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Believe... Vol. 1, No. 4 * November 11, 2008  By JCI Mem. ANGELO DANIEL R. PARCON
2007 President Ever since I read the book entitled THE CELESTINE PROPHECY back in college, I became a firm believer that there is no such thing as coincidence. Everything happens for a reason. We find so many people cursing to the high heavens about their luck and their fates when something really bad happens to them. Sometimes we just have to go with the flow of destiny, handle the decisions that we have to make and see where these will take us. We just have to BELIEVE...
These decisions may take us to where we don't want to be and sometimes where we want to be, but I believe that the decisions that we make in life always takes us where we ought to be. I have had my fair share of difficult situations and so-called controversies in life. But looking at everything that has transpired, I could see that these happenings always serve a purpose for me. They may be an eye-opener or they could be something to bring my feet back to earth. Nevertheless, good or bad situations, these have helped me become a better person to say the least. It is because of these situations that has made my belief in myself all the more stronger.
Impossible is Nothing!
Lots of us call this life to be unfair. To tell you the truth, life has always been fair. We just choose to look more at the disappointments in life rather than all the blessings that we've received. I may not be the perfect advocate for this, I have had my pitfalls in seeing the better things in life, but I try. I wasn't born into an insanely rich family and I've had to work my way up the levels in the corporate ladder. I haven't reached the pinnacle of what I would want to achieve and I may not reach it at all, yet I never lose hope. We all should never lose hope. A shoe brand hit it right on the dime...IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING. Indeed, with the right attitude and the right mix of decisions and common sense, we can make the impossible possible.
Destiny is what we make of it. Fate presents us with the choices in life. It is our decisions that mold the paths that we take. When we first started our chapter a little more than three years ago, there were those who doubted if we could pull it through, some may have even chided us on the side. And yet, look at where we are now. All because we believed. Almost one and a half centuries ago, it was almost considered a crime to associate with African Americans in what is now the most powerful country in the world. And yet, because Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King and more chose to believe, the world's most powerful nation recently elected Barack Hussein Obama, an African-American, as the most powerful man in the world. Apartheid was a considered a racial “disease” that ravaged South Africa almost 20 years ago. But because a humble, simple, yet passionate man named Nelson Mandela simply believed, apartheid was eradicated in the nation which he loved the most. We all thought we could never loosen the iron-grip that dictator Ferdinand Marcos had on our country, but because we all believed, the one true PEOPLE POWER happened.
Learn from Life's Difficulties with Honor
During my Presidency in 2007, our chapter was not without difficulties. As the head of the chapter, it wasn't easy trying to juggle the various personalities and priorities of our members. The projects that we did weren't without mistakes. But as always, that is how we learn. It is okay for us to make mistakes, as long as we don't make the same mistake twice. There were times when I was almost ready to throw in the towel. Not because of problems from our members nor the lack of determination for success. I learned that sometimes there are just situations that we simply cannot control. We just have to learn to look at the silver lining that is faintly distinct in these situations and move on to the next opportunity. It may not be easy to accept but we have to learn that out of a dire situation, a better one always presents itself.
I learned this when I lost my father when I was just seven years old. I learned this when my mother decided to shut down our family business when I was in the middle of college, I learned this when I lost in elections, during my first run at the USC Supreme Student Council and during my attempt at the Presidency for the USC Junior Jaycees. I learned to accept what God had laid down for me and moved on with my life. No sense in crying over spilt milk ika-nga.
It is an advocacy that even I myself have had difficulties in trying to practice, but always keep in mind that the mishaps that we encounter in life will always serve a purpose. And these purposes are the ones that will steel ourselves to become better persons. It is always natural for a human being to feel depressed when something does not go our way, the miracle lies in how we choose to bounce back from them. We all just have to learn how to keep holding our head up high. When you hit rock bottom in life, always lean on the belief that there is no where else to go but up.
You are a LEADER, Act like ONE
As we try to learn the ropes on what it takes to be a Vanguard leader, we must always remember that those who see us as their inspiration and symbolic heads in our organizations will always reflect upon themselves what we emanate from our personas. If it is very easy for us to be depressed and see the cruelty of life, explain to me how they would feel? We may not admit it, but as a leader, one is always under the microscope of their membership. If the heart of the organization loses hope, it won't be long for the organization to lose hope as well.
Never deprive your members of the chance to move mountains if you yourself easily whimper and whine at the slightest sign of difficulty. You are there for a reason. They all look up to you. It is also your responsibility to make them believe that they can do it and will do it.
I will admit, I still have a long ways to go in perfecting this into myself. But as an eternal student in life, I crave for the situations and the experiences that will further my learnings in the such. We just have to keep believing that we can. We just have to keep believing that what we do, we do to create genuine positive change. We just have to keep believing that in every fall that we experience, we can always get up. We just have to keep believing in ourselves, because if we don't believe in ourselves, nobody else will. Disclaimer: I do not claim to have found the formula for GENUINE and EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP nor do I claim to be a genuine and effective leader though I sincerely seek to be one. This column is my quest towards being a genuine and effective leader and my insights from my JCI experiences that would hopefully lead me there. Let me hear your thoughts too by leaving a comment here.
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