Bigger Risk = Bigger Reward?

My personal reflection during the times I played for Yahoo! Fantasy last season.

As the season starts, I start to reflect back on the time I got my first ever virtual gold trophy at Yahoo! Fantasy Basketball last season.

 

Last season, I was assigned to draft 10th among the 18 managers. With the increased positioning compared to the previous seasons I had played in this league, it was my first time to get the best player I could never imagine.

We all know whoever you choose as your first pick for the team would dictate how you would shape your roster. After all, you wouldn't drop your first pick right?

So time is ticking... and it was my turn to choose my first player for team Coffee Gang... and with the 10th pick (1st round on a 18-team league) for the PTR Fantasy League (Fantasy League that I'm playing for), Coffee Gang (my fantasy team name) selects Paul George from the Los Angeles Clippers!

Paul George aka PG13... my first pick. Based on my observation in our league, those who have Paul George on their team has a high chance of winning the championship for that season. So here I am was given a chance to make wonders... however with a risk. Paul George can be the best player he could be if given a chance and if injuries would not get the better of him. I remember when I drafted him, I was actually nervous thinking if I made the right choice because Paul George as much as can explode especially with Kawhi Leonard having random rest nights, brings also a lot of uncertainty. With his history of injury, you never knew which PG will show up for your fantasy team.

During the first 10 weeks of the fantasy season, Paul George was playing exceptionally well for my team. He was either my best performing player on my team or doing well enough it was just that some players explode on that week. Not only that, I consistently get one of the top spots of the league especially when the ones I'm facing was either not that active, didn't choose their players well or I caught them when one of their best players is either injured or have fewer games to play. It was so fun as you are actually breezing through the first few weeks...

Then enter Week 11, Paul George was out indefinitely. Indefinitely! The risk! The risk of having him is now on display. How would a team navigate without their best player? Fret not! Because Paul George may be your team's best player, you should take note who you drafted 2nd onwards...

Enter Christian Wood, Anthony Edwards and Anfernee Simons...

Christian Wood, your 2nd pick for your team, technically got to step up because if your best player is out, he is technically the next in line to make sure he give you the points you needed. He may not be consistently the best player for your team, at least he made sure that he wasn't injured.

Next, Anthony Edwards. A promising rising star player who would one day dominate the league was also doing well as your team's third pick. Then you have...

Anfernee Simons. A guy I picked up from the waivers on Week 2. The guy who I didn't expect to be one of the constants especially with CJ McCollum having a lengthy absence at that time due to injury. Not only that, during that stretch, Portland perhaps realized that they can trade CJ McCollum knowing that they already have cheaper option in Anfernee Simons who can also produce exceptionally well playing alongside Damian Lillard.

Then came the last week of the fantasy season wherein you need to shape your roster in preparation for the playoffs. With Paul George still sidelined and Jerami Grant back playing albeit a diminished performance, then you now have Portland key players suddenly being shut down like Damian Lillard's abdominal injury, Jusuf Nurkic being injured and also Anfernee Simons who you relied on for so long was also sidelined. With these factors at play, you have to go into the battle with the players that would not only give you excellent performances, but also consistent one.

Enter Jordan Poole, the seventh player for my team. The first player that played for my team at the start of the season. The first player that set the tone for the team was the one helping my fantasy to enter the playoffs into a good footing. With Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry both sidelined, he got all the playing time and touches he could handle. And what happens when you have a player who is hot from the three-point line, high fantasy points that helped my team survive the opponents that I would be facing in the fantasy playoffs.

Now into the fantasy playoff-season where key players are starting to rest in preparation for playoffs, tanking teams starting to shut down their best players, you got to play the cards that you were dealt with. My team was able to manage to reach the finals led by Wendell Carter, Jr. and Jordan Poole.

On to the finals where I know I was sure to get silver place, I am going against one of the toughest managers in the league. Both of our best players cannot play at that point in time so it was really a matter of battling of reserves and how well do you draft your players and find gems from the waiver wire. It was a nerve wrecking match as you know you got to use your advantages right which is to add and drop the right players to help your team. This is the time wherein you would rely on bench scrubs that are taking over due to players resting. At the same time hoping that your best players can still play despite the season nearing to its end until...

PAUL GEORGE IS BACK!!! PAUL GEORGE IS BACK!!! PAUL GEORGE IS BACK!!!

PG-13 is back right in time for the playoffs to save my team against a tough opponent that eventually led to my first ever fantasy trophy!!!

