What Time Is It? How Old Am I? What’s There to Hide?

What Time Is It? How Old Am I? What’s There to Hide?

(On Being Confident and Secure about One’s Age)

It’s 5:46 p.m. here at the airport in Narita, Japan (2:46 a.m. Winnipeg time; 4:46 p.m., Philippine time). Inna, Evawwen, Christine, and I are awaiting our flight to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. So far, the travel is a bit exhausting, not because of the travel itself but because Evawwen is so inquisitive and frolicsome that I have to answer his every “What’s that, Dad?” and run after him when he feels like checking out the people and things around him.
Yesterday was very hectic. Inna and I with our kids Marina, Jannica, and Gabby had to go to Department of Tourism on Kalaw Avenue in Manila to file for the travel tax exemption (We had to pay 200 pesos per person for the processing fee). Afterwards we went to the nearby familiar playground near Taft Ave., which I as well as Marina and Jannica fondly remembered as children for that giant boot/shoe, which to this day still smelled of pee inside. We passed by Rizal Monument before we finally went back to Pasay.

Getting Together with Relatives Reminds Me of My Age
Del Prado-Aranzamendez relatives paid us a visit at my sister Lovelle’s family home (where we were staying), and we enjoyed early dinner and a good conversation. I am not surprised anymore every time I realize that my nephews and nieces—all of whom I always remember as little children—are now grownups, either teenagers or past their twenties. It reminds me that I am now 41. I don’t mind. I’ve never been secretive or elusive about my age anyway. Age symbolizes many essential things—maturity, sense of priority, ageing, failures, and accomplishments. I’ve long understood why many people hide their age. In a nutshell, only the discontented or the insecure hides her age. Not me—I’ve always been proud of my having matured, my changing priorities, my accomplishments, and even my failures in life—the reason acknowledging one’s age is not a big deal to me.

Some people hide their age because they look much older than how they think they should look for their age—vanity.

Some people hide their age because they feel that their accomplishments are not yet enough despite their age—insecurity, discontent.

Some people hide their age because they feel that they still have lots of unfinished businesses and their age make them feel that their time is running out.
Ultimately, some people hide their age because they are simply dumb and they just follow what others are doing or they believe easily what they read because they have poor analytical ability or weak decision making.

Time’s up; we’re boarding now…on our way to Vancouver, British Columbia.

Sa Madaling Salita
Kung ang isang tao ay kuntento sa kanyang disposisyon o katayuan sa buhay, di niya dapat itinatago ang kanyang edád at itinuturing ito na maselang bagay.

Or, in Simple Words
Someone who is secure or contented about her disposition or status in life should have no reason to hide her age or consider this a big deal or a delicate matter.

(During our one-month vacation in the Philippines, I have been blogging about our stay there—our adventures, my observations, as well as my insights on random thoughts and various conditions that I have seen, witnessed, and re-experienced. I am tackling these in a series of topics for this column of mine, with the purpose of presenting my in-depth analysis of such issues. My purpose, as always, is to challenge people to think analytically and logically and to discourage them to look at things in a narrow-minded perspective, for a narrow mind is usually the culprit behind an ignorant bigot.)

On our return to Canada, on February 11, 2012, we took the route Metro Manila, Philippines–Narita, Japan–Vancouver, British Columbia–and then finally Winnipeg, Manitoba. Here’s a blog I posted while we were at the airport in Narita, waiting for our connecting flight.