Goodbye, Carlo!

No, this isn’t about you’re thinking. I’m not at all depressed or even emotionally unstable to write about that. Come to think of it, I never realized that something good comes out when I’m really down—I get to write about deep and profound stuff.

Anyway, this is about the hotdog commercial that once invaded the TV screens several years back. It was about a chubby little girl crushing on a cute 13-year old Patrick Garcia, a.k.a. Carlo in the commercial. She wrote about it in her diary. It goes something like this.

Dear Diary,


Carlo sat beside me today. He’s so cute! Sabi niya I’m pretty kaya lang I’m fat. I eat too much kasi eh. Mula ngayon, goodbye, spaghetti! Goodbye, chocolates! Goodbye, hotdogs!


Ay… Goodbye, Carlo!

Just like her, there was a time in my life when I tried to please everyone around me. My parents, my relatives, my teachers, my friends. I did all I could to do everything they wanted me to. I wanted to please everyone so much that I almost forgot who I was and what I wanted for myself.

Good for this little girl. She immediately realized that if the guy she was crushing on can’t accept her for who she is, he wasn’t worth it! It took me a lot of time to realize this for myself. I fought hard to prove my worth to everyone around me. I fought hard to make myself easier to love. I thought I wasn’t worthy of it.

But one day, I woke up, tired of all the pretenses and make believe. I removed all the masks I wore and just been myself ever since. I was hesitant at first. But now, I’m glad I took the risk. It feels great to finally be my true self!

Better, I found true friends who accept me for who I truly am. I have my imperfections, but they continue to love me anyway—not really despite of it, but more so, because of it. And I know I can never thank them enough.

The lesson for today: Just BE YOURSELF! No matter what they say.