DARWIN MALIHAN TAYLO. you bet.

“If you had the chance, just one chance, to go back and fix what you did wrong in life, would you take it? And if you did, would you be big enough to stand it?”

this is THE question asked by the best-selling book of Mitch Albom (authors of Tuesdays with Morrie, 5 People You Meet in Heaven, etc.). and the question I’m sure all of us have an answer or answers to.

First answer, I would. Second, I hope I could. And if you ask me what, I’d say there’re are a million.

“Your opinions are just that, - opinions, regardless of where you got them from. They are tiny, a speck compared to the immensity of God. You cannot possibly have even the faintest idea of what God commands to other people, to other lifeforms. Your only possible intelligent choice is to continuously open in love and acceptance. Today more than yesterday.”

This is what God wanted me to know today, said Facebook. People do some things because God commanded them to do so. And it’s beyond our capability to know which. What we do is react, unaware if our actions are commanded or not by God.

I have lived a very long life already, I can say. And like most of you, I want to live more. I guess some things happened in my life a little too earlier than when it happened to others. And that, I’m thankful for.

I’ve honestly, honestly, wasted almost 2 years of my life. Was given thousands of opportunities, was blessed with hundreds of thousands of pesos collectively, was given the best and worst friends, had hundreds of prayers answered, had become a lot of different personalities, was given all the independence.

And yet, wasted all of them. I feel like I haven’t grown 2 years older from the time I left Cavite and rented 5 different boarding houses all over Metro Manila, worked in 9 different call center companies, handled by 4 or 5 different talent handlers, went to more than 20 different auditions, had about 10 different group of friends, and had been almost completely always away from my loving mother and sister.

Now, my sister is a woman at 18, works at a distant province from our own province. And my mother, at 47, lives alone at our house, taking care of my niece and visiting my father whenever she can.

I’ve looked everywhere, searched anywhere I set my feet on, tried to find where I want and need to be all this time. 2 YEARS SEEMED FOREVER. And it seems that it’ll take another forever to forget.

And I think I’d better start that next forever very soon. At home.

And I will.

i can’t believe it, man. twenty freaking years old. that’s me. TODAY.

it’s this time in your lifetime when you feel like you’re in the middle of everything.

‘coz it’s this time in mine that I’m in the middle of wanting to go back to high school and wanting to age and have kids.

I’m like in the middle of feeling that I have the truest friends around me now and feeling that I don’t have one anymore.

it’s like being in the middle of feeling that you are already becoming maturer and more responsible and feeling that you’ve been so much of the opposite for a long time now.

well, most importantly, it’s the time of your life, once every 365 1/4 days that you have the whole day with you. once a year, that you have to make the most of. on this day, happiness is a must.

not a teenager anymore. whew. i’ve overused that excuse for the nth time already. “i still am a teenager.” tsk, and that ends today.

until this very day, there’s one belief and philosophy that I repeatedly tell myself.

“IT’S NEVER WRONG TO BE HAPPY. JUST BE.”

that’s why, I’ve always been.

but, is it wrong to force yourself to smile even though everything around you seem to go wrong? is it bad, in any way, to pretend that you’re happy even if you really aren’t at the moment?

for me, man, it’s NOT. IT’S NOT. IT SHOULDN’T BE.

God bless everyone. And yes, Happy Birthday to me.

I just thought it’d be cool to share our biggest dreams.
Since childhood, I dream a lot. Big dreams. Some seem so very impossible. (Redundancy intended. Hehe.)

And here are just some of them:

1. Winning Oscar’s Best Actor Award and delivering the thank-you speech.
- Haha. Yes folks. When I started acting, which was on highschool, I since dreamt of holding that award, with hundreds of Hollywood personalities in front of me. I even ‘rehearsed’ the ’speech’ that I’ll deliver on stage, in front of every mirror that I get a hold of, uncountable times. It always starts with, “I really really didn’t expect this award”, or “This is a real dream come true for me,” and things like that. Hehe.

2. Being interviewed by the one and the only Ellen Degeneres.
- I am her number 1 fan. I think I have watched just about all of her videos in Youtube and I just think she’s the coolest TV personality ever. She definitely makes me laugh a lot and her show’s just a masterpiece. She’s on the top of my list for the Hollywood celebrities that I would want to meet. (She’s with Beyonce’ and Jojo on that level. Hehe.)

