April 17, 2011, I woke up at around 10 am. I made myself some coffee, (Awe, how lovely life is with the existence of coffee!!! I don’t know how I’ll be, or how my life would be without it…) Every time I get to have that cup of coffee, It’s always euphoric. And to top it up, I’m reading broadsheets. Gee!!! That is so not I. But some of the articles written in there caught my attention. One article brought me into thinking… Who am I in front of other people and who am I when nobody’s around. It just feels so good to realize that I know where to stand, how to stand and when to stand. Better thing…. I know where and when to sit and listen to other people’s side. But I don’t claim to be a clean sheet. Having done some mistakes makes me realize that not all the lessons in life are learned from schools or from reading some books.

Henrylito D. Tacio of the Manila Bulletin wrote the article. His surname rang a bell because in Philippine literature, in Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere,  “Pilosopong Tasyo” was one of those characters that really place a smile on my face. Oh my, how I wished that the teleseryes and the telenovelas would cater those stories… for the benefit of the Filipino youth.

Getting back to the article So far, although I haven’t found any job posting in the classified ads, buying this P20.00 broadsheet and having read the article makes that 20 peso worth spending. I definitely know why…it is because the article contained quotes… and as a self-confessed “quotes freak” and being loaded with the virtue of sharing my finds, I find myself scribing the article without the intention of plagiarism.

Here goes:

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Character could make or break you

Henrylito D. Tacio

Manila Bulletin, April 17, 2011

            Do you know of some very talented people who suddenly fall apart when they achieved a certain level of success? The reason to that phenomenon is character. In his book, The Success Syndrome, author Steven Berglas writes that people who achieve great heights but lacks the bedrock character to sustain them through the stress are headed for disaster.

            Berglas, an American psychologist, believes these people are destined for one or more of the following: arrogance, painful feelings of aloneness, destructive adventure seeking, or adultery. Each is a terrible price to pay for weak character.

            Ozel Tendzin, who was born Thomas Rich, was the first American to lead an international Buddhist sect. He became regent of the Boulder, Colorado-based Vajradhatu Buddhist organization following the death of its founder, Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, in 1987.

            Two years earlier, Tendzin, who was a bisexual, learned that he had been infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the microorganism that causes AIDS. However, he kept his condition a secret. “Thinking that I had some extraordinary means of protection, I went ahead with my business as if something would take care of it for me,” he was quoted as saying.

            Instead, he infected a male companion, who infected a woman friend. It is not known how many people in all were given the deadly disease as a result of Tedzin’s arrogance in 1990. He died of AIDS.

            A life built on the sands of celebrity can be wrecked by the rains of reverses. A life built on the sands of materialism can be destroyed by the floods of adversity. A life build on the sands of pleasure can be blown down by the winds of disillusionment. Only the life that is built on the rock of character can withstand the tempests of time.

            A number of famous quotes about character down though the years have focused on one attribute: the hidden nature of character. “ Character is what you are in the dark,” said Dwight L.Moody. “ The measure of man’s character is what he would do if he knew he would be found out.”

            An unknown author penned these words: “The difference between personality and character: Personality is what you are when lots of people are around; character is what you are when everybody goes home.”

            A scorpion, being a poor swimmer, asked a turtle to carry him on his back across a river. “Are you out of your mind,” exclaimed the turtle. “You’ll sting me while I’m swimming and I’ll drown.”

            “My dear turtle, “ the scorpion laughed. If I were to sting you, you would drown and I would go down with you. Now, where is the logic in that?”

            “You’re right,” the turtle agreed. “Hop on!”

            The scorpion climbed aboard and halfway across the river gave the turtle a might sting. As they both sank to the bottom., the turtle resignedly said, “Do you mind if I ask you something? You said there’d be no logic in your stinging me. Why did you do it?”

            “It has nothing to do with logic,” the drowning scorpion sadly replied. “It’s just my character.”

            Character, someone once said, is not made in crisis; it is only exhibited. It was an anonymous caller who informed Erik that a certain priest named Bernard was delivering sermons aimed at subverting Germany’s racial policies. Erik knew little about the priest’s background and could not imagine what had compelled him to take his rash course. After all, the majority of churches, both Catholic and Protestant, had either supported the policies or remained discreetly neutral.       

            Erik attended an evening service and found the church less than third full. During his sermon, Father Bernard proclaimed Christ’s love and asked those gathered to pray for Jews. Several left as he preached.

            As Father Bernard was removing his vestments, Erik said to him, “You are gravely misinformed.” The priest looked at him with tired, sensitive eyes and said simply, “I know what is happening to Jews. And so do you Captain.”

