DURING a recent contract signing, “Mr. Pure Energy” Gary Valenciano revealed why he has remained loyal to ABS-CBN, which has been his home network for the last 18 years.
“Ganoon talaga ako when it comes to people who allow me to expand my wings, to soar, and ABS has done that,” the multi-awarded recording artist said in a featured article in the Philippine Star.
“Dahil sa kanila, maliban sa pagiging Kapamilya, they’ve also allowed me to reach so many more people with my involvement with, of course, ‘ASAP,’ ‘Your Face Sounds Familiar,’ ‘X-Factor,’ ‘World of Dance,’ ‘Tawag ng Tanghalan.’ To be able to reach more people is something that I am really so thankful for. That’s one big reason that I stayed loyal. They never lessened their support for me,” he added.
And despite the fact that he has been in showbiz for a long time, he is thankful that the network still supports him.
“Nagpapasalamat ako dahil naniniwala sila hanggang ngayon sa akin. You know, I’m not as young as I was and yet they are still there to support me. And because of them, I still have many who continue to support me,” he said.
Gary V revealed that during the initial dark days when the network lost its franchise, he sent words of encouragement via text.
“Those days when all these lights were off and all the power was off, sometimes I would text the management that I would try with great difficulty to put in some words of encouragement. Pero ang masasabi ko lang ngayon sa ABS and everyone who are here, ‘pag si Lord ang gumalaw sa buhay natin at hinayaan natin s’ya ang gumalaw, when he plants talent in a place like ABS, no matter what happens, God is going to see through. He did not give us the ability to reach, to encourage, to uplift for no reason at all. May rason kung bakit Niya binigay ang lahat ng ito and so that’s my message now,” Gary revealed.
The ultimate performer also believes that the network will be to see everything through with the Lord’s help.
“Hindi natin alam ang kung anu-ano pang klaseng bagyo ang maaring harapin ng ABS. Not only ABS, but all the others who were somehow part of ABS. My only word is kahit anong mangyari, just like what we did during the darkest of times, let’s just always remember that He is with us. He is not above us. He is not around us. He is with us, at least that’s where He wants to be and if that happens, malamang kahit minsan magiging mahirap ang pagsubok, we will rise above the storm, we dance in the storm, we will sing in the rain,” Gary V shared.
* * *
In a recent question-and-answer portion of “The Sharon Cuneta Show” uploaded on the star’s Facebook account and YouTube channel and written about in an article in Inquirer.net, Megastar Sharon Cuneta revealed that she is able to remain positive up to this moment in her life because she makes a list of things that she is grateful for.
“If you start out with gratefulness in the morning, it makes a big difference in your life. It really, really does. So what you do is list down in one column all your blessings and things that you’re thankful for – even if it’s just a good cup of coffee or a good breakfast that you had. Then, on the other side, you list down all your concerns,” she explained as quoted in the article.
Also, choosing to stay positive even when the roof seems to be falling on your head and differentiating between problems and inconveniences can work wonders.
“Not everything that’s upsetting you or making you worry is a problem. You have to learn how to differentiate between a problem and an inconvenience,” Sharon stated.
Stating an example, Sharon elaborated: “When you woke up, you thought, ‘Oh my! I have work today. I have to go to the office and traffic will surely be heavy again. Those are inconveniences – maybe because you have to wake up early for work or traffic is heavy.
These are not problems. Real problems are things you have to deal with like bills to pay but you don’t know where to get the money from, especially during these times of COVID-19. That’s not an unusual problem anymore. There are more and more people going through tough times so it’s best that you start out by being grateful.”
“Sometimes, it just takes a long while and a lot of patience to resolve. That happened to me before,” she recalled. “For seven years, I had a substantial debt. After those years, I discovered that I had a property that doubled or tripled in value, and had I sold it earlier, I wouldn’t have earned as much from it. That was such a big help for me in paying some of my debt. I still have some, but it’s a lot smaller than before.”
“So problems are like that,” she added. “If you choose to stay positive, even when life is hard, there are things that will surely make you happy.”
According to Sharon, listening to happy music has its advantages (“something happens inside your brain and it changes your mood”), and even forcing yourself to smile when you don’t feel like it can change your outlook.
As for advice to her fans, the Megastar has this to say: Focus on the good things happening in your life. It’s tempting to pity yourself. I get into that; I know I have to snap out of it. I cry because I want to let it out, and then, I immediately make myself busy. If you don’t know how to start, just start. For example, I feel overwhelmed because there’s so much cleaning that’s needed to be done at home, I just start. Just do something. You’ll be surprised when you realize that you’ve already finished your chore. I read that somewhere and it worked for me. There’s nothing like starting off by being really thankful.”
And looking back, Sharon revealed that she would tell her younger self to marry later despite the fact that it gave her a blessing – a child.
“Although I was very happy when I found out that I was pregnant with KC; because we were secretly married and I was tired of hiding from my parents. I wouldn’t have hurried. I would’ve enjoyed my single-blessedness first for a long time. I would’ve traveled more,” Sharon said.
“I don’t know if I would’ve had the chance to study abroad like the original plan was. I was supposed to go to finishing school in Switzerland but that didn’t push through because I started my movie career and I enjoy it. It made me happy and it turned out to be my calling,” the Megastar added.
