My Miss Universe

Maxine Medina may not have had the brilliance to answer the question in the just concluded Miss Universe pageant, but she has the heart to react beautifully, maintaining her poise amid the bashing and blaming of heartless netizens, following her mediocre or nervous answer during the Q&A portion.

Maxine became even more beautiful to me when she recently “broke silence” and wrote on her Instagram, amid all the ridicules: “Embrace your flaws and speak from your heart because if you do, you’ll never get lost on the path that you choose. #missuniverse2016.”

I remember a text message from a friend two years ago which concluded this way: “May your life be as beautiful as your heart.” I replied: “Thank you, but of course, life springs forth from the heart. You don’t wish a beautiful life to a person who has a beautiful heart, because a beautiful life and a beautiful heart are one and the same.”

“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” (Proverbs 4:23)

RENI M. VALENZUELA, [email protected]