That is what he must have told himself. He looked at the flight of stairs. He leapt. He glided. He fell. He slipped on one step, and hit his head on another. Blood oozed through my five-year-old son’s eyebrow.
When I saw the blood on his face, I knew we needed a doctor. Margot, my wife, was pregnant at that time and could not carry Gian who was crying. Thanks be to God we had Yaya Mauling. She helped Margot stop the bleeding with an ice pack while I called Dr. Toto Rivera, who just lived next door. He told me to meet him at the hospital.
This time I drove like Batman! When we reached the emergency room, Dr. Rivera was already there. He asked me to hold Gian while he treated his cut. He showed me how serious it was. It was very deep! I felt like fainting!
He comforted Gian by reassuring him, “Dad and Mom will be right beside you, while I take care of your cut. Okay?” The room was spinning. My legs began to melt. "Tito si Yayay na lang ma-bulig kapyot sa iya kay daw ma-lipong ko (Tito, Yayay will hold Gian instead, I feel like fainting)." Dr. Rivera laughed then continued his terrific work on Gian! You can barely see the scar today!
Blood - fresh, red. I could not take it.
Rewind. Six years ago. The same hospital. While Margot was delivering Gian, I assisted her as a Lamaze-Dad. There was a thousand times more blood in front of me. On the sanitized linen. On Dr. Lacson’s gifted hands. And practically the whole body of Gian.
I was okay. No. I felt fantastic! Why? My focus was not on the blood, but the magnificence of child birth. Gian was smeared with blood, but I did not see that. I saw him. My son. Alive. A miracle. Life in all its magnificence!
Today, you have that choice, too. To focus on magnificence. And enjoy the gift that each moment brings. Or to focus on mistakes and the mundane. And be overwhelmed by negativity to the point of “fainting.” Living today as if asleep. Never having lived or loved.
A few weeks ago, Gian, an avid angler, was invited by his Tito Manolito to go fishing with his cousins. He was thrilled! The only drawback was that he had to fly back from Florida to Los Angeles alone. I told him, “Be comfortable and give up your dream fishing trip or conquer your fear of flying alone and catch that big fish.” I’m proud of Gian because he chose to focus on magnificence! ”To fish” instead of “to fear.”
“Be careful with what you look at. You will always get in full measure what you choose to focus on,” says Fr. Mariano “Junjun” Agruda. Focus on magnificence! Celebrate, instead of complaining. Be grateful, instead of being a grouch. Grace and goodness are all around you! Just open your eyes and heart! Magnificence awaits you today!
Choose to have a Magnificent Monday!