3. Learn how to drive and own one of the most expensive cars at that time.
- Harr. Hehe. I would want to own either a Porsche or a Mercedes or a BMW. Hehe. The more expensive and cooler it is, the better.

4. Buy a house of my own, architecturally and internally designed by myself.
- I’ve always dreamt of having my dream house in the future. One that’s large enough for my familY. One that I designed on my own. I want a futuristic-style house. Colors would play on silver, white and black. And I want it to be very high-tech. Hehe.

5. Build my own Production company, one that produces high-quality international films with Filipino actors on them.
- I’ve always dreamt of a really better movie industry for the Filipinos. If I only have the money and the right people to put up a production company that’ll focus on changing the way we make films, I’d gladly do it. Right now, I think it’ll take us years before we reach that level. And I want to be one of the foundations of that new age for our movie industry.

6. Perform alongside the biggest names in the music industry in a worldwide concert tour.
- I’ve always dreamt of being on stage, performing and entertaining just about every one. Of course, together with the most sought-after singer/performers in Hollywood. And since I have never been out of the country, I think that a very cool way to travel around the globe is through a worldwide concert tour.
7. To be able to pass my name to n generations.
- Hehe. I’d love to name my first son Darwin and I want my name to stay in this world even after I’m gone. I want to have Darwin Taylo the 2nd, the 3rd, up to the 22nd or even the 102nd. Haha. Just a dream.

8. I want to have my own show.
- Whether it be a talk show, or an entertainment show, or a singing show, or a reality show, or whatsoever, I’d like to handle a show on my own. I think that”ll be cool.

9. I want to be physically fit, with perfect six-abs stomach and biceps. Even until I age, like until 40 or 50, maybe? Hehe.
- Just a dream. Forgive me. Hehe.

10. I want to live for more than a hundred years with my mother and sister until my last breath. - My family is the reason I live. And without them, I don’t think life is still as happy and complete as it should be. So I want to share every and all moments of my life, with them, ’till the very end.
C’mon. Share yours too. I’d like to know how crazy your dreams are. They might just be as crazy as mine are. Hehe. Nonetheless, it is very free to dream. So don’t stop. Continue dreaming. BIG.

“If you aim for the sky, you’ll land on the roof. If you aim for the roof, you’ll land on the ground.”

So aim higher. And you might just notice it, you’re already on the roof. Way above what you expect.

God bless.

Just minutes ago, I received this very unexpected e-mail:

“We have verified your blog Darwin Malihan Taylo. you bet. at http://darwinmalihantaylo.blog.friendster.com/
and it complies with the guidelines of the
2009 Philippine Blog Awards.

You are now an official nominee!

[ This email was sent to darwin_malihan_taylo@yahoo.com (User ID: 294)  ]
—–
For questions and suggestions, please contact us at
philippineblogawards@gmail.com”

Yes folks, it’s unbelievable but it’s ridiculously true! My blog, this very blog is nominated! And that’s very cool.

Despite all the things that I need to worry about these past few days, that e-mail kinda lightened my mood. True indeed, every blog has a chance. So heed my advice. Go ahead and nominate yours too.

Anyway, let me take this opportunity to also say that for the nth time, I.. am moving on. Moving on to the better me.

I have always wanted to rebuild my life and start anew. I’ve always wished to be given the chance to have a new life and progress.

All those years, I have been wanting something that I have already been receiving since birth.

And that is every single day that I have.

Every time you wake up in the morning, you’re given a whole new chance to do things differently. To somehow be better. Every day, you’re being given the opportunity to go after what you want and learn from your mistakes. Every single day, you’re given the possibility of changing the way you think and be optimistic. Every single day you’re a new you.

Just about a month ago, I started training at a call center in Pasig, near Eastwood. And on my first two weeks, I got the lucky chance to be a trainee of Dexter Garcia, an ESL (English SL) trainor from People 2 Outsource. He is an intellectual guy and he introduced me to this whole new way of thinking.

I am talking about the secret. The Law of Attraction.