So the question now is, is bigger risk tantamount to better reward? I guess it's yes and no.

Yes, because you weight a lot of pros and cons before making a decision, but in a league wherein you only have like a minute to decide on which one to choose among a plethora of choices, you have to make sure you pick the right one and hope for the best.

No, because if I laid all of my eggs in one basket, I wouldn't even won the finals. However, it should be noted that fantasy basketball consist of drafting and adding/dropping the right players. So even if your best player was sidelined, if you drafted the right players who outperformed based on their draft round, they can cover up the huge void your best player left.

So here is hoping that I would defend my title to the upcoming season!

There is Only One Spotlight

Years ago, my dad told me a story about Maggie Wilson and her husband Victor Consunji's seemingly 'competitive' approach when it comes to posting their pictures on social media. He deemed their approach unconventional in the sense that they seemed to be competing on who is the more attractive one whenever they post their pictures. I think if I'm not mistaken he may have commented that the marriage might be unsustainable if they keep on going at that pace.

First of all, I will be honest when I tell you I do not know both of them. Maybe I heard or I did, but not enough to care about what was going on in their life. Next, for some reason I really do not know why my dad would say that especially he does not have any social media account for him to observe such things - while me on the other hand have social media accounts yet I did not care about it. So I just put it on one ear and store it in some part of my brain that I don't know if it was useful, "did you know", or just whatever. Lastly, aren't all celebrities like that? Post here, and there and everywhere so that they would garner a lot of viewers, followers etc. Perhaps it was like me thinking it seems to be normal for them anyway.

Then come around September 2021, the news broke that they were already separated. I was like "Whoa!" The first thing that came to my mind was my dad's comment regarding the (ex)-couple. I don't know if my dad was like a fortune teller, merely coincident or I don't know. I was just amazed how did the heck he figured out. I am not saying that that was the actual reason why they broke up but as we have known by now there might have been cheating allegations on both sides anyway.

So when I saw the news, the very next time we sat on the table together for a meal, I brought up the topic that they broke up and I told him I remember that he mentioned to me about them. He then expounded on his thought regarding it and said the relationship could have been saved if one of them decided to tone down their post about themselves and perhaps more about the other or perhaps their child. He mentioned Marian Rivera as an example who should be emulated on social media postings.

When we finished our meal and my dad have to go back to work, I immediately searched the Instagram profiles of Maggie Wilson, Victor Consunji and Marian Rivera. Boy my dad was onto something when he commented on the social media posts of these celebrities (I still believe he does not have an Instagram or any social media account for him to say that. Lol!). When I checked their profiles, my dad was making sense. All the posts of Maggie Wilson and her ex-husband are mostly full of themselves and rarely the other. Heck there was even one post by Maggie Wilson that struck me where she posted a picture of her then husband and I felt force in the sense because it's her husband's day, he has to be the "bida" or the star for the moment. Then I searched Marian Rivera's Instagram profile, there were solo posts of herself, but that was in relation to her work since she mentioned it was an "ad". I'm sure there's no problem with that since she was getting paid to post that. Also in her Instagram profile, she also made sure to post some pictures of her children and also her husband.

This made me realize something celebrity or not. There is only one spotlight. Whatever was in the spotlight was the only thing people could see in the public eye or in social media per se. There's only an ample space on that spotlight where couples could stand under it.

Now the question is how do they share the spotlight in the people's eyes? Equally, unequally etc. There are many ways on how to utilize (or not to utilize) the said spotlight - and also whatever the decision to make or break a certain relationship. If both couples are private persons, then great there's no need for anyone to be in the spotlight. It could also be one is taking a huge chunk of the spotlight while the private one would stand behind the shadows - which is fine since the goal was to ensure that the relationship is still going strong despite the unequal distribution of the attention that the people give to them.

But both initially desired an equal distribution of spotlight with even the more desire of getting their share? That would be a huge problem - eventually. While audiences would be amazed at both couples being glamorous in front of them, we already know that deep down the couple are fighting for the dominance in the said spotlight which would indeed put a strain on their marriage - perhaps this is why there are also a lot of high-profile break-ups. Which is why some celebrities would rather date or get married into someone outside of the industry, who is more reserved since their jobs would not entail them to be always in the people's spotlight.

We know that there are high profile celebrities locally or internationally that were still together, but we also know that there wasn't much tension for them to hold a grudge against the other if one of them was becoming popular while the other was in the shadow of the other.

