Drama after drama = fun memories for a tennis fan
================================================
by Philipina A. Marcelo
And so the first Grand Slam of the season kicks off, and it's here in the Asia-Pacific, too! Aussie Open... oy, oy, oy! Life makes sense again!
***
It's a man's world... and I don't mind!
So, who will prevail? Would Roger Federer be able to defend his crown and go "17"? Would Rafael Nadal - the current Number One in the World - snatch it from him? Would the perennial World #3, Novak Djokovic, who bested Roger Federer in an epic five-setter semi-final in Flushing Meadows before bowing to Rafa Nadal in the final, take his second Aussie Open crown? Would Andy Murray step up to the plate and finally prove himself as a worthy Grand Slam winner? Would Robin Soderling steal everyone's thunder and run away with the crown this time? Would David Ferrer or Fernando Verdasco step out of Nadal's shadow and be the next Spaniard winner of the Aussie Open? Or, would Thomas Berdych, be up for a season opener upset? Would Melbourne be the venue of another epic Federer-Nadal Grand Slam Face-off? Hmmm... too many questions. Would the answers shock us, or would it subdue us? Would we rather be shocked or subdued?
***
Ladies a-gaga
Hmmm... I can't say I'm excited to see what happens at the women's side, especially that Caroline Wozniacki is seeded #1 again. *sigh* I know, I know... it's not her fault, and yet, I think tennis fans deserve something better than peeping backside and cleavage in colorful outfit and nails mechanically running around the court without an emotional connection with the audience. OK, so Serena Williams will not be participating... one less "legitimate" contender for the crown there. Venus William is participating though... oh, no, not again! Not another two weeks of skin-toned shorts all over the place! *gag* Safina won't be there... great! One less potentially catastrophic mental breakdown on court! Maria Sharapova is back... and in her competitive form, too. Oh, boy, here we go... time to get new earplugs! Kim Clijsters and Sam Stosurs are in the draw! Awesome! Now, it's a real competition! Huh... they're in the same half of the draw though... uh-oh! :( Francesca Schiavone is in the draw. OK, nice... a guaranteed drama - in a good way.
So, yeah, drama is guaranteed at the women's side... not sure about the competitive quality of the matches though. Who would win? Seriously, apart from Kim Clijsters, are there any other women in the draw whose competitive edge had been consistent enough to put our money on? Sadly, no. So, let's just get on with it... and enjoy their outfits - if that is even possible at all! :)
***
Monday, January 17, 2011
Sunday, January 16, 2011
3 Birthdays = Fun family day
We found another reason to spend a weekend with one another!
===================================================
by Philipina A. Marcelo
We started the year with a big and fun celebration! Two of my nieces and a grandniece celebrated their birthdays in January and we grabbed the
We found another excuse for a get-together!chance to gather and do what we do best - eat together! Yaaay! :)
There was a fun coincidence. All born in the first month of the year, the three birthday girls happened to be the eldest in their respective broods, too! :) So, all of them are called "Ate" (Filipino word referring to an older female sibling). They have another thing in common - they all love chocolates... and we love all three of them! :)
I wish our three Ate's wonderful things and many, many more years of love, joy and laughter - hopefully, with all of us in the family! :)
***
===================================================
by Philipina A. Marcelo
We started the year with a big and fun celebration! Two of my nieces and a grandniece celebrated their birthdays in January and we grabbed the
We found another excuse for a get-together!chance to gather and do what we do best - eat together! Yaaay! :)
There was a fun coincidence. All born in the first month of the year, the three birthday girls happened to be the eldest in their respective broods, too! :) So, all of them are called "Ate" (Filipino word referring to an older female sibling). They have another thing in common - they all love chocolates... and we love all three of them! :)
I wish our three Ate's wonderful things and many, many more years of love, joy and laughter - hopefully, with all of us in the family! :)
***
Sunday, January 9, 2011
My new manicure and pedicure...
...and why they make me say "aaaah..."!
