I have been out of the circulation lately because I had joined the work force. It was a big change that took almost all my energy.
I have missed this opportunity to be writing about whatever comes to my head.
Now that I have discovered that I can do this without sitting in front of a computer, I am reconnecting with it. I embrace the change.
In no particular order, (probably in order of how I remember them) here are the things I have done before I turned the magic number forty:
– rode a 840m zip line (Asia’s longest dual zip line);
– took a white water rafting adventure;
– had a croissant breakfast at Paris and saw the Eiffel Tower, Arc d’ Triump;
– drank beer after walking around several platz at Munich, Germany;
– walked/climbed the Great Wall of China;
– saw sunrise at Angkor Wat, Cambodia;
– saw sunset at Phnom Bakheng;
– hiked the North rim of the Grand Canyon;
– carried a 30lb python on my shoulder/neck;
– sang “It’s a Small World” while inside the happiest place on Earth at Anaheim, California;
– saw the longest inclined Buddha statue in Bangkok, Thailand;
– rubbed the belly of the Laughing Buddha statue in Hong kong;
– crossed the Oresund Bridge over the Oresund Strait in Denmark;
– walked the cobbled stone streets of Stockholm, Sweden;
– crossed the Berlin Wall and Checkpoint Charlie;
– made a stone pile at several temple ruins in Siam Reap;
– toured the Horseshoe bend in Arizona;
– experienced the eruption of a dormant volcano;
– watched traffic go by at Times square, New York City;
– explored several caves in China, US and Philippines;
– visited the Nobel Museum in Stockholm, Sweden;
– watched a Broadway musical (The Phantom of the Opera) in New York City;
– walked around Central Park looking for my lost mitten;
– volunteered at a fund raising event by the American Diabetes Association;
– saw the hanging coffins of Sagada;
– walked on the fine sands of Boracay beach;
– strolled Bourbon Street, New Orleans;
– became a member of the Philippine Bar;
– witnessed the caesarian procedure of my pet Pug (Selphy);
– saw the Banaue Rice Terraces;
– saw the majestic Mayon Volcano;
– toured the Sequoia National Park;
– toured the Everglades;
– rode the New York subway;
– strolled the streets of Amsterdam;
– witnessed the Dallas Comic Convention;
– saw a solar and lunar eclipse, blue moon, honeymoon moon and several meteor showers;
– dipped my feet in the Gulf of Mexico;
– experienced the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo (a dormant volcano);
– saw a replica of the largest pearl from the Philippines at the Houston Museum of Natural Science;
– saw the Hope Diamond;
– toured the National Mall, Washington D.C.;
– walked inside the Alamo;
– saw the Statue of Liberty;
– crossed the Golden gate bridge;
– saw the beautiful Chocolate Hills, Bohol;
– saw several sculptures by Auguste Rodin including “The Thinker”;
– walked on the “Hollywood Walk of Fame”;
– saw a couple of white tigers in the Singapore Zoo;
– experienced a 7.2 magnitude earthquake;
– planted several trees;
– got stuck in the sticky world wide web;
– climbed the hills/mounds of White sands, New Mexico;
– helped with the collection of donation for the victims of typhoon Haiyan;
– saw the Empire State Building and the Grand Central Station;
– saw the mighty Mississippi River with the steamboat Natchez rolling by;
– witnessed the transition from typewriters to computers;
– wrote several school papers with the help of a library card catalog;
– visited “Ground Zero”;
– used a corded telephone then a cordless one until it became a cellphone;
– used “LOL”, “:-D”, etc. in communicating with family and friends;
– buried both my parents and my elder brother;
– did the big “M”;
– survived my welcome party to age forty.
We, humans, enjoy the countdown of any upcoming big event. The satisfaction of tracking an eminent culmination is very fulfilling. However, as it comes nearer and nearer, restlessness, uneasiness and sometimes mixed with a dose of anxiety, fills our very core. Then, we are confronted with the questions, “Are we ready?” “How prepared are we?”
Until finally, after all the preparations we ask ourselves, “What will be after the event?”. The fear of the unknown suddenly eats our very being.
But we have always cope up with this fear – every time we close our eyes at night to sleep, we embrace the unknown by knowing that tomorrow we will wake up and it is going to be another day.
What comes to one’s mind whenever forty is mentioned?
In mathematics, “Forty is a composite number, an octagonal number, and as the sum of the first four pentagonal numbers, it is a pentagonal pyramidal number. Adding up some subsets of its divisors (e.g., 1, 4, 5, 10 and 20) gives 40, hence 40 is a semiperfect number. “
In science, “Negative forty is the unique temperature at which the Fahrenheit and Celsius scales correspond; that is, −40°F = −40°C.”
In religion, forty is often used for significant time periods.The Hebrew people lived in the Sinai desert for “forty years”. This period of years represents the time it takes for a new generation to arise. Forty days was the period from the resurrection of Jesus to his ascension. Muhammad was forty years old when he first received the revelation delivered by the archangel Gabriel.
But how about “forty Earth years” as in a life of a person . It is a key milestone in a person’s life as adolencence was. It is the time to evaluate who they are, what they have done and where will they be going.
Remember the cliche – life begins at forty, did anyone ever questioned it. So if it is a new chapter then one has to do a summary of the previous chapter. Instead of doing a bucket list of things to do before forty, I will instead do a report card of things I have done before forty.
It has been 365 days since I left the Philippines. I am not prepared to be out this long since I am not an Overseas Filipino Worker. I took a leap of faith – married and now living with my spouse in another country. I opened a new door when I choose to live here. I sometimes find myself longing for things I am used to. Then I just have to remind myself that I am in an adventure – explore new things.
Change is inevitable and it follows you anywhere you go.
Love heals . . . and in all times Love remembers
This is worthy of praise and admiration. I look forward to see it and experience walking in this thing of beauty and piece of history.
As the saying goes, “Life’s a journey not a destination so enjoy the ride.”
But how many times have we wondered on the “what ifs”, “could have been” and “should have been” in our life. Does it really matter to know them. It would not change where ever you are now nor would it change what you have now.
The reason why your eyes are placed in your face is so you can look forward and not back nor side.
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