Dead Ends Wherever I Go
by Oliver Carlos
My initials are OC. That fits me well. They represent my personality perfectly. OC means obsessive-compulsive. I’m the type of person who knows what he wants, and plans meticulously his own future, both long term and day-by-day. OC people get awfully frustrated when their plans don’t lead to fruition the way they wanted it.
When I was in 3rd year high school, I wanted to be a PBA player. I had a step-by-step plan to make that happen. Step 1 is to study in UP Diliman. From there, I planned to make a name as a varsity player, and then get drafted in the PBA. I planned to take up BS Psychology in that campus because I also loved studying human behavior. That would be my field when my playing career is over.
However, my parents did not allow me to study far away. They were not forceful nor nosy on which course I should take in college. They just asked me to choose whatever course I wanted, and they would support me, but that course must be in UP Los Banos.
Although my plan to be in UP Diliman was curtailed, I still didn’t give up on my basketball dream. My plan B was to be a varsity player in UPLB, and if I do well, maybe I’ll have a shot at the pros. I also mapped out a plan C. If plan B fails, I’ll play in the UPLB inter-college sportsfest, and hopefully dominate it, and earn my way up to bigger teams and competitions. Plan D is to settle down in inter-student organization intramurals and show my wares there. That’s how OC I was.
So the next step is to choose a course (that’s what we call programs back then) that would fit perfectly to my plans. I chose BS Human Ecology. That college was the least populated college at that time, therefore I would have better chances of making the college team because of fewer competition in the tryouts.
And so I filled up “Human Ecology” on my UPCAT form. I heard Human Ecology had a lot of Psychology subjects, so I thought it’s a good choice. By God’s grace I passed the UPCAT and found my way in UPLB in the College of Human Ecology. It’s now time to see which among Plans B,C, and D would roll out.
On the 1st month of classes, the varsity tryouts were held. I didn’t make it. Plan B didn’t happen, so it’s time for Plan C. Sadly, Plan C didn’t materialize as well. Why? I was the only basketball player in our entire batch! My block only had 2 guys, and the other fellow doesn’t play basketball. The other block was an all-girls section. Our college didn’t have enough guys to form a basketball team.
How about Plan D? There was only one student org in the college, and so there’s no inter-org competition. Poor me. I had no team and no league to play in. That’s the time I realized that I had no other choice but just to focus on my studies. I gave up all hopes on becoming a basketball star.
You may find my story hilarious, but I find great wisdom in it. It’s a living proof of the truth in Proverbs 16:1 (NLT):
“We can make our own plans, but the Lord gives the right answer.”
Yes, we can be an OC thru-and-thru, but God’s purposes are sovereign. He has other plans for me, plans that are much better than what I have ever dreamed of. He taught me to see these plans the way he sees it. He wanted my heart to beat the same heartbeat as his. We can pray all we want, say to him whatever we want, but it should always end with “not my will but yours be done.”
Learn to pray that prayer. I tell you, you’ll never end up miserable, but you will have great joy and peace all the days of your life.
