Disappointed but not offended?

By Alex P. Vidal

“You can be hurt, not by what others think of you, but by what you think of what they think or you think they think of you.” ― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

IF I were a retired leader and some negligent and corrupt characters destroyed my legacy project, I wouldn’t only be “disappointed”; I would be inwardly offended and “outraged.”

There’s a whale of difference between the two repugnant feelings and reactions.

Disappointment is only a displeasure caused by the nonfulfillment of one’s hopes and expectations. It can be remedied.

But if my legacy project has been shattered, there’s a feeling of displeasure sine qua non; being enraged would be intrinsically spontaneous.

Outrage is an extremely strong reaction of anger, shock, or indignation, according to Oxford Languages.

Outrage or being indignant is the right or proper reaction and attitude for someone whose legacy project has been sabotaged and altogether desecrated.

Not only that.

My natural reaction as an aggrieved retired leader would be to call for an immediate and no-nonsense investigation why the harrowing thing happened to my legacy project.

There would be no beating around the bush. If heads must roll, so be it.

-o0o-

Game 3 of the NBA Finals will be suspense-filled on June 7 now that the Miami Heat will play host until Game 4.

As usual, all eyes will be on the two-man game of the fantastic Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic, which is simply too good according to most NBA analysts, including the Pinoy fans who mostly root for Miami Heat not only because of the charismatic Fil-Am coachErik Spoelstra, but because the former champion is the underdog in this year’s championship.

There’s no doubt the behemoth machine gun Jokic is now among the very best basketball players on the planet.

In the previous Games (1 and 2), the giant from Serbia was seemingly two steps ahead of the opposing defense in every possession.

It was Murray’s resurgence coming off his knee injury of a couple seasons ago that has really paced this acceleration of the Denver Nuggets’ greatness.

Jokic passes to an open Murray, who is a three-level scorer playing at an elite level.

“The Joker” has more space to read and react to what the defense is doing, be it taking his own jumper or find a slasher/cutter coming off the opposite end.

We can’t wait to watch the wrecking crew duo of Murray and Jokic once more in Game 3.

-o0o-

What makes us all human is not entirely our intellect or our brain. There are things that have no relation with the physical brain or man’s intelligence.

They are an expression of the spirit inside us. Humanity lies in our power to experience many different facets of life, for example our sense of justice, our ability to love, our ability to understand free will and the responsibility that comes with it, to appreciate beauty, and to develop art and culture.

If we are convinced that we will live beyond death, we will be much more aware of the responsibility that we bear both for ourselves and towards others within creation.

We understand that our present life and the way we live it is closely connected with our continued existence after passing over.

Then we will have reason to fear the consequences of every single wrong and harmful deed we had committed. We are still likely to suffer the consequences even if we no longer live on earth.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two daily newspapers in Iloilo.—Ed)