Life is not a spectator sport!
December 1, 2002 | 12:00am
Last Sunday, while reviewing some video materials for my upcoming seminar in Cebu, I couldn’t help but be tempted to watch some TV shows. I have not watched television in ages that recently, when I was invited to be a judge for a song competition on ABS-CBN Channel 2, I did not know 90 percent of the new singers and wanna-be stars. I gave up watching TV six years ago after my life guru drove home the point that television was robbing me of my time and consequently, my life.
After flipping from channel to channel, I finally settled for Entertainment Tonight. It featured inside scoops on celebrity marriage scandals, the still ongoing speculations about JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette (were they fighting, was she pregnant?) before their fatal plane crash, the legendary Hollywood casting couch, real messy celebrity breakups, and all the other juicy inanities that make entertainment the enticing and lucrative business that it is.
Like a smoker who stopped but succumbed to that proverbial "just one little puff," I was once more powerless in the claws of that darn tube again! It felt good to reign over the remote control and, in an instant, I was back to the professional TV addict I used to be. With much hesitation, I turned the TV off lest I become mercilessly hooked again.
Most of us live our lives by watching others live. We watch other people make news, we read about them and their seemingly enviable life, we enjoy their secondhand, often beefed-up social and professional escapades, we gawk at their sexual conquests or weird preferences, we even read about their doggone dogs! In the meantime our little lives become even more insignificant because the time we are supposed to devote living it gets wasted snooping on others.
When my life guru demanded that I give up TV and be very selective of what I read and listen to, she said it would be a sure way to find time to live my own life and realize my dreams. (Don’t get me wrong now – I still watch TV once in a while especially when there is a real hot special showing.) She added that it would keep out from my consciousness all the negative things media is saturated with these days.
"Life is not a spectator sport," she emphasized, "you have to get out there, play it, and be the hero!" She exhorted me to be a star on the stage of life. She warned me about getting reduced to a mere spectator – one of the many anonymous faces applauding in the galleries.
Knowing I would suffer a withdrawal bout once I give up TV, I protested, "But Holly, how am I supposed to know what’s happening around the world?"
She smiled and shrugged, "Don’t worry, dearie. If it is really important and truly newsworthy, you’ll get to hear about it!"
Everyday, we are bombarded by advertisements telling us which shampoo to use, which clothes to wear, which car to buy, which cell phone is more prestigious to carry around. Record producers and radio announcers dictate what music we should listen to. Self-proclaimed prophets of style (and sales!) manipulate us like helpless puppets on a string. We get hypnotized into mass hysteria and become willing prey to their Machiavellian ploy.
What does this follow-the-loudspeaker kind of life give you? A zombie existence that is never truly your own. You have time for everything and everyone else except for yourself and the things that are truly important to you. To matter in this life, you have to be the mover, not the moved; you must set the trend and pace, not just follow.
By giving up TV and being very selective about movies, reading materials and recordings, I was able to find more time to concentrate on my writing, restore vintage and antique paintings, and complete unfinished songs shelved in my mind for years. I was able to put together dynamic seminars that help people find direction and meaning in their lives. I constantly think up projects that would make my life more useful and significant. Most importantly, I live the way I want to, not how others dictate I should. I enjoy my life, savor it to the fullest, and don’t care about those envious, wagging fingers.
I am no longer concerned about who is dating whom, who dumped whom, who is quarreling with whom, who won, who fell flat on his face, who is rich, who is bankrupt, who is saintly, who is guilty, who is laughing, who is crying, who is what. I know that the circus goes on but the best thing I learned (most especially from Holly) is that I have the power to choose whether to be part of it or not.
There is too much noise in today’s world that we can’t even hear ourselves think. Unfortunately, God did not give us earlids like He gave us eyelids to shut out any light or vision from our retina. If we want to shield our consciousness from the pointless cacophony of the outside world, we must do it voluntarily, intentionally. We must instead look and listen within to find the true yearnings of our heart, the secret desires of our soul.
The problem is that we have been taught to find what we are searching for from the outside world – love, wealth, happiness and even fulfillment. Our focus is on external things. We define ourselves through other people, through inanimate objects, possessions, fame, fortune and power. When we lose these things, we are left with nothing.
