Lessons from the sea

For the past seven months, this writer has been living in a small seaside town in Zambales. My nine-year-old daughter Alex’s eyesight was deteriorating dramatically, and she needed plenty of sunlight and a more relaxed environment to go along with the potent medication prescribed. So I’ve been making the three-hour drive to Metro Manila to work and back every week. The things we do for our children. Luckily, the experiment worked, the decline was arrested, so it’s been worth it,

The experience came with so many lessons. The town has no restaurants, no banks (save for one ATM), and no fastfood outlets. Fish is abundant, but vegetables are expensive. The only malls are within an hour’s drive, as we are exactly in between SBMA and Olongapo in one direction, and Iba in the other. But on the other hand, people scarcely need to wear shoes (or pants for that matter). And masks are rarely needed. There is no hospital nearby. Trips to the grocery have to be planned, and the nearest mechanic is in the next town, roughly 20 kilometers away.

This is the kind of life most of our athletes grow up with, being contented with little, but wanting more, seeking a better life. This is where most of our athletes come from. This is where they are birthed, and dream. This is where their roots are.

The setting provides its own wisdom, if you look closely. Wading into water with crabs walking past, fish and other creatures swimming by, felt unnatural at first. It took months before I could jump into the brine without my heart jumping as I’d check my pocket for my mobile phone. This led to a series of social media posts by this writer, chronicling the learnings.

A grain of sand is insignificant, but without it, the tallest skyscrapers cannot be built. Waves disturb and shove things around, but if you go under them, you see what’s really going on. We’re all afraid of sinking, but if you stay still and spread yourself out, you’ll actually float.

The sea is vast and restless, unlikely to be transported. But when it surrenders to the sun, it can float over mountains and travel far. Water can’t go through anything. But over time, it can wear down anything. That’s a lesson in patience if there ever was one.

The slower, more relaxed pace also teaches balance. If there are problems in the city, they will have to wait. Everything has a time. Everything has a place. Your environment makes a difference, and when we choose to plant ourselves in a concrete jungle, we are asking for stress. That’s a lesson our athletes instinctively know, and many of us have learned from the pandemic.