store – though not the one in Alabang.

So I entered, perused and chose two comics to get. The total amount for my comics reached Php350, and since I paid with a Php500 bill, well… its just as simple as 500 – 350, and you get the difference which should be my change, right?

Don’t worry, this is not a mathematical post… though the computation is at the heart of this story.

So answering the above question, the store sales lady would have given me a change of Php150 – right? Nope…

I normally am in automatic mode – you know, wherein one does not really check for change when given to you… I know, that may be risky… but heck, this was a simple comic sale transaction, and there was nothing complicated with the computation. Ah… but the computation was not the issue, either… you see, I’ sure she was doing her mental math – but she got her wires crossed somewhere – thus giving me a Php350 change. I, on the other hand, just got the proffered change and the purchased stuff of course.

As I was leaving the store with my family in tow, and as I was about to pocket my change, I realized something was wrong… I seemed to have too much change. I told Barbie and Bernice to wait as I returned quickly to the store – approached the sales lady once again, and did the math with her, while showing her the change she gave me.

To her surprise, she realized her error and I gave her the extra Php200 she had given me. That settled, I left the store. Barbie asked me what was wrong, and I told her the story. She jokingly made the comment that had that been her, she would have kept mum about it… and i jokingly told her “Bad…”. Bernice, who was listening the whole time, smiled at the whole discussion.

So why did I do it? Why did I return the extra change given me? Take, note… i had nothing to lose… as this visit to Festival mall was, in my mind, a fluke. Something that won’t be repeated again.

Sometimes I’d think, maybe because it was the start of a new year, and I didn’t want to start he new year on the wrong foot.

Maybe I was thinking of the sales lady and how she’d have to try and explain the shortage of cash in the cash register, and how she could lose her job in a time of global economic turmoil… and felt a pang of responsibility should that happen.

Or maybe it was because I was still fresh from reading a book called ‘The Shack’, and was still filled with residual appreciation of God’s love.

Maybe I wanted to set an example for Bernice – that honesty is still the best policy.

Maybe i felt that I did not need the bad karma during a trying time in my life… as far as my career is concerned.

Maybe its because I do know the store proprietor – and though he is nto a close friend, he has always been friendly and cordial to me.

Heck, maybe its all those hours teaching Accenture’s core values – telling their new hires that they should live their core values… one of which is ‘Integrity’… and without realizing it, I was conditioning myself too – into a sense of ‘Walk the Talk’ manner.

It could have been any one – or all of these thoughts influencing me that particular moment, but as I said, once i realized that something was wrong, I went back… no pause, no thinking if I should or should not. So if it was any of these, it was happening in my subconscious.  Point was, I did it and it was that.

I did not do it to make a lasting impression – as I said, I had no plans to return to Festival mall on a regular basis, so this store was just an isolated convenience.

Well, life (or God) has a funny way of proving me wrong with certain assumptions – because the Saturday after that weekend… which was January the 10th, we were once again in Festival mall… for the same reason – Bryce and his date… and I, once again, had the chance to purchase another comic in Comic Quest… and 8 days later, I did not even remember the sales lady’s face… and since there were several of them, I wouldn’t know who among them I was honest enough to return the excess change to.

I simply focused on the purchase, paid and got my comic plus the change… and the sales lady, from out of the blue made a side comment that ‘<span style=”font-style:italic;”>Ayan, tama na nag sukli ko</span>’ – which translates to ‘There, my change is correct now’. Realizing that she was the one, and that she remembered me, I said smiled and said ‘<span style=”font-style:italic;”>buti naman</span>’ which loosely means ‘that’s good’ or ‘good for you’. And as I was leaving, she called the attention of the other sales lady telling her companion, ‘<span style=”font-style:italic;”>Kita mo yan? siya yung sinasabi ko’ng customer na nag balik nang…</span>’ again, loosely translated to ‘See that (or him)? He was the person who was my customer – the one that returned…’

I know, I did not finish the sentence, but that’s because I did not stay long enough to hear her finish the sentence.

But I was glad she knew – and though we never exchanged names, I’m relatively certain she’ll continue to remember me… basically because I did something unexpected… which was being honest enough to return the excess change.

But… I can tell you, I felt good as I left that store – more so than the week before – and I realized, if I had kept the money, she might or might not remember me, and I might even be reluctant to buy there again… even if conveniently located to my current trip there that day. but leaving… and hearing her share the story with someone, and confirming with that someone that I was the person she was obviously talking about… that was – for some strange reason, fulfilling and reward enough… maybe more so than the Php200 I would have had the chance to pocket.

Now… I’d like to think that whenever I enter that particular store, and whenever she sees me, I’ll be having good service offered to me – not because she must treat her customers right and friendly, but because she wants to treat me kindly – out of some sense of gratitude. Expected? Not really, like I said, I had nothing to invest in that store… but as I said before, life, fate, karma or the Lord had another plans.

But wait… there’s more…!

Yesterday… I unexpectedly found myself in Festival mall again. you see my son had another date, but the plan was to meet in Mega mall instead (where the other Comic Quest branch – the one I frequent more often than not) was, and I was planning to look for a certain issue or two once we got there.

Well guess what, Sharmaine calls and for whatever reason, tells Bryce that she can’t make to Mega mall. This derailed some plans, and Barbie was slightly pissed – but I decided to let Bryce go – though not without a reprimand that situations like this will not be tolerated again… and next time it does, we’d rather he cancel the date than put us in an inconvenient situation.

Yes, that’s three straight weekends now… and once again, I went to Comic Quest…  this time, we (the sales lady and I) recognized each other. I asked to see some comics, she services me as she normally would others – but we now seem to have this running joke, that whenever I pay, she would comment about not making another mistake of giving me too much change… not that she would have that day though, since I only bought one comic worth Php200 – and paid with a Php200 bill – so no change, but the humor was there. And to my surprise, the other sales lady also joined the ‘running joke’ bandwagon.

I again left the shop slightly uplifted, knowing I probably gained someone’s trust – even if we still did not introduce ourselves to each other.

Oh yeah… two another ways that I’ve, or we’ve – as a family, started the year right…

1) more exercise – from a zero regimen in the past years, I am now slowly getting into the brisk walking groove, meeting Barbie in Bonifacio High Street and we’d be walking around the High Street block for close to an hour fro almost every night.

Yesterday, I once again tried the facilities of Slimmer’s World after more than a decade of not going… I hope to make it part of my regimen somehow, and lastly… I’ve unearthed the – ahem… exercise moves of a certain Shawn T.’s video, from my video collections. Ben, Barbie and i tried it out and it still works wonderfully. So I will likewise use the video more often.

2) spiritual renewal – we’ve taken the step to attend mass regularly – and we do this by catching the 10am mass in Greenhills. It may be difficult at times – specially if I had a wild drinking night the Saturday eve prior to said Sunday… but we will continue to attend regular Sunday mass.

I did not make any of these as a New Year’s goal or resolution. As the Nike commercial  goes… I’m just doing it – and hope I can continue to sustain the momentum.