What better way to end the passing
year than to recap all moments good and bad. Being able to do so on a positive
note is a good sign. This just means that mostly good moments are to be remembered,
or one is just simply looking for the good, as Jason Mraz wants us to do - Look
for the good in everything.
Here’s how Rem remembers 2022,
the year that was. Life has been hard for the most of us, in varying degrees. Here’s
to hoping everyone’s changed for the better during these past years.
Looking back, and I don’t mean
to hate the whole of 2021, but 2021 was quite a trashy one. I describe it as
the start of my downfall, or as others may say, “the beginning of the end”. I’m
still glad I’m finally over that.
As the calendar switched to
the year 2022, I thought it would just be the same as last year. There were the
intensified and heavily extended hours on my draining job, the supposedly day-job
that turned out to be a two-shift job for weeks. Since I’ve been working in a
fast-paced Construction industry, I understood the demand albeit, the hours
were really draining.
Next was the story of how
alcohol got the better of me most of the time. I could still remember how the
severity of my drinking gradually increased year-by-year. (You must understand though
that I was not a heavy drinker back in my academic days, only had the chance to
do so during the December Holidays.) By 2019, as I started my career, I went
out for drinks, but they were verily tamed. I still got to get home by myself. By
2021, there had been instances wherein I couldn’t remember how I got on the bed
the morning after regardless of whose bed it turned out to be.
And as 2022 came, at least
during the first three quarters, more instances of such events happened. I
could only hear the stories the morning after. I wouldn’t believe them though;
my mind was not present to witness the horrific events. Pics or didn’t
happen.
I looked back on the year
before, during the awarding season of 2021 in our company, I ranked 3rd
on the Top Innovators with Synergy Points category (couldn’t remember the exact
name of the category). I got praises from my supervisor/mentor at site;
however, efforts were still short to be placed at the top spot. It was at that moment
when I vowed to myself that come next year, I would be aiming to be number one
by the end of the year.
Lo and behold, I did. It was the perfect “You should’ve seen me, I was great.” Rocky moment intended for all the non-believers. Kidding. But kidding aside, I think I could say that was the result of weeks (or months?) of doing at least 15 hours of work every day per week, I thought I even went for 18 hours of work for some weeks during the first quarter. This was even before then-Vice President Leni Robredo’s 18-hour workday remark. I could literally vouch for that. And with that, I'd love to say again what I said on the night of May 9th.
“Fuck you, XXXXX”.
You fill in the blanks.
With me on the night of the
awarding was the greatest gift I could ever ask for, the one who changed it all
and came right in the nick of time. Pun intended. NIKKA. With her, I started
having the smile I thought I had lost the previous year. With Nikka, I was back
on the right track. I turned right into her arms. And I still couldn’t
comprehend what I did right, how I got to be with her. Lucky me.
We met back in July, my birth
month (perhaps some sort of foreshadowing). She naturally turned out to be the
greatest gift ever, even greater than the Most Greatest / Bestest president
in the galaxy ever (which has now become a statistical tie between theturtle
and 88M) – Pinoy pride moment. From then, we started becoming workmates,
nothing more than that during the first half of her stay.
Fun fact: we were the lone
holders of the same job title/position. We were both “Coordinators”. She was the
BIM Coordinator, I was the MEPF Coordinator. Another foreshadowing? Or rather
the ultimate explanation how easily we coordinated with each other. Mystery
solved.
The start of our coordinating
outside of work was not easy. I couldn’t even get one-word replies from
her. Yes, I started trying to build something to work on, I was trying to get
to know her in my own terms. I wanted to know more about her. “What’s in it
for her?” you might ask, well, she would get to know me too. Looking back,
I thought that the flaw in my direction to get to know her was that I was doing
it in my own terms. Little did I know back then that it would be best to keep
the flow moving naturally.
As I went with the flow, and
literally passed by the flow of the Boracay seas, things started clicking. A week
after I returned from a quick vacation, the Rem and Nikka ball had started rolling,
and it has not stopped since.
One thing that she did that I deeply
loved and appreciated was the way she cared for me back when I was a t my
lowest point professionally. She was there as I rested my mind and started
venting out things, I could not speak of with my supervisors around. She let me have my time off and hugged me and
treated me as if I was a helpless homeless man. And there I thought, I might have
found myself the home I’ve been looking for.
Ben and Ben sang, “Kay tagal
ko nang nag-iisa, and’yan ka lang pala,” as for me, I have my own version. Nikka,
“kay tagal ko nang naghihintay, nariyan ka lang pala.” Thank you for being
there, thank you for being the plot twist of the rollercoaster that was
becoming a never-ending amusement park ride.
I am now open to more changes coming
from my end, for us to achieve greater heights as newcomers, the new team to
beat if I may say. But hey, love and being committed in loving someone is never
a race or a competition. It’s a commitment, plain and simple. But only filled
with love, respect, and trust – all of which I am now ready to handover to you,
Nikka.
But with you, I’d go back and
ride any kind of rollercoaster. Hold on tight.
As you have read, I mostly spoke of the good part, trying to give out a positive outlook, However, it wouldn't always be a brighter side in reality. And as Jason Mraz (again) sang,
"Sometimes it may seem dark, but the absence of the light is a necessary part".
