March 6: Old messages, new messages

I opened my old SIM today. I found it in my makeup kit, among the lipstick and eyeliner and many other facial recreation stuff. I didn't realize that I've saved lots of good quotes and touching messages from friends and family on that SIM.
After incurring a considerable credit (P4,000+) -- as a result of my roaming service in China in December 2006 -- I tucked away that SIM January of 2007 and bought a prepaid one that I've been using since then. The new SIM pulled me away from unnecessary cellphone expenses. I forgot all about the messages in that old SIM and when I saw them tonight, they stirred some happy and heart-tugging memories.
Here are some of those messages:

Apr 14, 2006 - 7:14am
From Nina, officemate and friend
Let me share with you a beautiful Lenten prayer: "Lord, when I lose hope because my plans have come to nothing, help me to remember that your love is always greater than my disappointments and your plans for my life is always better than my dreams. Amen."

Nina is still with me in the same team but we rarely have time to have some heart-to-heart talks. Since she encountered some problem at work several months ago, she has stopped joining us for lunch and has found new lunch buddies. When I was promoted in October 2007, we also had a little misunderstanding about that promotion, but we were able to settle it. Still, I can say that things have changed quite a bit between the two of us, although I still feel that she cares for me. And of course, I still look at her as a friend. Just last night, she has invited me and my family to view the relics of St Therese of the Child Jesus in Malacañang, courtesy of her sister who works there. So I believe our friendship isn't lost, and this message will always be a reminder of that.

Oct 25, 2006 - 11:43pm
From Mel, husband
I'll embrace you for eternity.

Mel, of course, will always be there, although lately it's work, work, work for both of us. We squeeze in time for romantic getaways but this is rare now that Marthe requires more of our time. This message of over a year ago is an assurance that whatever happens, I will not be alone in this world.

Oct 30, 2006 - 1:00am
From Shers, sister
"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's learning to dance in the rain. It's singing in the car when you don't even know all the words. It's giving your whole heart to someone even if you're a little scared. It's about taking risks and making life worth living because every minute you waste is a minute you'll never get back."

Shers left for Spain in June 2007 and she will have to stay there for three years before she can come home, as the Spanish government requires foreigners three years before they can get their residence certificate. I miss her so much and all her spontaneous messages when she was here. I miss our gimmicks and late-night chats and sharing of secrets and dreams. I miss my second best friend. We no longer text each other because it's so expensive for me. She and Mama, however, text each other everyday (I don't know why Mama's texts is always cheaper than mine) and I send her my messages through Mama. But we email each other often and she gets to read her emails every week. I wish the three years would fly and we can see her soon.

Dec 22, 2006 - 7:23pm
From 0916-2683455, haven't traced who this is
"Some people never get over their past accomplishments. Even worse are the people who exaggerate what they have done. For years. I kept a sign on my desk that helped me maintain the right perspective concerning yesterday. It simply said, 'Yesterday Ended Last Night.' It reminded me that no matter how badly I might have failed in the past, it's done, and today is a new day."
- John Maxwell

Whoever this is has given me such an inspiring message. Today is a new day and everything I do today is a fresh beginning for tomorrow.

Dec 31, 2006 - 10:27pm
From Marco, officemate and friend
I opened an account for you, May, at the Bank of God's Blessings and deposited 365 days full of LOVE, FAITH, JOY and PROSPERITY. Enjoy withdrawing them. Happy New Year!

Marco, my buddy, is now sitting beside me in the office. His workstation was moved beside mine when my former officemate Rose transferred to another company. I still get to talk to him by email and personally. But conversations are rare as work is getting much of our attention now. Our department has downsized and even if the load has lightened a bit, there seems to be greater pressure to excel and deliver quality edits. I just miss more of the Marco of old times but he has not really changed. He still teases me about my height and other officemates about their age, appearance, etc. But his jokes are more of "paglalambing" so I don't really get irritated anymore. This message shows that there's a soft and sweet side to Marco. He has a new one-liner this week: "Ingat!" from the Biogesic commercial. He says it when any of us are walking out at the end of the day. He is everybody's buddy. :-)