For the past 1 and a half year of working, in 9 call center companies, (longest stay in one was just roughly 4 months), I have not had any big accomplishments. I have handled just about every account - from outbound sales (of all sort of stuff that Filipinos wouldn’t bother to pay for or wouldn’t even afford) to inbound customer service (ranging from telcom companies to technical support) -, been to small and big companies (Global I-Net, Ivy I-S, Teleperformance, Teletech and Sykes). I have been promoted once but was not increased. I have never had a 2-digit salary in my payslip, gross or net. I have never been regularized.

Moreover, I have not added any good-to-be-called furniture or appliance in our residence in Cavite. I have never treated my family bigtime, despite earning quite big. And I have never saved anything.

I think I have been given all the chances and opportunities that I need but I let them all go. Every time, I always would say, “I want a new life.” Not realizing that every day, I was given a new life. And wasted all of them.

Now, this secret that Sir Dex told us about is widely known by many through the book The Secret, a best-selling 2006 New Age self-help and spirituality book written by Rhonda Byrne. There also had been a film about it. It presents “what is claimed to be a centuries-old technique of the Law of Attraction, which in essence is the power of an individual’s positive thinking to change and influence outcomes in their lives.” (source - wikipedia.com)

After watching the film, one person described it in three words - “thoughts become things.” Or something like that. It tells us that the way  we think or our thoughts themselves eventually really happen in our lives. If you keep thinking about your mistake or something that you don’t like, and you coordinate it with negative feelings (such as depression, anger, sadness, etc.), then it will continue happening and you’ll not get over it. On the other hand, if you think of the solution, those things that you really want to happen, or have, continuosly, and parallel your feelings to it (feel happy, smile), THEN you’ll have it, it will happen.

An example is, if you want to be happy and move on from a sad event in your life, there are 2 possible things that you may be pondering on:

1. I am so sad. Why does this keep happening to me? Why can’t I move on? Why? What’s wrong with me?

2. I will be happy. I am happy. I will do better now and move on. (Then smile. Like what Sir Dex told us, smiling will surely make a whole lot of difference. Try it.)

So, what do you think will make you feel better?

It doesn’t matter if the Law of Attraction is true or if the book has solid basis. What matters I think is the kind of effect that it’ll give to the person doing it.

I myself have been more optimistic. I believe in it because I know that I won’t lose anything. In fact, I believe that I’ll gain so much from it because it’ll lead me to just two things. Happiness and contentment.

I recently received an SMS message from a friend and it says;

“Everyday, a deer awakes knowing it must outrun the fastest lion or be hunted to death.

In the same way, a lion awakens knowing it must outrun the slowest deer or starve to death.

In this world, it doesn’t matter whether you’re a deer or a lion. When the sun rises, you should be running at your best!”

True. We all should just run at our best in our every day. Make the most out of everything.

For one, write about whatever makes you happy. Then nominate your blog in the Philippine Blog Awards, maybe next year (deadline was last August 13). You might just get lucky as I was.

Again, as I always say, start with a smile. Then everything else’ll just follow.

God bless everyone.

It was almost 3 months ago. I just resigned from Sykes because of a trip to Puerto and its rowdy management. A new friend invited me to become part of their company.

I never thought this company would mark my worst experience in this industry so far – Clearline Call Center / Praetech.

Jaire was a new friend back then and I needed a job instantly so when he offered his never-been-heard call center, I agreed. First night, no interviews, no exams, I was directed to training.

After 5 days of tackling what the account is about in a small part of the prodution floor (no training room), practicing the script and observing side-by-side with the vets (agents), I then dialed for the campaign. Luckily, I made 3 sales on that first day.

That impressed the managers so I continued the good job. The first time I got to talk with one of the agents, his words were;

“Man, prevention is better than cure.”

I got a little irritated because that kinda bothered my working mood. But that also got me curious so I asked the other agents about the company. And these are what I found out back then:

1. Since the latter part of last year (2008) to the present, they’ve been experiencing big delays on their salaries.

2. There was these 2 cutoffs that weren’t paid.

3. The shift is from 10 pm to 7 am but they were forced to stay until like 9 or 10, overtime not paid.

BUT I was doing okay and I haven’t experienced it yet so I let that pass. My second week went pretty well, then the payroll came. My first salary was a freaking P500 peso bill. The agents were also given the said amount and was promised to be paid a few days later.

