The Fun Philosophy

Success is more often than not (if not always)attributed to hard work, dedication, determination, persistence and endurance. Motivational books and quotable quotes popularized by Norman Vincent Beale, Andrew Carnegie, Stephen Covey, Napoleon Hill etc. talk about the same thing; Success is the fruit of thy labor.
As for me, I don't like the word labor. Working hard does not appeal much to me, I am not persistent and I walk around sans endurance. I am a happy-go-lucky person and where there's anything that involves hard work, you can count me out. Where there is anything fun then you can add me to your guest list. Labor to me sounds just about as hard as its other meaning.
My number one driving factor is fun. Not money, not popularity, not a wonderful title right before my name on my own mahogany table someday (But now that I think about it..hmm..) but fun. The rest only comes after. Yes. I don't work hard, I don't persist and I don't endure. But that's because I don't feel the need to, why should I? I find my job too much fun to be associated with the word “endure”.
I come to work everyday like a Mighty Fraudbuster determined to catch the culprits preying on honest people's earnings than with the thought of working sweat-blood-and-all to ace my scorecard.
Hard work and persistence just don't appeal to me like they do for others, instead, I do my job with loads of fun, excitement, and laughter. I follow procedures like they are the rules to a game of Uno, you fail to follow it and your stack comes crashing down. You follow the rules and your stack gets higher and higher. The more fun you are having with the game then the more rounds you get to play. And the more rounds you get to play, the better you get at it and the more interesting it becomes.
Like in a game, you also have opponents, but like in child's play, it doesn't cost you much when you don't win, because you can just play all over again. You congratulate the guy who get the Ruffles for getting the higher scorecard mark during the Recognition Ceremony and you ask for a handful after hoping to get your own pack the next time around. I like that better than working your ass off, being all-too broody typing away in your computer with that frown on your face, bending and swerving around the polices and procedures to get ahead just because your scorecard is a tad lower than the guy sitting next to you, and it's him and not you who gets that Award at the Quarterly Townhall meetings.
Success to me comes in different and more unconventional ways. Success is more small-scale for me compared to Recognition Certificates, large paychecks and my face enlarged and hung on the wall of fame. Success comes to me in a form of a smile in the voice of the person at the other end of the line, in their broken “Thank You's” and “Domo Arigatou”, albeit often delivered in a lackluster manner by an interpreter. Success comes in the form of an exclamation of disbelief from a colleague when she sees how many accounts I've already worked, from the pat in the backs and bite-sized babyruth bars my TM hands me bought from his own pocket for a job well done.
For me, success is when you know in yourself that you have done a good job, that not only did you get a high mark on your scorecard but you walk away from your desk at the end of the day having done everything that you could have possibly done to help out customers, your team, your company, and yourself without even realizing it because you were having too much fun doing it.

If Patty Laurel's Life Is Boring..

Ano na kaya yung sa'men??





My colleague and 10th floor best friend, Rachel, is an in denial fan of mushy-hopeless-romantic tales. And because of her love of these mushy stuff she came upon telling me about Patty Laurel's blog. She gushed about how she wrote about her and Atom's love story.

Being an inconsistent fan of mush myself that's how I one day passed by her site. It turns out she's a witty and fun writer and I've been reading her blogs ever since. I envied her travels; Japan, Holland and Egypt are just the tip of the iceberg. When I first saw Patty Laurel on MTV years ago, I didn't really like her but reading her blog turned me around.

A couple of days ago, I was at the hospital with Rachel. She got confined because of her Slip Disc so I stayed with her for a few hours. I brought my notebook with me and, of course, we visited Patty Laurel's blogsite. To our awe, Ms. Laurel thinks her life is boring! That she fears her concept of “cool and fun” is a boring person's concept of “cool and fun”. And we we're like, if her life is boring, with all her travels and stuff, then what does that make of our lives? Having fun in a hospital room for chrissakes!




