Happy (Have you found yourself yet?)

CEBU, Philippines - Shoot for the stars that way if you crash you will land on the moon and that’s not too bad.

“Living by this motto is never easy, but it’s worth living,” says 31-year-old Malaysian actor/director/screenwriter/motivational speaker and author Amar Delon.

Delon was at Bo’s Coffee at Fully Booked (Ayala Center Cebu) last June 6, 2011 for the launch of his 64-page book “Happy (Have you found yourself yet?).”

Published by lulu.com (USA) last April 6, 2011 in paperback, the book was written to “help the readers understand why certain things happen and how to invoke what the heart desires.”

This comes with the advice that before the reader goes on to read this book, one must know that this does not contain all the answers to life’s questions. “But it will,” Delon assures. As this book tells us only one thing: That in our entire quest for our heart’s desire, we forget that the only quest we need to pursue is the pursuit to find ourselves and everything else will fall into place.

Soft launch happened here last year, but Delon made it a point to return for some inspirational talks and the official launch here in Cebu and in Manila. “Last year, we just checked on how people relate to the book. But after the book was fully finished, we deem it necessary to have a proper launch,” he said.

“These are some of the things that I am recognized for (referring to his various jobs/posts/tasks). But above all, I would like to be recognized as a fellow man who is trying to find his purpose in this earth.”

Five years ago, Delon mentioned, he was confronted with finding himself after living by the bullet. “I was living by the bull’s horn. From 10,000 ringgits a month, my keeps dropped to 800 ringgits monthly. I lived at the basement of a friend’s house. I learned to take the public transport. No more fancy dinners. No more fancy Volvo. I was left to deal with the harshest of questions: What to do with my life,” Delon shared. “I have to wash cars for a living. Well, I haven’t even washed my own car back home, but yeah have to wash cars. Besides, it’s not illegal.”

“I woke up saying to myself that at some point, I might have done something wrong to have suffered the consequence. Newton’s Law: Every action has equivalent opposite reaction,” he stressed.

After that, I went through a cleansing process. That old me who believes that money is everything slowly died down. That in order to be happy, I don’t need to maintain an image or come fully prep up to impress my audience; that credit cards don’t make a life. Brand new (pair of) shoes doesn’t define who I am. I am who my values are,” Delon accentuated.

When asked as to how he would handle people who shy away from inspirationals for religious/indoctrination or misleading self-help, self-centered content, Delon used traveling for analogy. “Let’s just say there are the four of us who would want to reach Manila. I opt to take a plane. You took the bus (land trip). The other preferred to take the ship. Another might swim. We have various means and modes to reach Manila, but we have only one destination. That’s how I see our relationship with the Supreme. We have different methods, but the ultimate goal is reaching Him.”

Different strokes for different folks? “Yes, different rules, different motivation. But everybody is the same. We seek One God. It’s more of a matter of assimilation. There’s just too much politicizing of our beliefs that I find useless; becomes root of misery. We have to know well ourselves first and everything else falls into place.”

He also pointed out that he doesn’t claim to be motivational guru. He only wants to share through the book key experiences that “he was there before, being pushed to the wall.”

According to Delon, “the book serves as roadmap to where I’d been, where I was and where I’m going to. And how close am I getting to my goal, being alive and being human. Many minds out there need to be inspired on a daily basis to get through life’s hurdles.”

The book can be ordered from amardelon.com and paid through PayPal; or from Amazon and Google Books.

The event is initiated by Ad Access International, one of Malaysia’s premier television and events agency, also run by Delon. He even cited that Ad Access is a product of his pursuit for happiness. It is a partnership of diverse expertise from distinct experiences and qualified backgrounds. Driving forces are creativity, collaboration, competence, strategic mastery and distinction.

It delivers tailored high-impact training programs, specialized concept events management schemes, creative new media presentations and performance management consultancy.