Life is not always as we want or plan it to be. There are times we wish we could live our lives in a different way and that the good times would never end. But it is these unpredictable moments that make life more exciting — just living life as it comes, praying and trusting that everything that happens will be what is best for us.
ANA AMIGO ANTONIO, founder and managing director, Chocolate Clothing Company: Sometimes there are parts of my life or mistakes that I wish I had the power to change, but I realize that I am where I am because of everything that has happened in my life. I learned from all the things I would have wished to change, moved on and made it into a positive. So my answer would be none. My only wish is that I continue to learn and live a good and prosperous life that creates a positive influence.
QUEENIE GONZALES, president, Green Ladies Movement of Mandaluyong: None. All the emotional highs and lows I’ve encountered have made me wiser and more fearless in embracing life’s most unpredictable rides.
Senator RAMON MAGSAYSAY JR.: There’s not a part of my life I would want changed despite the toll of mistakes, faux pas, indecisions and decisions impulsively made. We accept the good with the bad, even if the bad outnumbers the good. In short, this is how the Lord above planned my life for me, and the family and friends simply make it happen in a more joyful way. I would not exchange that for anything in this world.
XENG ZULUETA, Shu Uemura artist: If I could change anything in my life now, it would be to have more spare time to spend with my family. I hardly get to see them because they all live abroad.
WILLIAM ANTONIO, athlete, Coca-Cola Tigers, PBA: I think if you love your life the way it is in the present, you wouldn’t change a thing. There’s always the woulda, coulda, shoulda’s that I’d want to go back to and change but I think those are the events that have molded me in the present. Where I am now, where I am going is because of where I came from.
ENCHONG DEE, actor and swimming champion: If there’s anything I want to change in my life, it would probably be to spend more time with my parents despite the long hours of training. I just wish we could have gone to Disneyland when I was younger, pero the rest is happiness.
TATS REJANTE MANAHAN, surface designer/writer: It is tempting to say I’d want to change the parts of my life where I made mistakes. But looking at the bigger picture, I’ve come to realize that God, who foreknew my life, allowed the mistakes so I could learn to respond wisely the next time.
YENG S.LIM, Bantay Bata 163 resource mobilization officer: To be honest, it would be losing my mom at an early age and my dad five years ago. But then again, I am not God to decide when is the right time for them to go. In retrospect, and with acceptance of things happening in my life, there’s nothing that I would want to change. My life is perfectly imperfect, and I can only strive for excellence.