Aha! moments

Sometimes, when I am really bored (which rarely happens), I go around the house browsing through magazines. I’m not really the magazine-subscriber type. My taste in magazines is a bit eclectic – what I read usually depends on my various interests and my mood for that day. Typically, I like browsing through sports magazines. Second on the list would be public affairs and business magazines like Time, Newsweek, Fortune, etc. But there are days when I don’t like reading any of the heavy stuff, so I prefer leafing through "lighter" publications that feature traveling, home architecture, and gadgets.

But since I don’t subscribe, the only magazines I can fiddle around with are those subscribed to by my wife. And sadly, she only subscribes to one magazine: Oprah. So during those rare occasions of extreme boredom, I find myself flipping through Oprah. Which is not a bad thing, really. You know what amazes me about this publication? Every month, she’s on the cover! Of course, she’s in different poses and different clothes. And her look changes dramatically each month. But it’s her on the cover all the time – no fail! And that’s mind-blowing. No matter how big a star Tiger Woods is, Golf Digest magazine will never have him on the cover every single time. You lose credibility that way. But Oprah can get away with it. That’s how big Oprah is.

But despite that, I will be the first male to admit that I like this magazine. Sure, the cover may be predictable (I wonder who’s going to grace the cover next month? Hmm…), but the stories and articles inside are quite diverse and very entertaining. I particularly like reading the features on people and celebrities who go through what Oprah likes to describe as "aha! moments."

The magazine never really defines it, but by inference, it would seem that aha! moments are moments of enlightenment and inspiration. They are those special instances in our lives when we see the light, when everything seems a lot clearer. It’s those times of deep realization, discovery, illumination – experiences that make you go, "Ah, now I get it!" and "Oh, I see!" For a lot of people, these are highlights, life-changing experiences, the dawning of a new and positive way of seeing things, a sudden burst of motivation.

I didn’t see it that way at first because to me, "aha!" is an expression that we Pinoys often use when we catch someone in a compromising situation. For instance, when we catch a married guy holding hands in a bar with a chick who is not his wife, we often say, "Aha! Huli ka!" But for Americans, whenever they discover something enlightening, they normally say "Aha!"

Why am I talking about this? Well, basically I think aha! moments are the spice of life. They make life a lot more interesting, and exciting. And these moments come unexpectedly – like blessings, really – and they come in many shapes and forms. Sometimes they come in small ways – minor moments like when you discover a new animation trick in Powerpoint, or when you discover a shortcut on your usual way to work. Last week, when I stayed at this quaint hotel, Parque España Hotel in Alabang, I went up to their view deck on the 18th floor and relished the wide-open space around me. I had a minor aha! moment. I told myself, "All that talk about Metro Manila being too congested, overpopulated, and over-polluted is overblown; there are certainly still some great open spaces that we can enjoy, and these areas are just 20 to 30 minutes away from Makati (15 minutes on a good day).

But then, there are the big aha! moments – moments that change your life, your perspective, and your direction altogether. Like when I decided to accept the country manager post in IMG around 10 years ago. I knew then that by accepting that job, I would basically be giving up law practice altogether and be more of a general business manager moving forward. It wasn’t really in the plan. But when I was offered the position, I said, "Aha!" I knew I wanted to do it. It was a moment of self-discovery. I knew that people saw me as more than just a lawyer. There was something beyond my law degree that they saw. I took the plunge. And I have no regrets whatsoever. At any rate, I knew that I would always be a lawyer anyway. That will always be with me till the day I die. No one can take it from me. And I still deal with lot of legal issues every day. So in a way, my law education has helped me on my new career path.

My wife, Teemy, went through such an experience a month ago. And it was, quite literally, an aha! moment for her. She was reading my column when she chanced upon a print ad right below it. It was for the American Hospitality Academy (AHA), a top culinary academy. Teemy, who is a great cook, heard a bell in her head. She turned to me and said, "Hon, I want to take up culinary school."

And that was it. Teemy is now enrolled in AHA and training to be a chef. Of course, now she’s experiencing a different kind of "aha" – the type of enlightenment and discovery that’s making her go, "Dang, I didn’t realize culinary school is so hard." She has to deal with kitchen math, ingredients identification, and other topics beyond actual cooking. It’s a reality check for her. But it’s a realization that is guiding her along her life path.

Life can be boring at times. But sometimes, God blesses us with moments that make us think and evaluate our situation. Some of the biggest inventions in the world and the coolest products out there are byproducts of aha! moments, which is really another term for "inspiration." Don’t ignore them when they come knocking in your life.

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Thanks for your letters! You may e-mail me at rodhnepo@yahoo.com