To conclude, in the age of social media we might get affected with the number of likes, followers or friends that we had online and whenever we unintentionally compare ourselves with our significant other. I think before entering in such relationship, one must know the amount of spotlight/attention the other person needs then compare it with ourselves if we are okay with the setup or gauge if our love for them is greater than the amount of social-media attention we might receive. Then once we have those basis, we should know if we are willing to accept whatever role that was given to us in the spotlight of relationship.

Back to 'Civilization'

This coming Monday, I'm finally back to my morning shift after 453 days of doing mid-day shift!

    I'm not going to lie, deciding last year to suggest a wild idea to the HR Department and the respective bosses for me to work on the mid-day shift so that I would not end up working more than 12 hours on some days (and then reporting to work early on the next day) was a very, very hard pill to swallow. Hard in the sense that my primary Filipino Work Value based on my Filipino Work Values Scale (FWVS) results was being challenged in this situation.

    You may have been wondering what is a FWVS? Basically it's a questionnaire where it asked you how much you value something based on certain scenarios at work that is suitable for the traits of a Filipino worker. It has 10 different subscales to determine which among these you value the most in the workplace and these are: Environmental, Familial, Intellectual-Achievement, Interpersonal, Managerial, Material, Occupational, Organizational, Religious and Variety. ^[1] You can value them all but with the question in the form of 5-point Likert scale, you would feel some of the values there had less impact to you when it comes for you to be motivated in the workplace and that also means you can see if that workplace can provide that certain value that you've being valuing in the workplace. ^[2] Get it?

    I would just tackle some of the subscales as a I go along in this blog since explaining each and every subscale was not the main point of this. So you'll be wondering what was the work value that was challenged? Perhaps most would say it was money (Material Subscale) and the usual solution would be to throw more money at you right? What if I tell you that was not the subscale I was referring to and I'm referring the Environmental subscale of it?

   Now that I mentioned the Environmental Subscale of the Filipino Work Values Scale, I would explain what is it all about. A worker who is said to have a high value on environment says to value the physical surroundings in the workplace and the like such as the easy mode of transportation or even the favorable work schedule. So here is where the environment subscale of it becomes tricky during lockdown. We know that a work-from-home setup makes the work time and rest time blurred. It may have given you unlimited freedom to do anything you want for as long as you make sure to produce the output that is required by the company, but it also meant that the boundaries between work and rest were unintentionally crossed. So in here it depends on whether you got the short end of the stick or not.

    However in my case, it sure was fun while it lasted. But then given the nature of my work, I was not totally mad or frustrated (maybe a little) because perhaps I understood my role in the company. My De La Salle University's Graduate School's Action Research Paper as part of our thesis defense sure did made me realize that the solution that we found on the issue that our department was dealing pre-pandemic would not work for me - but at least it worked with my fellow colleagues in the same department as mine.

    So you'll be wondering, what the heck happened to me when I decided to start my work shift after lunch until an hour before the start of the government's official start night shift (at 10pm)? Well for one, the sleep pattern definitely changed. Imagine a person who could probably count with her fingers using one hand the number of times she would sleep after 12 midnight in a month (barring online sale) pre-mid shift but now sleeping late becoming the norm. When my department's VP mentioned to me that I might be toast because of the brutal schedule since she mentioned you cannot just immediately shut yourself down to sleep by the time you clocked out at 9pm (barring your supervisors higher than your department's VP would not be looking for you during those times), she was definitely right because at first you could immediately go to bed after 9pm, but as the time goes by your body would take a toll and you would really need to wind down before you could actually doze off to sleep.

    Second, an afternoon shift may have meant more time to cater to the needs of my family (like doing errands for the family or family business) but it also meant that less time to do things for myself. Imagine how many books and movies that were pending (I have not finished reading Witch of Portobello by Paulo Coelho until now for crying out loud - the book not being a usual story plot does not even help too). It also meant that everything has to be enjoyed short-lived. As one of my friends told me before sometimes in the lines of "before Sarah can be dragged out anytime we want during the work week but now it's even a luxury if we can make her go out with us.". 

    Lastly, I may have gotten the most possible income during the stretch (thanks to holiday pays), but it may have come at the cost of having the longest and the most bizarre sicknesses I've ever experienced during this period. (we are not even counting the number of times I had a fever after I got administered with the COVID vaccine). So you think throwing more money would motivate the time? Maybe it depends on who you ask and what was the situation.

    What struck me while reading Maktub by Paulo Coelho was when one of the wise men shared the story about an explorer. I quote from the book.

