This is an excerpt from a post that was first published in my private blog last summer, i.e., 2010. I dug it up because of the recent post on my bike that caused me to remember how it all got started… it was simply titled,’The Three R’s.’ The part published here is an excerpt because the rest of the post went into the details of the events of that week which may or may not be of great interest to the reader. Suffice to say that, if listed, they would all be very apropos to the theme of this blog, viz. ‘The Show Must Go On’. And so, in the spirit of practicing what I preach, I am reviving this old piece– to enjoy for now, and hopefully, for a long time to come. Oh, and by the way, the reason my bike found a home in this post is because it was a highlight of the week that I was recounting, reliving, and reflecting upon. Original post follows…
If you think I’m referring to the traditional three R’s of Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic, gentle reader, may I tell you that I am not. Instead, I have a new set of three R’s in mind today; three R’s that are not essential to make you successful in your academic or intellectual lives, but another set of R’s that are nonetheless important to the success of yourself as a person living a self-examined life.
The three R’s I have in mind are: Recount, Relive, and Reflect— on the events of a day, a week, a weekend, a month, a year, or any other measure of time that is significant in terms of the varied experiences you may have gained during that time. Recount them so as to take stock of the good, the bad, and everything else in between. Relive them– the good memories, that is– to savor the sweetness and the beauty of sometimes even the most ordinary of events that are rich in meaning perhaps only to you. And then, reflect on them in order to learn and grow, and perhaps even share of yourself.
In an age of constant stimuli via tools of technology that include but are not limited to the telephone, e-mail, chat, web browsing for news and information, texting, gaming, and a host of other things that certify us all as the consummate multi-taskers, it would behoove us every now and then to take a step back and review these three R’s: Recount, Relive and Reflect. And that is exactly what I wish to do with this post for the weekend that just passed by…
