JOBARCLIX

There are days when you become extremely bored and nothing drives you to move, not even the rumbling of your empty stomach or the friendly cockroach that crosses your chest from an open pizza box nearby. You become too lazy you begin to grow roots that bind you to the bed or to the floor or to your sofa and the only thing that moves is your thumb, lazily pushing buttons for your only window to the world: the tv.

And then you think about weird things like nora aunor or miss gay pembo or Harleys for tricycles. and then you gravitate towards bigger things. You begin to question the meaning of your existence and your role in the grand theory of things and you realize you are nothing compared to paris Hilton or kris aquino or worse, peter north. And then you think of schemes to put yourself on top.

You think of ways to get filthy rich and buy your way out on almost anything. You get a model for a girlfriend, a Ferrari on weekends, an audi on weekdays or a night in amanpulo. Then you think of getting a phd in digital signal processing, discover new species, help uncover the human genetic sequence. Then you think of ways to immortalize yourself, a song perhaps or a new subatomic particle named after your favorite pet fish markov.

And then you realize you’re still bored. The stench of the pizza fills the room mixed with used utensils and your cockroach fellow brings his entire neighborhood in. you still don’t want to move. Coz you think you’re cool by being lazy.

Trainspotting is a movie by danny boyle based on a novel by irvine welsh and shown in 1996 with ewan mcgregor in the lead and my idol Robert Carlyle in a supporting role. It is a movie about a junkie and his struggle to break away from substance abuse and boredom. The movie does not preach nor offer a solution to your “cool” state but rather it shows you what you are and what you’ve become. Like boy abunda’s mirror, only this time, the mirror is talking to you. What you do next, is up to you.

And so while you bask in the glorious sunshine of your boredom, the world goes on with its business and it’s leaving you behind. Being bored and lazy these days is no longer cool. You’ve got to get up. own the world.

Think of trainspotting. Get a copy. And take a look at yourself. Then come up to me with a shaved chin and offer me a bottle of ice-cold beer.

Choose life.

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trainspotting photo courtesy of imdb.