When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it. (Paolo Coelho, “The Alchemist”)

The last time my friend Justin and I hung out, he said something similar. That somehow, things always end up working to his advantage. When people close him don’t tell him things he should be aware of, he ends up finding out about them anyways.

It’s definitely been a while since I last felt the universe was truly helping me achieve my dreams, to the point that I felt it was punishing me because, well, I don’t know. Maybe I felt too blissful about everything and I kept wanting for more, and that was why the universe seemed to give up on me for the meantime.

Today though, it looks like the universe took pity on me and gave me two reasons to smile today. It made me realize, no matter what aspirations I had in life, what goals I set, what dreams I set my heart on, it all boils down to one thing: I only want to be happy. If I keep it that simple, I guess the universe will never leave my side.

Everyone close to me at work knows how much I hate commuting, and that includes walking from Robinson’s Galleria to Unionbank Plaza. Today was worse because I had no choice but to get off at SM Megamall just to save a few precious minutes that would just be wasted by the congested bus lanes from Mega to Galleria. Don’t get me wrong, I love walking and its nice therapeutic effect. But when I’m on a brisk pace, panting under the heat of the sun (I also love the sun, I really do, but not under these circumstances) just so I can get my attendance bonus, I can get really, really, really cranky.

So there I was, crossing intersections as fast as I could with all those uncooperative vehicles trying to keep me from my goal, with the sun beating on me, thinking of how lost I was without my carpool, when at the corner of my eye, I saw something sparkle.

My arm.

I looked some more and the golden dust particles on my arm were shimmering under the sun. And whaddayaknow? I instantly felt good.

Whoever formulated this has got to be a genius.

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image credits: thaipants @ ebay

I wanted to tell her the sacrifice is worth it — too bad she’s one of those people who somehow found me through a mutual Kpop friend or two and just added me up even if we haven’t interacted much/yet. I would’ve told her “Yes honey, it’s hard but it will pay off. Because that’s what I did, and although I’m not a student like you, things got better when I gave this up.”

Don’t get me wrong, I still want to consider myself a Kpop fan once in a while, even if my playlist is way outdated; Kpop still is sweet music to my ears, but the moment I kept things to a minimum, I rediscovered my life, reunited with my family and my closest non-Kpop friends, focused more on work, and had more time for myself. It’s really hard to elaborate without giving away too much, but I’m sure at least one person out there understands what I’m trying to say.

Bottomline is, in the past, I went overboard over my love for Kpop and it kind of screwed things for me a bit. I’m still smitten with Kpop, I won’t deny it, but I’m keeping myself in check.

“O ito,” he said, handing me crumpled pieces of paper towels. I was about to accept them when I suddenly remembered him asking me to wipe the sweat off his back earlier that afternoon. True enough I saw him get two more paper towels under his shirt.

“Anak ng!!! Galing kaya ‘to sa likod mo!”

“Hee hee hee!”

The next thing we knew, she was texting us that she took the MRT, boarding at the CUBAO station, of all the stations. There were other amusing stuff that I’d rather not mention, because I don’t want to paint a bad picture of our dear friend in the readers’ minds. Bottom line is, she wasn’t really used to commuting AT ALL, let alone ride a train, and from a crowded station at that.

It took her another good 20-30 minutes to get to us, and when she finally got hold of us, she had tears in her eyes and she looked harassed and even a little muddied up (this is no exaggeration, seriously). She was still obviously rattled, and she cried out: “The things I do for you guys…”

To any outsider who would hear this story, she would be just some rich little bratinella who needs to know more about life, but I instantly loved her more after that. To some other person it might be some frivolous thing that should be just tossed away but understanding where she was coming from, it was a very grand gesture on her part. (Luv you, M!)

So why did I think of sharing that here? Everytime I remember that story, I think to myself, there’s always that one person (or two, or three ) that makes you hate yourself somewhat because you know you look stupid having them as the center of your universe, or something to that effect, and yet you can’t stop, because you love doing stuff for them. It could be a family member, a very close friend, a corny puppy love — whoever it may be, you’ll find how much you get a kick out of making these little favors — sacrifices, even — just for them.

It’s not always necessarily the right thing to do, sometimes it reaches the point of being a guilty pleasure already, but yeah… there will always be that one person (or two, or three) that gives you a natural high just by knowing that in your own little way, you’ve definitely done something for them.

Initially I thought it was my phone ringing, and I was thinking if it was safe enough to answer the call. Seconds passed and my eyes widened. I heard words being sang.

I acutely became aware that the driver had his radio on full-blast. And that the song playing, the song that jolted me from my sleep, was PiNK.

And believe it or not, months after it was released, that was my first time to hear it playing over the radio.

We were mildly debating whether to smoke before or after buying food.

Me: Ngayon na ba?
Daniel: Pwede din. O gusto mo, magyosi ka muna habang binibili ko yung pagkain.
Me: Ayoko, boring magyosi mag-isa.
Daniel: Mas boring kaya bumili ng pagkain mag-isa.

Awww. <3

Love you, Danny Boy!

Usually, they say “last call for alcohol”, but yesterday was different. I didn’t expect to get a last call for alcohol at 6:30AM, because, dude, I had work at 9, but since Shari and Dee were game, I thought I’d unwind before my shift officially started.

I had a lot on my mind these days, and as much as I would’ve loved to bring them up with my drinking buddies (which I usually do, even with the most trivial stuff you can think of), I didn’t know where to start. And besides, since the bulk of it was top-secret — oh yeah, gumaganon talaga — I would just end up omitting a lot of details, which would defeat my purpose of unloading. Nevertheless, I was touched at the way they trusted my judgment on certain viewpoints they had, so never mind if I wasn’t able to get things off my chest for now.

And besides, I had this to keep me company when everyone else was on bathroom break:

Screw the many things that are torturing me at present.

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I was about to answer her question when our friend Daniel, looking red-faced and puffy from waking up, went over to her work station. His arm was outstretched and he seemed to be reaching for something. I thought he was trying to borrow Gail’s iPod, which was his usual routine around that time of day.

Gail sensed him standing close to her and asked, “Ano yun?”

Daniel kept his arm where it was and it obviously appeared he was reaching for Gail’s hand. The minute he opened his mouth, I collapsed on the floor in between guffaws.

“Phil Younghusband.”

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**not her real name