(53) Keep Your Eyes on the Prize

53 DAYS 'TIL WE FLY TO EUROPE!

The days are numbered. Each one critical; a day passed, a day irrevocable.

Certainly I am not the only one who feels as though day after day, we are put to the test. 

Maraming kailangan gawin. Maraming nakatingin. Maraming nagtataya. 

2nd Tour Updates GA

Tutti reading of "Santo Sanctus"

Kailangan magtrabaho. Kailangan makahabol sa ensayo. Kailangan isakripisyo ang tulog para mag-aral. Kailangan paghandaan ang pagsusulit.

Trainees rehearsing for their practical exam as Ms. Joy hears them for the first time

Eugene giving instructions before the trainees' written exam

Trainees taking their written exam, all dressed for the occasion

Kailangan isaulo ang napakaramng piyesa bago lumipad. Kailangan maging magaling. Kailangan maabot ang la sa taas. Kailangan maabot ang re sa baba.

Ms. Joy rehearsing the solo for "Light of a Million Mornings"

Bawal matapilok; magkulang.

Bawal magkamali. 

...

On the road to the European Grand Prix, it would well seem as though mistakes cannot be afforded. 

Everything seems to be simply about rewards and consequences: when one wrong move means you're done and out of the game.

With all this pressure, we sometimes forget that we are in fact imperfect; that we, like everyone else, are a work in progress. Unknowingly, through all this, there is something to be learned:

We learn to be patient: with others, with circumstances and, most of all, with ourselves. 

We realize that beyond every challenge is a lesson to be learned; some good to be achieved after all seems lost. 

We are made aware of the fact that what and where we are right now is the culmination of all the times we've failed to measure up, followed also by all the times we've picked ourselves up and carried on.

Be thankful for these tests, and more so, be thankful that we still make mistakes. They are an indicator of our very capacity to learn, to grow and to flourish, way beyond how we perceive ourselves in this moment.

Keep your eyes on the prize, but stop every once in a while to appreciate every stepping stone along the way. It is then that we will realize that the so-called prize is already right here we want to be, amidst the laughter, joys and tears. :)

53 DAYS!

***

PS.


Singing in concert last Friday allowed me to realize this: that no matter how difficult and tumultuous things may get, there will always be some higher ground, with the people you love just waiting and reaching out to you. 


In as much as it was a beautiful experience to sing for those affected by Typhoon Sendong, it also turned out grace-filled for the Glee Club, being able to touch its audience's lives through the music it performed. Thank you to the members of the Ateneo Chamber Singers who showed such pride and support. :)


And thank you, Leslie and Maggie for being such a blessing. :)