My Time in Cebu
I remember after my break up with Yame on the 10th and final time, to move to Cebu and explore my options there. I connected with a model girl that ended before it even began as I was avidly going out and meeting other girls.
I remember being part of a tight knit group of rich kids and business owners for a little while in Cebu. We would go to the best hotel in the area and play volleyball, drink and enjoy nice meals there. One lady in particular who was said to be ‘richer than god’ was quite taken by me and invited me to join her on her Yacht. She was about 50 years older than me and so I declined the offer. Although now just out of curiosity sometimes I wish I had seen what that path would have looked like!
Leaving the Philippines
When I did finally leave the Philippines.. I toured all across Europe by train for months and I began writing my second book Unleash Your Full Potential.
I never felt ready enough to pursue my career in Speaking that my heart was calling me to do.. I even joined the National Speakers Association, went to a few of their national conferences and met some wonderful speaker friends.. But I never really joined a circuit or actively promoted myself as a speaker.. Though I wish I had.. Deep in my heart I just wanted to speak from a stage and share valuable insights.
Around this time I had applied for the BIG GIVE reality show.. Oprah’s first reality show. I thought who better to partner with to do big things in the world than Oprah. My mom, bless her heart.. Went with me to the auditions in New York.. we waited in line in the snow and freezing cold for 3 hours just to get inside. The panel that was interviewing everyone asked me a few questions and seemed impressed enough to invite me back for another screening, this time with the cameras rolling. After the 2nd screening, they seemed impressed enough to invite me and 19 others to come to Los Angeles for a week to meet with all the NBC and HARPO (Oprah spelled backwards) executives for the final selection .. the top 10 would get to be on the show.
It was a very odd time because none of the potential contestants for the show were allowed to talk to each other. We all knew we were there for a special reason but we could only look at each other.. We couldn’t talk. I remember how awkward it felt to come down and eat and and see everyone but not know who they were, why they were there or what their story was.
I recall meeting with the HARPO executives first and meeting the founder of the Amazing Race and telling them my story and getting philosophical with them. The next day I recall meeting with the NBC executives and sharing why I felt like I would be a great candidate on the show. The two ladies that would often come to my room and be impressed by my insights and positivity seemed like they were rooting for me all the way. At one point they excitedly came to my room to share the good news, I was going to be on the show!! Only to tell me about an hour later, that some changes were made and sorry, I wasn’t going to be on the show.
I couldn’t believe my ears I thought for sure my dreams of meeting Oprah and the entire cast was cemented in my mind.. It was GOING to happen. So when they told me it wasn’t, it was heartbreaking to say the least.
But I didn’t stop there.. I regrouped back home at my mother’s house in Las Vegas for a little bit before deciding to travel with my friends Rob and Randal to Columbia. It was nice for a while until it felt like a war was going to break out between Columbia and Venezuela.. Apparently some laptop got stolen or there was some intelligence mishap and there was troops and tanks massing on the border. I told my friends they could stay if they wanted but I wanted to get the hell out of there. And there was a guy on the plane ride to Columbia that said I would love Costa Rica..especially because I loved surfing. So I told them, lets go to Costa Rica!
We landed in Costa Rica.. toured around a few days.. When I arrived in Jaco I told them I had found home and while they wanted to go and see the rest of the country for a while.. I decided to stay behind and get settled. My goal at this point was to finish 3 other books I still had inside me ..
LIFE IN COSTA RICA
This was one of the most liberating times of my life. I was living very simply.. Less than $400 a month rent.. I’d go surfing every day with the beach a block away. I was fasting and writing my books, beginning to lucid dream and meditate a great deal again. Writing my dreams down in detail once again.
It was during a 3 day fast and meditation I had one of the most incredible mystical experiences of my life. I had completely relaxed my body.. Projected out of my body.. Found my energy body drifting above the bed back down into my body and when it landed ever so softly, I opened my eyes.. And there was a residual LOVE feeling coursing through my entire being. I will never forget it. I thought I had truly done it.. I had become enlightened and this was going to my state for the rest of my life. I was like this for about 2 hours before I decided I would break my fast and have a delicious meal.. Interestingly as soon as I had my first piece of food (some fish), the energy I was experiencing dissipated and I have never experienced the same love feeling for that duration again. It was enough for me to know that LOVE truly does exist, we just have to be light enough to perceive it fully.. And focused on making ourselves light.
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At this time I had decided I was finished with business, and that I would focus on personal development a dream I had always wanted to commit myself to. I had enough money in the bank and I was living simply.. I felt so happy. I was living like this for months and never going back to obligations again. Or so I thought.. About 3 months into the most free time of my life, I learned that I had a few major fires to put out in the Philippines that really needed my presence, and a major lead that could turn into a big deal if it was handled right.
So I returned to the Philippines with the major fires I needed to put out.. So big in fact that I almost lost the business again. There was the big bust, the microsoft license fiasco, a improperly terminated worker dispute – all kinds of fun things to deal with that pretty much drained all the reserves I had built up over the first few years of business.
One day I thought I was sitting pretty in Costa Rica and in no time flat it felt like I was almost back to square one. Thankfully I was able to fight through the challenges and salvage the business from going under, it took me a year or two more in Manila before I was able to free myself again.