That went on and on and I found out a couple more things that seemed wrong.

4. We were not given our own copy of our contract.

5. Our payslip was so informal that it was just in a small piece of paper, with maybe 4 centimeters in length and width.

6. In our payslips, there always is this TAX worth more or less P1000.00 every cutoff, BUT we were not asked of our TIN numbers.

7. No SSS, Pag-Ibig or Philhealth Contributions.

8. Commissions were not given.

9. Delays still continued and disputes became worse.

10. We always wait hours after the shift almost everyday to “beg” for “our” salary. And these are some of the pictures of us waiting:

After a month of dialing, I successfully impressed the managers and was then promoted as a Reports Analyst after an informal screening process. I never signed any document certifying that promotion and my salary was never increased. Though the job was a more complicated, but a little more lax.

About a month ago, the agents and their team leader, including me, their RA then decided to do something to somehow tell the management that what they’re doing is not right.

All the agents and me didn’t go to work one Friday of June. Only 3 agents dialed that night and the managers and QA also dialed.

On the Monday after that, a crucial and informal investigation was made by one of the managers through a one-on-one interview. Operation was affected because everyone was sent off the phone and was prohibited of talking to each other. I was not part of the rude investigation though.

Since my job is more into doing reports and stuff, I got to listen to some parts of the interrogations. I heard these out-of-the-topic questions from the manager;

“Are you a graduate? What course?” – and some more weird questions indirectly striking the person’s personality.

After the interrogation, a deafening silence filled the office. Some of the questioned agents was sent on the phones and 5 were sent home. These 5, allegedly pointed someone in particular as the master mind and as being accomplices, they were suspended.

Allegedly, the master mind that was pointed out is – their team leader Jaire. He was also suspended.

A fight or words and threats happened between Jaire and his then agents and friends who allegedly pointed him out. At the end, the truth arised that the managers wanted them to argue for some dark reasons.

They all went back at work the next week, and reconciliations were made. The owners themselves set up a meeting later that week to settle all issues internally and to tackle the problems that the agents were experiencing. That went pretty well – salary problems were voiced out, management issues were discussed and apologies were expressed. The owners themselves promised that these salary issues would be solved sooner than we all would expect and that the coming salary which will be on the next Tuesday will be given in full.

Apparently, the meeting didn’t go really well. Friendships were returned back to normal but Tuesday came and the agents waited more than 5 hours to get an incomplete salary. Promises were broken.

Things got worse after that. Things you may not imagine. Issues worsen, delays continued, disputes bigger, waiting was longer.

And the agents just couldn’t help it. Then, there were issues of mass resignation. Interrogations were again conducted and their team leader was then pointed out as the master mind and was terminated right there. Instantly. Informally. With no investigations. (The truth regarding this matter is contestable but there is no reason that they could just terminate an employee in a snap of a finger.)

My resignation followed. Some didn’t go to work after that. Just recently, more resignations were passed.

What’s even worse is when we applied on another center and tried our fate as a group, a person from our former management involved himself in, called the management of this new company and we were bad-mouthed. This new company put our applications on hold.

Now, until this very moment, we haven’t gotten our complete July 15th payroll and there still were remains from te previous cutoffs. Our applications are still hold and some were even threatened personally.

This issue has come to a level none of us had expected. I myself is still in shock and is very determined to fix whatever we need to fix and GET WHATEVER AND EVERYTHING WE LAWFULLY NEED to get. The war has just started.

Diplomatic and legal actions are now being taken, and we wouldn’t stop until we get what’s really ours.

This might sound ironic but I WILL DEFINITELY MISS THE EXPERIENCE. My almost 3 months of staying there marked an experience that would be part of me as time goes by. I met wonderful people who then became my friends.

BUT let me quote my manager,

“You didn’t go here to find friends, you went here to work and produce.” (Well, not really like that but that’s what he meant.)

Yes sir, we didn’t go there to find friends, we went there to work, produce and EARN.

