I have just arrived from Manila as I was invited to witness the launching of The Search for the Toughest Jobs Philippines at the Ople Hall, Department of Labor and Employment in Intramuros, Manila. It was an event that was spearheaded by Alaxan FR and Alaxan endorser, Manny Paquiao, together with the Department of Labor and Employment. It centers on giving honor to Filipino men and women who take pride with their jobs, who are resilient, and most importantly, those who show toughness towards all the challenges attached to every task parallel to the job description, whether it's physical, mental or emotional. I believe this is a very good project as this will boost the moral of Filipinos and will help each one to do better in their jobs, much more than alleviating poverty or merely to bring the family a decent means of survival. It positively promotes work values and the value of hard work, despite hard labor and difficulties on the job.
The “Search for the Toughest Jobs in the Philippines” is open to all working Filipinos and this said contest will run starting May 26 until August 21, 2010. To join, a participant must log on to www.toughjobsphilippines.com, where he or she will have to register and upload a picture explaining why they have the toughest jobs. The winner shall be the one with the entry who gets the most number of votes online. He or she will bring home a trophy and a cash prize if he or she will win. To quantify what a tough job is, let us refer to Alaxan's thrust, that a hard working person feels pain with rigorous efforts attached to the working process, that is why Alaxan exists in the first place. To provide temporary relief to aching muscles brought about by strenuous efforts that are work related. In taking Alaxan, the worker will be able to continue working again, unless of course when the pain already warrants medical attention. Well, I have taken Alaxan many times, and it really works well whatever pain I experience-- menstrual cramps, headaches, muscle pain, etc.. To give you guys my understanding of this, let me refer to this video I found on You Tube.
I often see this commercial of PACMAN on television and I wonder why BRABALINTAWAN does not include the hands and the butt. BRABALINTAWAN stands for BRAso(arm), BAlikat(shoulder), Likod(back), bINti(leg), hiTA(thigh), kataWAN (body)--- these are the regions of the body where pain is usually associated parallel to the activities a person's job calls for. But for a blogger like me, it's more than that. The hands and the butt muscles are strangely painful after a day's work. And a day's work for a blogger like me is not just 12 hours.. sometimes, and the worst part of all is when I get just 3 hours of sleep.. or usually, short naps in between tasks.
Seriously, the hands and the butt are areas where I am feeling pain when it comes to my job as a blogger. Hmm.. I see eyebrows raising here. Yes. Blogging is a job for me. I write posts for other blogs, as well as blog for my own blogs. I have companies that assign me to specific blogs and write entries for them as a contributor, and I get paid. I also do paid advertising in my own blogs. Notice those posts which says that they are sponsored posts? They are the ones that actually provide me and my daughter all that we are enjoying now. But to be good at it and to get more tasks, I have to be awake when everyone else is asleep and even after everyone has awakened in the morning, has left for their respective offices and so on and so forth. Apart from being a blogger, I manage my home, and take care of my daughter's needs. Well, that's not all. I also cater to online tutorials for Korean and Japanese friends. Offline, I manage our tutorial center, making sure that our clients are matched to the teacher that can help them in their academic needs, as well as make sure payments are made, wages and benefits are given, bills paid, and so on and so forth..
Technically, apart from the pain in the hands and butt, I also experience frequent headaches and back pains. Stress resounds in the physical. But mental tasks are quite draining too. Mental or physical, both still shows physical symptoms to stress. The body complains when it can no longer tolerate sleepless nights and too much time spent in front of the PC. Sitting 12 hours straight or more just to finish tasks, is not at all healthy. And composing original entries is a rigorous thinking activity, matching a specific deadline with which specific posts need to be accomplished, headaches become worse than bad. But as a single mom and solo provider for a promising child, I can not complain. I do not complain for the rewards of having a child, advanced and awarded in school is an inspiration.
Seriously, the hands and the butt are areas where I am feeling pain when it comes to my job as a blogger. Hmm.. I see eyebrows raising here. Yes. Blogging is a job for me. I write posts for other blogs, as well as blog for my own blogs. I have companies that assign me to specific blogs and write entries for them as a contributor, and I get paid. I also do paid advertising in my own blogs. Notice those posts which says that they are sponsored posts? They are the ones that actually provide me and my daughter all that we are enjoying now. But to be good at it and to get more tasks, I have to be awake when everyone else is asleep and even after everyone has awakened in the morning, has left for their respective offices and so on and so forth. Apart from being a blogger, I manage my home, and take care of my daughter's needs. Well, that's not all. I also cater to online tutorials for Korean and Japanese friends. Offline, I manage our tutorial center, making sure that our clients are matched to the teacher that can help them in their academic needs, as well as make sure payments are made, wages and benefits are given, bills paid, and so on and so forth..
So this made me think that I should join The Search for the Toughest Jobs Philippines. Why? What makes blogging a tough job? Well, it may look like blogging is as simple as counting ABCs, it's not. Of course there are jobs out there that are really physical, which the Department of Labor and Employment classify as labor intensive jobs--- like those of the laborers, the plumber, the mechanic, the jeepney drivers, the drillers, the street sweepers, and many others. Yes, they may be seen to have a very tough job because they work under the heat of the sun, and all other reasons, but a blogger who is a single mother, the lone provider also experiences similar if not worse stress on the job. First, the deadlines that have to be met. If one can not meet the deadline, the blogger loses money. Not only that, the blogger also loses credibility, hence, no more future projects will come for the blogger. Me as a blogger, maintains not just one site. Many sites means many options and opportunities. If I fall short on maintenance of one blog, the blog loses PR and loss of projects follow. Maintaining a blog is not as easy as changing templates only. There is so much to do to keep a blog going apart from writing entries into it. Changing the look alone takes time as codes and links need to be replaced and recoded. Apart from PR, there's also RR, and all other rankings that a blogger need to have, otherwise, the blog will die. And if the blogger is earning by writing tasks, the blogger needs to seek out companies to write for. One company is not enough. Other companies require bidding for tasks which means clicking more than one task for more tasks, while others go by matching your blog categories with assignments per category. Whichever the case, the blog need to be alive with posts specific to its category to qualify. And many many more tasks to do to be on top of the blogging tribe.
