Rachel moves on

I intended to write this piece a long time ago but didn’t have the time to do so thanks to a slew of tasks and deadlines that were wrestling for my attention.  Just so you know, a chunk of those still Eemian unfinished and I am incredibly getting worried and anxious given that more tasks and more deadlines are starting to pile up on top of those that I used to worry about.

 But I figured that this article just couldn’t wait, anyway.  And so here it is, and here I am, sitting in a sweltering hot donut house right smack in the middle of Ormoc, thinking about Rachel and hoping at she has moved on.

 Okay, enough of the drama.  And okay, maybe it wasn’t really Rachel that I was thinking of.

 Rachel was a classmate way back in college who had her heart smashed into smithereens by some significant jerk.  And since it’s not really my secret nor my story to tell, I shall spare you of the grisly details.  Her heartache eventually spurred another very close friend, Metmet on a creative pursuit on Facebook and so the ‘Rachel Moves On 30-Day Challenge’ was born and since then, it has gained a steady following—and since then, I had become one of its greatest fans.

 At day 27 as I write this, I would like to share some points that either struck me, made me sniff, or made me roll over on the floor laughing.

 Day 19: Hindi porke’t madalas mong ka-chat, kausap sa telepono, kasama sa mga lakad o ka-text ng wantusawa, eh, may gusto sayo at magkakatuluyan kayo.  Meron lang talagang mga taong sadyang friendly, sweet, flirt, malandi, pa-fall, o paasa.  It’s sad but it’s true.  Frequency doesn’t necessarily mean anything totally special considering that there just a round of jerks out there who have nothing better to do than play with other people’s feelings.  And to be fair with the other gender, yes, there are girls out there who seem like they are into you but who will balk out at the very last minute.  So don’t get your hopes up just yet just because you go out every night or because you text like there’s no tomorrow.  Sometimes, some people are just plain nice and born too friendly.

 Day 22: Finding a reason for a break-up is the reason for the break-up.  I love Ramon Bautista’s brutal frankness.  Really, if you’re happy with the one you’re with, you wouldn’t be sending idle time thinking of reasons to open the discussion tables to terminate your relationship.  It’s this simple: people who are happy and content with the relationships they are currently enjoying will find all reasons to salvage that relationship when the going gets tough.  Conversely, people on the verge of abandoning ship will make even the most petty reasons like a big belly the major discussion point for wanting to break up.

 Day 9: No matter who broke your heart or how long it takes to heal, you’ll never get through it without your friends.  This is the reason why I love Sex and the City to bits.  Allow me to say it again, no matter what, we will never make it through without our friends.  I guess this applies even on matters that go beyond matters of the heart.  We can never make it alone.  I know it sounds cheesy but to make it through life, we need to have people who understand us and who will accept us for who we are, for all the great and the dumb decisions that we have made.  Nursing a broken heart comes off way faster when you are surrounded by the people who matter.

 I remember sitting at Fully Booked in Ayala, sipping my cup of coffee and asking Metmet what made her think of putting up that 30-Day Challenge which by now has already become an indispensable part of my life, a ritual before starting the day.

 Her answer was simple.  More than helping Rachel move on, it was about helping many other broken hearted people move on as well.  It was about sharing an experience that other people can learn from.  On the more extreme side, it was about helping those who had been dumped lot come to terms with the reality that sometimes, some things are just not meant and that sometimes, we tend to ruminate over the stupidest things and over the stupidest of people—but that’s okay because little by little, we learn from these experiences.  The more painful the experience, the harder the lesson sticks.

Rachel should be able to move on by Day 30.  At least we all hope so.  Now the next challenge is for me to move on when the 30 Day challenge is finally over.