Adidas' Loser

CORE-RELATE!

Cliche, cliche... "you win some; you lose some."

Just when you thought you've made a killing out of your registration fee for the Adidas 10K 'King of the Road Marathon' and got wonderful freebies, you find out you've been robbed of your (branded) bag which has your 40,000-peso mobile gadget, some (branded) clothes, your wallet (with your day's worth of work), your IDs, ATM cards and house keys, plus your friend's not-so-new N6020.

Good thing the "you" wasn't me, but my friend Roxanne. However, I was the "your friend," in the last part and that took the 'good' out of the 'good thing.' Well, almost. Roxanne and I both failed to read our instincts correctly and we ended up as 'losers.' She thought her bag was safer at the car's backseat than in the compartment. I thought I'd do better to just rely on the official timer instead of my phone's stopwatch so instead of running with it in my belt bag, I just slipped it in Roxanne's bag. And oh, our 'driver,' my Enduro teammate Ray, for some unknown reason, failed to follow his routine of hiding his mobile phone in a place safer than on the top of his box-type Lancer's dashboard. So there. Three losers in one day. And if you count having your car's windows snap out 'for some unknown reason,' then we're counting four losers, the fourth one being Chief, whose GSR's power windows caved in while we were pondering our sorry fates in the IMAX Parking Lot of the SM Mall of Asia.

Prior to finding out about those pieces of dreadful truth, my workmates and I celebrated our conquest of a hard-day's run after a hard-night's work. I, for one, was ecstatic about breaking my 10K "record" of 1:13:58 (at the Milo 10K last July) with a 1:12:36 finish. I was thrilled when shots of Milan were taken at the finish line, with actresses Donita Rose and G Toengi who ran side-by-side all throughout the race and were magnanimous enough to have their picture taken with the one who preceded them: Milan and no other. I delightfully nibbled my snickers while ogling the cover of Men's Health Mag in my Adidas 'Nothing is Impossible' stash and while the emcee congratulated the hardcore runners Buenavista and Manipol who timed around 31mins and 45mins, respectively. "Hardcore" indeed, adjective befitting also of the finishers from the Philippine National Police Academy.

I also saw AMCI peeps Ms. Angie, Sir James, Sir TB, my batchmates Mike, Kuya Brodi, TJ, Maui, Cecil, who's fondly called Pops, as TJ reminded me - I thought he was 'Tatang.' Then there's Zaza, Jeng, Marc, Dexter, Aries, Paulo, Ai and Kim...I haven't seen Pie, Sheena and Michelle. I'm not so sure if I saw Jomen, my groupmate on BMC Day1...I kinda miss being with them, 'enduring' (and enjoying) the science of mountaineering training. I wonder, will I ever get to sign up again for BMC next year or some time in the future? Only God knows.

Anyway, back to the losers' story. I lost a phone while my friend lost around 50,000 pesos worth of stuff. Hmm. I'm not so much of a sorry loser, really, because I don't have much of a competitive spirit. After having been through a lot of 'losing moments' in my life but not quitting right away, I've realized that what actually gives me joy is being in the game. Prior to such realization, I've had the pleasure of writing my own quote last March: "I play the game of life to win. And life has taught me that there is victory, even in defeat. So todate, I'm still on a winning streak." Just a few weeks ago though, after quitting AMCI, I've revised the first line to: "I play the game of life to have fun..." So much for self-discovery, eh? Well, that's just exactly the way I see it.

Life, after all, is a matter of perspective. We dwell not on what we don't have but on what is already in place. We seek contentment not with what has passed but with what is staring us straight in the face. We savor what we sip, not what we've spurted out. With these in mind, I focus instead on the irreplaceable highlights of that fateful day: Chief's celebrity finish (and photo-opt!), running "with" Sen. Pia Cayetano, my new "record," the KFC treat from Mommy Malen and Dada Joey, and the reinforcement of a lesson I've been taught for countless times before: trust your instincts.

So... Looking for Loser? She ain't here.


"For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory." Deuteronomy 20:4

DEFY your LIMITS

CORE-RELATE!

Self-talk: "Challenge yourself at AMCI, defy your limits at the Enduro. Ancore, just what have you gotten yourself into?!"

Self-exploration. I think everyone could benefit from discovering something about themselves everyday SO while I still have all the "single" time in my hands, I can't see any other right timing for it. Mm-hmm.

Yesterday, in my quest to stretch my physical limits, I went "against all odds": MVP (a heart condition), ITBS (a knee problem -- not due to old age because I'm NOT that old), inadequate rest and sleep (I worked from 9pm the previous night til 5am on race day), and a heavy 2nd-day flow (thank God for Modess). Plus the fact that I only had half of a Powerbar for breakfast!

Suicidal, eh? Not quite.

In retrospect, I've just begun entering the opened doors and I'm still on the adjustment phase, searching for the right switches to click. Call me "mental" but really, I think 'driven' is my second name. I can condition my mind to do something new each time and conquer the tension wires. I may be a bit emotionally unsound, especially when I'm 'puyat' but I try to pacify myself by shifting focus ("JTG!") before the anger hormones kick in or the tear ducts open (whichever comes first).