An explorer, a white man, anxious to reach his destination in the heart of Africa, promised an extra payment to his bearers if they would make greater speed. For several days, the bearers moved along at a faster pace. One afternoon, though, they all suddenly put down their burden and sat on the ground. No matter how much money they were offered, they refused to move on. When the explorer finally asked why they were behaving as they were, he was given the following answer: "We have been moving along at such a fast pace that we no longer know what we are doing. Now we have to wait until our soul catches up with us."

    This was what I am always thinking of when it comes to stakeholders motivating you by giving you more money. Perhaps I was a little fortunate that I was somehow in a more financial stable state compared to others. But given my health history (especially during college wherein I got hospitalized twice in a span of six months), that my body can seem to only take a certain amount of toll and stress in order not to get sick, I knew that if the material subscale does not have to be that extremely important when I look for the job. I have to prioritize other stuff like the location, workplace where it would generate the least possible distress (because stress can still be good and bad, you just hope you have more good ones than bad). What would be the use of high salary if you always call in sick right? This may be one of the reasons why I was still working in the same company, one of the core Filipino work subscale was still being addressed at the same time the other non-important subscales were being addressed without you desperately craving it at all.

    So after 453 days, the project was finally done (perhaps earlier - I just waited just in case they changed their mind and if I haven't asked someone from the higher ups for the update), got the approval that I could go back to morning shift... except I'm still recuperating from the viral infection I got that still got me on sick leave for 5 days. I would have wanted a long vacation after the project was done, but since I ended up being sick by the time they approved my shift, I guess I might as well enjoy this after never having a two whole days of leave during those time.

    For now, looking forward to going back to 'civilization' where taking leaves are okay, hanging out with friends anytime I want (as long as I do not compromise my colleagues of course), and maybe I dare say get my life back?

References:

[1] Cietowbae, (n.d.). Filipino Work Values. Emaze. Retrieved August 12, 2022 from https://www.emaze.com/@AIZOWWCW

[2] Llenares, I. I. (2015). Contribution of Demographics and Human Resource Management Practices to Work Values of Employees in the Philippines. International Journal of Education and Research , 3(1), 299–310. Retrieved August 12, 2022, from https://www.ijern.com/journal/2015/January-2015/25.pdf.

Savoring 'The Final Year' of the Seattle G.O.A.T

This year is the last time Sue Bird will be playing for the only WNBA team she's played for. I'm glad that after the gap years of not watching any Storm basketball due to already working, losing access to WNBA on local television, not having thought of the WNBA League pass because I thought I could not afford it, etc. I felt I was given a one final chance to see her play.

With us still working from home, saw one of my newly formed friends online posted that the WNBA was only $12 or something like that, I felt like now is the right time with all the resources of whatever kind that I have now, I made sure to grab that one last opportunity because if there's one thing I would not like to happen again was I wouldn't be able to give myself a chance to savor the final games watching your favorite player play on the court.

Not being able to do this to Tony Parker (my favorite NBA Player), the way I wanted it to happen by watching his last games in a Charlotte Hornet jersey, and only for him to announce on the media that he's going to finally retire make you come unprepared for it. It was too late since I felt like League Pass was so expensive to pay for a month nevertheless for the whole season, add into that that the TV Cable we have right now suddenly cut their contract with NBA Premium and switching to another TV Cable that provides that was not even worth the price.

But with Sue Bird announcing her final year, our company is still on a full-time work-from-home set-up, I'm still working on a mid-shift where it allows me to focus were the perfect storm for me to watch all the games I could possibly watch before she eventually retire - for good.

With less than 10 games into the WNBA regular season and 3 games that are slotted on a midnight to dawn time. I just hope... I just hope that I would have enough will to actually wake up on this and here's hoping that they allow us to watch the games even if they are nationally televised. Because what's the use of subscribing to WNBA app if you can't watch the games anyway, right?

So here it is, savoring the final year, bought Sue Bird's panini card (believe me when I say her panini card was most expensive one compared to the other panini cards of NBA players that I bought - and being more financially stable and not worrying of blowing huge amount of money, it is so worth it as your remembrance too), and also a shirt which I don't know where it was placed after I asked them to wash it.

And oh, I really hope they make it in the playoffs which means more chances to see Sue Bird play!

How Having Nickeil Alexander-Walker in Yahoo! Fantasy Taught Me about Relationships

My personal reflection during the times I played for Yahoo! Fantasy last season.

