When I was a young man of 15, our barrio manghuhula told me one day I would succeed as a doctor, being a scorpio. You see I was born under that zodiac sign. Elated, almost everyday, I would dream of seeing the prophecy unfurl before my eyes. Young men dream endlessly.
But I knew it was beyond my reach, I was a poor fisherman’s grandson.
It was only about four years ago when I got a doctor’s degree. But that was not what the old seer had in mind. The man he saw was with a stethoscope and garbed in white, visiting hospital patients, a medical doctor.
I am a doctor alright but a non-medical doctor, a doctor of philosophy. To canto boys, that probably means hari ng mga pilosopo. But that is a doctor’s degree just the same which I earned after years of hard work.
The degree qualifies one as a maestro in the graduate school.
But will you call it an achievement? It is. Never easy to finish the course. I spent countless Saturdays in the classroom and almost a year writing my dissertation.
But a success? It has not brought me big money nor great fame although it got me much self-satisfaction. I have done something not too ordinary. I have literally spent 17 years of my life inside stale classrooms.
People with millions have sometimes unrealized dreams. Take the case of this wealthy businessman in Legaspi City who had almost everything except a Bar membership. He tried several times but would not make it. Not probably destined to be a lawyer. He died without the title.
His friends said the man’s only wish was to have his name with the title engraved on the tombstone for passersby to know he was a lawyer and proud of it.
There was another man, a very wealthy trader who had a terrible secret. He could not read. All the money in the world could not give him sight into the beauty of the printed word.
Money and power are what man pursues endlessly. If you have the combination, you have nothing to ask God for. You can buy all the pleasures in the world. You can even buy love.
But to take the advice from a wise man. The relentless pursuit of wealth and power does not lead to happiness. Look at the great personages in history. Hitler of Nazi, Germany, Napoleon Bonaporte of France, Saddam Hussein of Iraq ended up maligned, destroyed.
Hitler killed himself, Napoleon died in exile, Saddam was executed.
Closer to home, we have Ferdinand Marcos who was driven out of the Palace. He died in exile in Hawaii. Joseph Estrada is in jail on plunder charges. In their heyday, they had the world in the palm of their hands. No person will tell you
he does not crave for power and money. It is every man’s goal, the realization of his biggest dream. In our country, people kill to achieve power. The recent elections show the truth.
When I was a small boy, I had a simple dream: to raise a family on a decent income. Never mind if I would remain a fisherman all my life. My friends were all fishermen. But that manghuhula put a bigger dream into my head. I could not rest since then.
A scorpio man must not stop dreaming. It is by dreaming, continuously dreaming that he can keep excitement in his life. When he stops dreaming, that is the start of fading away.
I am taking the advice seriously. I keep an ambitious dream fresh. I am past 60 but I feel my joints are far from rusty, my eyesight far from dimming, my heart far from getting senile.
In fact, it beats wildly at the sight of a lovely maiden.
