WAGI

On May 21, 2012 I was interviewed for an episode in a TV show called WAGI. Wagi means “to win” and the TV show title is an acronym for Women Are Great Inspirations. In their invite letter they wrote that WAGI is a talk show which features inspiring stories of women with the objective of empowering its televiewers.

My initial reaction was, “Really? Me? Great inspiration?”

Within the same week of receiving the invite I received some text messages and emails from readers of my book, those who bought during the Mother’s Day promo. They were so heartwarming that I had to pause to digest what they wrote. Then I recalled the other wonderful messages I’ve received in the past since my book was published.

Reading these messages makes me feel good about myself but sometimes I feel that the positive feedback is way greater than what I’ve really done, how I really am as a mom and wife. I know that I’m just a regular mortal mom and wife – sometimes prone to nagging, yelling especially during their young constantly-quarreling days, procrastinating on some items in my to-do list, etc.

But what really constitutes a person of positive influence? I tried to recall the people whom I look up to and consider as great influences in my life. And you know what? When I told them that what they said or did positively affected me as a person, they sometimes wouldn’t even remember. And those who did were pleasantly surprised about the impact on me.

So I realize that it’s really like that. You live your life, you share your experiences, you help someone, you do things that you need to do, and you wouldn’t even know that these things are already affecting other people’s lives. You could only hope that you’re affecting them positively.

My son Martin accompanied me to the studio in San Fernando, Pampanga. Before the taping, I had a short chat with Sonia Soto, the host of the show. She is a human rights advocate, the former City Administrator of San Fernando, Pampanga and is currently the Station Manager of CLTV 36. She received the Golden Dove Award for Best Public Affairs Program Host during the 17th KBP Golden Dove Awards in 2008. Most of all, she is also a mother of boys – four but unfortunately, two passed away at very young age.

Sonia told me that it was the first time they were featuring someone who is not from Central Luzon (CLTV stands for Central Luzon TV), and a full time homemaker at that. It’s because when you talk about empowering women, the story usually develops from a simple woman (maybe a housewife) who later blooms into a powerhouse.

My story is quite the opposite – from a career woman to a full time homemaker. She told me that she came across my name while researching on raising Filipino boys.

The interview was done in a casual manner and as usual, I was in my usual bungisngis self. They even interviewed my son (away from me so I really don’t know what they discussed). I haven’t seen the edited interview and I will just see it at the same time as the televiewers on Wednesday June 6, 2012 at 7:30-8:30 pm. It can also be viewed on www.CLTV36.tv livestream.

My takeaway from this experience is this: What constitutes a person of positive influence? A regular human being like you and me. We may not realize it, but we are already affecting the people around us in one way or another. So let’s just live our life the best way we can and hope that our influence is nothing but positive.