I guess, people really don't know how blessed they are. I am sometimes guilty of this too. Yes, I haven't stepped foot outside of the country in my 24 years in this world but I have a lot to be thankful for, I have a very cute niece, a wonderful loving Mother, pretty and supportive sisters, fun-loving bad-weather friends and a life full of happiness and love. And although I wasn't born rich, I know how to make do with what I have and bring lotsa' fun in the sun!

And yes, even inside a hospital room with a friend who can't even move her back, we can roll over and shed a tear laughing our hearts out. *wink!*





Get Well Soon Rhaych!

Mary and Bern's Wedding

On June 26 I attended a wedding at Intramuros. My former teammate Mary and her college-barkada-turned-love-of-her-life tied the knot in a simple yet elegant ceremony at Manila Cathedral.

Now I was never one to wear a dress. You could count in your hand the number of times I wore one. You could imagine the panic I was feeling as the wedding day was approaching. But I found the right dress just in time.






It was amusing and fun to see your colleagues in evening dresses gathering in one night to celebrate love.





On the day of the wedding the sky seemed to pour out in heavy rains and the wind was blowing like crazy. It was a great day. Contrary to what most people think about a rainy wedding day, I have always loved rainy days and continue to see it as a romantic weather.



I admire the courage Mary and Bern has; the commitment and promise to love each other for the rest of their lives and to stand up for the family that they are going to have in the years to come. I think it's very brave to stand in front of everyone you care about and make a vow to love each other under God's loving gaze. It is brave, romantic, scary and encouraging all at the same time. Scary yes. But take it from the movie Bounce, "It's not brave if you're not scared."

When Bernard sandg"Just The Way You Are" by Billy Joel during the reception, everyone just "OOhhhed" and "AAwwwed"..

It was a great night to marry. I am glad we were a part of it.

Bern and Mary, Congratulations and God Bless the family you are going to make. =)

Pre-recorded Comfort

A typical day at work for me is pulling up a workload, finding contact numbers, dialing, dialing, dialing..

Then I'll be talking to people I will probably never know how they look like, or perhaps get a busy tone, get a recorded message, get an irate mom who's having a bad day then get the phone slammed down in my ear, or get a voicemail.

It's pretty routine I could finish a workload while I'm half-asleep that it really gets old at times. If not for the pay and the people I work with I'd probably be looking for another job by now, something that I probably have always wanted to do.

There are some days when I just really want to curl up in bed and not wake up until 12 hours later. Those are the days when I'd just want to shout at everyone I talk to and crunch up my fist till my fingers hurt. Those are also the days when you seem to get comfort from every little thing. Even from pre-recorded, probably a decade-old automated message from the other end of the line.

Today I heard one that said "Hi we're not available right now, leave a message and we'll get back to you..and do yourself a favor, try not to waste a moment by being upset. HAVE A GREAT DAY." It's a cliche I know, but hey it hit a nerve.

Indeed, you owe yourself a favor by at least trying to have a great day.

The Team that Adopted Me

When Poseidon sunk Hera came to my rescue. OK. I hate the metaphor. =)

Let me try this again.

When my team for two years, Poseidon, was dissolved due to an unexpected move in our Team Manager's career, I was transferred to Team Hera with my two other co-Poseidons, Red and Andre.

Hera and Poseidon barely met. The two teams were in different shifts ever since and so, out of twelve (I think) original members I really only knew five of them, two of which already tendered their resignation before we even became a part of the team and the remaining three that I knew, I never was close to. I knew the two because they were active in the company events (Betchay and Arjay) and the other one (Dana) was my wavemate during training, but we were always in different cliques, although we were friends, we never really had a chance to connect.

It was a major adjustment for me, I was always one of the “siga” in Poseidon. I knew my way around Poseidon and I could read everyone's humor and moods like a book. I knew when to keep quiet, when to say anything, when to quip, when to ask for advice and I knew when to keep my mouth shut. For a long time I have made Poseidon one of the main reasons why I go to work. That's why when I was pulled out of my comfort zone so abruptly I felt to lost.

