{"id":1013,"date":"2010-03-18T16:09:22","date_gmt":"2010-03-18T08:09:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nargalzius.com\/blog\/archives\/2010\/03\/18\/if-you-want-something-done-right\/"},"modified":"2010-03-18T16:09:22","modified_gmt":"2010-03-18T08:09:22","slug":"if-you-want-something-done-right","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/archives\/2010\/03\/18\/if-you-want-something-done-right","title":{"rendered":"If you want something done right&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>You <em>really<\/em> got to do it <strong>yourself.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I actually had written this blog before lunch, assuming that the issue I was posting about had been resolved &#8211; but it turns out that wasn&#8217;t the end of it. Since I&#8217;ve ended up filing a formal complaint to my bank describing the whole &#8220;incident,&#8221; I thought posting the link <a href=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4054\/4442084497_faa7a2fdd6_o.gif\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Read the letter\" rel=\"nozoom\">to the letter<\/a> would save me a lot of time typing.<\/p>\n<p><em>Kulang nalang sabihin ko: &#8220;Alam ninyo, Tunay Na Lalake kayo; KSE ANG LABO NINYONG KAUSAP!&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>It may have been heavy handed but that&#8217;s just the way I deal with issues. Besides, I <em>have<\/em> experienced <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nargalzius.com\/blog\/archives\/2009\/01\/30\/twice-blessed\">something similar in the past<\/a> <span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_1013_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1013_1_1');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_1013_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1013_1_1');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_1013_1_1\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">1 <\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1013_1_1\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Related to &#8220;blessing 1&#8221;<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1013_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1013_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script><\/p>\n<p>It just begs the question though; is this &#8220;general unreliability&#8221; a cultural thing in our country? I mean it even kinda extends even to the workplace, and it just annoys the hell out of me. But I don&#8217;t want to dwell on it, as long as <em>I&#8217;m<\/em> not like that, then that should be good enough for me.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, I just decided to see the brighter side of it: I mentioned in a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nargalzius.com\/blog\/archives\/2010\/03\/17\/half-full-indeed\">previous post,<\/a> that a lot of my <em>other<\/em> issues suddenly sorted themselves out &#8211; best of which (so far) was finding out that I didn&#8217;t have to worry about the prospect of spending on an operation. I didn&#8217;t expect this new expense, but you know what &#8211; at least I&#8217;m healthy and I probably would&#8217;ve spent more if I <em>had<\/em> been sick.<!--more--><!-- \/\/ --><\/p>\n<h1>Reminiscing<\/h1>\n<p>Trying to see the brighter side of things [and taking action] this way reminds me of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nargalzius.com\/blog\/archives\/2006\/04\/05\/jetlagged\">the time I had lost money right before our choir left for a US Tour.<\/a> I had lost about 2k USD right at the airport before we left the Philippines, and for a moment (or a day maybe), I felt like giving up on the tour itself.<\/p>\n<p>But after further reflection, I realized that I had to see it through. Plus I wasn&#8217;t about to give up just yet. As stated in the post, I <strong>still<\/strong> accomplished what I set out to do. So the lesson learned there wasn&#8217;t really about &#8220;signs&#8221; or whatnot, but if you want something badly, get your ass moving and get it no matter what it takes.<\/p>\n<p>My most memorable moment on that tour was during an &#8220;evaluation&#8221; during the tail end of the trip. There was a question (one among many) that everyone had to take turns in answering: &#8220;Who did you admire the most during the tour&#8221; <span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_1013_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1013_1_2');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_1013_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1013_1_2');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_1013_1_2\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">2 <\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1013_1_2\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Or something to that effect<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1013_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1013_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script> &#8211; and of course we all had our different reasons for the choices we made; wether it be because of someone being the life of the party, or someone doing so well during solos, etc.<\/p>\n<p>Ginny, a fellow member, chose me &#8211; and the reason she stated was she admired how I handled myself despite what happened to me. She had said that if that happened to her, <em>sirang sira na ang mood niya<\/em> the <strong>whole<\/strong> tour, but somehow I still managed to keep my chin up and enjoy just like anyone else. She said something like, <em>&#8220;super galing niya, kse hindi siya nagreklamo or naging pabigat sa group at any point.