By Hannah A. Papasin and Julius D. Mariveles
BACOLOD CITY – When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.
Or in the case of singing sensation Carl Malone Montecido, make that lemonade while warbling a tune.
Carl Malone recently catapulted to social media stardom after Grammy winner Sam Smith tweeted his amazement at the young man’s cover of his hit Too Good at Good-byes. The vid in question has gone viral and has been picked up by both national and local media.
Which is remarkable given that Carl Malone is visually-impaired.
In other words, Carl Malone has been dealt with a hand which would have made others like him give up. But the talented young man is resilient enough to roll with the proverbial punches, armed with a wisdom that makes him rationalize what could be considered as major personal setbacks.
The attitude, apparently, is anchored on his deep faith.
“I don’t see it as an insurmountable problem,” he tells DNX, “rather I see (these problems) as God’s trials. I don’t think that God would ever give us anything that we couldn’t carry.”
This is true not just with his impairment but with other problems, disappointments, unfortunate incidents that he encounters.
“I try to resolve one problem first, then if it gets too much, I have shoulders to cry on – my family, my friends, who are always there for me,” he reveals.
GOD-GIVEN GIFT
They say that inner strength is forged through tough times. This is apparently true with Carl Malone who says he has already started singing as a kid (at a tender age of seven), and began winning contests since then.
But people can sometimes be truly mean. Carl Malone says that people still find time rain on his parade, to spit on his sunny day. There were those who dismiss his victories, twisting his stories of triumphs into nothing but pity wins.
“I have heard people saying, ‘Oh, they just made him win just because he’s blind.’
His impairment, apparently, has also been made by others as an excuse to doubt his skills. He remembers people even thought of barring him from joining – of all things – a quiz bee because of his impairment.
“They can say all they want – but that has not made me lose hope, to continue striving, and use my talent to inspire people,” Carl Malone says.
And with no other than an international artist recognizing his skill, there’s no knowing where Carl Malone’s talents would lead him.
The sky is indeed the limit for him. And he is all set to conquer the industry one well-placed note at a time.