First Post

Yay, may sariling website na rin ako!

Seriously, though, being unemployed does have its benefits. For one, I’ve got a lot more time on my hands — I wouldn’t have the time to manage a personal website if I hadn’t left the company.

For this first post, I’ll give away one of my main mantras in life. It’s from the ancient military text Sun Tzu’s Art of War:

IV. TACTICAL DISPOSITIONS

…

8. To see victory only when it is within the ken of the common herd is not the acme of excellence.

9. Neither is it the acme of excellence if you fight and conquer and the whole Empire says, “Well done!”

10. To lift an autumn hair is no sign of great strength;
to see the sun and moon is no sign of sharp sight;
to hear the noise of thunder is no sign of a quick ear.

11. What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease.

12. Hence his victories bring him neither reputation for wisdom nor credit for courage.

13. He wins his battles by making no mistakes.
Making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty of victory,
for it means conquering an enemy that is already defeated.

14. Hence the skillful fighter puts himself into a position which makes defeat impossible, and does not miss the moment for defeating the enemy.

15. Thus it is that in war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory.

16. The consummate leader cultivates the moral law, and strictly adheres to method and discipline; thus it is in his power to control success.

…

People who’ve seen the 2004 Engineering yearbook might be familiar with it because this was my write-up. Instead of wasting my time describing myself or what I’ve done in my four years of college, I just chose the text that best described my modus operadi then, namely, constantly putting myself in positions where I can’t lose. This was how I was able to graduate without a hitch even though I spent my nights playing CS and Ragnarok instead of studying, avoided joining UP Cursor (i.e. I don’t have that much connections), and became a full time officer of UP AME.

It was my mantra then, and it’s still my mantra up to this day. My stint as a corporate drone in Azeus up to my sudden departure still fits the theme of the text above. True, there were (a lot of) times where I was pushed beyond my limits, but even in those cases, I never considered myself truly “lost” when looking at the big picture.

Now here I am, unemployed due to a conflict of ideals.

And I still haven’t lost yet. ^_^