======================================================
by Philipina A. Marcelo
So, I finally made it to the hair and nails salon! And since this is my first visit in 2011, it's kind of 'special'. :)
Old folks say that whatever state the New Year finds you in, that would be your situation all year round. Since I started the year with a chipped nail and one-month old pedicure, I cringed at the thought of this being my "nail situation" all throughout 2011. And so, I pushed aside laziness and proved superstition wrong!
I was motivated by a guaranteed reading time, a possibility of finally updating myself on the latest trend in the most delicious world of food via my Food Technology magazines, which were still in their unopened plastic packages. I hauled myself out
of the comforts of my room to follow the path to personal care salvation! And, it wasn't without substantial effort. I knew I can withstand the confines of the salon for an hour or so as some 'magician' tried to revive my nails to life, however, I was not emotionally prepared to spend a couple more hours for a hair repair, too. So, I avoided all sorts of eye contact with my hair cutter/stylist and contented myself in getting my nails worked on - for now. It wasn't very difficult to do that either as I was absolutely engrossed in my book, and the people in the salon knew enough of this side of me by now. They knew that once I opened a book, I get lost in another world. I would've preferred to be more social... if TV sets in these "beauty" salons were tuned in to sports channel - but they never were! And it makes me wonder why... oh, well.
While my feet were soaked in warm soapy water - aaah, that felt good, my kind manicurist was coaxing my fingernails out of beauty coma. Luckily, my fingernails never play hard-to-get when coaxed like that. :) And so, they 'giggled' with excitement of being groomed to clean state with every stroke of the nail filer and with every twist of the clipper and the tweezers. As dust
of sawed nails and dead skin piled on the floor, my nicely shaped nails were revived to life! Soon, I was holding my book carefully with eggplant-colored nails... and it felt very nice! And then, it was time to dig my toenails from the abyss of extreme unkempt state. I had to set aside my book for a while to pay attention - the process of reviving my toenails as they are hauled out of the painful trap of thorny ingrown is always an experience worth savoring for me. Aaargh, those punishing ingrown - they make every moment in pumps or stilettos seem a forever of torture! Flashbacks of having to inwardly groan as I endured the thorny pain from inside my work pumps, standing in front of my students as I gave lectures or pretending to walk gracefully as I walked with well-dressed colleagues and superiors, I winced in pain.
The coaxing started... my stubborn toenails resisted - painfully. More coaxing, my toenails started to soften their
resistance in a flood of cuticle remover... I held my breath, held on to my seat. And then the punishing thorns were slowly pulled out... one-by-one - relief each time! It's like being slowly lifted from a bed of nails and transferred to a bed of roses. And then the biggest of them thorns was finally pulled out... a BIG sigh of relief from me and from the manicurist/pedicurist! Aaaah... on the bed of roses at last!! And then the manicurist/pedicurist started to hum... I knew then that the worst is over... and I went back to my book.
In the end, while I loved what she did with my nails, I was kind of "disappointed" with the efficiency of my manicurist/pedicurist... it made me a-wanting for more from my book! But I was just glad to have a few more minutes exploring the furniture and
electronics stores nearby. I ended up buying a new stand for the TV set in my bedroom - on sale... 50% off the original price - and making a vow to myself to think about the economics of getting myself the new state-of-the-art Samsung surround-sound entertainment package... the kind that makes watching tennis and football (soccer) more interactive! :)
Contented with my conquest of the day, I "retreated" to my bedroom... and into the sweet coziness of my walk-in closet for some peace and quiet as I browsed the internet for a few things I am passionate about, outside teaching, that is - tennis and Roger Federer, football (soccer) and food, of course! :) And it was extra special to be "turning the pages" of the world wide web with clean eggplant-colored fingertips, and with legs outstretched where the pain-free eggplant-colored toe nails point up nicely into the ceiling in a "thumbs up"! :) My walk-in closet has never been that cozy, I tell ya!
Aaaah... what a day - life is beautiful!
***
Photos: I own all photos.
