Coach Munik

To lead is to serve.

And so we live to tell the tale…

Last Saturday, May 27, my friends and I along with a 14-month old baby were in a major car crash.

It rained heavily the moment we entered the Sta. Rosa entry point of Calax, bound for Manila.

Our car hydroplaned and hit a railing, flipped and then landed sideways.

Everything happens for a reason, and I would like to share learnings I got from this accident.

1. Be grateful for life.

At one point after the crash, I heard Daryl saying, “Love, wake up.” At that point, I feared losing Jopay and I was praying, “God, no, please.”
When we were all out of the car and I knew that all five of us are alive, in spite of the situation we were in, I was grateful.

2. Have a deep sense of faith.

I do not believe in organized religion and I no longer come to church to hear mass but I know that during times of need, God will always come to our rescue. The instant we started losing control, I was shouting God’s name.

3. Trust in the goodness of people.

Immediately after we crashed, one of the things I thought of: Who would stop for us in this heavy rain?
There were two vehicles who did. Rescue came quickly because there were good people who would go out of their way to help others.

4. Love creates miracles.

Approximately 10 minutes before we entered Calax, the baby was with his mom and asked to go to me. This was highly unusual as he would always prefer to be with his mom than any of us. Also unusual is his mom giving him to me as I was riding as the front passenger. Our car landed on the side where the car seat was. Some of the stuff that got thrown around inside the car landed in the car seat. Kavi would have sustained injuries had he been in the car seat.
When we were in the E.R., the doctor told me how surprising it was that the baby was not injured.

5. Love enables us to conquer our greatest fear so we can protect the people we love.

My greatest fear is to be in a vehicular accident. Every time I see a road accident, I always pray for that to not happen to me.

The kind of love we shared as friends saved us and will be instrumental in our full recovery.

This accident made me realize how strong my protective instincts are. My injuries and bruises are indicative of me covering Kavi with my head and body.

Daryl helped Maine calm down as she was in a state of panic trying to free herself from her seatbelt. Daryl told her to ground herself, take a deep breath and calm down. When she did, she was able to extract herself from the seatbelt and figured out an exit path, sustaining cuts on her hand in the process. Jopay blacking out with no recollection of the crash will be instrumental in the next few days, weeks, as Maine still gets anxious with being in a car.

6. Always come from love.

There were some people who said the accident should make some of us rethink the people they want to be with. Some even saying that we should now stay away from one another.

My wish for these people is that they find friends who will love them the same way that my friends and I love each other.

John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

When most people wanted to dismiss the year 2020 due to the pandemic, it was a major turning point in my life. I went through LEAP - one of the best things that ever happened to me.
I have made my relationships better, I have made better choices, developed deep friendships with people who have shared the same experience, and have become overall happier.
Last Sunday, after 3 years, we were finally able to have our official graduation. True to form, there was crying, and I realized that crying does not always mean sadness. To me, it meant overflowing gratitude, joy, and love that was so overwhelming.
I see my younger self telling me: I’m so proud of who we have become.

If you want to experience the same, ask me about FLEX, ALC and LEAP. I definitely will be happy to share this wonderful journey with you.

If I had to pick just one thing I’m most proud of this year, it’s being able to shift from a right-handed player to a lefty.
There was a lot of grit, passion, and determination involved in that shift as I’m still a newbie even as a righty.
Am ending the year telling myself, “Well done, self! Make 2023 another awesome year!”

Capping the weekend with words to live by from a musical icon.

Right arm swelled a bit after using it as support for the left.
Had to go again with just the left. Totally avoided using the right.

I thought about all the progress I had the last few months, how I have started having a bit more power on the serve and now I have not even tried serving with the left arm yet.

Blistered thumb, left arm tired and feeling frustrated, at one point I just wanted to throw my racquet and cry.

It’s not easy to be told that you gotta start over, but when you’re passionate about something, you learn to play through pain, to take a deep breath and muster all your energy to keep going.

Definitely not giving up on something I love.

“We rise by lifting others.”

How to give something without losing anything…