If I were king for a day, I’d reinvent the marriage contract

Life is never how we want it. This is primarily because man is never satisfied and always wants more than he can chew. Even if we have many things going for ourselves, we always have this sort of bottomless vacuum aching to be filled, always this endless desire longing to be expressed and actualized. Existing with this point of view, man will never be happy. But isn’t this constant dissatisfaction what makes our species go on? Is insatiability the driving force for life? Could be.

Even though life is never what and how we want it to be, we can always strive to make it come close to our vision of the ideal, right? We all wish we had the power to change things; we are in constant search for that elusive utopia, that dream Shangri-la.

If I were king for a day, what would I do for mankind? Before anything, let me say this. I would not settle for being just a king of a country or of the world. Neither would I settle for being king of the solar system nor of a constellation or a galaxy. I’d have to be King of the Universe! It’s just a dream anyway, so why not aim for the top? Now, with that cleared, I would:

• Create towering rain-catcher trees that would funnel clean, distilled drinking water from up in the rarified stratosphere to designated ground reservoirs. Bye-bye, filters, Nawasa and commercial bottled water.

• Create a new species called "garbage gobblers" whose main function is to devour and eliminate all trash and junk – including non-biodegradable stuff. Goodbye, garbage pollution!

• Clean the atmosphere of pollution. This might take rain and darkness for 40 days and 40 nights and a deluge of biblical proportions. But it will be back to the same old rotten banana in no time if you don’t do anything about your waste emitting factories and smoke belching vehicles, plus your penchant for inconsiderate littering. People, you gotta help me here.

• Create a new "learn while you sleep" system through which the universe’s important knowledge can be imbedded in each child’s subconscious, ready to be remembered and applied in waking hours. No more wasted time in school! No more exams and terror teachers!

• Gift people with great optimism so that they will think of and magnify the positive things in life and downplay the negative. I want everyone to have this kind of positive attitude: "Sure, life is hard but it includes a free trip around the sun every 365 days."

• Create glorious, mouthwatering, luscious, delicious and appetizing ZERO calorie foods! Oprah would love me for this! Bye-bye, obesity and overeating guilt.

• Reinvent the marriage contract. I’d make it renewable on a 20-year initial and 10-year succeeding years basis, re-entered into upon mutual consent. Won’t that be bliss? A marriage that you force yourself into (especially if you know it no longer works and would thus be self-flagellation) impedes your growth as an individual and your spiritual development. When you hold on to someone, you prevent him from getting to his true destiny, and keep yourself from yours. Somebody better and richer could be waiting for you!

• Send fountains of youth gushing in every corner of the globe. But that won’t be fun in the long run, would it? Who wants to stay 15 throughout life? Cancel that decree. Just lessen aging lines and wrinkles. Good enough?

• Ban guns and turn self-serving politicians and blood-sucking lawyers and policemen into stone. Enough said.

• I would certainly think twice about having a bossy, nagging, controlling and manipulating queen. I might even understand why God never took a wife! (I have not heard of a Mrs. God, have you?)

• Furthermore, I would decree that every individual has easy access to these universal rights:

1. Life’s basics – air, water, sunshine, food, clothing and shelter;

2. Health insurance for all and retirement benefits for senior citizens;

3. The best education – hallelujah for the Internet and future info systems;

4. Love – emotional and sexual fulfillment;

5. Wealth – financial freedom, economic independence;

6. Feeling of being wanted, needed and useful;

7. Security – everyday peace and order, no killings;

8. Freedom from want, hunger, any religious and ideological oppression; the freedom to pursue dreams and passions;

9. Justice – equality and true fairness to all; a justice system that works;

10. Wisdom – knowing what’s right and using it;

11. Happiness – joy, songs and laughter;

12. Peace of mind and spiritual growth;

Wishful thinking you might say. It makes great food for thought and argument. Besides, I can dream, can’t I? And you should, too! The trouble with the world is that we no longer dream enough. In fact, our forefathers had bigger, brighter dreams. It is our turn to shine. Right now!

* * * That Uncrackable Anagram

Seems like no one was able to solve the anagram puzzle I gave in my last article. No one e-mailed me! Yeah, it was kinda tough and the longest ever, too. So, what well-known name, event or term can be unraveled by rearranging the letters in the phrase "a loved sweetest brute phenomenon"? Give up, Jesse Lao and Jojo Limosnero? It is "September eleven two thousand one."

Here’s an easy set to while your time away: "finer who pray," "I’m nice, I’ll wrap" and "old rare angel." Disregard capitalization, apostrophes and commas. Have fun!

* * * Pedero Dreams Seminar

Thanks for all the inquiries you sent in about my seminar, "Make Your Impossible Dreams Come True!" – a dynamic self-improvement seminar, the first of its kind ever to be offered in the Philippines.

Course Title: Make Your Impossible Dreams Come True!

Date: Saturday, April 27, 2002

Time: 5 p.m.

Venue: Roof Deck, IPI Buendia Tower, 501 Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue (Buendia between Bautista and Evangelista Sts., across Houseware Square, watch out for the sign "Imarflex Factory Outlet"), Pasay City

Attire: Comfortable chic

Dinner: A light, hearty meal will be served.

Certificate: Each participant will be awarded a Certificate of Attendance.

Fee: P2,800

Discount: Ask for our early bird discount of P300 when you register on or before April 19.

Registration: Ground Floor, IPI Buendia Tower starting Monday, April 15 onwards, 2-7 p.m. only.

For more info: E-mail deeperdoor@yahoo.com.

The realization of your dreams greatly affects the success, happiness, abundance and fulfillment in your life. And, as an old sage once declared, "Your dreams are the children of your heart, the voice of your soul."

Don’t be like other people who spend thousands upon thousands on beauty products and cosmetic surgery to improve their outside looks yet would think twice about spending to enhance that most important thing inside their heads. Join the seminar and learn what it takes to turn your missions impossible to mission accomplished!

Cheers, everyone!

* * *

I’d love to hear from you! E-mail deeperdoor@yahoo.com (no attachments and chain letters, please!). Should you want to forward this article, be sure to mention the author Dero Pedero and acknowledge The Philippine STAR. The reprinting, recording or publishing of this article in any form including the Web requires copyright permission from the author.