At some point in our lives, we may experience unbearable pain, so unbearable that we'd welcome death just to end it all. Many had succumbed, and many more will give in, to this temptation of escaping from all the pain that the world has to give.

At that moment, I seriously questioned my choice of career. My knowledge about the law and legal procedures were utterly useless. I can't go to court and ask for a temporary restraining order or an injunction to stop the pain. Even an hour or two would have been a welcome relief. Heck, I can't even ask for a postponement.

So, there I was, a patient trying to patiently wait for the doctor, moaning by my lonesome, trying to conjure happy thoughts to fight the pain (as they say, it's all in the mind). I wasn't able to think of happy thoughts, but I experienced that whole-life-flashing-before-your-eyes phenomenon, or something like it.

It was a weird feeling - the past streaming through your mind. At that moment, I realized that life is so fragile - and short. I have to make every second count. I realized how true it is that no dying man (well, I felt I was dying anyway) ever wished to have spent more time at the office. I realized how great it is to be alive; just the mere fact of being alive. As the Desiderata goes, despite all its drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful life. There are so many places to go and things to do. There's so much to be experienced. A lifetime is never enough.

This, however, clashes with the sacrifice that Pinoy Entrepreneurs must make in order to pursue a business (or profession). Entrepreneurs spend long hours trying to make a business concept work. This takes time away from the family and from enjoying life. By the time the business is successful and you have millions to show for it, you can't probably eat lechon due to hypertension. Time that had passed, and youth that had gone, can never be brought back.

Indeed, they say that you can't serve two masters at the same time. They say that you can't pursue a successful business career without sacrificing your family life, and vice versa.

That's what they say. I don' know if that's what you think.