Happy Earth Day!

Come April 22, it’s Earth Day once again! It has been more than 4 decades since the celebration was first observed in March 21, 1970. Well it’s not the earth’s actual birth date. So has anyone ever wondered how old is mother earth? Geologists estimated through radiometric age dating, that the only living planet in the solar system is approximately 4.5 billion years old! Can anyone imagine how many candles she’ll blow this year? I don’t. Seriously – How happy is Mother Earth now?

During my school years, I’d been taught many essential things about the environment. Thanks to my teachers. I learned that cutting of trees could lead to soil erosion. And after heavy precipitation, land slides and flash floods might occur leaving damage to properties and even human lives. And that heavy smoke from factories and smog from vehicles could pollute the atmosphere. And that hazardous chemicals and oil spills that spread across rivers and oceans could poison fishes and other marine creatures. And that burning coal could increase carbon dioxide emissions which might worsen the accumulation of greenhouse gases. And that using hair spray and other refrigerants emit CFCs (chloroflourocarbons) that could deplete the ozone layer subsequently increasing ultraviolet rays exposure. And so much more. It doesn’t take a genius to understand these facts.

And in succeeding years of my life, I’d been constantly reminded of matters concerning mother earth. Who could ever forget the disastrous Chernobyl accident in 1986 that killed dozens of plant workers, and eventually thousands of local residents due to nuclear radiation? Who could not recall the worst Gulf War oil spill in 1991 that reached a hundred miles and caused considerable damage to wildlife? And what about the cutting-and-burning of trees in Indonesia that caused the 1997 Southeast Asian haze with over-all damage estimated at 9 billion US dollars? (And not to mention other equally mind-boggling mishaps as Bhopal gas tragedy, the Baia Mare cyanide spill, and the recent Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.)

And so I thought I know everything. But after watching Al Gore’s critically acclaimed video, An Inconvenient Truth, I definitely felt more concerned of our environment, knowing the earth is experiencing unprecedented changes that results to climate crisis which had affected, is affecting, and will continue to affect every human and living creature on this planet. And that is, not in a good way! My school days had long been over but statesmen, businessmen, scientists and concerned people all over the world are still talking about the very same things discussed inside the classroom. Environmental issues like deforestation, pollution, ozone depletion, intensive farming, slash and burn, cyanide fishing, nuclear fallout, and global warming – are still the most vital issues in the 21^st century.

I assume we know that dwindling forest covers due to continuous illegal logging is bad news. But nature conservation and planting more eco-friendly trees and other anti-pollutant plants is highly recommended. We know that proper garbage disposal and recycling have good benefits. We know that utilizing renewable energy is better than exploiting fossil fuel. And so we know the problems for quite some time now. And I believe we know the answers as well. But the question is... 

How far have we acted on these solutions?

The Quitter

Someone said, Winners never quit and quitters never win. Deriving from that quote, it is often thought that quitters are losers. But with due respect, I beg to disagree. For I have already won when I quit…from smoking.

The decision was not a child’s play. It took all my maturity to accomplish my goal. And I did it. But it had been a proverbial tug-of-war. Actually, I already tried quitting at least twice since I initiated the bad habit on my 21^st birthday. At one point, I managed to be smoke-free for a year. And in another time, 2 years. On each attempt, I experienced withdrawal symptoms which I’d only become aware of in later time. For all its worth, I did prove that I have the will power. Or did I?

With hunger for knowledge, I’d come to know that each cigarette contains addictive nicotine, carcinogenic tar, and other hazardous chemicals. And that each smoke shortens the life of smoker by 11 minutes. I even saw horrific pictures of lungs from corpses of chain smokers. And a thousand times I’d already read – Warning: Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous To Your Health. But these bits and pieces of life-threatening information had proven to be worthless. When I puff in the white vapor into my mouth down to my lungs and then exhaled a whiff of menthol through my nasal cavity, it’s déjà vu – a taste of heaven once more! Before I knew it, I’m back to the routine of inhaling-smoke-of-burning-tobacco again. And this time I’d become more addicted that a pack a day would not be enough.
This went on for years. In my subconscious, as long as I felt good, I would continue to smoke. But then I experienced a saturation point. I reached a critical situation where I loathed my addiction as I got ill last summer. I felt so lethargic, lost my appetite, and had difficulty in breathing. This really got me worried. In my mind I thought if I continue this health-defying habit, things will even get worse. So rather than suffer more diseases later in life, I finally decided to quit. And looking back, I'm glad I made the decision. It’s still a constant battle against temptation but I’m feeling much better now.

Going back to that famous quotation, I had known it since I was in highschool. But I never really found out who spoke those words. And so my natural curiosity hinted me to finally look for the identity of the speaker. By the power of Google Search (the most-used search engine in World Wide Web), it led me to Vincent Thomas Lombardi, the Football-Hall-of-Famer. With his unparalleled streak of victories, Vince never had a losing season as a head coach in the National Football League. He’s so legendary that the NFL trophy is named in his honor. His “never quit” attitude undoubtedly culminated to his success.

But life is an irony – for Mr. Lombardi did quit, too. And what’s more interesting, I found out that he’s also a smoker! But he cut the habit when he reached 50. From funtrivia.com, “He quit in 1963. Lombardi had long considered smoking to be a sign of a weak will, but lacked the necessary willpower to quit. Then after experiencing a dizzy spell that he attributed to smoking, he quit cold turkey during the 1963 season and never smoked again - much to the consternation of his staff, all whom smoked.” He lived seven more years until he succumbed to cancer in 1970. He was 57 years young. On his deathbed, the famed football coach said that he was not afraid to die, but he had regrets for he could have accomplished more if he’s given more years to live. It might have been too late for him. But not for others like me.

Learning this vital detail in his biography, it gave me another valid reason to quit. It's good to know he's also a quitter like me. Because of that, I will never quit on quitting smoking for I think I did the right choice. Thanks for the inspiration, Vince!


And so to rephrase Lombardi’s quote:


Sometimes you have to quit...to be a winner.

Greetings, blogosphere!

Hello, people of the world! This is my first piece of writing here.

For starters, let me explain the title of this blog.

iSpeak: portmanteau of two simple words – “I” and “speak”. The former is a pronoun “used to refer to oneself as speaker or writer”. It also means “the self; the ego”. While the latter is a verb defined as “to utter words or articulate sounds with ordinary speech modulation". In other words, “talk.” Combining the two terms, it becomes a statement – my statement.

After many years of procrastination, I finally arrived into a decision to create this blog as a venue to speak out my mind; to talk about any sensible topic under the sun. Moreover, to speak up for people who can’t verbalize their thoughts; for others who can’t express their sentiments; or for those who can’t voice out their opinions in public. And that I believe is the goal I intend to pursue.

Before I end this article, let me share some words of wisdom from the greatest philosopher of all time. 


As Plato once said: 

Wise men speak because they have something to say; 
Fools because they have to say something.

Let this adage be our guiding principle every time we speak.