***
======================================================
by Philipina A. Marcelo
So, I finally made it to the hair and nails salon! And since this is my first visit in 2011, it's kind of 'special'. :)
Old folks say that whatever state the New Year finds you in, that would be your situation all year round. Since I started the year with a chipped nail and one-month old pedicure, I cringed at the thought of this being my "nail situation" all throughout 2011. And so, I pushed aside laziness and proved superstition wrong!
I was motivated by a guaranteed reading time, a possibility of finally updating myself on the latest trend in the most delicious world of food via my Food Technology magazines, which were still in their unopened plastic packages. I hauled myself out
of the comforts of my room to follow the path to personal care salvation! And, it wasn't without substantial effort. I knew I can withstand the confines of the salon for an hour or so as some 'magician' tried to revive my nails to life, however, I was not emotionally prepared to spend a couple more hours for a hair repair, too. So, I avoided all sorts of eye contact with my hair cutter/stylist and contented myself in getting my nails worked on - for now. It wasn't very difficult to do that either as I was absolutely engrossed in my book, and the people in the salon knew enough of this side of me by now. They knew that once I opened a book, I get lost in another world. I would've preferred to be more social... if TV sets in these "beauty" salons were tuned in to sports channel - but they never were! And it makes me wonder why... oh, well. While my feet were soaked in warm soapy water - aaah, that felt good, my kind manicurist was coaxing my fingernails out of beauty coma. Luckily, my fingernails never play hard-to-get when coaxed like that. :) And so, they 'giggled' with excitement of being groomed to clean state with every stroke of the nail filer and with every twist of the clipper and the tweezers. As dust
of sawed nails and dead skin piled on the floor, my nicely shaped nails were revived to life! Soon, I was holding my book carefully with eggplant-colored nails... and it felt very nice! And then, it was time to dig my toenails from the abyss of extreme unkempt state. I had to set aside my book for a while to pay attention - the process of reviving my toenails as they are hauled out of the painful trap of thorny ingrown is always an experience worth savoring for me. Aaargh, those punishing ingrown - they make every moment in pumps or stilettos seem a forever of torture! Flashbacks of having to inwardly groan as I endured the thorny pain from inside my work pumps, standing in front of my students as I gave lectures or pretending to walk gracefully as I walked with well-dressed colleagues and superiors, I winced in pain. The coaxing started... my stubborn toenails resisted - painfully. More coaxing, my toenails started to soften their
resistance in a flood of cuticle remover... I held my breath, held on to my seat. And then the punishing thorns were slowly pulled out... one-by-one - relief each time! It's like being slowly lifted from a bed of nails and transferred to a bed of roses. And then the biggest of them thorns was finally pulled out... a BIG sigh of relief from me and from the manicurist/pedicurist! Aaaah... on the bed of roses at last!! And then the manicurist/pedicurist started to hum... I knew then that the worst is over... and I went back to my book. In the end, while I loved what she did with my nails, I was kind of "disappointed" with the efficiency of my manicurist/pedicurist... it made me a-wanting for more from my book! But I was just glad to have a few more minutes exploring the furniture and
electronics stores nearby. I ended up buying a new stand for the TV set in my bedroom - on sale... 50% off the original price - and making a vow to myself to think about the economics of getting myself the new state-of-the-art Samsung surround-sound entertainment package... the kind that makes watching tennis and football (soccer) more interactive! :)Contented with my conquest of the day, I "retreated" to my bedroom... and into the sweet coziness of my walk-in closet for some peace and quiet as I browsed the internet for a few things I am passionate about, outside teaching, that is - tennis and Roger Federer, football (soccer) and food, of course! :) And it was extra special to be "turning the pages" of the world wide web with clean eggplant-colored fingertips, and with legs outstretched where the pain-free eggplant-colored toe nails point up nicely into the ceiling in a "thumbs up"! :) My walk-in closet has never been that cozy, I tell ya!
Aaaah... what a day - life is beautiful!
***
Photos: I own all photos.
***
Sunday, January 2, 2011
A life of goodbyes...
...and it starts now.
