Real Zombies

 

Amo sab jaon sila kun di kun eleksyon?  We see them hug simple people. They visit the poor from one house to another. There are instances that they even claim that they are your distant relatives. For what? For your votes.

The deeply-rooted patronage system in the Philippines bolsters money politics, especially during elections. Some candidates engage in vote buying rather than promoting their platforms, others misuse public service delivery for electoral purposes instead of broader development objectives.

This patron-client relationship essentially prioritizes short-term personal gains for both leaders and their constituencies, rather than the long-term development goals of the nation (Wong, 2022).

We fear that everything boils down to selfish motives. Why do politicians perform vote-buying? Why do people sell their votes? What motivates the fanatics behind the politicians who even severe ties with family members for their bets? Why the word war on social media outlets?

According to Nahn (2020) the first motivator is POWER. Some people are motivated by power, influence, and fame. They want to become powerful and a leader, such as politicians. They want to take charge and achieve great power. Other motivators include recognition and approval; Desire to win; Reaching out to others; Rewards, money and Passion.

We cannot discount the fact that there are those whose intentions are good. But then again, based on self-actualized theories, we must first ask our own motivations. What are the gauges of our choices, is it for selfish intentions or for the greater good?

With the current trend of the thinking process flow among the young as broadcast on reality shows like Pinoy Big Brother Philippines, educators must double time in leading young learners to master critical thinking allowing them to develop their affective side as well. With the technology we have now, the fear of becoming a zombie might not come from an injectable substance.

We might have zombies in our houses now.

 

Unhealthy Beliefs

 

Uman ka duro ad-on imo suporta sa isa ka tawo na makig-away na man kaw?  Fanatics are people who indulge in a heady, intoxicating, and toxic concoction of self-affirming, know-it-all confidence that they have unique access to absolute truths, truths so perfect that they have to impose them on everyone.

According to Jeremy E. Sherman, PhD (2014): The absolute truths that fanatics latch onto might be religious or political, right-wing or left-wing. It’s not what they believe that makes them fanatics but how they believe it — that they have the final word, no need to consider further evidence, and no need to ever wonder or doubt themselves again.

The bashings and word war in social media sites and other platforms have strong hints of fanaticism. There are those friendships who broke their ties due to their political beliefs. Family members created factions, tagging themselves with COLORS not realizing that there is an implication of an unhealthy mental status on these things.

Perkinson (2002) sees fanatics as dogmatic people whose theories, ideology and proposed solutions are absolutely right in their own eyes. At the same time fanatics avoid critical thinking when they ignore or are not able to see those arguments, facts, or consequences that refute his solutions.

Can this be unhealthy? Some fanaticism comes very close to the behaviors of bipolar mania: energized devotion to an idea. Sex and money are frequent foci, but also political ideas: see, for example, the complex patterns of bipolar-like behaviors in world leaders, examined by Nassir Ghaemi in his book A First-Rate Madness.

Supporting a political candidate becomes an issue when people see their supported leaders as messianic ones rather than seeking out their qualifications, competence and value system. Then, with such belief, they’d break ties with family members and long-time friends because of their convictions.

Let freedom of choice thrive while we do our individual tasks. Let the political leaders do their thing and prove their worth through their actions not just words. We do our job, let them do theirs. Value relationships with the people who were there in your ups and downs. Do not let an ideology brought about by someone you do not know (and does not know you) break them.

We keep our minds healthy as well by avoiding things that push us to the edge.

Inig kasakit mo di kaw bisitahon nan iton imo taghimo na idolo!

Looking Inside

 

                                              (image:pinterest)

Mag inusara sab anay panyagsa. By being with yourself, you can evaluate your days. Your pains can become sources of your strength once you examine them well. You can even write your feelings of disgust, dismay, your joys and appreciation and review them later. These things are empowering.

Reflection is an important part of the loop to go through in order to maximize the utility of having experiences. Rather than moving on to the next ‘task’ we can review the process and outcome of the task and – with the benefit of a little distance (lapsed time) we can reconsider what the value of experience might be for us and for the context it was part of.

Is self-reflection correlated to a person’s intelligence?

Individuals that have compelling self-awareness make better leaders, become more successful in life, and achieve better satisfaction at what they experience in life than those without it since they have a more profound comprehension of human feelings and can think and resolve issues inventively and compassionately. Therefore, self-awareness does make people fall in the bracket of intelligence (Raypole, 2020).