With the 82nd pick (5th round on a 18-team league) for the PTR Fantasy League (Fantasy League that I'm playing for), Coffee Gang (my fantasy team name) selects Nickeil Alexander-Walker from the New Orleans Pelicans!

Potential, Promising. I'm sure for those who drafted Nickeil during the 2021-2022 NBA season picked him because of his spectacular performance as the 2020-2021 NBA season concludes and hoping that he can continue to improve his performance the following season. One might think that getting Nickeil might be a steal, or for some they decided to reach to him thinking that he'll be gone before you could choose for the succeeding round.

If we apply this in every prospective or actual relationship, this is one of the things we look for in a prospective partner. Potential that it would work. What you saw based on previous encounters made you think that this person could make you (or your team) better.

Started with a Bang! As the actual 2021-2022 NBA season start, Nickeil didn't disappoint me with his play (translated in respective fantasy points). I'm sure this is the same sentiment as my fellow fantasy players who have him in their respective league they're playing especially Brandon Ingram (Pelican's lead superstar) and Zion Williamson (Pelican's most promising young player) still sidelined. He should get all the playing time he could handle.

Relationship wise, you thought that both of you started off at the right foot and that your relationship will last a lifetime. Perhaps akin to how we wanted to be like Fairy Tales and that there is no obstacle that would get into your way.

Threats, Challenges, Obstacles and Unhealthy Habits. Every fantasy player who have Nickeil knows in their mind that at one point Brandon Ingram will return and this would mean a return to bench for Nickeil. However, that was not the only issue that Nickeil owners encountered. Herbert Jones, the second round draft pick for the Pelicans that season was actually playing well and was slowly taking playing time away from Nickeil. Not only Herbert Jones, but another rookie in the team was also playing so well in the name of Jose Alvarado. Alvarado was an undrafted guard who was known to make sneaky steals by camouflaging on the court which makes opposing points guards unaware of his tactic which leads to opponents turning the ball over. Reading the comments in Fantasy regarding Nickeil would summarize how fantasy owners reacted to the situation. Some are frustrated, felt they wasted a high pick or cut losses by dropping him and picking up another player who is more useful.

Having Nickeil in fantasy during his inconsistency and performances that perhaps makes you want to pull your hair in frustration is akin to what I might have gone through in one of the guys I met online. Uncertainty, challenges and a bunch of wait and see approaches would factor in on whether you would hold on to a player (or prospective relationship) or let go. 

For leagues with fewer teams, Nickeil was already dropped by the time Ingram returned coupled with the rise of Jones and Alvarado for sure. However being in an 18-team league and my ranking is still one of the top in the standings, I was perhaps in the stage where I know there is uncertainty looming towards this player (or prospective relationship status) but because I could still tolerate the situation and I can still function efficiently in life, you seem to brush the issue under the rug, especially if you had the top players and lower drafted players who are paying huge dividends that are performing above or at par with their expected performance. 

Similar to relationship that's I was experiencing, treading the waters, going with the flow because I'm still okay. I'm still doing well. However I noticed that I realized that whenever there are no San Antonio Spurs games (I'm a Spurs fan BTW), I would check the Pelicans' game and watch and root for Nickeil to play well because you felt like you wasted a pick on him and hoping you could salvage any possible value out of him. It was so bad that I was hoping that he played well against the Spurs when they played. Glad the Spurs still won even if he played decently. Rooting for him that bad made you looked desperate into holding on a relationship that perhaps not going anywhere.

Turning point? In every NBA season, trades are always in play which would make you cheer or frown depending on which players would be affected by the trade. Some players could benefit from it, some not. Around mid February, Nickeil Alexander-Walker was one of the players who was traded to Portland Trailblazers in exchange for CJ McCollum and Larry Nance Jr. Imagine the joy the remaining faithful Nickeil Alexander-Walker fantasy owners experienced when that news happens. That means he can have more playing time especially Portland was somewhat doing a fire-sale by trading good players like Normal Powell and with Damian Lillard still sidelined with abdomen injury. 

However, the joy was short-lived. After he arrived in Portland, he was then traded to the Utah Jazz for Elijah Hughes and Joe Ingles. Utah Jazz, who is a playoff contender, certainly would not let a guy like Nickeil Alexander-Walker play major minutes especially they still have ball-dominant guards on the team in Donovan Mitchell, Mike Conley and Jordan Clarkson.

