pipiliin ko gumamela

There was a time after college, I felt that I really really need to be serious in everything in life to be able to succeed. Of course, I was in one way or another proven to be wrong. Last night we were watching Balikbayan which featured Buboy Garovillo and his hometown Dumaguete. What struck me was the old sign outside the ancestral house carved in wood and the letters painted white amazingly well kept even if it was outside the house. it says: "Do not take life too seriously, you will never get out of it alive". I guess the things that you need to hear are those that present themselves in the most unique ways and this one was no exception. Today I looked up an old poem that I kept in a clear book in the mid 1990's which inspired me in many ways. But I like all kinds of flowers and if I had a choice among the many I would choose "gumamela".

What follows is, according to Benjamin Rossen, a copy of the earliest verifiable publication of this material. It can be found in the Reader's Digest, October 1953 issue, where it was attributed to Don Herold (1889-1966), author and humorist.

If I had my life to live over
By Nadine Stair

If I had my life to live over, I'd dare to make more mistakes next time. I'd relax, I would limber up. I would be sillier than I have been this trip. I would take fewer things seriously. I would take more chances. I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers. I would eat more ice cream and less beans. I would perhaps have more actual troubles, but I'd have fewer imaginary ones.

You see, I'm one of those people who lived sensibly and sanely, hour after hour, day after day. Oh, I've had my moments, and if I had to do it over again, I'd have more of them. In fact, I'd try to have nothing else. Just moments, one after another, instead of living so many years ahead of each day. I've been one of those persons who never goes anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a raincoat and a parachute. If I had to do it again, I would travel lighter than I have.

If I had my life to live over, I would start barefoot earlier in the spring and stay that way later in the fall. I would go to more dances. I would ride more merry-go-rounds. I would pick more daisies.