With the whole Da Vinci Code mania all over the place, I
decided to go ahead and jump from one mania to another — so I started reading Robert
Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad, Poor Dad (actually, it’s an audiobook, in this way I just
need to listen since my eyes are starting to let me down).

This is probably one of the highly recommended and best-selling
books of today. Although I haven’t finished it yet, I have picked up some
interesting information. For example, this book will tell you some things that
you don’t want to hear like a house is not an asset. That financial literacy is
different from educational literacy. That your income is not your wealth.
Investors are different from savers and so on. It’s cash flow that determines
your wealth. If you spend all you make, plus some, you are in a negative cash
flow. "It’s not what you make, it’s what you keep," says Kiyosaki.

The main point of this book is to simply point out the
fundamentals for building wealth. Patience, discipline and mindfulness. The
book, for example, encourages us to think about our spending habits by asking:
Is this action ultimately putting money in my pocket (an asset) or taking it
out (a liability). Unconscious spending and negative beliefs about money cause
most to live from paycheck-to-paycheck. It’s a useful and simple way of
deciding things, rather than favoring the emotional satisfaction spending
route, which is where most people fall down financially. The book addresses
this basic problem which must be overcome, to get anywhere near started toward
financial independence.

Honestly, I have no idea why I even managed to get a
degree in Commerce and majored in Management at that! Most of the time, the
whole financial mumbo jumbo gets me all freaked out. Even my mother tells me to snap out of my
whole Math-hating mentality.

But you know what, when I look at most people who
actually make more money, I can‘t help but agree with the Rich Dad that a
college degree won’t guarantee wealth. The Poor Dad had insisted for his son to
get a college degree while the Rich Dad had said “the poor and the middle class
work for money, but the rich have money work for them." With financial
literacy being largely neglected in our school system, many are often left
without the necessary tools and mindset to ensure financial success. In these
times of both economic turmoil and opportunity, Kiyosaki’s book couldn’t be
more relevant.

But enough about the book, I would like to review the
fact at how fathers do their best to make sure their children will succeed in
the future. I salute all the fathers who think of only the good for their kids
and I also salute the fathers who let their kids pursue their dreams and still
manage to be happy for them in spite of how different they want things to be.
Although I personally think that it is up to the children at how they want to
live their lives, if they are wise enough (thanks to the guidance of the
parents) they would recognize that experience is the best teacher and soon
enough they would find their own unique “diskarte” in life.

Children blessed with a loving father should consider
themselves fortunate. For, they have someone to take care of their needs and
interests. Someone to stop them when they are diverting to a wrong path and
guide them on a road to success and virtue. Fathers would never ever give a
smallest of hint to let us know how hard they work to take care of our needs
and fulfill even the most whimsical of demands… For all their adorable
scolding and affectionate punishments we all owe a big thanks to our Dads.

Fathers are the biggest source of strength for a child.
The innocent eyes of a child perceive father as the all-powerful, most
knowledgeable, truly affectionate and the most important person in the family.
For daughters, fathers are the first men they adore and fall in love with.
While for sons their fathers are the strongest person they know and someone
they aspire to emulate. Even for the grownups fathers are someone whom they
look up to for the most experienced and honest advice that is always in the
best of our interest. For this great figure in our life that we know as father
- it becomes our utmost duty to pay our humblest tribute on the occasion of
Father’s Day.

We must make all efforts to celebrate Father’s Day with
our Dad. Children staying away from father must especially strive to spend the
day with father and show gratitude for all their support and love. We must
pamper father by spending the day in a manner he likes most. It could be going
out for a picnic or indulging him with a gourmet meal. How does Peruvian steak
sound? We can also express love with thoughtful gifts accompanied by a bouquet
of his favorite flowers. Or maybe a gallon of tuba? The idea is to show our affection and tell Daddy how much he
is loved and appreciated not just on Father’s Day but every single day of our
lives.

This is my tribute to my father — the man who gave me
all that he could, the man who never showed me the least bit of selfishness, the
man who encouraged me to ace my exams (and even bribing me, just to give that
extra push). This is for you, Pa.

I may not show you everyday

What you really mean to me,

I know it is not too often that I say,

Thank you for letting me be.

Who I am and what I am today

Is thanks to you and to mom

You’ve done so much, I can’t repay

But I will, time would come.

I’m showing you love in a special way

That only some people do

Writing a tribute and a poem is A-okay

And publishing it here, too.

So I hope and I pray

For everything to be well with you

Happy Father’s Day

And — Papa, I Love You.

P.S. Happy 60^th Birthday to my father, Mr.
Manuel “Dodong” Velasquez, on June 17!