THE METAMORPHOSIS
By
Ernie D. Delfin
TO LIVE, TO LEARN, TO LOVE, AND TO LEAVE A LEGACY:
A PRESCRIPTION FOR A JOYFUL AND FULFILLING LIFE
Six decades and 5 years ago this month of July, I first saw the light of day in an unpolluted village called Anis, in the town of Laoac (formerly part Manaoag, the town made famous by the Blessed Virgin Mary’s apparition hundred years ago), as the second child of seven (and first born son) of my simple but hardworking farmer-father and my vendor-mother who are both deceased, joining my two sisters (the eldest and the 4th child) who died even before them, and my youngest sister joining them a few years ago to the Life Beyond. With that brief family background, I am quite grateful to my God and Creator, that I have reached this age, reasonably healthy, enjoying life’s comfort with a loving family that includes a son EJ and my daughter Donna (with her engineer husband Tri) who just gave us our first apo (grandchild) a year ago. Life is indeed a precious gift from God and what we do with it is our gift to God. Now, without the normal pressures of professional and business work, there is more time in a week for me to do many things that makes my waking hours even go faster than.
Like some retired people, it seems that we are now busier than when we were working! Nevertheless, my activities are really getting more exciting although they are no longer measured by the inflows of dollars into our bank accounts. Life continues to be exciting depending on what we do with it. For instance, my wife and I are looking forward to a totally new experience, a bold adventure, travelling to Europe by ourselves, to be hosted by fellow Rotarians in Vienna, Lodon and Paris as a member of our International Travel and Hosting Fellowship (ITHF). In Rome, my Dominican nun sister is also helping us to be special guests in their Dominican Sisters House in Rome. In the past, we were the hosts and also enjoyed the experience. As guests in a foreign land for the first time, with full trust and faith in the goodness of others, adds to our excitement, that may also bring us some serendipitous moments along the way.
To be happy and fulfilled is one of man’s innate cravings. I still vividly remember a seminar I participated over 30 years ago where the speaker gave a formula to be truly happy is simply to have an equilibrium of all our human activities during our entire life. Theseminar creator, Dr. Steven R. Covey, the author of the best seller “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” opined that in order for a person to have a well balanced life, he must consciously integrate the essential quadrants into his life, namely: the Physical Quadrant (TO LIVE) Mental Quadrant (TO LEARN) Social Quadrant (TO LOVE) and Spiritual Quadrant (TO LEAVE A LEGACY).
Like most professionals and businesspeople, in the earlier years of our careers or professions, I too was very much preoccupied in working hard and long to live and learning to get a degree while working. With a business degree and CPA license, I even worked harder to reach my own dreams and also to fulfill some suppressed desires of my faded youth:the “earthly” games and adventures that my rich classmates in Letran College were already enjoying then. Working hard and long for over 40 years allowed me to live comfortably now, but those years left me barely enough time to get really involved in civic work (the last two quadrants of a meaningful life) in giving back to my own community, locally and internationally.
Now in my 60’s I think I am now making up with those “missed” opportunities to love more (social work) and to leave a legacy (spiritual work nor necessarily religious). With a redirected focus what is truly important thing worth doing, I believe that I can contribute more time and energy in a true Service Above Self or be a Man for Others as St. Ignatius of Loyola described it. For that blessing alone, I am eternally grateful to my God that I have lived this long, longer than my own father’s life on this earth.
On a nostalgic note, once we the retreatants in a Franciscan Retreat Center were asked who do we think are the genuinely happiest people? Responses were varied and many: good health , enough money, good family, successful career, world travel. etc etc. Lo and behold we had it all wrong, according to this Franciscan retreat master-friar! He said that themost happy people are the GRATEFUL people. Grateful for what they are, how they are and what they have, without complaining what they “lack” in this life. At this stage of my life, I now believe it is indeed true. This philosophy made me realize now why my only living sister Sor. Letty, a Dominican nun for almost 30 years now, is definitely happier and more fulfilled despite that fact that she has almost no material possessions like a car, house or a retirement money compared to many of us who often worry about these things to make us “happier” by not worrying about tomorrow.
It is sometimes difficult to make sense of all these life’s philosophies but then I console myself by reflecting on an old poster in my home office that says “Life is a mystery to be lived, and not a problem to be solved!” Probably I am just rationalizing too much about my own life’s journey to this day!
While we are into this topics of “Leaving a Legacy and to be a Man for Others”, I invitethe my readers to visit our www.gkerotaryclub3780.org about our Global Kalinga e-Rotary Club that I just founded this summer, as one effective and proven way to render a true Service Above Self. As a Rotarian for about 15 years now, I find that Rotary International is an excellent vehicle to do humanitarian service because through it, one’s efforts are compounded a thousand times throughout the world. One of the oldest organizations in theworld, Rotary is 106 years old with over 1.3 million members in about 200 countries and territories throughout the world. With matching grants from the Rotary Foundation, one’s contribution to alleviate poverty or any humanitarian project can be multiplied many times over.
Our new GK e-Rotary Club is embarking some ambitious long term project in thePhilippines that was never been done before on a national scale. It will be our flagship project called Entrepreneurship Development for Socioeconomic Advancement (EDSA) Training Seminars for the Filipino YOUTH. Rotary experience in other countries, that out of 100 students going through this Entrepreneurship Training, 20 go into their own business, who in turn employ 4-6 employees each entrepreneur, is very encouraging! It is our hope that this project (where we can train, mentor the young entrepreneurs and even help capitalize the best business plans of the students) can make a dent on the massive unemployment of our youth, to reverse the trend of millions of people, including college graduates, leaving the country to do menial jobs, maids and helpers in foreign lands where many are exploited and maltreated or even sexually abused. This is our big dream in unchartered waters, but we have theexperience and the unselfish passion to do it. But we still need more supporters (morally and financially) to make it a reality. God willing, we can start implementing this project by next year.
If you, dear reader, would like to inquire about the details, just email this columnist, and I personally will send you a brochure or answer your questions that you may have. These projects will have no pecuniary benefits for us, volunteers but we are doing it for humanitarian reason to follow our Rotarian’s motto of Service Above Self, Reaching Within To Embrace Humanity!
We hope to get some support from others to make this bold gargantuan project possible. If you are moved, please help our GKeRotary, to help us help others. Thank you and God bless us all!
The Metamorphosis’ Food for Thought this week:
The Dalai Lama was asked what surprised him the most; he said, "Man, because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in thepresent or the future. He lives as if he is never going to die, then he dies having never really lived.
A noted theologian C.S. Lewis wrote, “Aim at Heaven and you will get Earth thrown in. Aim at Earth and you get neither.”
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