today will be better, i swear

today i am reminded of the story of the mother who taught her daughter (or is it the father who taught his son?  or the professor who taught the student?) about the different ways people respond to problems in life.  she brought with her a potato, an egg and coffee and each put these items in boiling water.  the potato came out softened, the egg came out hard-boiled and the coffee changed the water and made it a totally different entity.

all my life i've known myself to be the cry-baby of our family.  i was always the unassertive daughter compared to my more intelligent older brother and sanguine younger brother.  so i was a potato.  ironic though that i was the more independent one among the three of us.  i asked for my own room while still in elementary while my siblings stuck it out with ima for the longest time.  i did my own homeworks without my mom's assistance as early as 1st grade.  i never asked my parents to use their connections so i can land a job after i finished college.  i decided for myself, always believing that i have to do things on my own so i will never have to blame anybody else for failure but myself.

i've noticed one thing about myself that i've not really considered that i guess i've had for some time now.  i have learned to immune myself from negative things that are happening in my life.  i don't cry over problems as often as i used to.  i don't get depressed for more than  a few minutes.  it's not like i'm always happy, it's more like i always find something to smile about despite the challenges that come my way.  i've learned how to sit back unaffected while everybody else is panic-stricken all around me.  have  i become a hard-boiled egg?   jaded?  or have i merely accepted the things i cannot change?

maybe i should read about the phlegmatic personality again.  this post has started to depress me. :)

so i want to be coffee.  i want to be able to turn situations around.  make better things out of not so good things.  find the silver lining behind every cloud. 

for inspiration, here's the song:

today will be better, i swear. -- stars

update on phlegmatic me & my choleric mom

we finally got the effin' documents!!  yey!

teacher S was apologetic albeit still trying to justify her hesitancy in giving out the documents.

phlegmatic me and my choleric mom

so last monday, i was able to inquire at the new school and hubby and i have finally decided, most probably, that migo's going to transfer there next schoolyear.  

next on the agenda was to secure the requirements before migo could take the entrance exams.  i had to call the old school to ask them for a photocopy of migo's report card until the 3rd quarter and a certificate of good moral character.  

teacher S was the one who answered the phone and i told her about the situation.  she told me that i can have everything when they release the report card on april 12.  unfortunately, entrance exams at the new school is only till april 8.  so i had to call teacher S again to explain the predicament and request her kindly, if she could provide everything at least on april 5.  she kindly said yes, albeit reluctantly, because she said there were a lot of activities right now and everyone there is busy.  it turned out that SHE was the one who will prepare AND release the certificate.  which infuriated me a bit, coz it was only an effin' piece of paper which i was SO sure already has a template and only needs her effin' signature!  but i was calm.  kind even, to this soft-spoken teacher who has been the recipient of my complaints for the past schoolyear.  phlegmatic personality me.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/medicine/gallery.shtml?select=04

after i put down the phone, my first instinct was to call my choleric personality mother.  

mom, i need your super powers.  text me when you're back in the office so i can call you.  thanks.  nothing serious. text message sent.

as expected, she cannot -- would not accept the excuse of this teacher.  her solution was fairly simple:  write a letter to the principal and personally bring it to her and talk her into releasing the gawd-forsaken certificate!

the following day wasn't very eventful but a significant one.  she went to the old school, found that both the principal and teacher S were not around at nine a.m.  so she left the letter with another teacher there.  later, she called and, voila, teacher S answered.

same excuses were told to my mother, who was never the slightest bit discouraged.  she was not to be brushed aside by this woman.

her words, verbatim:  ganito na lang.  tatawag ako uli on thursday to remind you that i will pick up that document on friday afternoon.  ok?  she told this thrice to the equally unfazed teacher who kept saying that my mother has to wait.

until finally, alam mo kase teacher, kaya lilipat ang apo ko, kase gusto nya mag-soccer.  eh sa notre may soccer field.  e kayo wala kayong soccer field.   kaya tatawag ako uli sa thursday to remind you that i will pick up that certificate on friday afternoon.  okay?

sometimes, although i won't admit it, i really love my mom for being so choleric.  

which temperament are you?

 

1)  phlegmatic

2) choleric

3) sanguine

4) melancholic