Being happy -- and thankful -- is not just a choice one has to make. It's also a lifestyle. For me, at least it is. And at my first brush with adventure racing yesterday, I can't stop smiling with the thought: THANK GOD FOR THE RAIN!

"For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have." 2 Corinthians 8:12

"AMCI BMC 2006:Challenge Yourself"

CORE-RELATE!

I don't do push-ups and I am not a regular fitness buff. My lifestyle consists of basically a not-so-routine routine of 'anything goes, if I feel like it.' And I have a tendency to overindulge on rewarding myself one time-big time like there's no tomorrow. Time management is rather alien to me because when you seem to have all the time in your hands, need you manage it or "divide" it?

Well, Reality smacked me on the head just recently and told me, 'Anne, you don't own your time. It's Mine.' So He zoomed in on my weakest point: T-I-M-E and He, almost simultaneously, opened doors: True Love Waits-Phils., Wi-Max, AMCI/SanMigEnduro/RudyGirl,The Pillar. Funny, He challenged me to explore such doors on a limited (or make that "super tight") budget. Mm-hmm.

With a workshift that changes every week, it might be difficult for me to be able to 'comply' with the schedule of what I've put myself into. But I've also been thinking of that as being the whole point of everything, a major part of the challenge that I have to face and conquer. To improve my lifestyle, I have to set my priorities straight. I have to train myself to lead by observing how real leaders strut their thing and by mentally pointing out their strengths and weaknesses.

So this morning, even if the thought of backing out crossed my mind, I soldiered on.

I was practically on time for the 6am call time but we didn't start until around 7. Nobody was marked tardy because some of the leaders themselves were tardy. We started with warm-up stretches and jumping jacks then ran 4 rounds on the 400m-oval. We were subjected to push-ups, tiger push-ups, toe touches, lounges, single leg tiptoes, steps. Notably, no prayers were said for the batch, except for the one Group 8 had in our little brainstorming

A little group dynamics was also asked of us through a presentation. I think our group did fairly well with old-school chants "Go,go,go; fight, fight, fight. Group eight, fight!" and "Sa dagat, sa bundok, di kami matatakot; kami ang grupong 'di susuko..." culminating in a human pyramid (with me on top, by golly!) and a shout "Challenge yourself, AMCI 2006!"

It's about time I totally got out of my shell and not just take small peeks in what Reality has for me. There isn't much time and I have to straighten things out before my sands hit the bottom of the hourglass. An athlete needs a lot of self-discipline and rigid training.. and so does a leader. As Dr. John C. Maxwell puts it: "We must travel on the inside before we can travel on the outside, because the journey of growth and success is first an internal one. The first person you lead is you -- and you can't lead effectively without self-discipline." (The Maxwell Leadership Bible, 2003).

And a good leader must first learn how to be a good follower. That's what I signed up in the BMC for: to be trained how to be a better follower, to be able to take the lead.

There are no excuses for mediocrity and the only standard for excellence rests on Him: for His glory, I will endure; for His glory, I will excel; for His glory, I will share and above all, for His glory, I will be... 'magnanimous in victory; humble in defeat.' And I must remind myself that the only competitor I have here is me! So, I must enjoy!

hectic!

CORE-RELATE!

So it's June 1st, another month has started and we are halfway through the year. Time flies. And flies... and flies.

I had a great impromptu month-ender last night with my bestfriend of 13 years, Maribel, whom I fondly call 'Momybelle.' We attended AMCI's orientation to its BMC (Basic Mountaineering Course) for 2006 and I reserved a slot. Barbara, our college schoolmate (and my org-mate in Teatro Tomasino) invited me and I am thankful for the timing. I've been praying for an activity, an event like that, which will open my door to the mountains and I am just excited about the challenges that I will have to face -- and endure.

Initially, after the meeting, I wanted to watch Sitti at Tavern in Greenbelt3 (for the 2nd time, the 1st being last May17) but the venue was packed. So Mommy and I ended up with two large lemonades bought at Just Beached and chatted our way while waiting for the 11:30 screening of 'Failure to Launch.' The 'waiting,' wasn't really on purpose. It just 'happened' and again, the timing was just perfect.

It's really a wonder how God weaves our lives and our schedules together. I can see that although we went on different roads last night, Mommy and I are in the same Path. I can see that although I am being 'punished' for my excessive tardiness last December 2005, I've been productive and saw a lot of doors being opened for me, i.e., the ministry of True Love Waits, mountaineering and fitness, my discipleship with Eci, and Youth Jam. The BMC is during Wednesdays and Sundays so instead of attending worship service on Sundays, I'll be attending Youth Jam on Saturdays.

I'll be spending my Thursdays (my dayoff), 5pm everytime, with Eci for our discipleship. Afterwards, at 7pm, is cell group meeting with Ate Ofel. Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays will be the flexible days and I see that they will be for TLW.

God is molding me and I can see, I know, that He is fixing my schedule for me. I am having my hands full with activities and I can't see any other way with which I'll learn more about time management than being really busy with worthwhile activities. Mm-hmm.

So. TIME. It isn't in our hands but we can definitely do something about it to make it more productive: FOCUS on Him. And I think that's just the BEST first step we need to breeze through a hectic schedule.