Be Thankful

It has been a blessed 2012 for me. I hope it is the same to most of you. I may have been pessimistic, er, realistic for a lot of times, so I guess it is time to be realistic by acknowledging the positives. This has always been the goal of my blog – to acknowledge the good stuff and to point out and learn from what is wrong. I call it as I see it. This is why I wrote and recognized LeBron’s feat in the NBA Finals this year even if I am a hater.

Whether I have been successful in this blog’s goal or not, I will still try to pursue for it. I am not an American but it does not mean I cannot be thankful this Thanksgiving. (Sorry, if I will be self-indulgent on some parts)

I am thankful for an awesome year in sports. It may not have been ideal in the collective level, but it was surely a special one for me. For those who do not follow this blog that much, my year was supposed to be heading to a drastic direction. It started with my New England Patriots losing (again) to the effin’ New York Giants in the Super Bowl. Oh wait, not only that… The same Giants team defeated my Green Bay Packers along the way. Ugh. It does not help that the G-Men are a cocky squad. A few weeks later, the Ateneo Lady Eagles succumbed to our archrivals, the La Salle Lady Spikers. I was preparing for a possible disaster year as all of my teams have the propensity to reach the Finals and lose in the big stage. I know that placing second is better than being a cellar dweller. But if you will lose in a tragic fashion against a rival, it is another story. That changed. By St. Patrick’s Day, my Duke Blue Devils got upset in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Bloody hell.

In a year where LeBron’s Miami Heat won its highly coveted NBA championship and where my Boston Red Sox have sucked badly, it has got to be a horrendous year, right? You can also add the fact that my Atlanta Braves failed to reach the National League Division Series because of that stupid wild card game that diminished our very good regular season (Thanks, MLB for screwing us the past two years). Life as a sports fan is mostly bad if you will look into the probability of winning it all. But if you win it all, all this shitty stuff become a thing of the past.

Yes sir. The Ateneo Blue Eagles’ five-peat run finished successfully this year. Forget about all the misfortunes, this championship trumped it all. How many times will you get a chance to win five straight? Heck, getting one championship is already hard. On a personal level, this marked my sixth consecutive year where at least one of my teams won a championship. This is easily my golden era in sports fandom. Eight championships in six years. Celebrating has never been this good. I am very grateful for the blessed six years.

I am thankful that I got a chance to fulfill my childhood dream of watching a baseball game at Turner Field. As a lifelong Atlanta Braves fan, the eight Braves games that I got to watch this year will be very special to my heart. It is also notable that it is Chipper Jones’ final year.

Thank you, Chipper for all the years. Not only that. Thanks for inspiring us that it pays to be loyal and to be hardworking. It was being a sports role model at its finest.

Speaking of sports heroes, I am thankful that I somehow learned or ingrained some values/traits of the sports personalities I am rooting for (one reason why it was tough for me to continue rooting for LeBron):

Disclaimer: I do not have all these qualities. I just appreciate these the most.

Chipper Jones – loyalty, hardwork and passion for the fans
Greg Maddux – using brains instead of power
Jerry Sloan/John Stockton – unselfish teamplay
Aaron Rodgers/Tom Brady – having a chip on your shoulder and trying to prove that you are better than what people thought of you before
Bill Belichick – being a heartless tactician and being “smart” by not actually giving away your strategy (for those who don’t know, Bill Belichick lists all of his players as ‘questionable to play’ every week. His opponents won’t know who is really injured or not. He answers interviews with boring lines. I mean… why would you give your opponent a hint of what you are going to do?) My boardgame friends or any of my friends who played games or fantasy sports with me knows I am wired this way. If I am an ass for being such, so be it. That’s how I play the game. (Damn, Jeff. Why did you reveal your strategy? Or… is it really my strategy?)

Thanks to my boardgame friends for the fun Tuesdays that we’ve had. Special thanks to Jake for organizing it every time. For those who are saying that board games are for geeks, so be it. If you are tired from all the thinking in work but you still want to do some (semi-)critical thinking to ensure you use your brain cells properly, why not use it on games? And, it is always fun to win. Always.

Thanks to the Philippine stock market for making me a bit richer. I am not a good trader, but what the hell. I still gained from this year so I’ll take it as a win.

Thanks to my company and my boss for giving me an opportunity to work and live in the United States. I will treasure this experience forever. It made me a stronger and a more independent human. Living alone was not that difficult at all. It was actually more fun than I imagined. It was also awesome to get to meet and build relations with our American counterparts there. Nothing beats face-to-face interactions.