In relationship, perhaps there were times wherein we thought that things would get better, that things would finally go into the direction that we wanted. But it ended up giving false hopes or worse than what you are experiencing right now.

Remaining ounce of Patience. Nickeil Alexander-Walker, a Jazz player. What would Utah do with him? Would he play big minutes? Spot minutes or just a bench warmer? By this time the remaining faithful might have given up on him because an experienced team like Utah wouldn't want to mesh their current team and a new comer who is not a superstar would not get immediate minutes in the midst of trying to become more competitive.

You may be wondering, what did I do with him? Hold on. Being patient because in every trade who knows maybe some players would eventually be in better positions (in fantasy basketball terms) than where they had been playing before. I normally do not drop players because I felt that impatience and panic would make you unnecessary drop players that you would eventually regret until you are forced to make a decision with whatever is happening to your team (or life).

Perhaps for some rooting for a prospective relationship to blossom, this might be where patience is starting to wear thin. Hopelessness starting to get bigger day after day. Other aspects of your life are starting to affect you which makes you finally decide to...

Let go. Despite some inactive managers, there are still managers who decided to still hold on. After not playing a single game the week before All-Star game and also just one minute post All-Star game and with my team already clinched the fantasy playoffs and with two regular fantasy seasons remaining for Fantasy playoff positioning despite Nickeil's underwhelming performance as your team's fifth pick, it's time to let go.

Just like in actual or prospective relationships, sometimes letting go is the right thing to do. With my team already in the fantasy playoffs and coasting against the two remaining opponents before fantasy playoffs begin, I know I have to drop him from my team and find another player that is consistently playing. Sometimes we have to accept the fact that we over value something or someone more than what they really are and we sometimes do not realize that there are people in life that we way underestimate and yet they outperform based on our current judgement towards them.

No Regrets. Dropping him two weeks before the fantasy playoffs somehow helped me find a better and more productive player. It also made you stop having this brief obsession with him and wondering if you made the right decision or will the choice haunt you eventually. 

After you made a decision on letting go, things are getting better. You are more relieved at the thought that the struggle, pain and any other negative emotions you've gone through were already gone at last. Even if you learned that the person still wanted you despite the miscommunications and uncertainty you've gone through, with your mind finally decided it's over, any glimmer of hope or potential is already ignored as you know that you cannot afford to wait for the potential or chance to eventually blossom. You've wasted a lot of time in waiting for something that didn't prosper, why wait for another period of time even if the person decided to make changes or attempt to improve it? 

There may be no virtual or actual trophy right now for me to prove that I eventually won, but at least what I have right now is peace, certainty and hope that there are great things ahead of me. 

Updated Fantasy Results: See this page. 

Together Waiting

When my friend from the States told me that he got back with his ex, I was extremely happy that they got back together since I felt like I've been hearing a lot of break-ups here and there whether celebrity or non-celebrity or even a former athlete that I probably had a crush on back then (expansion of this probably in a separate blog).

During conversation, I was asking him about how they got back together etc. because I even told him that it's just nice that they got back together to at least make something positive out of bunch of unfortunate news I'd received whether it's one day late or probably years late. After he told his story, he then told me similar to the lines of "I can't wait for you to tell me your (love) story".

His message made me realized that I was not the only one waiting for my love story to unfold. I may be the main character of the story and the one "obligated" to wait for the story to unfold, but those who wanted you to have that story finally unfold are also waiting for it to happen - sometimes to the point that they are actually becoming more impatient than you and were sometimes the ones who would start jumping guns by matchmaking you with whoever they think is a good match for you.

The point is, if the people around us are patiently waiting for our love story to unfold, maybe we should also be patient enough to wait too. They are not really obliged to join us in waiting for our future partner or spouse, but these people chose to wait with us so that we would get the happy ending we wanted and also what they wanted for us.

Perhaps this is the reason why we sometimes see friends and relatives are crying when the bride is about to walk down the aisle. Aside from knowing that the person is finally getting married to a good spouse, they also know that their patience in waiting for their special person's love story to naturally unfold is very worth it. Since they chose to commit in waiting along side the person, they too know the struggle that this person has been going through.

So even if in a group of friends, we were the only person left single or unmarried, we should know that those people who are truly concerned of our happiness and hoping that you would also have a happy ending like them are also accompanying you in waiting so you wouldn't feel sad and alone. They are the ones who are encouraging you not to force you to forge your own story if it's not yet the right time, but will keep on encouraging you to wait - because they're there for you even if they are in a happy relationship or happily married.