There comes a time when you just want some peace and quiet. When all you want to do is close your eyes, listen to the sound of nature, and just stay silent.
It will envelope you in its embrace.
And then healing starts.
In your life, you’ll make note of a lot of people. Ones with whom you shared something special, ones who will always mean something. There’s the one you first kissed, the one you first loved, the one you lost your virginity to, the one you put on a pedestal, the one you’re with.. and the one that got away.
Who is the one that got away? I guess it’s that person with whom everything was great, everything was perfect, but the timing was just wrong. There was no fault in the person, there was no flaw in the chemistry, but the cards just didn’t fall the right way, I suppose.
I believe in the fact that ending up with someone, finding a longtime partner that is, does not lie merely in the other person. I can actually argue that an equal part, or maybe even the greater part, has to do with the matter of timing. It has to do with you being ready to settle down and commit to someone in a way that goes beyond the little niceties of giddy romance.
How often have you gone through it without even realizing it? When you’re not ready to commit in that mature manner, it doesn’t matter whom you’re with, it just doesn’t work. Small problems become big; inconsequentials become dealbreakers simply because you’re not ready and it shows. It’s not that you and the person you’re with are no good; it’s just that it’s not yet right, and little things become the flashpoint of that fact.
Then one day you’re ready. You really are. And when this happens you’ll be ready to settle down with someone. He or she may not be the most perfect, they might not be the brightest stars of romance to ever have burned in your life, but it’ll work because you’re ready. It’ll work because it’s the right time and you’ll make it work. And it will make sense, it really will.
So that day comes when you’re finally making sense of things, and you find yourself to be a different person. Things are different, your approach is different, you finally understand who you are and what you want, and you’ve become ready because the time has truly arrived. And mind you, there’s no telling when this day will come. Hopefully you’re single but you could be in a long-term relationship, you could be married with three kids, it doesn’t matter. All you know is that you’ve changed, and for some reason, the one that got away, is the person you think about.
You’ll think about them because you’ll wonder, “What if they were here today?” You’ll wonder, “What if we were together now, with me as I am and not as I was?” That’s what the one that got away is. The biggest “What if?” you’ll have in your life. If you’re married, you’ll just have to accept the fact that the one that got away, got away. Believe me, no matter how fairy tale you think your marriage is, this can happen to the best of us. But hopefully you’re mature enough to realize that you’re already with the one you’re with and this is just another test of your commitment, one which will just strengthen your marriage when you get past it. Sure, you’ll think about him/her every so often, but it’s alright. It’s never nice to live with a “might have been,” but it happens.
Maybe the one that got away is the one who is already married. In which case it’s the same thing. You just have to accept and know that your memories of that person will probably bring a nice little smile to your lips in the future when you’re old and gray and reminiscing.
But if neither of that is the case, then it’s different. What do you do if it’s not yet too late? Simple…. Find him, find her. Because the very existence of a “one that got away” means that you’ll always wonder, what if you got that one?
Ask him out to coffee, ask her out to a movie, it doesn’t matter if you’ve dropped in from nowhere. You’d be surprised, you just might be the “one that got away” as well for the person who is your “the one that got away”.
You might drop in from out of nowhere and it wont make a difference. If the timing is finally right, it will all just fall into place somehow and you know.
I’m thinking, it would be a great feeling, in the end, to be able to say to someone, “Hey you, you’re the one that almost got away”.
This was sent to me by a friend. And I love reading this. Hay…
I was drinking coffee outside a doughnut shop, idly thumbing through a book. It was chilly that day, but the sun was smiling down on me. My mp3 player was on and the song that was playing over and over again was Everything by Lifehouse. Our song.
We’d been friends for over a year now. It developed into something more than friendship but less than a romantic relationship. My friends warned me not to let myself get in too deep but my heart was insistent. It kept on thump-thumping when I see him or hear his voice, his laughter… I don’t regret getting in too deep. I don’t regret knowing him.
I just want the hurt to go away.
We were to meet, Sheila and I. She’s a long, lost friend. I saw her at the mall, buying her fiancé a gift. He’s coming home from a 10-month stay in China. He’s an IT guy. I helped her buy a tie for him. It was a Spongebob tie. The guy has a sense of humor, I told her. She bombarded me with a litany of the saintly qualities the guy possesses. They’ve known each other for three years now and she’s met the whole clan already. For a time, she thought they’d break apart. She sensed that the guy was seeing someone else.
The same way I felt a couple of months ago with Dean. But I vanished the thought. I told Sheila about “my guy”. We were giggling like fourteen-year-old kids. We’re both happy.
Or so I thought.
The guy called. He’s somewhere in the mall. We’re meeting him at a restaurant so we can have dinner together. I was excited to meet her fiancé. And Sheila’s excited for me to meet him.
At exactly 8:03 in the evening, my world suddenly stopped. There in the middle of the dimly-lit Spanish restaurant sat Dean. My Dean. Sheila’s Dante.
I forced a smile. He looked as shocked as me. I couldn’t remember how we’re introduced. He didn’t acknowledge me. I followed his lead. Sheila’s telling us anecdote after anecdote about how they met. I just sat near him, numb. He’s quiet the whole time, a couple of forced laughs from him and he’d retreat in his own world. He couldn’t look me in the eye. And I was stoic the whole time. Just a forced smile plastered on my face. I didn’t care if Sheila noticed. I wanted the earth to open up and swallow me right then and there.
The dinner was over in an hour. It felt like forever. I probably ate worms for all I care. I excused myself, blamed migraine to get out of that hell-hole.
