Entertainment

Words of wisdom from Charo Santos-Concio that will inspire you in life

Euden Valdez - Philstar.com

August 15, 2017 | 10:35am

Words of wisdom from Charo Santos-Concio that will inspire you in life

Charo Santos-Concio, now in her 60s and radiating timeless beauty, never fails to captivate her audience.

Philstar.com / EC Toledo

MANILA, Philippines—Charo Santos-Concio is a living icon in the Philippine entertainment industry who has received accolades in her years of acting and hosting. Also a respected media executive, she spearheaded ABS-CBN as president for nine years and as chief executive officer for four years.

Her celebrated career, combined with her own passion for life, has given her a wealth of experiences, brought her to many places, and introduced her to different people. All these have given her a deeper understanding of life, which shows whenever she speaks. It is certainly no wonder why Charo, now in her 60s and radiating timeless beauty, never fails to captivate her audience.

This was exactly the case in a recent press launch, where Charo opened up about retiring, facing her fears, and leaving a legacy.Here are her words of wisdom that will surely inspire you in life.

It’s a new life.

After my retirement, it’s an entirely new world that I am discovering. I tried parasailing for the first time in Boracay. Masarap pala! And then I took up yoga and started painting. . . I also came out with my biographical leadership book entitled “My Journey.” I met with our kababayans in other parts of the world to listen to their stories. This was part of my MMK 25th anniversary celebration. And of course, I went back to acting.

Who says 60 is retirement age. No one really retires. It’s a new life.

There’s a lot more desire to try.

“I’m human. I will always have (fears). . . I always look within the context of my strengths and weaknesses. Before, kahit na simpleng takot, I step back instead of moving forward; this time there’s a lot more desire to try. It’s the attitude that has changed. Pero calculated calls naman. Kasi kung hindi naman kaya ng katawan ko, huwag na akong magbida. Ginagamit ko pa rin ang ulo ko.”

You learn more from failures than successes.

I always talk to my sons and my grandchildren about facing one’s fears. The biggest stumbling block for a lot of young people—and even the not-so-young people—is fear. It’s fear of rejection. It’s normal for us as human beings to always look for affirmation, and that’s a big hindrance to trying out new things—the thought of failing. Mahirap mag-fail. Masakit sa ego, sa dignidad minsan. But really, you learn more from your failures than you will ever learn from your successes.

Courage is a great value that everyone should have. It’s having the strength to face your truths and to face your fears. See how you can stretch yourself to see your capacity to live, capacity to excel, capacity to love, and capacity to be good.

Rock and roll.

I am enjoying this stage where I’m able to try things that I have never done in my life. I am discovering myself, a lot of new stuff about myself. And you are kinder to yourself. You are gentler with yourself. You take time kasi there are no expectations. You reach the stage where you’ve gone through so much. You’ve learned so many lessons, so,ano na lang, rock and roll!

Touching lives along the way.

Legacy is really more about values. It’s the universal truth that you will leave your loved ones in whatever role that a person portrays because, you know, we wear different hats in life. If we are able to touch the lives of everyone we meet along the way—depending on which hat we are wearing—and teach them lasting values, that to me is legacy because that’s going to live forever.

A true legacy for our loved ones.

I am always comfortable talking about it (pamana). I am so pragmatic and I am so well-rounded about the realities of life—maybe because I lost my father at a young age. And truly, his insurance policy made our family survive the first couple of years (after his death). So, sa akin, death and taxes are the only things that are certain in this world so harapin natin ang mga dapat nating harapin.

Ang isa sa mga mabuting paraan ng pagharap ay ang pag-plano. Pag-planuhan natin ang kinabukasan kasi when we’re gone, we’re gone. Let’s make life a little less messy for the ones we’re going to leave behind. It’s a true legacy for our loved ones, the assets that we have accumulated. It’s a symbol of all the years of our hard work and patience and perseverance that we have given in life.

Charo stars in Sun Life’s new SUN Smarter Life campaign, which aims to address Filipinos who are in the retirement stage. Watch her TVC “Trinkets” below:

The campaign was launched recently and Charo graced the occasion along with Sun Life Chief Marketing Officer Mylene Daez-Lopa and Sun Life Distribution Support Head Jenny del Mundo.