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| The famous Hickory High Halftime Speech | Credit: Hoosiers |
"There is no fresh start! Lives carry on." –Henry
From “Mad Men” Season 4 Episode 13 entitled “Tomorrowland”
Christmas Break 2013. Yes.
I heaved a huge sigh of relief when I finished my last conference call last Friday because I was about to experience some good break in the following days. (Technically, I am still working this week but at least it is not as intense as it was in the previous weeks.) Christmas break 2013 has arrived and I needed it more than ever.
Unlike last year, I will not be on a vacation to some faraway place this year but after a very tiring last few weeks I needed these next couple of weeks to recharge my personal batteries. Have you experienced December traffic lately? My travel times from Quezon City to Taguig/Makati have ranged from two to three hours. My feet are dead and I am not even driving stick. Have I mentioned that I do need to recharge my personal batteries?
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| Stuck in traffic this month? | Credit: Foo Fighters |
Year in and year out, we hear of the usual themes of gift giving, being open to God, and avoiding idleness (well, that was what they always taught us back in high school – Idleness is the workshop of the Devil) during Christmas break. We have to remember that Jesus Christ is the reason for this season. This year though, I am tackling a practical topic for those of us who have had a hectic, dramatic, heartbreaking, bland or (even an) idle year. This is our real-life halftime break.
For those who do not watch sports, halftime break is that ten to twenty minute intermission in between the game. This is needed so the athletes can rest or freshen up before they battle intensely to finish the game. It is the time when sports teams regroup in order to adjust from what they have experienced in the first half. Halftime breaks are used for non-sports entertainment. Either cheerleaders perform or a magician performs tricks to ensure that the crowd continues to be amused. Sports analysts use this period to analyze what went right and wrong for the teams that played. Statistics and highlights are used. Analysts debate on the performance of the star players. For us, sports fans, we use this halftime period for CR breaks, a time to microwave more popcorn,
You may wonder: why halftime break? Isn’t this Christmas break an end-of-the-year thing? Why not use the end of the regulation as a better comparison? I actually thought about that, but I think halftime break is more apt.
There is no such thing as a reset button in this life. When a game ends, there is a winner and a loser. A team’s win-loss-tie record gets updated and the current result gives implications on the rest of team’s season. However, the sports team moves on to a different opponent in the next game and the score is reset to 0-0 again. They can choose to forget how they played the previous game. In real life, you cannot just forget what has happened to you. If you did badly on your midterm exam before the Christmas break, it will have an effect on your final grade the next year. If you have been a great boss to your peers, they will continue to work with motivation when they return the following year.
Just like after halftime breaks, you will face the same score/situation you ended up with before your hiatus.
2013 was a crucial year for Filipinos. This was the year we found out of the corruption from PDAF. Several politicians were exposed and the whole political outlook of the country has changed (I know this country is known for corruption through the years, but this was a different can of worms that was opened). This will not change some time in the near future and even if we do get a break from all this bullshit, we know that we have this frustrating us in the following year.
We do not get to start on a totally clean slate in life. Luke Skywalker was saved at the end of “Empire Strikes Back,” but he was never the same after that. He lost his hand and he learned that Darth Vader was his father. He could not undo what has happened. He may have gotten the rest he needed but his life has totally changed from then on. Luke accepted that fact and he moved on with his life doing what was right (instead of falling for the Dark Side of the Force).
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| Even Luke Skywalker needed a break | Credit: Empire Strikes Back |
How do we move forward in such a short period of time?
Just like in halftime breaks, this Christmas season gives us a time to rest and reflect. I know some people do not get Christmas breaks but for whatever rest time you have this Christmas, may you savor this moment of reflection. In sports, teams get to analyze what went wrong, regroup and come out stronger than ever. My favorite NFL teams – New England Patriots and Green Bay Packers – needed the halftime breaks on games they were down by 24 and 23 points respectively in order to mount the biggest comebacks this season and in their respective franchise history.
We are busy human beings but we are still humans – we need to rest, relax and reflect. We reflect on how the year had been and how we could be better moving forward. Or if you had a terrible time lately, it is the time to regroup and carry on. It is easy to say but it is hard to do, however if you have the time to unwind this season, may you have the time to rest and reflect. Life is not just about actions. We also need to sometimes clear our minds and hearts so we go to the right direction wherever it leads us to. Some things have to wait.
In “How I Met Your Mother” whenever Marshall and Lily fight, they have this pause-unpause thing going. They say “pause” to each other so they could forget what they were arguing about. They get to focus on enjoying each other’s company instead, as if they never had an argument. They could eat outside and enjoy a delicious dinner or they could do what they love the best – sex. After they have amused themselves, they resume arguing by saying “unpause.” We can see this Christmas break as that. We are already tired of our stressful lives day in and day out. Maybe, it is time for us to savor this moment and enjoy it with the company of our families, relatives and friends.
In sports, players use halftime breaks to buy them some time if they sustained minor injuries during the game. Yes, they would still face the same depressing score that their team had gotten before the halftime, but at least they are more capable of facing it that time around. Same goes with Marshall-Lily fights, once they have hit the unpause button, they have gotten their stomachs filled up so they could have more reasonable minds when they proceed to argue again.
In this year’s Christmas break, I aim to do these things. Rest, reflect and prepare for what is ahead. This year has been a mix of positives and negatives in my life. I am thankful and appreciative of what I have succeeded to do, but there lies more ahead. I am just hoping I get to learn from my mistakes and improve from them. And for my strengths? I just hope I get to improve them further. As we approach the end of the year, I just hope that we use this halftime break wisely so that we come back stronger for 2014. So that by the time you get the “football of life”, you get to quarterback your life better. Magis.
Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
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