In the bible, Jesus was mentioned reflecting and praying a lot in quiet areas. Some Christians have taken the position that self-reflection is too close to the concept of Eastern meditation but that is not necessarily the case. Eastern forms of meditation are designed to empty the mind, but Christian meditation and self-reflection intend to bring you into a quiet place with God where you can intimately converse with him about your experiences and emotions.

Kirkman (2019) mentioned: Without creating the space to have this self-reflection and communication with God, you will likely operate on autopilot, being driven by values instilled by your culture, family of origin, and immediate community. Intentional self-reflection is aimed at creating space for you to sit with God and ask meaningful questions about life and your relationship with Him.

Let us not be distracted with the noise surrounding us. Let us not be victimized by the commercialism of our times that even during the Holy Week, the social media pressure us to go on a vacation instead of going to church and reflect.

Kay sa aja da kaw masipanhaud sa iban, kilay-a anay an imo kaugalingon.

 

Creativity Based on Needs

 

Aja da masipanhaod bisan di kun tunong! There are some of us who do things at the spur of the moment. It is as if these things can fill up the empty spaces of our existence. Worse, there are leaders who do not plan. They react on the things they see. If others are doing something, they have to do something as well. Thus, the demise of the needs-based activities which will truly address gaps.

Impulsive behavior is generally viewed as counterproductive by society, and individual differences in impulsivity have been found to be related to a number of personal traits of a person. Leaders must be quick in their decision-making but to be impulsive on doing things that require resources, proper planning must be done.

From a cognitive viewpoint, impulsivity is the inability to inhibit behavioral impulses and thoughts. It considers impulse control as an important component of executive functions. It plays an important role in one's social and personal functioning. Considering social aspect of impulsivity, it referred as a learned behavior that is formed inside the family. In family, children learn to react immediately in order to achieve what they desire. Therefore, impulsive individuals lack the ability to evaluate the consequences of their actions, either for themselves or for the others (National Library of Medicine).

That’s is why poor leaders copy. They do not have the innate ability to weigh down the causes, effects and the impending threats of the impulsive actions that they do. If an activity is “in”, they tend to go with the flow without looking into the consequences of the actions.

Too much analysis on things can also lead to paralysis. That is why the leaders must be quick in addressing needs the right way. Therefore, quick and calculated decisions are needed to make the institution being led to thrive.

In the end, it is not how many tasks the leaders do count. It is how these activities put meaning and impact to the group they are leading.

Drifting

 

                                        (image: youtube.com)

Di makahuman, sige lamang nagsugod. It takes good planning paired with efficient implementation of the plan to make good outputs. Yet, there are those who cannot finish tasks. They simply leave one behind to pursue another one. Basically, this is a product of procrastination and simply “ningas cogon”.

Ningas Cogon is the attitude we have when we begin anything with great excitement and passion, but within a very short period of time, we lose interest and decide to cease doing whatever it is we are doing. Leaving things unfinished is bad form. It’s similar to a wildfire that burns out swiftly (ncertpoint.com).

Ningas Cogon is basically counterproductive since people get super excited about an idea a project one week or two, maximum few months. They lay a foundation then they wander off and lay another foundation.

Ironically, this trait is correlated to Filipinos. We often observe these type of persons who are so eager with doing a certain thing, then all of sudden shift to another activity/project leaving things unfinished. In organizations, these can be seen among leaders and that can be alarmingly be the cause of wasted resources.

In business, there are those who invest on certain things and leave them behind for another. There are also those who drift from one place to other for no particular purpose. Families are also not exempted with the presence of these types among the members. A lot of wastage on time, money and other resources happen since there are those who cannot sustain their interest in finishing a project or two.

What causes it? Maybe it comes with the first-hand experience of organizing with limited time and resources. We are poor and most of our time and resources are spent on basic needs. People cannot linger on long-term things if they need to find means of sustenance. And another is the lack of being results-oriented.

Efficiency and effectiveness would be possible if we have the right attitude emanating from our hearts. Hence, the remaining 80 percent of the time and efforts that will be devoted to polishing a particular task or activity shall be enough to achieve an excellent performance.

Lain sab kun yay ato agi.