            When the priest died in Dachau, Erik concluded, “I felt a bit sorry foe him. He simply did not understand the need to run with the tide, to accept the inevitable.”

            Although Erik and Bernard are fictional characters in Gerald green’s book, Holocaust, they make a strong point: Character does not bend to politics.

            Our character is what God knows us to be. Our reputation is what men think we are. “Promises must be kept, deadlines met, commitments honored; not just for the sake of old fashioned morality, but because we become what we do (or fail to do), and character is simply the sum of our performance,” Howard Sparks commented.

            Many years ago, a boy was born in Russia who though of himself to be so ugly, he was certain there would be no happiness for him in life. He bemoaned the fact that he had a wide nose, thick lips, small gray eyes, and big hands and feet. He was so distraught about his ugliness, he asked God to work a miracle and turn him into a handsome man. He vowed that if God would do this, he would give him all he possessed, as well as he might possess in the future.

            That ugly boy was count Tolstoy, one of the world’s foremost authors in the twentieth century, perhaps best known for his epic War an Peace. In one of his books, he admitted that through the years he discovered that the beauty of physical appearance he had once sought was not the only beauty in life. Indeed, it was not the best beauty. Instead, Tolstoy came to regard the beauty of a strong character a having the greatest good in God’s sight.

            So many people spend enormous sums today on their physical appearance. Character, in contrast, is not a matter of doing what is right apart from money, and standing up for what is right apart from appearances.

            “You can’t give character to another person, but you can encourage him to develop his own by possessing one yourself,” Artemus Calloway declares.

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Gee!! That was long, but my effort is rewarded because I know somehow... in my own little way of sharing my finds… I get to transcend the message from this article to other people who never saw it on printed media.

Digging on to some points of the article,

            “A life built on the sands of celebrity can be wrecked by the rains of reverses. The floods of adversity can destroy a life built on the sands of materialism. A life build on the sands of pleasure can be blown down by the winds of disillusionment. Only the life that is built on the rock of character can withstand the tempests of time.”

                                    - so true, if the foundation of your character was not that strong             enough, everything that you have build will crumble to the ground and no one but     yourself is left to blame. A person of strong character is not easily blown away by             anything that tries to pull him down.

            Our character is what God knows us to be. Our reputation is what men think we are. “Promises must be kept, deadlines met, commitments honored; not just for the sake of old fashioned morality, but because we become what we do (or fail to do), and character is simply the sum of our performance,”

                                   

                                    - Yes indeed this is very true, at the end of the day, it is inevitable that    you’ll have to face your true self, It is the time that we have to face the music…

I chuckled in wonder. All my life at grade schools, the phrase “Character building is Nation Building” was written in every classroom that I’ve been to.

The process of building the individual’s character starts at home. And it is supported by the disciplines in schools. So freaking true. But I would love to rephrase the line into “Nation Building starts at Character Building”.

Anyway, Just bear this in mind.

Most of the time “Truth” is always on the peril. Be on the side that stands for it.

Keep in your heart that “Honesty is the best policy”. It’s so elementary.

But sometimes it’s inevitable that you have to choose between two evils... If you are facing this kind of dilemma…my advice- choose the lesser one. If something bad arouses from that choice. Face it. From there you can determine your character.

Remember we have some chance and only one choice.

Lucky for us if we have all the chance in the world to do what we have to (or rather what we love to do) and to correct the mistakes of our past.

It’s always upon our choice if we really want to do it. If really wanted to go for it.

Everything that happens in our lives is a result of our choice.

Just one question: What guides us to do the right thing in making the decision?

It’s our values and virtues. Our values and virtues define our character. It always ends up on our character.

You, what have you done lately?

Awe, before I forget…

I’ll always be wishing you a happy lifetime of the very best in music, love, hope, inspiration, friendship and faith...Do what you love to do...Do what makes you happy...Never ever let anybody or anything pull you down...Have fun. Enjoy life...live your life to the fullest...Live your dreams...Never stop believing!!!! Yihee!! Cheers for the love of life :)

Hugs!!!!

Chryss

p.s… (Disclaimer note) (hahahaha)

I was not really into blogging.

I just have the need to do this to escape boredom.

If you want to ask anything…except money… (I don’t have spare hehehe)

Channel 25 said…

The most important thing is to never stop asking questions.

But sometimes I don’t put this in practice. Because sometimes, something in me definitely know the answers to my own questions.

Just a thought: There is always a way to be honest without being brutal.

If you find anything wrong, grammatical errors… or anything….

TELL IT TO ME “DIRECTLY”:)

chryssanthemum_spinnaker@rocketmail.com