THIS ACTUALLY IS A VERY VERY SIMPLE ISSUE – Employees work to get paid. If they’re not paid, they protest and leave.

Nothing unusual. So to those who don’t understand the situation (not you, readers), think. Bless you. You didn’t know how to pity. Now, you’ll learn to pity yourselves.

Let this serve as a warning. To everybody. Do not put yourselves in a situation when you really aren’t sure what you’re getting into. We made our mistake. Don’t make yours. God bless eveyone.

And one more very importan thing, PLEASE TAKE TIME TO STUDY YOUR RIGHTS. There are a lot that you should fight for. As the saying goes,

“Your freedom ends where my right begins.”

Be aware.

FOR THE FULL ARTICLE, PLEASE VISIT MY SITE: darwintaylo.wordpress.com

I know this seems crazy. I expect anyone who comes across this to wonder and immediately answers it with a raised eyebrow.

First of all, I never thought of myself as a really serious blogger. I just want to write and am thanking Friendster for letting me do so without fee and hassle plus this being accessible to friends here in FS. Fortunately, I got nice feedback from my friends and other users too, which made me want to write more.

I know I blog more than most people. But if you really would just explore the net, you’ll find out that the number of bloggers here in the Philippines are uncountable, not to mention that mostly are well-written and well-designed.

A serious blog for me is something that I wouldn’t have soon. It is a site, hosted by another site, and can be accessed (if that’s the word for it) with another site and has their own domain (e.g., darwintaylo.com), for a price. Yes, a price. These serious bloggers add their blog fees to their monthly bills. An average costs 5-10 dollars a month at least. And I just can’t and won’t afford that just yet.

I don’t know what else is in their sites, maybe they’re sponsored well, with paid advertisements or whatever. I still think I’m not on that level yet.

Second of all, if you hadn’t noticed, I use basic English here. Meaning, basic words, and basic grammar structure. Not because I don’t really make them good, but because that’s just what I can. I love writing in English but I know that I’m still just a novice. And that matters because those other bloggers really really write in good English.

I now update my Facebook account more often than my account here. So I came across one of my friends’ blogs, and I saw that image. I didn’t just copy-paste that from anywhere.

When I knew of her nomination, I got curious as to what Philippine Blog Awards is. I googled it and one thing leads to another, and I found myself posting that here. Yes, I did nominated my own blog, this blog you’re reading, for the sake of curiosity. I just want to try it. Who knows? Harr.

If that sounds defensive to anyone, yes I am being defensive. Hehe. I don’t want other people to think that I think highly of myself. (I don’t know where the hell that came from. Hehe.) Although, everyone can participate in the PBA.

I don’t think this makes any difference though. I also don’t think I have any chance of winning or even being recognized, but I just, y’know, want to be involved. Honestly, I’m not even sure if a Friendster blog is really qualified.

If any of you reading, (if there’s any), is a “serious blogger”, then go ahead and nominate yours too. Who knows? “Whatever the mind can perceive, the body can achieve.” Haha. Can’t think of any other quote. Lol. Everything can be possible.

Here’s the link if you want to nominate your own site.

http://www.philippineblogawards.com.ph/entries/

Here’s if you want to nominate other good sites you think is recommendable.

http://www.philippineblogawards.com.ph/entries/?op=recommend

Again, everyone can join. Any age, gender, civil status, physical appearance or body odor. You can join too. Be involved. Let’s write more.

Darwin Taylo’s Profile | Create Your Badge

let me start with,

“I’ve found out a reason for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
and the reason is you.”

I am starting over. Like what the sister of Sandra Bullock in 28 Days said,

“I have a life.”

Y’know, I just realized, people keep on looking for the so-’effin’-called “right one”. And I was one of those people. I admittedly even cried, like twice before, because I felt like there’s no right one for me. And yeah I know that’s crazy.

There are people who’ll meet people, build a romantic relationship with them, sometimes even commit to them (or say so), then at the end of every time, they’ll say “he/she’s not the right one for me”, “we’re not compatible”, or “you deserve someone better”, and “i have to find someone right for me” or so the list goes on. Then they go ahead and look for someone “better”.