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The funny thing is, I really <em>was<\/em> happy and hopeful during the whole tour. I mean sure, that first day was a killer, but after realizing that I couldn&#8217;t change anything, I just had to make the best out of my situation. I&#8217;d rather enjoy the little that was left with me, instead of being miserable <em>the whole three weeks<\/em> we were there.<\/p>\n<p>I had to stay home while others went to theme parks that required payment. Or I would go shopping with the group knowing that all I could do was window-shop. But I was happy, because at the end of the day, I was still going to get the pot of gold at the end (my Taylor T5) &#8211; and I decided to focus on that one good thing; that one sure thing &#8211; instead of seeing the other &#8220;not so good&#8221; things that my unfortunate situation had put me in. <\/p>\n<p>That, like I said in my post yesterday, allowed me to appreciate the little things &#8211; and that made all the difference. How much of a difference? Enough to be noticed and admired by someone I admired myself (Ginny&#8217;s one of my favorite singers in BP) \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n<h1>Digression<\/h1>\n<p>If you read the post about the tour experience, there&#8217;s one caveat I&#8217;d like to mention; how naive I was then. Specifically, how I kept on mentioning &#8220;God&#8217;s plan\/will&#8221; &#8211; that&#8217;s the only thing that&#8217;s different with my life now; I&#8217;m still very much positive, still very much a hard-worker when I want something, but I don&#8217;t necessarily rely on (or even believe in) &#8220;God&#8217;s will&#8221; anymore. <\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s not to say that I don&#8217;t believe in God and His <em>grace,<\/em> but <em>will?<\/em> Sorry, not good enough.<\/p>\n<p>The lamest cop-out one could invoke when [good or bad] things happen is that God controls our destiny. If this is the case, then why bother giving us &#8220;free will&#8221; in the first place?<\/p>\n<p>We may be stewards of the earth, but we are also the masters of our own fates. In fact, the former doesn&#8217;t necessarily contradict the latter &#8211; as Gary Granada&#8217;s song <em>Earth Keeper<\/em> would explain: <em>&#8220;To make or unmake, to do or undo &#8211; hangs on you.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Resorting to &#8220;God&#8217;s will&#8221; to cover up for something we could&#8217;ve done but failed to do is both a disservice to one&#8217;s self and [inherent] potential. It&#8217;s also technically blaspheming as you are taking His name in vain. <span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_1013_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1013_1_3');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_1013_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1013_1_3');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_1013_1_3\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">3 <\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1013_1_3\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">Not that I have any issues with that, I do it all the time<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1013_1_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1013_1_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script> All in all, whether God really had\/has something to do with whatever happens in life is irrelevant to me, all that matters is if I <em>could<\/em> do something&#8230; and more importantly if I actually do it.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>So I&#8217;ll do my best so I won&#8217;t have any regrets.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Isn&#8217;t that awesome!? Since I mentioned that very same &#8220;lesson&#8221; in numerous posts &#8211; the most recent of which was: <\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>I now find solace in the mere fact that if there was anything in my power I could do to change my situation, I already have done, am doing, or intend to do it<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Seems like I have a knack of returning to my &#8220;core&#8221; &#8211; which has always served me well when in troubling times. I know it sounds so self-assuring, but honestly, I wish I could share this perspective with other people because it really makes dealing with life in general a lot easier. It makes a person less spiteful of the bad things that happen, and more appreciative of the good things that happen&#8230; and most importantly, it forces us to <strong>earn<\/strong> those moments that can take our breath away.<\/p>\n<p>It all boils down to these key points:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Shit happens &#8211; not because God willed it, <span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_1013_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1013_1_4');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_1013_1('footnote_plugin_reference_1013_1_4');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_1013_1_4\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">4 <\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1013_1_4\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">To say that God wills everything, would mean accepting that even the REALLY EVIL STUFF is willed\/ordained by Him&#8230; oh, but we conveniently make exceptions out of those cases don&#8217;t we? Just like with every damn contradicting doctrine the Church teaches<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_1013_1_4').