26

I celebrated my 26th birthday two Tuesdays ago without as much as a hoot.  Twenty-Six is just about the perfect time for someone to say something borne of his realisation of maturity so utterly profound and philosophical, something so deeply existential that it’s beyond his years.  Unfortunately, I don’t have that.  If I did, I would write a book.

If I live to be a hundred years old, then it's the beginning of a new quarter century but if I live only to be fifty, then it's the beginning of a new semester.  Either way, I should be getting some sort of marks for academics and deportment both of which I have not been exceptionally good at, based on my experience with school.  I have only ever been good at things that I really liked, and even then I quite normally get bored easily. 

Personally, I think I should be getting somewhere around B or B+, or around 86 to 92%.  Well, at least in the “academics” part of my life, if we could call it that.  I have a good job that pays well, it’s not the type of job I’ve always wanted but I’ve always said that if you can’t get the job that you like you might as well get a job that pays well enough so that you can do the things that you like.  And it’s done just that.

I’ve travelled a lot, to places that I never even dreamed of going.  My first out of country excursion was to Denmark back in 2002.  Travelling has always been a very satisfying yet surreal experience, whenever I land in unfamiliar territory I always ask myself, “What the hell am I doing here?”  From there I went on to China, Hongkong, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, London and, most recently, Brunei.  I have travelled to more places outside the Philippines than inside.  I have friends that go to Boracay every summer while I fly out twice a year on average.  I would consider myself well-travelled.

I’m pretty much physically fit, or at least above average.  Of all the activities I enjoy, I don’t think I enjoy anything more than sports.  I don’t think there’s any sport I wouldn’t try.  Quite unfortunately, however, there isn’t as much time for it as there used to.  Back in college, I would have Tae Kwon Do training at least twice a week, and on the other days I would play basketball.  Now, all I have is badminton no more than twice a week and intermittent boxing sessions.  I would rather play basketball but all of my friends and those other people I used to play with are always busy or tired.  There’s always no more time.  I think as we grow older, more and more time is spent on work rather than on those things that actually make life meaningful.  And we wonder why people are so miserable.

I hardly consider myself good with people.  For the most part, I think I’m just one of those people that rubs other people the wrong way, one of those people you either just like or don’t like, and you have to be pretty darn tough to like me.  It doesn’t help that I have a fairly straightforward and self-righteous attitude towards meeting people, and I make no real effort at winning anyone’s cockles through wit or charm.  Nevertheless, I should have at least a C+ simply because of the friends I keep. 

Truly, the only real friends I have I met in college, except for maybe one or two I’ve made since then.  Otherwise, I am largely unsatisfied with the type of people I’ve been meeting.  People are mostly either pretentious or base, and the only other people that get along with those are also pretentious or base.  It’s so easy to throw the word “friend” around that it really doesn’t mean anything unless it’s backed up by some real effort.  Even then, most friends only last as long as it’s convenient and practical such as officemates and co-workers whose relationships last only as long their tenure with the company. 

The other truly decent people either have no time for making new friends, just as they might have no time for playing sports, or already have all the friends they need.  Also, they succumb just as well to the lack of convenience and practicality.  At this point, I’m not sure if it’s harder to make friends or to keep them.  It seems that each has its own challenges and pitfalls.  But frankly, I think I spend too little time with my real friends and too much with those who have nothing more to offer than entertainment and company.

There’s no wondering about what more life has to offer in the future.  I suppose one just has to prepare to live it, and maybe write about it again in a few years or at least when there’s something interesting to say about it.

And here are pictures of our inuman at Sidebar.  Good friends, good times.