=====================================================
by Philipina A. Marcelo
I had an important realization a few weeks ago, just before 2010 was coming to a close... and it's all about goodbyes. I realized how fleeting everything truly is in this life... here today, gone tomorrow - everything... and everyone! And yet, some beautiful memories stay with us, especially those life-changing ones, those that touched us in many special ways. They leave vivid images in our minds because they are engraved in our hearts.
***
Goodbye to exhilarating victories... and on to more subtle but meaningful ones?
"Variety", "precision" and "grace" are just some of the words usually found alongside the brilliant and high-class tennis that the cool and sublime genius, Roger Federer, plays. For most of the last decade, Roger Federer was the lone and towering wave of enormous force in the world of tennis... not that he no longer is these days. He remains to be a formidable force to be reckoned with in the tennis world... except that, these days, he no longer is the only one.
After years of being on top, he is now a "second fiddler", as mean sports analysts would say, to his long-time former second fiddler, Rafael "Rafa" Nadal. After winning
his fourth Aussie Open Crown - his record-breaking 16th Grand Slam single's title - in the opening of last season in Melbourne, he shocked the world by failing to defend his crown in Roland Garros. He fell in the Quaterfinals from that hungry-for-a-win racquet wielded by the then up-and-coming Swede superstar, Robin Soderling. Because of the glory of his career that left tennis enthusiasts and the legends who made historical achievements awestruck for a decade now, that occurrence in the City of Lights felt like an anomaly! As he staggered his way to the Quarterfinals in Wimbledon... and losing to the hard-hitting shot trickster, Thomas Berdych - in that grass court of the All England Club where he was the undisputed King of his hard-hitting generation, the tennis fandom fell speechless from the shock! And in Flushing Meadows, where he was edged by Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina in a tightly contested final match in the previous year, he couldn't recover from a self-induced hiccup and exited in the semi-finals as his opponent, the perennial #3 in the world, Novak Djokovic, stared and shook his head in disbelief!
While the Swiss Maestro regrouped, picking up a title each in Stockholm and Cincinnati, and capturing the prestigious ATP World Tour Year Ender Crown in London against the other Top 8 players of the world, beating Rafa Nadal in a three-setter final match - to equal the five-win record shared by Pete Sampras and Ivan Lendl - he remained seated behind
Rafa Nadal as World #2. And then sports analysts, damn them, upped the volume of their talks on "Federer decline", "the end of Federer", "Men's tennis without Federer", "Nadal is the New King", etc., and these are the same guys who were swearing a few years back that Roger Federer is the BEST tennis player that ever walked the planet, and will continue to be that for many generations. I'm not sure what was more heartbreaking for Roger, the actual losses or the piercing words. I will not begin to speculate how that made him feel... because it made me feel awful - and I am just a fan! Apart from occasionally shoving back with a hey-get-a-tennis-history-book-and-look-me-up sounding replies to acid questions, he never showed devastation. Instead, cheerful photos of him taking vacation with his young family emerged in the internet... and they were very pleasing and absolutely heartwarming to see. People then began to understand where is Roger getting this calmness and armor from devastation from: wonderful family moments.
But there's more....
While his own world - the tennis world - the world that thrived for a decade on the excitement he brought through his brilliance was being unkind to him, Roger reinvented himself and turned the tide once more to the tennis world's favor. In
December, as he was diligently stitching together and firming up his winning form with a more "aggressive" tactic for the next season of tennis, he also organized the "Match for Africa" in Zurich, Switzerland. It is an exhibition match with his so-called rival, Rafa Nadal, organized through the Roger Federer Foundation. The event was aimed at generating funds to send impoverished African children to school. Rafa followed his lead and did the same, and Roger played another exhibition match with his "nemesis" in Madrid, Spain. Even when the tennis world was on a break then, the world was all excited with the wonderful exhibition matches Roger and Rafa played. Needless to say, Roger seemed exhilarated by the impact of his action... using his incredible talent, fame and fortune to extend a helping hand where help is badly needed. With this wonderful trend that he started - forging camaraderie even between "rivals" to make a difference - the tennis world, for sure, will never be the same again. And so, the tennis world assumes a great image of constantly evolving excitement and a care for humanity... once again, care of its El Maestro, Roger Federer.
