The rule of three

Talk about exhausting. I woke up 3 in the morning, rushed to the airport, caught the early flight to Caga-yan de Oro with the Ilocana tagging along. My good friends Joseph Banawa and educator/businessman Chris Barrameda drove us straight to Iligan City. Did 3 talks there, (local government, educators and youth) drove back to CDO, slept, and then did another 3 talks the next day. The last talk was fantastic. Sharing the same speaker’s platform with one of my mentors Peter Tanchi together with his lovely wife Deonna, I spoke about parenting in the beautiful Lim Ket Kai atrium. The audience then must have numbered close to 4,000.

Three seminars in a day are not unusual, but it can be very tiring. At the end of each day, my body is aching and my throat is hurting, but my heart pounds with gladness knowing that the day has been well-spent. And when greetings from participants pour into Facebook the next day, the more my heart is gladdened.

Three talks in a day for two days. Hmmm...

Business people say that when bad things come, they usually come in bundles of three’s. I’m not too sure about that, but a friend of mine from Cebu gave me these beautiful quotes that contain lessons and topics involving lists of “three’s”. Let me show you my compilation of these quotes.

To some the following lines may come as mushy, but to others, the following quotes may just turn out to be life-changing. Here they are:

Three things you need to know about life:

1. Life is best for those who want to live it.

2. Life is difficult for those who want to analyze it.

3. Life is worst for those who want to criticize it.

Three ideas on how you can enjoy your life:

1. Laugh so hard that even sorrow smiles at you.

2. Live life so well that even death loves to see you alive.

3. Fight so hard that even fate accepts its defeat.

Three essential stages of LIFE:

1. THE TEEN STAGE: You have all the time & energy but no money.

2. THE WORKING STAGE: You may have the money & energy but no time.

3. THE OLDIES STAGE: You have all the time & money but not enough energy. (Maybe this is why they buy flashy sports cars...)

Three things in life that never come back when gone:

1. Time

2. Words

3. Opportunity

Three things in life that should never be lost:

1. Peace

2. Hope

3. Honesty

Three things in life that are most valuable:

1. Love

2. Faith

3. Prayer

Three things that make a person:

1. Hard work

2. Sincerity

3. Commitment

Three things that can destroy a person:

1. Lust

2. Pride

3. Anger

Three things in life that is constant:

1. Change

2. Death

3. God

And here is my personal favorite:

Life comes in three broad categories: Easy, Difficult and Impossible.

Those who want to take only the EASY life will have a boring life.

Those who have faced the DIFFICULT life become tough but also become fulfilled.

But those who have experienced the IMPOSSIBLE life inspire others to think that the impossible is possible, that it can be done.

There is nothing mystical or magical in the number 3. Neither is there any mystical or magical shortcut to success in life. We always pay for the choices we make, and the choices we make will determine the quality of the life we live.

Everybody wants to live a long life but nobody wants to grow old. Many people want to go to heaven but nobody wants to die. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Nobody has gotten out of life alive anyway.

(You can now receive daily inspirational quotes and thoughts from me. Text “Inspire” to 288 for Smart or Sun subscribers, and 2889 for Globe subscribers. Visit facebook.com/franciskong 2 for more details.)