I’m not into the whole gown and suit and tie, formal dramatic extravaganza with fierce emote-emote supermodel poses and wind in my hair effect that seem to be the trend in prenup photoshoots nowadays. I just wanted something chill and very laid back that will allow me and Doods to smile a lot and make landian a little (ok fine, a lot!). Luckily, my research led me to JC Intal and Bianca Gonzalez’s engagement shoots. They were wearing pambahay/pantulog but still managed to look good and happy in the photos. I fell in love with the idea immediately.
This week, someone from our Toastmaster’s meeting shared about depression and how she battles it day in and day out. This really amazed me because I guess I’ll never have the guts to admit it out loud in front of anyone. I’d rather sing with my awful voice, or be goofy or embarrass myself, but to admit that I am depressed in front of anyone would be very much against my creed because I hated admitting that I am being weak. I am not sure if depression is what I am experiencing right now, but I did question my mental health these past days. I was invited to give a talk on the Meralco Lightspeed Triathlon Club for the PasiCLUBan PaTALK na PATALK sessions. The PasiCLUBan is part of the Meralco Cool-tural festival that celebrates the talents and skills and promotes the welfare of the employees. The Cool-tural festival includes different contests and events for the employees: sports exhibition, free concert and cooking, cosplay and speech contests. Geared at encouraging work-life balance and employee satisfaction, the PasiCLUBan allows the different Meralco clubs to recruit new members, allowing them to sign up in booths that were set up at the Meralco Fitness Centre badminton court. Each club is given 30 minutes within the whole day event to present a speaker to recruit members. Since this is my first time to do an actual talk, I was quite scared but rather excited because I know I'll be talking about something that I love: triathlon. I had a hard time doing my piece because there's so much to say; finally, I was able to prepare a speech about how triathlon helped me become a better person physically, emotionally and spiritually. Here are my three realizations about the event. When I was a girl, my mom would prevent me from riding a bike, doing any sport or simply going up and down the stairs too many times because she said my legs would get muscled. I was not to stay too long under the sun because I will get dark. That's why I used to believe that muscles for girls were a bad thing. Noong bata pa ako, galit na galit ako sa basketbol. Mahilig kasi dun ang Tatay ko (sumalangit nawa). Hindi naman sa galit ako sa Tatay ko. Naiinis lang ako na sa tuwing may palabas na PBA game sa TV (feeling ko lang PBA yun dahil un ang sikat), inaagaw nya ang remote control saken para manood. At madalas pa, napipilitan akong sumama sa Nanay ko para manuod ng basketbol kung san kasali ang Tatay ko sa kung anumang liga. Bilang batang mahilig sa kulay pink, maglaro ng manika at magbasa, sadyang di ko kinalakhang maappreciate ang anumang sports, lalong-lalo na ang basketbol. Para saken, napakakumplikadong panuorin ng basketbol. Di ko alam bakit pumito ang ref, bakit titigil ang laro para magshoot ng bola ang isa habang nakatigil ang lahat, bakit kailangan idribol ang bola habang tumatakbo, bakit ang liit ng basket. Ang gulo nyang laro. At ang claustrophobic. Isipin mo, mga higanteng naglalaro sa loob ng maliit na court at balik balik lang siya dun. Labo di ba? Pero mahilig dun si Tatay. Ewan ko ba. When I started running, everything is about me. I always thought about getting stronger and getting better. I love the feeling of being faster than anyone else or overtaking anyone during a race. Whenever I would run with my friends, I would be such a show off by trying to run ahead of them. I guess everything changed when I took my Leadership class in Ateneo. I have learned about the meaning of passion. It is the intersection of the thing I love, the thing I am good at, the thing that the world needs and the thing that makes me earn money. Little by little, I have come to realize how much I wanted to help others be a better version of themselves through exercise. |
I love triathlon. For those who have heard me do my impromptu speeches would have known this by now. Triathlon is a long distance race consisting of three phases: swimming, bicycling and running. I heard about the sport two years ago from a friend. It seems exciting so I decided to give it a try. The problem was I didn’t know how to swim freestyle and how to ride a bike, but I tried to learn anyway. |
This is the paper I submitted for my Leadership class. I consider the class as a blessing because it really allows me to discover who I am and what I am meant to be. I am still on the road to discovery; it's a never-ending journey. Whenever I feel discouraged or afraid, I go back to all the papers I wrote for the class to remind me of what I've been through and how it has shaped me to become the person that I am now.