SUPREME MANIFESTO: Forward 2013

MANILA, Philippines - A new year doesn’t necessarily mean a new beginning because we are never really divorced from our pasts. Everything we’ve gone through — love, loss, hurt, joy — it all sticks with us for life, as scars on our skin, data in our memories, or ripples in our subconscious.

• There’s no changing this. Whether we like it or not, who we are today is a direct product of yesterday. We can’t undo what’s been done, and we can’t hit a button and start from scratch.

But the truth is it doesn’t matter. Life is supposed to be imperfect — painful, ugly, beautiful, sweet. It’s a marvelous mess, where light comes after darkness, and each victory is made sweeter by a taste of defeat.

So this new year, look forward

• Look forward with acceptance. Be proud of your history. Own up to your wounds. Never sweep your mistakes under the rug. Being flawed doesn’t mean that we’re broken — it means that we’re human; masters and caretakers of this place we call earth.

• Look forward with perspective. Learn from your faults. Every right and every wrong is a step in this journey, and each step offers a new vantage point from which to see the future. Take in the view. You may get an epiphany.

• Look forward with foresight. Gaze beyond the horizon. Realize that there is always something more than what’s in front of you. Never be pleased with the way things are; always hope for the way things can be — higher, finer, better, bolder.

• Lastly, look forward with strength. Though you will get hurt, explore and take the road less traveled. Though you will get discouraged, wander and take the routes others have called impossible. Everything is inconceivable until somebody dares to dream. Be the person who shows us the way.

Stay supreme.