work wisdoms: rice stalk

There's a Filipino saying that sort of goes this way:
A young rice stalk stands tall and proud,
when it's grown and ready for harvest it bows down

One of my posts on work wisdoms talks about pruning.  It's the painful process one has to go through to grow up-- and as we grow up, we learn how important it is to bow down.

As I become older, the more I realize that I don't know everything about anything at all. You think you know a person, then they do something out of character. You think you got your plans all mapped out then something unexpected happens. You think you got your basic Science down pat, then they say Pluto's not a planet. So what do you do? You accept, you learn, you stay open and humble.

It feels so good to be so superior and smart and all-knowing, but I think once we lose our humility we lose something far more important. When we say we're the ultimate expert on something, you can expect that from that point on, learning will be limited-- because, well you're already an expert! Nobody will dare correct you now and that will be the beginning of the end.

But there will always something new to learn, something to improve.  I guess humility is more important than knowing it all.

work wisdoms: lenten break

It certainly is.  Today is the last of my 6-day break from work.  Here in the Philippines, lenten break usually means going out of town and heading to the beaches.  I watched the news last Thursday and Friday and sure enough, Bora and Puerto Galera were overflowing with local tourists. Someone said that Manila was like a ghost town.  Well, It was really nice because there was no traffic when we did our Visita Iglesia last Friday.  We were able to visit 8 churches and we even swung by my Grandma's house for a visit.  I had a lot of fun. We do this every year and for each church we visit, we would buy some sort of snack or eat a meal.  We call it Station of the Foods haha.  We ate Puto from Laguna, puto bumbong, corn, drank buko juice, and then ate lunch at Aristocrat's (first for me).

There was a tv show that called it "staycation" which means, staying at home for the vacation.  A lot of people, instead of going to the beach and spending money for travel and accomodation, just bought inflatable pools and filled it with water.  Then they cooked barbeques and had fun with their family.  Happiness, in whatever form, will always be grand.

It felt good to do something different everyday and accomplish a lot of things.  I dragged my family to the hospital to get their first shot of the anti-HPV vaccine, cleaned my shoes and clothes and fixed my closet, went to confession and visited churches, visited my grandma, went swimming, went to a hydrotherapy spa, visited a friend who gave birth last week, got a pedicure, a haircut and a hot oil treatment, wrote the script for the comic book project I've started with one of my friends, submitted a short scene and gave a critique to the internet writing workshop, added some more scenes on the short story I'm writing, wrote this blog entry, exercised everyday and took care of my dogs, tried out the new restaurant here in our village and watched four great movies! (Sooner or later, Flipped, Mozart and the Whale, Kiss of the Spiderwoman).

It felt rewarding to finish a lot of things that are not related to work.  These last few days were quite fruitful.  I didn't feel tired at all. It was one of the best vacations I had in my life.

"Laziness may appear attractive, but work gives satisfaction." - Anne Frank

work wisdoms: pruning

I'm not a person who likes to meddle with other people's business. As long as I'm doing my job and I'm not hurting anyone, then everything's fine. Live and let live. However, there are times when life puts us on the spot. Sometimes, we have to call out someone when they're doing something wrong. I have a real problem with that. I hate confrontations.

Someone told me about an orchid she once had. She took good care of it, gave it enough sunlight and water but when it grew, it was crooked. It wasn't as perfect as the ones she saw on the shop. Her dad told her that she should've pruned it while it was growing.

"Pruning is a horticultural practice involving the selective removal of parts of a plant, such as branches, buds, or roots. Reasons to prune plants include deadwood removal, shaping (by controlling or directing growth), improving or maintaining health, reducing risk from falling branches, preparing nursery specimens for transplanting, and both harvesting and increasing the yield or quality of flowers and fruits. The practice entails targeted removal of diseased, damaged, dead, non-productive, structurally unsound, or otherwise unwanted tissue from crop and landscape plants." ~wikipedia.com

She told me, we have to prune people to make them better. We may look like the bad guys but in reality, we're shaping their character for their own good. When you look at it that way, the job's not so bad after all. We're an instrument to help others become their best selves.

After a while, I realized I still need some pruning myself. Well, I guess I don't need to worry, because life always makes sure that I get all the pruning I need. I don't think it stops as long as we're alive. We're all enrolled in that school. It hurts (my pride mostly) and oftentimes it's embarrassing. But you know what? I'm still here and I'm still standing-- only now my head is bowed down. I think that's the best way to handle pruning-- but I'm saving that for another post :).


Sources:
http://www.wikipedia.com
http://www.partylightsite.com