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One of the possessions I value
very much is just about worthless if you consider its monetary
value. You see, I often have great difficulty opening the cover of a
jar, an ink bottle, even the cork of a honey bottle. As you get
older, your hands get weaker and, try as you may, you simply cannot
do it.
Well, those
days are gone. Now I can easily open the stubborn cap of my ink
bottle with a rather effortless twist of the wrist because of my new
instrument: a simple round piece of rubber. Just put the rubber over
the cap and twist. It’s the traction, the gripping power of the
rubber that makes it possible. Without the rubber, your hands slip.
In short, you cannot get a good grip.
I have learned
a lesson in living too. In life, so many of our problems grow more
serious because we fail to get a grip on them and they spin out of
control. Most of our problems start out small, but then escalate
because we cannot or will not attend to them. The rubber in life is
attention and swift action. You learn that your child is starting to
smoke marijuana and you say to yourself, “Aw, he will grow out of
it. Just give him time. It’s all part of growing up.” Later, you
learn that he has grown INTO it instead and moved on to other drugs.
The situation is now out of control and you can sense that you are
losing your boy.
It would have
been a lot easier if you would have acted right away when you saw a
red flag. The same is true of interpersonal problems. Most often,
they begin with minor happenings, a slight misunderstanding here, a
harsh word there. Nothing terribly serious. If only you would pay
attention and move sooner rather than later, then you would head off
bigger trouble later.
That piece of
rubber that I will not part with was a giveaway by a food company.
Perhaps they got complaints about the difficulty in opening their
jars of food and decided to spend a bit on the simple solution
rather than have to deal with complaints later. Good thinking.
If you have
problems about drugs, alcohol and behavior/attitude call my office
at 820-6107 or 825-1771 or e-mail me at gvcbuenca@vasia.com or write
me at P.O. Box 2099 MCPO, Makati City.
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