Jan 11, 2007 - 12:08am
From Jason, officemate and friend
"Life is all about waking up each day to discover something new...about meeting old people but making new conversations...walking through old roads but still feeling nice about it...realizing that you have grown a day older but still feeling young at heart...meeting busy schedules but still finding time for old friends...being nostalgic about gone days but looking forward to better days...HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Jason is also now a rare vision in the 14/F. We used to go to lunch with Rech and me but these past months, he started having his own activities, errands and schedules -- some secret, some not, some personal, some work-related. And he has his self-imposed diet lately so he eats big breakfasts at half past 10 or 11 am and is still full when we invite him to lunch at around 12nn. But the three of us, including Rech, manage to see each other and get together for lunch as much as possible as there's just the three of us left from the original bunch of lunch buddies in our office. Incidentally, Rech and Jason are my batch mates in Global Sources. I joined the company in March 2004 and both of them joined in April of that year. We've been close ever since. In 2007, I believe Jason was the first to greet me on my birthday.

Jan 21, 2007 - 2:16pm
From Rose, former officemate, and friend
"There's a certain desperate longingness between two parallel lines - for they will never meet in the same plane." Pwede rin pala gamitin ang Math sa pag-e-emote. Hehe.

Rose is no longer with Global Sources. She left in September last year and joined HSBC, a banking corporation. I miss her a lot because we are also very close and have our own secret conversations and codes. She listens to my advice and always consults me for little things involving work and lovelife. Each time she visits the office, I see to it that I have time to meet her, for breakfast, coffee or after-office drinks. She said she feels lonely and bored often lately because of the nature of her new job. But maybe she just misses us a lot. When she transfers workplace to Makati, maybe I can find more time to meet her.

Feb 29: An Extra Day

We always look at a leap year as the one with the extra day, the extra 24 hours we can use—or waste. To many, it is a window of opportunity, a day that promises difference, a day when extraordinary events can happen. We look at it as a porthole—as Harry and his colleagues of the wizarding world would say—that we can hold on to transform us to something new, something different, for at least one day.

If you’re a single unattached male or female, chances are friends would advice you to date or make the first move just to get things rolling. You feel bold, uninhibited, because you have the leap year as an alibi if you are ever criticized for your unusual openness. If you’re married without kids, some people will tell you to try your luck in conceiving one today. Who knows, the stars might connive to give you one lovely son or daughter, or twins…or more.

For the jobless and lazy, this is THE day to try their lucks in the lottery or horseracing, as if they haven’t been doing it every single day of their pathetic, worthless life. Or the casino, if they’re moneyed. Or the illegal gambling dens. (It’s a leap year, give us a break!) On the contrary, if you’re a businessman or entrepreneur, colleagues and superiors may advice you to be cautious and conservative in your deals today and not to sign any contracts in haste, lest your good fortune will magnetize the negative energies of the day.

You’re a bum? Get a job! You’re a geek? Get involved! Frustrated with your job? Get your boss to promote you! You’re a virgin? Get laid! You’re a workaholic? Get a life!

In whatever way, leap years are portrayed as the year that gives you extra – extra power, extra confidence, extra luck and extra charm to get what you desire. Maybe that is why the Olympics is scheduled every four years as well, and often coincides with leap years. It might give the athletes the extra “leap”, the extra strength, the extra boost, the extra booze.

But in reality, to most of us hardworking, mature individuals who are simply busy getting by everyday, the extra 24 hours of February is just like any other day. We start and end it just like any other day. We wake up in the usual time and do whatever we normally do on a day like that, such as eating, working, interacting with the world and sleeping at the end of the day. Apart from the hullabaloo created by psychics, numerologists, astrologists and feng shui experts, there is nothing different about February 29.

So what is all the fuss about the extra day? Why think of it as lucky or blessed or charmed? It’s not the day that pours in the extraordinary energy that turns the lives of some of us around. It’s us and our belief that fuel this day with extraordinary spirit, turning our own lives around.

The extra day does not make the leap year any better than the rest of the years of a decade or century. We do. If we live each day of our lives with great care and full attention, we accomplish more and become productive. If we cut the journey short by moving rapidly towards our dreams than succumbing to the endless delays brought by mistaken opportunities, we can get there faster and be able start a new journey to another dream. If we focus on the essentials of life and downplay the distractions of unrequited love, heartbreak, lost job, bypassed promotion, death of a loved one, vision of what could have been, failed experiment, sickness, unplanned pregnancy, ill will and vengeance, we can enjoy the meaning of life and be in the moment.

If we do all these and more, we achieve greater heights and accomplish vital things in one day. And the next day will always be an extra day—a day that’s new, different, promising.