5 Life Lessons You Can Learn from Karylle

Actress, TV host, and singer Karylle is experiencing great things in her career lately. Aside from being a host on daily noontime show It's Showtime and a regular on Sunday variety show ASAP, she also plays Maddie in the international show The Kitchen Musical. In April, Karylle was nominated for Best Actress at the 52nd Monte Carlo Festival for her efforts on the show, and while she didn't take home the prize, she hopes to do so in the future.

Karylle is also a0 runner with a few wins under her belt, even if she may not consider herself a dedicated athlete. Her family may be undergoing a tough time right now with her mother Zsa Zsa Padilla's partner, Dolphy, confined to the hospital, but she continues to maintain an optimistic outlook on life.

What lessons can you learn from this elegant and strong lady? Read on to find out.


1. DON'T BE AFRAID TO TRY SOMETHING NEW.

Karylle may be a great runner now, but things didn't start out that way. “In the beginning, I just walked. I always said I don't want to run. I just want to walk fast, maybe jog a bit, e I can run fast naman pala. So it’s really nice to try something new and just be brave about it.”


2. EXCEED EXPECTATIONS.

Karylle loves surprising people when she runs. “It's my little secret with myself. I'm always in maarte clothes or whatever, and people think this and that of me. But once I'm running, I'll beat you.”


3. LEARN HOW TO INTERACT WITH DIFFERENT TYPES OF PEOPLE.

Karylle got to work with people from different cultures when she got cast as the lead actress in The Kitchen Musical. "I learned so much there because it's a Pan-Asian cast and crew. So from the cast alone, siyempre it's very challenging when you work with people with different working styles, and of course, you want to appear game."


4. BELIEVE THAT YOU WILL SUCCEED.

“If you want something, you have to make room for it," Karylle says, having been inspired by reading Rhonda Byrne's best-selling book The Secret. "Or make plans that are kasama diyan. Like buying luggage would mean you're traveling. Parang gano’n. If you want to go back there, that's the kind of thing you plan for."


5. DON'T TAKE THE COMFORTS OF HOME FOR GRANTED.

Working for The Kitchen Musical meant staying in Singapore, away from her family in the Philippines, and it was there that she learned to appreciate what she had at home. “Being in Singapore was really hard because we were OFW [Overseas Filipino Workers]. It was my first time away from home, from family, and for four months, so it was a long time for me, especially since I had a daily show.”


(First published "No Fragile Beauty" in Women's Health Philippines' January-February 2012. Adapted for use in Female Network. Photo courtesy of PEP.ph)