My former editor at the car magazine would always mock my staunch loyalty to my alma mater. And being the only true blue product of it, at the time in the office, I sure got a lot of flack for it, in a joking manner, of course.
Even recently, he gave me a handy piece of advice that throws a backhanded compliment to my Jesuit education:
"You are well on your way to becoming a managing editor. Things you must hurdle before you accept the job:
Learn to really manage - as the world defines it and not as the Jesuits do - from your afternoon office in Pancake House."
A recent article from the Inquirer finally clued me in on what he means. Of course, I've always known these from the back of my mind, but being Jesuit educated, why on earth would I admit to it?
"...there were the habits of mind that we learned in our corner of the world [Ateneo campus]: a sense of constant competition (but frustrated by an inability to deal with conflict); a sense of easy excellence (but shadowed by an air of entitlement); a sense of practical virtue (but limited by a marked distaste for “dirty” politics)."
from:
"The Jesuits’ fault?"
By John Nery
Inquirer
Published on page A15 of the December 11, 2006 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer
True. True.
12.18.2006
12.01.2006
No More Fall Backs
It’s been a while since I’ve decided to eliminate fall back plans. Somehow, I’ve always worked better with pressure, with the need to succeed, simply because there’s nowhere else to go but either down or up.
For a while, I’ve been nervous. Fall back plans breed complacency, after all, which is just the kind of lax attitude I wanted to eliminate. It’s always inhibited me from breaking out of my shell. “I’ve always got this to rely on if all else fails,” I’d often think to myself. And perhaps it’s that lack of anything to rely on that pushes one to break out and fight — to search for a new dependence.
We are creatures of habit after all. Vices never go away. They simply jump from one to another, only varying in collateral damage or social approval, just as smoking is easily replaced by another oral fixation.
And in some oblique way, it’s managed to work for me.
Last night was a breakthrough of sorts. I’ve shied away from the familiar and decided to venture into unfamiliar territory. Perhaps it was the beer that helped me made progress, but progress nonetheless. And even if, by many others’ opinion, I didn’t seem to get anything out of it, it still felt like a victory. Action, after all, is better than inaction.
And in making those bold new steps, I’ve discovered there’s not much to fear, after all. And perhaps in the future, I will gain more ground for myself. The important part, at least, was making the first step. Knowing that stable ground lies underneath makes it easier to trudge that path again.
For a while, I’ve been nervous. Fall back plans breed complacency, after all, which is just the kind of lax attitude I wanted to eliminate. It’s always inhibited me from breaking out of my shell. “I’ve always got this to rely on if all else fails,” I’d often think to myself. And perhaps it’s that lack of anything to rely on that pushes one to break out and fight — to search for a new dependence.
We are creatures of habit after all. Vices never go away. They simply jump from one to another, only varying in collateral damage or social approval, just as smoking is easily replaced by another oral fixation.
And in some oblique way, it’s managed to work for me.
Last night was a breakthrough of sorts. I’ve shied away from the familiar and decided to venture into unfamiliar territory. Perhaps it was the beer that helped me made progress, but progress nonetheless. And even if, by many others’ opinion, I didn’t seem to get anything out of it, it still felt like a victory. Action, after all, is better than inaction.
And in making those bold new steps, I’ve discovered there’s not much to fear, after all. And perhaps in the future, I will gain more ground for myself. The important part, at least, was making the first step. Knowing that stable ground lies underneath makes it easier to trudge that path again.