I was hailing a cab, my tears running down my face, when his car stopped in front of me. I shook my head when he told me to get in. Sheila’s nowhere to be found. I got in after a couple of curses from him.
I shut him out. Whatever his excuses were, I was not interested to hear it. I didn’t plan on becoming the third party. I never intended to snatch someone else’s fiancé.
I never saw or communicated with him after that night. His explanation is slowly coming into focus on my mind. He’s undecided about Sheila. And then he met me. And he felt like he’s falling for me. He never intended for our friendship to go that far. Am I to blame then, I kept asking myself.
They’re getting married tomorrow. The invitation was inside my bag. My cellphone vibrated. Somebody texted.
But you already did.
It had been too long since we last saw each other. Eight, ten years… she lost count already. And then today, after everything that happened, after everything she went through when she left, she will see him again.
“Ria, do you know what time George is coming?”
A forced smile plastered on her face, she quipped, “no sorry”.
Their friends didn’t know they had a falling out before she left. They just thought that she hastily went abroad because of work. And that they are still in constant touch with each other.
“I think George is still stuck inside the office. He was in a meeting when I left kasi,” said Bernice, a common friend who works at the same company as George’s. “He’s been under a lot of stress lately and he looks haggard all the time. Or siguro nami-miss ka na kasi sobra, Ria!”
Everyone laughed. Even she forced a laugh. He will not miss her. Not after what happened.
Amidst the laughter and reminiscing, a voice that she hasn’t heard for so long, a voice that has been haunting her dreams each and every day she closes her eyes since she left, spoke…
“Started the party without me?”
“George!” “Oy pare!” “Bro!”
She felt hot and cold at the same time. She’s nervous and edgy and she hated it. She gasped when she saw him. Thank God for the loud banter that followed when he asked Norman to move so that he’s seated right in front of her.
He’s the same as before, tall, well-built, tan, and still the unsmiling man she’s met back in high school. But there’s something else in him. Something she could not pin-point.
*to be continued
I love teen shows. Up until now that I’m already 28 (turning 29 pretty soon), I still love watching shows with teeners as the lead stars. I remember when I was a teen one of my favorite shows was the California Dreams.
California Dreams is an American TV series that aired from 1992 to 1996. The teen-oriented program aired on Saturday mornings on NBC. It was created by writers Brett Dewey and Ronald B. Solomon and executive produced by
Peter Engel, all known more for their work on Saved by the Bell. California Dreams was about a multiethnic group of teens creating a band and having fun under the sun. The show’s plots combined real-life issues with zany adventures. It covered a range of topics such as fear, using drugs for a competitive edge, falling for scams, letting greed overtake friendship, accepting a divorced parent dating, forgiving others for past wrongs, and dealing with general teen social problems. - taken from Wikipedia
Another show I truly enjoyed when I was a teenager was My Secret Identity. This show came before California Dreams.
My Secret Identity was a Canadian television series in the 1980s starring Jerry O’Connell as 14-year-old Andrew Clements, who, one day while looking for his friend, Dr. Benjamin Jeffcoate (Derek McGrath), trips and is hit by a radiation beam, causing him to develop superpowers. He uses these abilities to fight crime and to help people, but hides them from all of his family and friends with the exception of Jeffcoate. - taken from Wikipedia
And now, after being so popular for how many months here and abroad, after all the brouhaha died down, I got addicted to The High School Musical!
High School Musical is a made-for-TV musical. Released on January 20,
2006, it was one of the most successful Disney Channel Original Movies produced, with a television sequel in production and a movie spin-off in the planning process.[2] The film’s soundtrack was the best-selling album of 2006.[3] The film was shot almost entirely in the Wasatch Front region of Utah (namely Salt Lake City and Ogden).
With a plot described as a modern retelling of Romeo and Juliet,[4] High School Musical is a story of two high school students from rival cliques: Troy Bolton (Zac Efron), captain of the basketball team, and Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Anne Hudgens), a shy transfer student who excels in math and science. Together, they try out for the lead parts in their high school musical, and as a result, divide the school. Despite other students’ attempts to thwart their dreams, Troy and Gabriella resist peer pressure and rivalry, inspiring others along the way not to “stick with the status quo.”
This was Disney Channel’s most successful movie at its time with 7.7 million viewers in its premiere broadcast in the US. In the UK, the cable premiere received around 835,000 viewers for its first run, making the film the most watched program for the Disney Channel (UK) of 2006. - taken from Wikipedia
I go crazy when I hear songs from the show. It’s really good! 
Oh well… There’s nothing wrong with enjoying teenage shows right? 
I knew it in my heart. It may take me a couple of years more, when my sisters finally become stable. But it will happen.
A few minutes ago, I watched Korina Sanchez’ Rated K show. A segment featured a former domestic helper (DH) becoming a self-made millionaire. She worked hard in Saudi Arabia as a DH, working even during her days off as a caregiver and a manicurist. And all her hard work paid off. She saved enough money and went back to the Philippines to open her own business. She and her husband delivered fishes to clients. Upon saving income from their delivery business, they opened a new business of glass and window cutting.
A friend of mine, ate Nalen/Manilenya came to mind while watching the segment. I know in my heart that she will make it as well.
Hardwork, perseverance, a lot of prayers, trust and confidence… these are things needed for a person to make it. To become millionaires. To become financially stable.
I know someday soon I will make it. I already mapped out everything. All I need to do is to slowly (but surely) start the process.
And I will. Soon.