My Simple Pleasures

(10th of ‘My Story’ Series)

I’m a person of simple pleasures. I love to travel, I love adventure, I want quality family time; add in some good food, with good company, and plenty of relaxation time, and sports, of course. Give me a small dose of each, and I’m a happy camper!

My military service gave me so many opportunities to see the world. I’ve stood beneath African skies so wide they made me feel wonderfully small. I’ve wandered through European villages where every cobblestone seemed to whisper history. I’ve watched the organized rush of Tokyo, the warmth of Chinese provincial towns, and the quiet dignity of people who spoke languages I couldn’t understand but whose friendly smiles needed no translation. Every journey reminded me that the world is far larger, far kinder, and certainly for more fascinating – than the evening news often suggests. All that and more, thanks to my military service.

The vast experiences lavished by travel has blessed me no end. It has gifted me with the knowledge of the different cultures, and has afforded me opportunities to witness awesome sights. And it has guided me with a broader, more patient outlook on humanity and the environment.

My addiction to Sports, on the other hand, started early. While other kids were fighting over the Sunday comics, I was diving headfirst into the sports page, treating box scores like valuable exam notes. In my younger days, I was a total sports glutton – basketball, football, track, tennis, pingpong, you name it. I also dabbled in combat sports in the Academy! Yes, I used to be an all-around athlete during my younger days; although these days, the only ‘athlete’ left in me is my athlete’s foot!

To give you an idea of my ‘sports disease,’ I once spent a whole lot on a specific pair of sneakers just because I thought they’d make me look good. I thought that if I looked good in them, I’d perform better as well. Spoiler alert: The shoes didn’t make me jump higher – but they did make me look very confident while missing.

Then there was the time I organized sock-basketball in our dorm. We used old socks and formed that into a ball; twisted a wire hanger into a ring, and clipped the ‘ring’ on the top of our locker, and voila! We have an indoor basketball court!! I remember the first games we played. Soon enough, our room had become the dorm’s Sockball Arena. Later, the other rooms would also have their own sockball courts, but none could compare with the original, of course.

I eventually tried golf as a ‘mature’ hobby, but realized I didn’t have the five business days required to finish a single round. But the bottomline remains: I truly loved sports in general from a very early age.

And that’s how I got involved in sportswriting as well. As a hobby. In high school, I became the Sports Editor for our student paper. In PMA, I chose the position of Sports Editor for our quarterly magazine. Later, as I moved up the ranks in the Army, I moonlighted as a sports columnist for 2 national sports magazines: The Scoreboard and the Sports Weekly Magazine under the Manila Bulletin, plus a provincial paper in Davao. When my legs eventually slowed down, my pen kept running. Even now, I still write for another provincial paper – The Bohol Chronicle; while maintaining this blog.

Looking back, I’ve noted that whether I’m chasing a sports story across the globe, or playing “sock-ball” in a crowded dorm, the thrill remains the same. Life doesn’t need to be complicated to be fulfilling; it just needs a dash of adventure, a bit of competition, and a creative mind to capture it all. My playing days may be over. But the passion for the game – and the stories behind it – will remain as strong as ever.

I realize now that my happiest moments have rarely been my biggest achievements. They have been the simple pleasures scattered between them – a joyous family meal after a long absence in the field or elsewhere, an unforgettable sunset witnessed with my wife, coffee and laughter with mistahs and other lifelong friends, the familiar thump of a bouncing basketball, the quiet satisfaction of finishing another sports article, and now, peaceful lull times at the farm watching life unfold at its own gentle pace. Those are the trophies I treasure most. They don’t gather dust on shelves. They simply live on in my heart.

If someone were to ask me today what has given me the biggest pleasures in my life, I wouldn’t talk about the medals, the titles or even the rank. I’d simply say this: the privilege of seeing the world, the joy of playing the games I loved, the satisfaction of seeing the farm grow, the blessing of having the opportunity to write the stories that inspire, and the priceless gift of sharing all of it with the people I love.

I’m sure you too have simple joys that kept you going during your younger years. Head over to cbholganza.com, read my latest columns, and and see if your joys resonate with mine. One thing’s for sure: to feel young again, let’s keep smiling, and keep the games within us alive.

Pics courtesy of the Holgy albums. For a closer look, just click on the pics.