Roger might've started writing his "goodbye note" to the tennis world as an active player just because he won't be young and strong enough to play forever.
And yet, he is showing the world that a "goodbye" to his old world does not mean a "decline" from his previous status there. After all, how could one be achieving great things - one after another - worthy for the history books one moment, and then being a "second fiddler" to someone else the next moment? Life has stages... and Roger is showing us that we must move from one stage to the next. In fact, a "goodbye" from his old world could be a "hello" to another, which could even be a spawn of his old world, where he could once again generate an exhilarating energy! Only this time, it is more meaningful - not just for himself and his loved ones, but also for a multitude of people. Being able to see that, being brave enough to accept this reality even when you are still at the top of your game, I believe, is the real mark of great achievement and the real measure of a TRUE CHAMPION!!
***
Goodbye to Love
For a little over three years, I was hanging on to keep the flame of long-distance love alive for someone special and dear. It's still hard for me to speak about it... even now that it's all died out. Perhaps, it was the way it ended that brings sadness to an otherwise perfect memory.
Distance is not a friend of love - I know that now. It makes love suffer... and suffering erodes love - even the truest kind. I know that I tempted fate by
choosing the difficult situation of being away from the loved one - to feed that "selfish monster" called idealism, but I was faithful... and yet, suffering lingered. While I made all kinds of precautions... using professional preoccupation as a shield from suffering, distance muddled up communication, and a muddled up communication line confuses feelings associated with love. Confusion and sometimes conflicting feelings can inflict torturous suffering, too. Sometimes, even well-meaning friends can add to the confusion... passing on messages with hints of opinion that they honestly believe would help, and yet, they don't. But more than anything else, when honesty becomes an issue, and temptations start to actually tempt, then love slowly slips away. I think I suffered more from the lack of honesty from the other end... perhaps, that was a survival strategy... I wouldn't know 'cause I lost love the day honesty was thrown out of the back door.
But love is about forgiving and forgetting... and so, yes, I forgave... and I've forgotten, too! Therefore, goodbye to love - that love! But I'm keeping the good memories and the most wonderful friendship in my heart - both remain to be the very best I've ever had, and will sustain my hope for the right love... next time around.
***
The last goodbye: Crossing over to the other side
I fought a number of exciting battles... most of them I won - out of the brute force of struggle and hardwork. I thought all battles could be won like that... until I had to fight the battle of my life.
Death, I found, has no mercy... it knows no boundaries, no race. It does not respect societal status, nor recognize a lifetime of kindness or achievements - no matter how brilliant! When it comes to take you
to crossover to the other side, it does so with cold, unfeeling and impersonal efficiency. It leaves you with no other sane choice but to rise calmly to your feet and follow its lead. Therefore, it is more reasonable to just ask for time - a little time - to take care of the practical things so that no one would suffer as you embark to crossover to the other side.
Memories... these are the very best things that you could possibly leave behind - more meaningful and useful than any material inheritance... more lasting, more enduring. Therefore, build as much as you can while you have your "little time"... and share them with as many people as possible - especially those who need them. As others would say, "live today as if it was your last...." I completely agree.
Embrace life with vigor and enthused excitement! Cast away sorrows and worries 'cause they won't buy you time. Endeavor to commune with happiness and love... and when they're not there, persevere to look for them. When you finally found them, stay in their heart and keep them in yours. Live life as if it was your last chance to say goodbye! And saying goodbye begins at every chance you get.
***
Photo credits and acknowledgement: All the Roger Federer photos are grabbed from various sites (#1: Roger after winning the Australian Open in 2007, BBC Sports, #2: Rafa and Roger at the ATP Final 2010 from tennisthoughts.com, #3. Roger and Rafa from Roger Federer's Facebook Wall photos, and #4. Roger from live-onlinetennistournament.blogspot.com.) Thanks for the use of the photos. I own all other photos.