Having real happiness and true freedom means knowing, doing and finding what you really want in life. It’s time to listen to the beat of your own drum and keep your feet dancing to its unique cadence. For once in your life, take time to pause, search, and listen within you. There, you will find the amazing treasures that will make you the star in your life.
The highly enlightening, entertaining and empowering seminar "Make Your Impossible Dreams Come True!" will be held on December 6, Friday, at 2 p.m. at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel. Give yourself and your loved ones the gift that will stay in your hearts and minds forever! Catch this rare chance to learn the universal principles, secrets, techniques and formulas for personal success all in one session.
For tickets, call or text 0917-3245645. The seminar is sponsored by Cebu Pacific and the Waterfront Hotel, and inspired by the visionary and indefatigable Honey Jarque-Loop for the benefit of the Gugma Home for the Aged. See you all, Cebu!
The author conducts enlightening and highly inspiring seminars. Catch the last sessions of the year and get ready for 2003: "Make Your Impossible Dreams Come True!" on December 11 and "Money, Money! Secret Principles of Money & Prosperity" on December 14 in Makati. For more information, e-mail DeroSeminar@yahoo.com or text/call 0920-4053233.
After flipping from channel to channel, I finally settled for Entertainment Tonight. It featured inside scoops on celebrity marriage scandals, the still ongoing speculations about JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette (were they fighting, was she pregnant?) before their fatal plane crash, the legendary Hollywood casting couch, real messy celebrity breakups, and all the other juicy inanities that make entertainment the enticing and lucrative business that it is.
Like a smoker who stopped but succumbed to that proverbial "just one little puff," I was once more powerless in the claws of that darn tube again! It felt good to reign over the remote control and, in an instant, I was back to the professional TV addict I used to be. With much hesitation, I turned the TV off lest I become mercilessly hooked again.
When my life guru demanded that I give up TV and be very selective of what I read and listen to, she said it would be a sure way to find time to live my own life and realize my dreams. (Don’t get me wrong now – I still watch TV once in a while especially when there is a real hot special showing.) She added that it would keep out from my consciousness all the negative things media is saturated with these days.
"Life is not a spectator sport," she emphasized, "you have to get out there, play it, and be the hero!" She exhorted me to be a star on the stage of life. She warned me about getting reduced to a mere spectator – one of the many anonymous faces applauding in the galleries.
Knowing I would suffer a withdrawal bout once I give up TV, I protested, "But Holly, how am I supposed to know what’s happening around the world?"
She smiled and shrugged, "Don’t worry, dearie. If it is really important and truly newsworthy, you’ll get to hear about it!"
What does this follow-the-loudspeaker kind of life give you? A zombie existence that is never truly your own. You have time for everything and everyone else except for yourself and the things that are truly important to you. To matter in this life, you have to be the mover, not the moved; you must set the trend and pace, not just follow.
By giving up TV and being very selective about movies, reading materials and recordings, I was able to find more time to concentrate on my writing, restore vintage and antique paintings, and complete unfinished songs shelved in my mind for years. I was able to put together dynamic seminars that help people find direction and meaning in their lives. I constantly think up projects that would make my life more useful and significant. Most importantly, I live the way I want to, not how others dictate I should. I enjoy my life, savor it to the fullest, and don’t care about those envious, wagging fingers.
I am no longer concerned about who is dating whom, who dumped whom, who is quarreling with whom, who won, who fell flat on his face, who is rich, who is bankrupt, who is saintly, who is guilty, who is laughing, who is crying, who is what. I know that the circus goes on but the best thing I learned (most especially from Holly) is that I have the power to choose whether to be part of it or not.
The problem is that we have been taught to find what we are searching for from the outside world – love, wealth, happiness and even fulfillment. Our focus is on external things. We define ourselves through other people, through inanimate objects, possessions, fame, fortune and power. When we lose these things, we are left with nothing.
Having real happiness and true freedom means knowing, doing and finding what you really want in life. It’s time to listen to the beat of your own drum and keep your feet dancing to its unique cadence. For once in your life, take time to pause, search, and listen within you. There, you will find the amazing treasures that will make you the star in your life.
For tickets, call or text 0917-3245645. The seminar is sponsored by Cebu Pacific and the Waterfront Hotel, and inspired by the visionary and indefatigable Honey Jarque-Loop for the benefit of the Gugma Home for the Aged. See you all, Cebu!
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