Wishful thinking?

Netnet Camomot

THE wannabe dieter is better off not going to eat-all-you-can buffets. If you still have to know why, hmmm…

The dieter cannot eat-all-you-can because the journey and the destination simply don’t match. For example. You’re going to Manila but you’re buying plane tickets for Cebu. Or you want to buy a pair of shoes but you’re now spending many hours in the bags and luggage section. Or the occasion is casual and you’re in a long beaded and sequined gown.

The journey that the new Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) is taking is hopefully geared towards the right destination, and we will only know if it is once it’s finally implemented. That can be a scary thought for those who have not taken a single calculated risk since birth. Business owners do that all the time, trusting their gut instinct in making major decisions, and only realize years later that they indeed picked the most appropriate choice given the circumstances they were in at that time. The wisest learn from other people’s mistakes, but there are times when that particular mistake has not happened yet, and you now have to choose if it’s a mistake you’re willing to gamble on.

There are people whose advice is, Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. But what if you have only one egg and it’s not even enough for one basket.

Another lesson you may learn is this: You’re sure only of what has happened to you until today, right at this moment. You don’t know what will happen in the next second, the next minute, the next hour. But the Marawi siege did happen. The question now is, how to prevent that from happening again.

Not everyone living in the provinces covered by the BBL agrees with this new version, since there’s still the possibility of the usual graft and corruption, political dynasties, and vote-buying. Yes, typical Pinoy concerns. Unless this country morphs into another Singapore, all these concerns will remain as Pinoy thought bubbles, always suspecting that people can only focus on their own vested interests and have no heart for matters outside of these interests.

Should it be to each his own then, not minding the concerns of the person right beside you, as long as you’re happy.

Ayn Rand even wrote a book, “The Virtue of Selfishness.” I think that’s the source of this meme: “You can’t pour from an empty cup. Take care of yourself first.”

Does taking care of the self include surrounding yourself with people who are beholden to you? There are people who want to be assured all the time, with all their actions applauded by a cheering squad. The outsiders can clearly see that the cheering is simply another form of using, abusing, and misusing your kindness, enabling the beholden to continue enjoying perks from you.

The outsiders have a gut instinct, too. They’re human after all. If only you can see what’s in their eyes as they look at your cheering squad. Their eyes filled with questions and doubts and suspicion. There will come a time when you’ll realize the outsiders have been right with their warnings and alerts. By then, the beholden has already reduced you to a pulp, and you now have to restart again and fill up your cup.

We always remind friends to take care. And it’s not an empty reminder. There’s much concern attached to it. To take care in trusting people. To take care in their daily travel. To take care as they embark on a new career. We don’t want to see our friends hurt or being abused. If only we can embrace them all the time, to protect them from evil.

But evil, er, bad people—evil is too strong a word—will always be around, ready to pounce on you and attack at your weakest moment. So, keep the faith—no matter how abstract faith can be—that your gut instinct will lead you to a better place.

And there I was on Wednesday night, feeding that gut with an eat-all-you-can buffet, weighing the pros and cons of eating sushi and sashimi amidst the bad press on eating raw food. Bacteria and worms could be your worst enemy after ingesting contaminated raw ingredients, so, should I? Should I not?

I finally said yes to sushi and sashimi, and paired them with soda, hoping all that acid could cook raw food inside the tummy. Yup, wishful thinking.