I am very thankful I got to visit a lot of states in the USA. By my current count, I have visited eleven states (Michigan - 2008, Georgia, South Carolina, Massachussetts, Arizona, Florida, New York, Maryland, Virginia, California and Nevada) and one district (Washington D.C.). I have learned to fully appreciate how important it is for one to travel and have a vacation.

Speaking of which…

I am thankful that I got to see the magnificence of the Grand Canyon, the historical feel of Fenway Park, the vastness of Manhattan, the fun-filled experience of Universal Studios, the glitter of Las Vegas and the beauty of Washington D.C.

It was tiring to burn my only rest days for it, but it was 10,000% worth it. It made me more energetic and upbeat.

I am pleased that I was able to hold my finances at a sustainable level even after these trips. Being kuripot always helps.

I am grateful that I get to live in a good condominium unit in Makati where I get to see the breath-taking Manila skyline every night. It is more fun in the Philippines.

I am thankful that we got to watch great TV shows this year. We have Mad Men, Breaking Bad and Homeland! I hope more creative minds deliver quality entertainment in the years to come. Speaking of which, how awesome was the interrogation scene in Homeland? Damn. DAMN. DAAAAAAAAMMMMNN. I watched that scene on a lazy Sunday afternoon while Mom was dozing next to me. Normally on such scenarios, I also end up falling asleep. But after seeing the dramatic sequence by Carrie (Claire Danes) and Brody (Damian Lewis), I was in a trance. I do not care if Claire criticized Manila for being filthy before, what she did was impressive acting on that show and that needs to be acknowledged. The writing was also brilliant there. I love it whenever writers tap into the humanity of a character to show some vulnerability. As Dr. Faye Miller (Mad Men) said about Aesop’s Fable on the wind and sun where the traveller decided to remove his jacket (give in) when the sun was warm to him, sometimes kindness and gentleness (and in this case some humanity) convinces someone better than applying force to it. I also loved the way Brody tries to hide the truth as he was about to give in. You could feel the internal clash within him. I am not sure if this is the best as I need to re-view some sterling Mad Men sequences like the Jaguar pitch and the Zubisou Bisou performance (just kidding but it is still a very good sequence to be fair)

I am thankful for great movies like Dark Knight Rises, Ted, The Grey and The Avengers (I haven’t watched Skyfall and Wreck It Ralph yet). At the very least, it was a very good year for movies.

I am appreciative I got to drive a two-door sports car (Ford Mustang) for four to five months. I live in a country where cars are twice costly and ten times rarer so I am glad I got to experience things like this.

I am thankful for large HD TV’s, NFL, NBA and MLB HD in the Philippines, Samuel Adams, Taco Mac, GPS, Nike Free, Youtube, Twitter, Facebook and Skype.

I am thankful I get to view eye candy celebrities like Miranda Kerr, Christina Hendricks, Maria Menounos, Scarlett Johansson, Emily Blunt, Mila Kunis, Coleen Garcia, Cristine Reyes and Sarah Rafferty. Single guys like me need stuff like these so that not all our time wasted is boring. (Bullshit. Every guy appreciates some eye candy every now and then. It depends on the degree of your “appreciation.”)

I am thankful that I have fun-loving, skilled and supportive officemates. I am also thankful that there’s not much office politics in our team. We just work and bond with each other.

I am thankful for fantasy sports. I am less intense in playing it, but it is still good leisure. It is fun to see your players fill up the stat sheet. It is not often but when it happens, it makes your day brighter.

I am thankful for my friends. Without them, life would be 95% tougher. Whether they be real friends or not, I am grateful for their company every now and then.

I am grateful I have awesome relatives. Because of them, I will always value close family ties.

I am thankful for my family. I was away for most of the year, but our relationship grew stronger as I got to converse more with them via Skype. Things pretty much returned the same by now (and by that, I mean the positives and the negatives), but what the heck, I love my parents and my brother.

I save the best for last. I thank God for everything. I thank God for my life. I appreciated the fact that I have a good life and God was able to lead me to perceive it as a good one too. There are frustrating times, but I cherish every moment of it (even if my impatient self feels otherwise). I am thankful that we have an understanding Supreme Being that even if religion has been a hot topic lately, God continues to be nice to us. I am thankful that God made a strong foundation in our Church that amidst all of the controversy or inhumanity in this world, we still have rational, God-fearing people. I am thankful that God is hopeful that we, humans, would follow Him and do what is right and just.

Life is like a stock market portfolio. You have several stocks (sports teams, work, finances, morals, fantasy teams, games, relationships, entertainment, spirituality) and these go up and down on any given day. But because you have several shares of possible good events, you have higher chances of getting happy everyday. Instead of getting depressed over one life stock, why not focus on what gives you a win today? Be thankful for it.