04/05/2020
Sharing this valuable message From Mr. Bunny Pages ( owner of Lantaw, Thirsty etc), a very well respected and successful Cebu businessman....
āFriends, today I would like to come across to you as a REALIST and not as a DEFEATIST kind of person.
I have to admit that I am scared. I am scared not only for my family but for all of us, especially those who have less in life. Although I feel this way, I assure you that at the same time I also feel EXCITED, HIGHLY MOTIVATED and CHALLENGED to OVERCOME this CRISIS that we are facing at the moment.
Last March 25, we shut down all our businesses - our restaurants, our fresh juice bars and counters and our School - all in a Single day. Since then our revenue has been ZERO. YES. Nothing. And when you are responsible for over a thousand employees and their families and thereās no money coming in, how can one not be scared? But what is even more scary for me is the strong possibility of losing our food business entirely that my family of 7 had worked hard and long this past 20 years to build. We all know that the retail business - the restaurants, the Malls and eating places will be very different in the near future. For how long can a small family business like ours continue to lose money before it goes under? I know that Iām not alone. Many of you watching are in the same situation as I am.
To me, the way forward is to go back and be an ENTREPRENEUR once again. We need to return to the BASICS. We need to work harder, longer and more passionate than ever BEFORE. We must keep FIT and take care of our HEALTH no matter what age we are in. We need to start with a clean sheet of paper again and be CREATIVE because the New Normal will be different from the Old Normal. This is what I plan to do. I donāt have the answers; we need to figure them out individually, each one of us. As Jimmy Chua of PLDT said earlier, we need to Embrace Change - the sooner the better.
And those among us who feel Low, Discouraged or even Depressed, I donāt blame you. But we need to change this kind of ATTITUDE. Negative thinking will not bring us anywhere; it will bring us down. We need to think of WINNING. Yes. We need to think of WINNING despite all the NEGATIVITY thatās going around us. Itās our only way out of this predicament. Thatās what I will do until my last breath. I will keep on reminding myself of my favorite poem on WINNING and I quote:
ālF YOU THINK YOU ARE BEATEN YOU ARE. IF YOU THINK YOU DARE NOT, YOU DONāT. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO WIN, BUT THINK YOU CANNOT ITāS ALMOST SURE YOU WONāT. FOR LIFEāS BATTLES DONāT ALWAYS GO TO THE STRONGER OR FASTER MAN, BUT SOONER OR LATER THE MAN WHO WINS IS THE ONE WHO THINKS HE CAN.ā
And so my beloved Filipinos, with GODās GRACE and BLESSING we can OVERCOME this challenge as One Nation and One People with this Singular thought - TO WIN. TO WIN. TO WIN. Thank you.ā