Some people say, “I just can’t continue a relationship like this because I believe we’re not meant for each other. We’ll only hurt each other.”

Many people say that decisions are hard to make. And I say they really are. I also say that I am not against those people who say these things. Hear this - they came from me.

Point being is, I believe that the who, what, when or where don’t really matter. It is the why and how that do. If you want to find someone who’s the sexiest, most intelligent, funniest, most beautiful, most handsome and all the bests among them all, you’ll end up finding nobody. If you’re waiting for that “perfect moment”, like the 3rd person who’ll call me, the person who’ll sacrifice his/her job for me, or the person who’ll first arrive on my birthday, or things like that, you’ll end up tired of waiting for nothing. If we all think like that, nobody’s gonna meet anyone “really meant” for them, so to speak.

If you think of the REASONS why you find him/her special, or why he/she does things for you, or why you do things for him/her, or why you put yourself in that relationship, and what not, you’ll understand why.

Then if you think of the HOWS, like how is this gonna work, or how do I correct my mistake, how do i make him/her laugh, and what not, you’ll eventually do them.

I so believe in the cliche, “do not worry about finding the right one, concentrate on becoming the right person.” and everything else’ll follow.

and believe me, after all that, you’ll just smile. that you’re finally happy. because realize this. If you’re the right person, a million searchers-for-the-right-person will crave to have you. harhar.

find a reason. then start from there.

Godbless everyone.

JAIRE’S REVEALING PHOTOS.

Let’s start with a BANG! ^_^ lol.

perfectly matched with the bandana. lol.

Requested by a friend. Based on his true story.

he’s craving for love. for so many years now. and had been a little unlucky finding one. then this person came.

he dated him. (yes, the other person is also a he). bought him things that would make him happier and that would show his love. anything that he requested. shirts, bags, food, even money.

the guy was saying he likes him too so he went on with his “insanity”, as his friends and officemates described it. ignored each and every advice to stop it.

he’s fully aware that people find it a little hard to love him for him and as him, so a little kindness and a few “I-Love-You”s are more than enough to please him. he kinda believes that being satisfied with simple things will make him appreciate bigger things when they come.

one day, the guy requested an ipod. worth 9000 pesos. more than 90% of what he earns every 15th and 30th. but then he said yes. ipod’ll come on my payroll, he told the guy.

his friends disapproved it, me included. but then, promises are already made, he reiterated.

days before his birthday, the guy bugged him for the ipod. but then, he’ll use the money for his celebration so he told the guy that it’ll come on the next payroll, on the end of that month. the guy disagreed and said that it was a promise.

he thought about it and texted this message to the guy, “sige, hindi nalang ako maghahanda sa bday ko para mabili ko ung ipod.”

the guy shockingly replied without a second thought, “oo nga. wag ka na kasi maghanda.”

the world stopped.

he definitely was not the first who did that to him.

yours stopped too, didn’t it? mine did. reread it and you would also wonder where that guy got the guts to say that. and yes, believe it. they exist.

that was the time he listened to us. deleted the guy’s number and went on with his life, now aware of what to be careful about.

sometimes, we think it is so damn easy to understand how things should be but we don’t realize how hard it is to really realize them.

tsk tsk. TSK TSK.

if you had been confused on the consistent use of HEs, then that’s good. because I wanted you to feel what I think my friend Jaire felt and still feels. it might be true that that happened to him, and he was the loser he. but he still looks forward to that day when he can be the other he, or better yet, be neither–but someone who tells the story of one of his friends because he learned from it.

life has these times when it is a matter of taking risks, and knowing what consequences those risks have, in order to decide HOW to continue, because at the end, you’ll have to go ahead anyway. so give your best shot.

“you only live once. but if you live right, once is enough.” more than enough.

P.S. Jaire, the world is a pool of wonderful people. it is just that we have our own wonderful choices. you don’t even have to choose to begin with. you just have to appreciate and the right person’ll come right in front of your face after you learn to appreciate what needs to be appreciated. we all deserve what we’re worth anyway. so, continue doing what makes you worthy of every good thing that you have. Godspeed!

P.S. 2: I’m glad that I was able to update this. While in the office. Haha. Hoping to hear from you guys soon.