incremental steps

these words, i know ive always heard or read about even before i went to law school. but they were burned into my brain after our first class in legal method, where, while we were attempting to understand vandevelde's article [thinking like a lawyer, i think], my good friend izzy made mention of these words. they got her 1) the first respectable recit in our method class, and 2) a coveted grade to go along with the respect of our method professor.

i don't remember why these words were significant to our discussion. i don't even remember how they were used. but i always remember them when i am pressed for quick fixes to all my seemingly complex problems. too many cases to read? take incremental steps, one case at a time. worry about finishing the coverage later. (this i learned very late in my law school life, unfortunately - only now, during my [hopefully] second to the last semester). i have absented many classes and foregone the task of finishing the coverage because of my perpetual fear of reading and reading and never making a dent in our assigned materials. too many things on my to-do list, tackle them one task at a time - even when you dont get to check all of them, you at least have the pride in accomplishing most or even some of them, making for a productive day. ive approached my bedside reading list in the same way, as of late: before, it used to be that i would read a chapter and then forget about it till months later, when i would have to reread even the last few pages that ive read. now, a month after ive assessed my reading progress, i was giddy to realize that ive read 3 books since then. this to me is a major achievement. i am finally reading the way i want to - in part because of my newly developed speed reading abilities (hehehe cramming does have its perks), and partly because of this incremental step mentality.

which gets me to thinking: if i can begrudgingly drag myself through the pain that is lawschool, why can i not literally take one step at a time and get on the road to fitness finally? hmm. i will have to get my head wrapped around that i guess.

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on a completely unrelated note, our former president corazon aquino died last saturday, and while everybody is celebrating her life, you can really sense a feeling of loss when people realize what her dying means.

i was very young when the edsa revolutions took place, but my parents both trooped to edsa in their yellow shirts and told me all about how this woman corazon aquino restored democracy to our country. i had my yellow shirt and my doll, and i think i was even taken to edsa (when it was less dangerous, and more celebratory). i sat on my father's shoulders and i saw the millions troop to ayala and celebrate the fall of mr. marcos.

i can see how affected my parents are because of the death of cory. to be sure, when she was alive they did not always agree on her policies and opinions, and they were very vocal about the subject. but one thing that they always agreed on was the strength of her character. she was humble, convicted, faithful, and honest. some blamed her for her overt reliance on religion to steady her, but at least amidst all doubt at her policies we never doubted what kind of person she was. she always had the country's best interests at heart, guided by what she thought her God would think was best, to be sure. if i can say that at the end of my life,

last night my mom and i were watching parts of one of her many televised interviews and she spoke about how destiny was instrumental in making her the first female president in asia. she said ninoy had always planned on becoming president but fate would not let it happen. this gets me thinking, if fate is an integral factor, then am i still here in law school because of fate, or because of fear for lack of a better option?

nonetheless, i am applying this incremental steps idea this sem. one case at a time, one day at a time. hopefully, someday soon, i will have finished through all of this, a changed person.