The first day Red, Andre and I were introduced to the team I felt so disconnected from the rest of them. Obviously, they were so well-bonded there was no place for new people anymore, or so it seemed. They shared the same humor and they laughed at private jokes I could hardly understand. They seemed to talk in unison, you know when people speak in a dialect that you can understand but could not speak a word? That's how I felt with Team Hera, I felt detached.

But it did not take long for me to actually warm up to them. They are such cool people that without going out of their way, they made me feel a part of them so easily. Before I knew it we were all friends, laughing at the same jokes and working side by side each other. Yes there have been some time when I felt apart from them still it all melted away eventually.







After a couple of months, there was a Department-wide reshuffle and although I was yet again pulled out of the team I have become accustomed to after a short time, it was easier for me because the experience taught me that wherever I go, I'd still be able to keep my friends around and yet I will be able to make new friends, create new connections with new people around me and feel that I'm a part of something. Something good.

TEAM POSEIDON

It has not been easy for me to pack up leave my previous company. And despite the people person that I am, it wasn't a piece of cake starting over with a new job, a new environment, a new boss and a new group people. My welcome was a series of bullying and teasing from my tenured teammates and though not all of them warmly welcomed me to the group, they all eventually ended up as my new friends. Everyday was a chance to get to know each other better, to laugh about small things, to share around a bag of Mr. Chips and have lunch together. Everyday was an effort yes, but it all paid off in the end.

Inevitably our humors clicked and the everyday effort turned into an everyday adventure in our own little way. We bonded over criticisms from other teams, over junk food, pitchi-pitchi, crash diets, laughter and hours and hours of stories to tell.









We weren't the best team in the department, but I've always believed that there wouldn't be any other team I'd rather be than the one I was in. Everyday was filled with laughter that no load was hard to carry.
That's why it was hard for me when one by one, each team mate had to pursue careers in another department, in another field, and even one in another country. The day we found out our team was being dissolved because our boss will be transferred to handle another process, we weren't given much time to swallow and digest it. We had to adjust right away. It was two-day notice. Before we knew it, we were separated to different teams and different shifts. Before we had a chance to say our farewell and thanks, the team was gone and we had to adjust yet again to new people, a new boss, a new shift.


Eventually, I know we will warm up to our new friends, to our new boss, to new humors altogether but the ones we have shared will remain incomparable. The laughters we tried to suppress but failed to, the lunches in Chowking, the scenarios we think of that keep on elaborating, the tantrums and boss's ironically irritating “Relaks”..
Lahat yon, sa Poseidon lang..
Hahy, nakakamiss..
See you around guys..Good luck and see you around the bend.

Team Poseidon now sinking off.

4TH of JULY

Our Company, being an American one celebrated the 4th of July at a Penthouse Party. A one night that gave me an excuse to don a dress, let my hair down, stand on a 4inch stilletos, feel fantabulous and par-tay!

The food was great, the Team Managers performed a boyband number much to our amazement and stomach-aching-laughter, and I was gorgeous! OK this is my blog so I get to say whatever I like! Haha!



This is a picture of some of my wavemates and I; Bianca the artista-looking one to the far left, then Shima the Hapon na hilaw, me and my bra who peeked into the camera darnit and Rachel who was celebrating her anniversary with stupidity the date this picture was taken hehe..



This is Yennie, a teammate who is an NBSB like yours truly. I guess we clicked because we're the only singles in our team, two single hot girls who's got great taste in movies. Word.



These are a bunch of people who barely knew each other thrown together for a good, if not awkward, picture. Don't you just looove parties?



You may think "hot prospect, Brookie" and I say, scroll down and think again!



See whut I mean? I was heartbroken too. Hon, this one's yours..again.

'til the next par-tay!