The Man

I have a new hero:
Jaime Florcruz, a Filipino political exile in China who rose up to become the Beijing bureau chief for Time Magazine and then CNN International.

But as cool as his story is, and as much as I admire his credentials in journalism, I am most affected by this bit of wisdom he offered at the end of a high school commencement address:

"If I may offer some unsolicited advice, it will be more along the lines of how you deal with successes and failures. Life, after all, is a series of challenges and problem-solving, punctuated by happy, heady days.

Here are some cautionary advice, a few of which I stole from my father and mother:

One: Keep a healthy dose of your ego but be ready to cut it down. Have empathy with one another and take more satisfaction in serving others: the community, the society, the Earth.

Two: Make new friends every step of your lives, while seeking long-standing intimate relationships. Show your appreciation for all the good things in life. Write poems about your parents and teachers. They made who you are.

Three: Take control of your lives now and never let go. Twenty three years ago, I decided to quit smoking, cold turkey. Since then, I have never smoked another stick. That's one of the proudest things I've ever done.

Four: Learn to cope with negative stuff. Learn to sublimate, rechannel, diffuse and disperse anger, envy, aggression and revenge. Don't stew in them. Move on.

And five: Learn to roll with the punches. Remember: the brittle breaks, the supple thrives. The resilient ones -- those who can laugh at themselves and at their failings -- they bend and bounce back, firmer and stronger. I know you can be like them, too.

This is Jaime FlorCruz, CNN Beijing"

You know that feeling when you read someone else express everything you think and feel, only they express is so much more simply and elegantly than you ever seem able to do yourself?

Yeah...

It is a bit Self-Help for Dummies, but still, these are the kind of sensible, positive life lessons that I'm all about hearing, speaking, writing, and reading. Rock on, Jaime, rock on.

And give me a job.