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_1013_1_4', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top right', relative: true, offset: [10, 10], });<\/script> it just happens (most of the time, it&#8217;s because people made it happen)&#8230; the question is if we do something about it or not. <\/li>\n<li>Likewise, good happens for the very same reason; not because God suddenly decided to give you a break, it&#8217;s most probably because you worked your ass off to get it, and did something about it.<\/li>\n<li>Do something about it.<\/li>\n<li>Life is half-full; be thankful of what is there instead of spiteful because of what isn&#8217;t. And if it <em>isn&#8217;t,<\/em> go back to #3 &#8211; and keep at it. Don&#8217;t give up. I say this because #1 can, does, and will happen just as often as #2, but for as long as we don&#8217;t give up (and have wind in our lungs) &#8211; we always have a fighting chance to change things for the better.<\/li>\n<\/ol><div class=\"speaker-mute footnotes_reference_container\"> <div class=\"footnote_container_prepare\"><p><span role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" class=\"footnote_reference_container_label pointer\" onclick=\"footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_1013_1();\">Notes<\/span><span role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" class=\"footnote_reference_container_collapse_button\" style=\"display: none;\" onclick=\"footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_1013_1();\">[<a id=\"footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_1013_1\">+<\/a>]<\/span><\/p><\/div> <div id=\"footnote_references_container_1013_1\" style=\"\"><table class=\"footnotes_table footnote-reference-container\"><caption class=\"accessibility\">Notes<\/caption> <tbody> \r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_1013_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_1013_1_1');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_1013_1_1\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8673;<\/span>1<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Related to &#8220;blessing 1&#8221;<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_1013_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_1013_1_2');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_1013_1_2\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8673;<\/span>2<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Or something to that effect<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_1013_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_1013_1_3');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_1013_1_3\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8673;<\/span>3<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">Not that I have any issues with that, I do it all the time<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_1013_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_1013_1_4');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_1013_1_4\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8673;<\/span>4<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">To say that God wills everything, would mean accepting that even the REALLY EVIL STUFF is willed\/ordained by Him&#8230; oh, but we conveniently make exceptions out of those cases don&#8217;t we? Just like with every damn contradicting doctrine the Church teaches<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n <\/tbody> <\/table> <\/div><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> function footnote_expand_reference_container_1013_1() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_1013_1').show(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_1013_1').text('\u2212'); } function footnote_collapse_reference_container_1013_1() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_1013_1').hide(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_1013_1').text('+'); } function footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_1013_1() { if (jQuery('#footnote_references_container_1013_1').is(':hidden')) { footnote_expand_reference_container_1013_1(); } else { footnote_collapse_reference_container_1013_1(); } } function footnote_moveToReference_1013_1(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container_1013_1(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery('#' + p_str_TargetID); if (l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery( 'html, body' ).delay( 0 ); jQuery('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top - window.innerHeight * 0.2 }, 380); } } function footnote_moveToAnchor_1013_1(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container_1013_1(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery('#' + p_str_TargetID); if (l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery( 'html, body' ).delay( 0 ); jQuery('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top - window.innerHeight * 0.2 }, 380); } }<\/script>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You really got to do it yourself. I actually had written this blog before lunch, assuming that the issue I was posting about had been resolved &#8211; but it turns out that wasn&#8217;t the end of it. Since I&#8217;ve ended up filing a formal complaint to my bank describing the whole &#8220;incident,&#8221; I thought posting &hellip; <p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/archives\/2010\/03\/18\/if-you-want-something-done-right\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;If you want something done right&#8230;&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,11],"tags":[473,896],"class_list":["post-1013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-perspective","tag-general","tag-perspective"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1013"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1013\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/nargalzius.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}