 |
 |
 |
 |
2. His thoughts
The Passion and the Romance
Turning our Values into Value
Enthusiasm paints the difference. But the funny thing is that people tend to expect commitment to values as morose and dark, a life of stoicism carrying the burdens of life. Good people are serious people and serious people do not smile; they cover their mouths when they laugh. They really, really get embarrassed when they burp, and deny it when they let gas. Good people cannot be “cool.”
Nothing can be farther from the truth.
Straightjacket lives never inspire others. At most they serve as tourist information desks in the journey of life. Only psychos get inspired from people who growl and scowl.
Nelson Mandela, the hero of free South Africa among many other things he said during his inauguration as President proclaimed: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves: ‘who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?’… Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God; your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within… It’s not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”
Human beings have been designed to take a second glance at what is good and beautiful. Normal people get captivated by beauty. And if our values will engage other lives in the romance of life, we have to package them pleasantly. For anyone meaning to inspire others, it is mandatory to live with enthusiasm. For the ancient Greeks, enthusiasm comes from two root words “en” and “theos”, that is, the experience of God within me. It is that keen and fervent attitude to life. How do they say it? “Ako ang kilabot ng Baranggay Talaba... No deal!” And the show moves on.
Deep in our hearts we know that glamour and applause do not raise the bar of life. Prominence and riches do not measure genuine success. Summer showers are more effective than raging storms, but they get no publicity. We seem to perceive real beauty when it is coupled with strength and compassion. But to chisel out such beauty, one needs to say “yes!” to the passion of life. And once the passion is assured by sacrifice, the romance cannot be far behind from happening. Watch out for the sparks of the inner splendor of transformed spirits.
In fine, we need inspiring people.
I share the observation of Eddie Romero the National Artist for Film and Broadcast Arts [2003]. “For although we take pride in having established the first democratic nation in Southeast Asia, our national community is in fact the newest among all our neighbors. Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand can truthfully boast of older and better constituencies than our own. Powerful kingdoms, even empires among them were able to achieve distinctly higher levels of social cohesion long before we did. They were not just better prepared for nationhood, they had in fact been nations; conquests by western colonial powers could not undo their foundations of nationhood. What we have in common with many Latin American nations is the experience of having had democracy thrust on us before the great majority of our people were culturally prepared for it, thus accomplishing little beyond giving our ruling establishment more respectable credentials for perpetuating their political and economic prominence.”
We are a democracy alright but the values that define as one people, one nation have not been clearly articulated. What we have are different value systems from the outside world. No wonder, the Filipino can easily adapt as his own any foreign-sounding gibberish. Clearly, there is a vacuum in the Filipino spirit. It is not my purview in this exchange to get into the ramified effects of this national malaise in our life as a nation. Suffice to make a cursory look at our various socio-politico-economic systems. A national malaise translates into failed social structures.
And where does business enter? Business is not just a money-making machinery. It is the opportunity where people spend the better part of their productive years. True to what we have been essaying earlier, the workplace is a network of relationships, a tight romance. The workplace is a sacred reserve of personal growth, excellence, and transformation. Next to the family, it is in the workplace where we build our enduring relationships. The business world is the occasion where we test, nurture, and commit to our personal values. And as we have seen, these values become a system shared by all concerned.
Message from the Publisher
His thoughts - p.1 |
p.2 |
p.3 |
p.4 |
p.5 |
p.6
Schedule of talks and seminars
Viewers reactions
|
|
|
|
|
 |