If I am to Nominate and Vote for the Toughest Jobs in the Philippines entry, I would vote for a SAHM Blogger or a stay at home mom who blogs, and I wouldn't just vote for myself. I would vote for many others who share the same plight that I am in, regardless of our life stories. There's Ruby Ricafrente of www.rubzonline.com, there's Zoan from Davao of www.luckyzoan.blogspot.com and many others.
Being solo providers for your children is tough enough, raising them solo is even more challenging, but working to meet all their needs is strenuous. Sometimes it is frustrating, especially when you need to do everything to make them happen, yet the funds are just not enough because you are the only one making money to sustain the child's needs. Working the night-shift as a blogger and working as a mom during the day, that is tough! What more if you have more than one kid and no help to manage everything. That sure can be a very bumpy ride. On the contrary, getting results of your desired output is wonderfully exhilarating. It's no joke, and personally, I take pride in it. I am sure the two mommies do too.
Apart from the SAHM Bloggers, I think I will be nominating and voting for my sister Denise. She works the night-shift at HSBC as a CSR, and studies theater during the day. Output-wise, she shares her skills and training by giving workshops for free. On really busy days, she gets sick or experiences tired muscles and pains, but just like me, she takes Alaxan and she survives every bodily challenges.She is one hell of a toughie, not because it pays well, but because she loves what she does that is why she continues to do them no matter what.
My friend Joy is an active police woman who is working the night-shift as she belongs to the night operatives. She has two kids and technically, the lone provider for her family as her husband's business is not doing well at this time. After her shift at work, she helps in her husband's business to make it work for them financially, and of course, she takes care of the children and she works in the house doing the chores as she has no house help. Unimaginable, but it is true.
Lastly, my mother. She is tough at home and at work. She always delivers the right output. Whether it is to prepare a meal or do other household stuff, whether it's to travel on foot in the far-flung villages just to get the requirements for her job as one of the technical people of NCIP Region 10, or get ample support for the tribal youth who needs financial assistance for education. She gets tired, and I often see how she is when she gets tired. But not once did she ever complain. Instead, she rests when necessary, and bounce back to get the job done.
Hmm.. notice that most of them I mentioned here are women? Well, I believe that women workers who do well in their jobs, while raising children at the same time and fulfill home duties are the toughest workers. Being a mother is the toughest job there is. Motherhood is a very important job, that is full time no matter how a mother works full time or part time outside the home to make money. It is not only to provide the family financially, not only to fulfill current needs but to build dreams and a stable future for the kids. There is no mother in the world who would not want her children to have a good life. And most of the time, if the father, for whatever reason, can not or do not want to fulfill his obligation to the child and the family, it's the mother who will plunge into hard labor at whatever cost (body pain and all) just to make it through. I know this for a fact because I work triple the load for my daughter's sake.
Being solo providers for your children is tough enough, raising them solo is even more challenging, but working to meet all their needs is strenuous. Sometimes it is frustrating, especially when you need to do everything to make them happen, yet the funds are just not enough because you are the only one making money to sustain the child's needs. Working the night-shift as a blogger and working as a mom during the day, that is tough! What more if you have more than one kid and no help to manage everything. That sure can be a very bumpy ride. On the contrary, getting results of your desired output is wonderfully exhilarating. It's no joke, and personally, I take pride in it. I am sure the two mommies do too.
Apart from the SAHM Bloggers, I think I will be nominating and voting for my sister Denise. She works the night-shift at HSBC as a CSR, and studies theater during the day. Output-wise, she shares her skills and training by giving workshops for free. On really busy days, she gets sick or experiences tired muscles and pains, but just like me, she takes Alaxan and she survives every bodily challenges.She is one hell of a toughie, not because it pays well, but because she loves what she does that is why she continues to do them no matter what.
My friend Joy is an active police woman who is working the night-shift as she belongs to the night operatives. She has two kids and technically, the lone provider for her family as her husband's business is not doing well at this time. After her shift at work, she helps in her husband's business to make it work for them financially, and of course, she takes care of the children and she works in the house doing the chores as she has no house help. Unimaginable, but it is true.
Lastly, my mother. She is tough at home and at work. She always delivers the right output. Whether it is to prepare a meal or do other household stuff, whether it's to travel on foot in the far-flung villages just to get the requirements for her job as one of the technical people of NCIP Region 10, or get ample support for the tribal youth who needs financial assistance for education. She gets tired, and I often see how she is when she gets tired. But not once did she ever complain. Instead, she rests when necessary, and bounce back to get the job done. Hmm.. notice that most of them I mentioned here are women? Well, I believe that women workers who do well in their jobs, while raising children at the same time and fulfill home duties are the toughest workers. Being a mother is the toughest job there is. Motherhood is a very important job, that is full time no matter how a mother works full time or part time outside the home to make money. It is not only to provide the family financially, not only to fulfill current needs but to build dreams and a stable future for the kids. There is no mother in the world who would not want her children to have a good life. And most of the time, if the father, for whatever reason, can not or do not want to fulfill his obligation to the child and the family, it's the mother who will plunge into hard labor at whatever cost (body pain and all) just to make it through. I know this for a fact because I work triple the load for my daughter's sake.
How about you? Who do you think has the toughest job? Visit www.toughjobsphilippines.com for more information.
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