the diary of a rich man

Thursday, February 12, 2009

not every problem that's bigger than you is a chance to step up.

sometimes all you have to do is raise your arms and fall back on something/someone.

but there will be times when there is nothing/no one there..

then you will have learned that it is inevitable-- you have to take the fall.

posted by Paul Tolentino @ 4:43 PM 0 comments

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

sa kanyang pagtikim ako'y nagpapanggap na tila hindi naiinggit

na mayroon palang katulad nitong maaaring matamasa

kinalagan ngunit di pa rin malaya

may halagang taglay ngunit di mataruk-tarok

dalisdis na makinis, patikwas paitaas

bahagya lamang

nang makaraos ng kaunti

ngunit gayumpama'y bitin

mistulang sinadya upang patuloy lang subukan

naisip na maigi atang ginamit aking bagwis

matapos itong pagdaupin

kasalukuyang nakabuhol sa isa't-isa

...'ayis' gnalihad as

posted by Paul Tolentino @ 2:23 PM 0 comments

Friday, February 6, 2009

as she takes a bite, i pretend like i'm not envious

that theres something like that for the taking

unshackled but not free

no price tags but carrying a cost

the smooth slope curving upwards

at the end

slightly

enough to get me up there

but not high enough

done on purpose to keep trying

i should've used my aves-hands

but right now they're tied

clasped one to another...

...ehs eht rof lla

posted by Paul Tolentino @ 7:28 PM 0 comments

Thursday, October 16, 2008

...the sloooowest day of my life.

it's grim.
it's dim.
it's slow.
it's low.
...

*sigh*

posted by Paul Tolentino @ 9:16 PM 0 comments

Thursday, December 13, 2007

don't let your dreams die

everything should have a reason.

i was sitting quietly by myself when a string of questions popped into my mind. how much money do you want to make? where are you going to spend this money? when do you plan on getting and spending this money?
i was quite surprised when i found out that i had no answer for the first question. i didn't know how much i wanted to earn. i didn't know how many bank accounts i should open. should i open one in switzerland? i had no idea and it bothered me.

i was so sure about the second question. i had plans for the money. i knew what i wanted to buy. where i wanted to spend it all. but, how much? i have no clue.

the third question is also easy. i'll get the money starting 2008 until i retire in 2025. yes, 17 years. i'll be 35 then.. if it's earlier than that, why not? i'll have a lot of money saved up, every year funds will be allocated to certain projects until those funds are enough to buy what they're intended for. in my years of retirement i'll watch these dreams of mine materialize.. they will come to pass.

but how much will they cost?

that's the question i'm going to answer before mid 2008. it's going to be a HUGE figure, that's for sure.

Labels: dreams

posted by Paul Tolentino @ 1:13 PM 0 comments

Thursday, October 4, 2007

why are you doing this?

fund your own dreams.

i'm 22 years old and suddenly i decide to make something out of myself. i'm a big dreamer. but i'm not much of a fan of working for those dreams. on the other hand, i'd like to do it the unconventional, faster, more-comfortable-in-the-long-run way. i WANT them to come to pass. i just don't want to stress myself in trying to make them come to pass. i'm not saying that dreams aren't worth sweat, i'm just advocating for working smart and hard instead of just working hard. i see a lot of people working their asses off, trying to make a living. they work for money. i, on the other hand, want money to work for me.

when i was younger, i started to dream big. i wanted a car. a red sports car. i wanted a house. a huge house. i wanted a family. a 'just right' family. i wanted a wife. the most beautiful wife on the face of the earth. i wanted to visit europe. i wanted to travel a lot. make a list of all the countries of the world and go through a-z. afghanistan-zambia. i wanted to build buildings. orphanages, hospitals, castles, schools. i wanted luxury. home theater, spa membership, yacht. i still want all of these.

then it got me thinking.. how am i going to get the money to buy all these? my 8-5 job won't cut it. even if i earned ten times the minimum wage from now until i retire at age 55, i'm not going to have the money to buy all of these! oh, yes, ten times the minimum wage is enough to live a simple, happy life. BUT I DON'T WANT THAT! over the weekend, i was struggling with myself. i couldn't answer the question, 'will a simple life make me happy?' growing up with the notion that money is from the devil made it really hard for me to get an answer. it was like, an honest man can never be rich. all rich men are evil. live the simple life, go to heaven. get rich, go to hell. i don't believe people who say that they'd rather live normal lives, earning just enough to get by than become millionaires. having some extra for an out-of-country vacation every 3 years or so. living in a so-so house. i don't believe you.

so, after a long weekend of not being able to focus on anything because of this question that's bugging me, i've decided-- i want to be rich. here are my realizations:

1. wealth is not equal to greed
2. simple is not equal to contented
3. it is possible to be rich and live simply
4. it is possible to be rich and live simply and be contented

there is a popular misconception that rich people lead miserable lives. not all of them. at least not me.

you've probably heard someone say this before (or you might have read it somewhere), 'make a life, not a living'. well, i believe that with all of my heart. money was made to work for me, not the other way around. i'm just following natural law.

posted by Paul Tolentino @ 8:32 PM 0 comments

in the beginning...

everything has a start.

whenever i am about to take big steps in my life, i always look back. it's as if the first requirement to know exactly where i am going is to soberly judge myself from as far back as i can remember up to where i am standing right this very moment. it's like emptying a sack of potatoes on top of a table with a huge broken balance scale favoring one side. good potatoes on the left, bad ones on the right. and after i'm done with the entire pile, i ask myself, "have i done enough to become a good potato?" 'cause you see, there aren't that many bad potatoes, but the scale tilts more to the right. i know for a fact (and have potatoes as evidence) that i've done a lot. that i've done something. BUT HAVE I DONE ENOUGH?

i'm facing a big potato right now. part of me says i should go this way, the other part of me disagrees. people call it a crossroads sometimes. it's where you choose a path and you're never the same. but, see, the fault in that symbolism is that people don't walk on a straight road for most of their lives and then suddenly encounter a three-way split! i don't want to believe that i am the only one making little, daily decisions that have big effects on who i am going to become. if we're going to make this metaphor work, there has to be crossroads for every step. i don't think the road even exists. because if it did, how easy it would be to just follow the bread crumbs back to that road split and choose the other path. how simple it would be to right the wrongs. to 'turn back time.'

in the beginning there was a choice. and it was the first among countless choices...

posted by Paul Tolentino @ 12:22 PM 0 comments

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Name: Paul Tolentino
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