Saturday, November 11, 2006 Libre: Touching hearts and souls By Mel Libre Seriously Now
On Nov. 6, I celebrated my 50th birthday with strangers. I performed a few original songs, accompanying myself with my guitar in a place called The Bunker with nearly 50 music lovers in the audience. After the performance, the crowd gave me a warm applause. I felt bliss, having fulfilled a dream.
Fifty years in this world have taught me much about life. I’ve realized that life is a series of successes and failures, a collage of joy and pain, a cycle of ups and downs. Drawing out my ambitions when I was younger helped in gauging my triumphs and letdowns.
Life is funny. Often, disappointments are the ones that challenge us to rise to victory. While I never won in classroom elections in elementary and high school, I had to beg off the presidencies of some groups when I became a professional.
After I was fired on my first day of work as a disc jockey, I spent many years hosting radio programs both as a disc jockey and a commentator. When most considered me a mediocre student, I made difference in my two professions.
Life is full of surprises. There are things you don’t dream of yet you attain, some you work so hard for but never accomplish.
While my father and three of my elder siblings were good writers, all I wanted to be as a teenager was to become an accomplished musician. Two of my elder siblings became doctors; the third one became a committed organizer. But I was the one who became a writer.
Until today, my love for music has remained strong. But becoming as popular as, say, Jose Mari Chan or Stevie Wonder will probably remain a dream.
There is nothing wrong, though, with dreaming, so long as you love what you do and enjoy your little successes.
Life is like a ferris wheel. One moment you are n top of the world, the next time you are biting dust.
When you’ve talked with Cory Aquino, Fidel Ramos and Gloria Arroyo, which I did in different instances, you feel proud. When you learn that you passed a professional licensure examinations or the bar examinations, you float in the clouds.
Yet, when you fail to snag an elective position in an organization that you’ve served unselfishly, the rejection can be hurting. When people you believe in turn their backs on you in favor of their selfish ambitions, you feel betrayed.
But most importantly, life is a gift. We may have different interests, distinct skills and unique talents but all these are meant not much for our own fulfillment but more for the benefit of others.
Joy, love and happiness can be achieved not so much by gaining fame and fortune but more through sharing to others your interests, skills and talents.
When you give, you gain priceless rewards like the sweet smile of a street urchin, a warm hug from an elderly beggar or the tender kiss of a grateful son or daughter. Selflessness equates to fullness in life.
If I was blissful on my birthday, it had little to do with being the center of attention; rather it was about sharing the gift of music that may have touched the hearts and souls of the audience.