***
=====================================================
by Philipina A. Marcelo
I had an important realization a few weeks ago, just before 2010 was coming to a close... and it's all about goodbyes. I realized how fleeting everything truly is in this life... here today, gone tomorrow - everything... and everyone! And yet, some beautiful memories stay with us, especially those life-changing ones, those that touched us in many special ways. They leave vivid images in our minds because they are engraved in our hearts.
***
Goodbye to exhilarating victories... and on to more subtle but meaningful ones?
"Variety", "precision" and "grace" are just some of the words usually found alongside the brilliant and high-class tennis that the cool and sublime genius, Roger Federer, plays. For most of the last decade, Roger Federer was the lone and towering wave of enormous force in the world of tennis... not that he no longer is these days. He remains to be a formidable force to be reckoned with in the tennis world... except that, these days, he no longer is the only one.
After years of being on top, he is now a "second fiddler", as mean sports analysts would say, to his long-time former second fiddler, Rafael "Rafa" Nadal. After winning
his fourth Aussie Open Crown - his record-breaking 16th Grand Slam single's title - in the opening of last season in Melbourne, he shocked the world by failing to defend his crown in Roland Garros. He fell in the Quaterfinals from that hungry-for-a-win racquet wielded by the then up-and-coming Swede superstar, Robin Soderling. Because of the glory of his career that left tennis enthusiasts and the legends who made historical achievements awestruck for a decade now, that occurrence in the City of Lights felt like an anomaly! As he staggered his way to the Quarterfinals in Wimbledon... and losing to the hard-hitting shot trickster, Thomas Berdych - in that grass court of the All England Club where he was the undisputed King of his hard-hitting generation, the tennis fandom fell speechless from the shock! And in Flushing Meadows, where he was edged by Juan Martin Del Potro of Argentina in a tightly contested final match in the previous year, he couldn't recover from a self-induced hiccup and exited in the semi-finals as his opponent, the perennial #3 in the world, Novak Djokovic, stared and shook his head in disbelief! While the Swiss Maestro regrouped, picking up a title each in Stockholm and Cincinnati, and capturing the prestigious ATP World Tour Year Ender Crown in London against the other Top 8 players of the world, beating Rafa Nadal in a three-setter final match - to equal the five-win record shared by Pete Sampras and Ivan Lendl - he remained seated behind
Rafa Nadal as World #2. And then sports analysts, damn them, upped the volume of their talks on "Federer decline", "the end of Federer", "Men's tennis without Federer", "Nadal is the New King", etc., and these are the same guys who were swearing a few years back that Roger Federer is the BEST tennis player that ever walked the planet, and will continue to be that for many generations. I'm not sure what was more heartbreaking for Roger, the actual losses or the piercing words. I will not begin to speculate how that made him feel... because it made me feel awful - and I am just a fan! Apart from occasionally shoving back with a hey-get-a-tennis-history-book-and-look-me-up sounding replies to acid questions, he never showed devastation. Instead, cheerful photos of him taking vacation with his young family emerged in the internet... and they were very pleasing and absolutely heartwarming to see. People then began to understand where is Roger getting this calmness and armor from devastation from: wonderful family moments.But there's more....
While his own world - the tennis world - the world that thrived for a decade on the excitement he brought through his brilliance was being unkind to him, Roger reinvented himself and turned the tide once more to the tennis world's favor. In
December, as he was diligently stitching together and firming up his winning form with a more "aggressive" tactic for the next season of tennis, he also organized the "Match for Africa" in Zurich, Switzerland. It is an exhibition match with his so-called rival, Rafa Nadal, organized through the Roger Federer Foundation. The event was aimed at generating funds to send impoverished African children to school. Rafa followed his lead and did the same, and Roger played another exhibition match with his "nemesis" in Madrid, Spain. Even when the tennis world was on a break then, the world was all excited with the wonderful exhibition matches Roger and Rafa played. Needless to say, Roger seemed exhilarated by the impact of his action... using his incredible talent, fame and fortune to extend a helping hand where help is badly needed. With this wonderful trend that he started - forging camaraderie even between "rivals" to make a difference - the tennis world, for sure, will never be the same again. And so, the tennis world assumes a great image of constantly evolving excitement and a care for humanity... once again, care of its El Maestro, Roger Federer. Roger might've started writing his "goodbye note" to the tennis world as an active player just because he won't be young and strong enough to play forever.
