Family sports fest

We just had a family sports fest. It was so much fun! My mother and brother jokingly said that I probably haven’t exhausted my childhood inclinations; I get an exhilarating kick out of these sports fests and the team building of the Earth Warriors. It’s the thrill of the game, also the kick that comes from making people happy.

This time, since my mother was in town, I proposed to devote an afternoon for our different households to engage in competitive games. Unfortunately the school beside the family compound has no basketball court and because we had the issue of time, we decided to do everything there. Next time, though, when we add basketball, it will be even more fun.

We evened out to three teams: Gabby’s (my eldest brother) team, me and my two brothers (Ernie and Mon), and the third team was my two sisters (Berta and Marisa) with members of my mother’s house. We used the team-building games that we use in our Earth Warrior and River Warrior games plus a few more since we had to cut out the basketball. We started with a cheer.

That was great fun. My mother was the judge.

We then had about eight team-building games. Some were physical, others needed strategy and focus. The games ended in high spirits –– with Gabby’s team winning. My other brothers and I went second. The discussions went all the way until the next day.

I found out  that the Green Team (my two brothers and I) was up by five points. Had we won the last game we would have won! That would have been a real boost to the Green Team morale,  since Gabby’s team was all strong-bodied males and even their ladies were strong and active. We had two elderlies, so it was something that we had done so well... My team must have felt like Pacquiao –– winning  the whole time then flubbing it at the end. 

This was the first time we had such intramurals. The household help loved it that even their “bosses and the children” got involved.

The River Warriors cooked. I told them to make sure they offered the food to the Divine before cooking. I was so pleased to see them looking quite professional with their headgear and aprons.

If you are interested in learning about our team building or tasting really good food from our River Warriors, call or text Ryan Guzman at (0917)544-3580 or inform me. For four dishes and rice plus a very good merienda, they charge P250 a person. That’s very reasonable. Plus it’s helping a community get on its feet.

Many of us have household help. They serve us. Often we help them. But when you play with them in this way, it does something. When you play and you laugh, the relationship blossoms and has much more heart. I have these games at Christmas with my help every year. It is something I look forward to. They are busy planning the games months before. It means so much to them. It is their day. This time it was great fun doing it between households. Next year we will include the respective families. It will be a mammoth one-day event. 

I love Christmas. I love the spirit of giving. I like getting all these gifts and goodies. I like buying things and sending gifts from the communities I am helping to friends and family. I like the feel of Christmas –– beyond just the commercialism of it. My perception is that there does exist a genuine spirit of giving and compassion. 

It says something about the Filipino that our country celebrates Christmas like no other country does.

Try the sports fest. It is good feng shui. It ends the year in joy and mirth and sets an energetic tone in your respective households for the coming year. 

Love really is what makes the world go round. Merry Christmas and a most gracious New Year to all.

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I can be reached at Regina_Lopez@abs-cbn.com.