Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Be Careful of What You Plant Today, You will Reap It Tomorrow!

Dear readers, I’ve learned that our lives are really like a vapor that appears for a moment and then disappears.

Yesterday, as I had reading the Philippine Daily Inquirer for the current events, my eyes immediately spotted the headlines in the front page of the news paper about the Fate of dictators, from Hitler to Saddam which leads my subconscious mind to think depth and encouraged me to read its content immediately.

The content is very interesting especially for those people who wanted to learn and gather ideas from the failures and mistakes of the great past people.

In this article, I would like to share with you some important facts that I had excerpted from the Philippine Daily Inquirer dated December 31, 2006, Vol. 22. No. 23, to make our discussions below more informative as well as interesting.

Here are the fates of some former dictators since the end of the World War II in 1945.

Died in Office

Adolf Hitler. Committed suicide in his Berlin bunker on April 30, 1945, shortly after Soviet Red Army forces entered the capital city of his Third Reich.

Joseph Stalin. Master of the Kremlin for more than 30 years, the Soviet Union’s leader died of a stroke on March 5, 1953 after an all-night dinner.

Antonio De Oliveria Salazar. Portugal’s dictator for 36 years suffered a major stroke in 1968 and died on July 27, 1970.

Francisco Franco. The Spanish head of state known as “Generalissimo Franco” died on November 20, 1975, from heart problems at the age of 83.

Mao Zedong. The founder of the People’s Republic of China and then its leader for 27 years, Mao died in Beijing on Sept. 9, 1976, aged 82.

Kim IL-Sung. The “Eternal President” of North Korea ruled from 1946 until his death from a stroke in July 1994, and was succeeded by his son Kim Jong-il.

Died in Exile

Idi Amin. Uganda’s dictator from 1971 to 1979 died on Aug. 16, 2003 in Saudi Arabia, where he lived in exile without facing justice for his crimes.

Mobuto Sese Seko. The former president of Zaire died of cancer on Sept. 7, 1997 just months after going into exile in Rabat, Morocco.

Alfredo Stroessner. Paraguay’s military dictator from 1954 until his outer in a 1989 coup died at the age of 93 on August 16, 2006, in Brasilia.

Pol Pot. The genocidal Khmer Rouge regime chief from 1975 to 1979 died of old age on April 16, 1998 in the Cambodian jungle, an exile in his own country.

Ferdinand Marcos. Ousted in February 1986 after a 20 year rule, the Philippine dictator went into exile in Hawaii where he died on Sept. 28, 1989 at the age of 72.

Executed

Benito Mussolini. “Il Duce” from 1922 to 1943, he was shot by Italian partisans on April 28, 1945 while fleeing for Switzerland with his mistress.

Nicolae Ceausescu. Romanian leader for 24 years, he was executed with his wife Elena on Dec. 25, 1989 after a summary trial days his overthrow.

Saddam Hussein. Iraq’s former leader, deposed by a 2003 US-led military invasion, hanged on Dec. 30, for killing 148 Shiite villagers.

With the fates of the above dictators, it will remind us that there is an end for everything under heaven. So, that is why we should be careful and watchful enough on how we use our life as well as on how we plant our activities under heaven because lately we shall reap its fruits. And the pages of history will judge us in the future!

Before I will conclude my article, I would like to leave a special message for you, dear readers.

If you plant honesty, you will reap trust.
If you plant goodness, you will reap friends.
If you plant humility, you will reap greatness.
If you plant perseverance, you will reap victory.
If you plant consideration, you will reap harmony.
If you plant hard work, you will reap success.
If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation.
If you plant openness, you will reap intimacy.
If you plant patience, you will reap improvements.
If you plant faith, you will reap miracles.

But:

If you plant dishonesty, you will reap distrust.
If you plant selfishness, you will reap loneliness.
If you plant pride, you will reap destruction.
If you plant envy, you will reap trouble.
If you plant laziness, you will reap stagnation.
If you plant bitterness, you will reap isolation.
If you plant greed, you will reap loss.
If you plant gossip, you will reap enemies.
If you plant worries, you will reap wrinkles.
If you plant sin, you will reap guilt.

So be careful what you plant now, it will determine what you will reap tomorrow.

Wish you many blessings to come and God Bless!

Moises Reconalla

About the Author

Moises P. Reconalla is the School Guidance Counselor, College Instructor and Working Students Supervisor at North Davao Colleges, Panabo City, Philippines.

Mr. Reconalla has taught several courses at the college including: Guidance and Counseling, General Psychology, Philippine History: Roots and Development, General Anthropology and Sociology and Dr. Jose Rizal: Life, Works & Writings.

All rights reserved Worldwide. Copyright January 2006 by Moises Padin Reconalla

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