And yet, he is showing the world that a "goodbye" to his old world does not mean a "decline" from his previous status there. After all, how could one be achieving great things - one after another - worthy for the history books one moment, and then being a "second fiddler" to someone else the next moment? Life has stages... and Roger is showing us that we must move from one stage to the next. In fact, a "goodbye" from his old world could be a "hello" to another, which could even be a spawn of his old world, where he could once again generate an exhilarating energy! Only this time, it is more meaningful - not just for himself and his loved ones, but also for a multitude of people. Being able to see that, being brave enough to accept this reality even when you are still at the top of your game, I believe, is the real mark of great achievement and the real measure of a TRUE CHAMPION!!***
Goodbye to Love
For a little over three years, I was hanging on to keep the flame of long-distance love alive for someone special and dear. It's still hard for me to speak about it... even now that it's all died out. Perhaps, it was the way it ended that brings sadness to an otherwise perfect memory.
Distance is not a friend of love - I know that now. It makes love suffer... and suffering erodes love - even the truest kind. I know that I tempted fate by
choosing the difficult situation of being away from the loved one - to feed that "selfish monster" called idealism, but I was faithful... and yet, suffering lingered. While I made all kinds of precautions... using professional preoccupation as a shield from suffering, distance muddled up communication, and a muddled up communication line confuses feelings associated with love. Confusion and sometimes conflicting feelings can inflict torturous suffering, too. Sometimes, even well-meaning friends can add to the confusion... passing on messages with hints of opinion that they honestly believe would help, and yet, they don't. But more than anything else, when honesty becomes an issue, and temptations start to actually tempt, then love slowly slips away. I think I suffered more from the lack of honesty from the other end... perhaps, that was a survival strategy... I wouldn't know 'cause I lost love the day honesty was thrown out of the back door.But love is about forgiving and forgetting... and so, yes, I forgave... and I've forgotten, too! Therefore, goodbye to love - that love! But I'm keeping the good memories and the most wonderful friendship in my heart - both remain to be the very best I've ever had, and will sustain my hope for the right love... next time around.
***
The last goodbye: Crossing over to the other side
I fought a number of exciting battles... most of them I won - out of the brute force of struggle and hardwork. I thought all battles could be won like that... until I had to fight the battle of my life.
Death, I found, has no mercy... it knows no boundaries, no race. It does not respect societal status, nor recognize a lifetime of kindness or achievements - no matter how brilliant! When it comes to take you
to crossover to the other side, it does so with cold, unfeeling and impersonal efficiency. It leaves you with no other sane choice but to rise calmly to your feet and follow its lead. Therefore, it is more reasonable to just ask for time - a little time - to take care of the practical things so that no one would suffer as you embark to crossover to the other side.Memories... these are the very best things that you could possibly leave behind - more meaningful and useful than any material inheritance... more lasting, more enduring. Therefore, build as much as you can while you have your "little time"... and share them with as many people as possible - especially those who need them. As others would say, "live today as if it was your last...." I completely agree.
Embrace life with vigor and enthused excitement! Cast away sorrows and worries 'cause they won't buy you time. Endeavor to commune with happiness and love... and when they're not there, persevere to look for them. When you finally found them, stay in their heart and keep them in yours. Live life as if it was your last chance to say goodbye! And saying goodbye begins at every chance you get.
***
Photo credits and acknowledgement: All the Roger Federer photos are grabbed from various sites (#1: Roger after winning the Australian Open in 2007, BBC Sports, #2: Rafa and Roger at the ATP Final 2010 from tennisthoughts.com, #3. Roger and Rafa from Roger Federer's Facebook Wall photos, and #4. Roger from live-onlinetennistournament.blogspot.com.) Thanks for the use of the photos. I own all other photos.
***
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