By Reni M. Valenzuela
All about an athlete as a champion or as an aspiring one is irreversibly intertwined with him as a private person.
There is no way to dichotomize anybody’s success in career and his personal life if success has to be sweet and eternally fulfilling. One will always go adversely affected without the other. True success is never incomplete. It is one earth with the sun on one side and moon on the other. You cannot call yourself a success if you are a failure as a person.
No such thing as “successful somebody,” only a successful person.
Ask those achievers who remain miserable. Some of them even committed suicide at the peak of their “success,” while countless others who have the resolve to “move on” continue to silently endure the unbearable “pains” of success. It’s just a matter of time.
Don’t leave your loved ones and family behind you wherever you go to travel heights in your endeavors. They would be the last to desert you under worst circumstances. Most importantly, let God be on the steering wheel to take charge of your journeys.
I am not privy to what has been going on in the life of Nonito Donaire as a private person for I have no business getting entangled with other people’s lives unless I am asked to counsel and mediate. But since Donaire’s lingering problem with his father once became an open topic in media awhile ago, I am compelled to say a piece or two of unsolicited advice in light of some developments and in connection with Donaire’s future as a top boxer and myself as a concerned fan of the “Filipino Flash.”
Donaire is reported to have a long standing, seemingly irreconcilable differences with his very own father and former trainer, Nonito Sr. As such, he and his fiancée then (now wife) had all the right to tell media to “leave them alone.” But since I learned again from media that Donaire and his fiancée decided not to invite Nonito Sr. to their church wedding which was held last year in their native land Philippines, I felt sad about it. The news was confirmed by Nonito Sr. in a PEP Exclusive interview. Hence the act of the couple caused to break the heart of Donaire’s father, and so do mine as a father to four wonderful children.
This could be the reason why I am more interested now, especially as a Filipino boxing scribe, to hear the news of Donaire’s reconciliation with his father and other immediate members of his family than writing about him as a spectacular fighter and boxing star. Donaire prevailed over Jeff Mathebula yesterday to win another championship belt, but I can only wish to congratulate him beyond that.
Don’t be a prodigal son for a long time. Go back home, Donaire! Ignore grudgers. Love you father and bring your wife with you. Happy ending!
renimvalenzuela@yahoo.com
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