Thunder Sander

Thunder Sander

Paco, Manila

October 11, 2019

 

I know this is a tough world we live in.

But instead of complaining by the smallest of inconveniences, why don’t we just focus on solving the problem at hand first before going to social media and rant about everything for the sake of ranting. Mostly, these rants are all about government’s failures. It’s as if every problem in life is the government’s fault. I mean, don’t you get tired of being so negative? I got tired. And I’m doing my best to gradually quash that negativity outside of me because to tell you all honestly, it drains all the happy energy inside us and replace it with bad and sad ones. Nothing wrong with complaining sometimes, but doing it every single day is just melancholic.

So, let’s just focus on happy thoughts.

Speaking of happy, my friend, chess FIDE Master Sander Severino, gave me a reason to be one. He just topped a strong tournament against able-bodied opponents.

For the uninitiated, Severino, now 33 years old, is a differently able athlete. He was diagnosed with muscle dystrophy or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at a very young age that forced him to be wheelchair-bound for life because his two legs are both paralyzed. Go google it and you will find that it is a group of diseases that cause progressive weakness and loss of muscle mass. Remember the late great New York Yankee Lou Gherig? The Iron Horse. The disease was later named after him.

But it didn’t stop Severino from reaching for the stars. And he did.

At age of nine, the Silay City, Negros Occidental native became a regional champion.

At 11, he was national kiddies champion.

At 15, he earned the FIDE Master title.

At 30, he snared his first ASEAN Para Games gold. And now he has five and a chance to win more.

At 33, he copped his first Asian Para Games gold. He went on to bring home four. And many more to come for sure.

And just today, he topped the semifinals of the World Chess Olympiad qualifying tournament at the Pace center in Quezon City ahead of fancied able-bodied foes that included Olympiad veterans Paulo Bersamina, Jan Emmanuel Garcia, Haridas Pascua and Ricky de Guzman and Asian Juniors rapid champion Daniel Quizon.

The recent feat clinched Severino one of the six slots to the finals tentatively set this December. There, he will face the country’s very best Grandmasters. And if he keeps his pace, he could end up with one of the two available berths to the Philippine team seeing action in next year’s Olympiad in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. Playing in the Olympiad is one of his two ultimate life-long dreams. The other one is being a Grandmaster. He has a chance to achieve both.

And the guy never complained.

Never ranted.

Unlike us.

So thank you Sander for being an inspiration to us all and I hope your story will help all of us realize that life is beautiful if we just make the most out of the blessings given us.

To end, I would like to share this quote from my favorite Harry Potter character.

“Every man has three characters—that which he exhibits, that which he has, and that which he thinks.” Severus Snape, Harry Potter.

 

Follow me on Twitter and Instagram: @JoeySVillar

(Photos courtesy of Jat Tenorio and abs-cbn online)