About 20 years ago, I was trained as a scout and learned one important lesson that would have been one cornerstone of my life today. About 20 years later, I would stand before you, World Scout APC family to facilitate your Staff Development Workshop. What an honor!

I didn't ask for this job but for some reasons, it was given and I humbly accepted it. I'm glad I did. On top of many other things, I thought I'm doing the training because I owe part of who I am now to the movement.

It was during that formative stage of my life that I first learn the value and importance of "being careful." Our scout master didn't say, "Be the best, beat them all." or "Be the fastest and win the race." or "Be the most intelligent."

He simply said, "Always be careful."

In our lives, personal and professional, we all have the same share of highs and lows, with heavy emphasis on the lows. While the magnitude of challenges we face vary from one person to another, I always maintained that "our response is always more important than what makes us respond." In Science, we call this process response to stimulus, life event being the stimulus.

<h2>Numbers Game</h2>

Life is a numbers game, remember? And we have the power to change our numbers anytime we so desire. It is in our prayer and power that we can increase or decrease our numbers. It is in our will to choose which areas in our life deserve the most attention from us. It is our decision, conscious or otherwise, that placed us wherever we are now and that same decision-making process would take us next.

As an organization, I understand the undeniable presence of complexity in your workplace. It happens to you, it happens to all of us. I understand the differences as well as the barriers to effective communication. I understand the depth of personal and professional misunderstanding and I understand what it means to your organization.

Let me simplify. Before you become members of this organization, you are first human beings, capable of thinking, caring, and loving.

<h2>Back to your root</h2>

In times of confrontation and disagreement, I hope you can go back to your root—the very reason you serve the same family, the same organization, the same movement that changed my life two decades ago and the lives of millions around the world. In times of despair, frustration, and disappointment, I hope you can look back to the golden old days, shared experiences, shared lunch and laughter and tears that bind you together as a team. In times when you feel you're left behind, mobbed, and forgotten, remember to pick your self up, raise your own bar, and step up not because it is required but because you know it's the right thing to do.

Thank you for the time you've given me to share my piece of mind. I hope to see the days that your organization is better and stronger than ever.

The future is on the move. Be prepared. :-) In Filipino, "laging handa."