PHOTOS OF THE WEEK: Journey

I started like anybody else.
I was like a tree with all but nothing.
Like this tree, with good things surrounding
But handling nothing.

So I started my journey
To fulfill my dreams in life
To reach all those hopes that I have in mind
To create and see a better me

It’s going to be a long journey
And I don’t know what’s going next
But I am sure and confident
I believe in my hopes and dreams

ATHENA

Now, this is the story of Athena. Her story is just like other stories of people who have given their best to conquer every struggle they had in life.

When Athena was in college, she used to have a lot of part time jobs. This was because she needs to help her parents in sufficing her needs in the academe. Well, of course there were a lot of things that she had sacrificed, like group studies, night-outs and sleepovers and other extra-curricular activities, but these things didn’t become the reasons for her not achieving her goals.

Athena went to school from 10am to 5pm. She usually had 2-3 subjects every day. She used her vacant time in her university department as a student assistant. She did errands and some admin works. She was lucky because when there was nothing to do in the department, she got time to study her lessons.

At around 5:30pm, she goes to a tutorial center where she taught kids from elementary and high school. She starts at around 6pm and end up at 8pm. After doing all the things needed, she goes home to take a rest.

Her day didn’t really end there. At around 10pm, she needed to prepare herself for another work duty from 11pm to 5am (of the new day) in a restaurant. She became a service crew. During that time, she learned how to deal along with different people. She got to serve people with various personalities, some inconsiderate, some cool. And then at around 5:30am, sometimes 6am, she goes home and then sleeps for 2-3 hours. At around 9am, wakes up again to start a new day.

Her life had become a routine during her college days. She remembers some of her classmates asking her why she needs to work hard, but she says these people do not really understand everything. She did all these things in order to survive those days. Aside from learning the true meaning of “people” and the essence of “sacrifice”, she also learned to manage and value “time”. Athena once told me that without all those experiences, she will not be the same kind of person as she is now.

Athena is just another kind of person with lots of dreams but is less fortunate. But because she believed in her dreams, she was still able to reach her goals in college and even graduated with flying colors. She is now in a new battleground and is now living with a bright future ahead of her.

HOW TO DREAM BIG

when you don’t have much opportunity?

They say if you are poor, you have no opportunity. They say that if you are weak, you wouldn’t grab any opportunity. When I was still in high school my teacher said that “poverty, weaknesses and all sorts of negatives should not be hindrances to success”. I surely believed it before and even until now, but realistically, these things could all be a big blockade if we do not know how to look on the other side it. They could all create a big dark wall that would hinder us from climbing and reaching the top and would even put us down and make us remain in the same position and in the end shatter all our dreams away.

How do we dream big? How shall we continue dreaming when we don’t have much opportunity? I tried to look for this question in the internet and a lot of answers have been given by different blog sites. Of course, we are giving our own! Here are the following:

ALWAYS THINK POSITIVE – and of all the things that you must first think of is the fact that there are lots of opportunities out there. May you be less fortunate or not, opportunities are just flying by everywhere, you just have to catch the right thing for you and learn to move with it. We said in our previous article (Tomorrow’s tomorrow) that the things we cannot see clearly will only remain as blurred images of the many possibilities that might have come our way had someone unlocked the door towards it for us – people unlocking doors for us is just one of the many opportunities to take. By thinking positive, you can unlock these doors by yourself and may continuously give clarity to these images.

SET GOALS AND DESIRE WHAT YOU WANT – Setting goals is one of the most important things that you should have in mind. What’s all the work for if you don’t have any plans in life? After setting your plan/goal, may this be short-term or long term, desire what you want and visualize yourself achieving it. Get a good picture of yourself in your mind. For sure, some of us will find a hard time doing this. Use your imagination. Imagine at how you and others will feel in the end of your journey.

DO NOT STOP WORKING and make all of your hopes and dreams as your reasons for existence. You may be unfortunate in life but if you endlessly hope and dream and work for it, for sure, your own victory will be your prize in the end.

Remember that these are just guides. You must push yourself in order to let this all happen.

TOMORROW’S TOMORROW

Innocent and playful, sometimes annoying, but their gentle countenance is always accompanied by booming laughter that I don’t mind being pushed around by them. They were the little kids that I used to play with whenever I visit my grandparents’ house in the province. WHEN I think about them, I can’t help wondering what their respective tomorrows will be like.

Simple life, simple joys, simple dreams – I have often associated these kids with every little thing that’s simple. They easily get contented. Candies bring a great smile on their faces, second hand clothes are considered a blessing and basic school supplies such as pen and paper seem to be a miracle to them. It is as if they can’t wish for anything more than plain attention and appreciation. They don’t need much so they don’t ask for more. They take life as it is and has never, even once, hoped for a better tomorrow.

When I say tomorrow, I see the things that I have been dreaming when I was the same age as them – quality education at the metropolis, high-paying job at an established company, and a comfortable way of living.

But their tomorrow is different to this, very much different.

For these kids, their tomorrow is the same as their today, and so as their yesterday. They see themselves stuck in their little barangay (village), growing up, finishing the mandatory second level of education, and getting married. Work will come as the need arise, at the mercy of their parents’ friends and relatives.

I would like to say that such thinking is really unfortunate, but I guess I have to reconsider. I don’t think that I have the right to say that my perceived tomorrow is better than theirs. Because to be able to be where I am now, there were doors that have opened up for me that might be forever locked for them. And it is only after I entered those doors did I started thinking, or dreaming, about that tomorrow that still doesn’t exist for these kids.

You see, our dreams are always affected by the opportunities and new horizons that come our way because we could only see those things that are attainable. The things we cannot see clearly will only remain as blurred images of the many possibilities that might have come our way had someone unlocked the door towards it for us.

These kids’ dreams are simple because I’ve seen more than them. Their hopes are limited because they have never seen what lies behind those doors I’ve passed. It is not that they are easily contented. They just don’t have anything more to look for. If only someone could unlock the door for them from the other side.

Perhaps, rather than thinking about what their tomorrow will be when I think about them, it would be better if I could at least become that someone.

HOME

Everytime I remember how I started to hope and dream, I always think about my home. My home is the biggest reason why I am now experiencing these good things around me. It’s the only one thing that has never changed its view about my individuality. When I go back home, I always see my old self without thinking how other people would look at me. I would always go around it like a child playing freely on its own ground. It is the most comfortable place I have in life.

Just like what a famous quote says, home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in. I guess this is true. At home, the real me exists and whatever I become outside of it, it still accepts me. Now that I am far from it, it feels like I am missing a part of my life. I am just so glad that it molded me well, and that even though I am far away from it, the connection is still tight and I am still always positive with my own hopes and dreams in life.

The thing is a home is not a home if not because of the people in it and I am so glad to have the best people inside mine. A home is a place where good beginnings, hopes and dreams are created. It is where miracles happen.

This is true for most of us. However, for others it could be the other way around. It could be the reason why there are shattered dreams made. It could be a place for failed hopes and relationships. A line from a song of David Bowie says people from bad homes, don’t have the time to look things over, make up their minds – this just simply describes what could happen to a person having, well, bad homes. A man who considers his life unworthy could always blame his home. Because of the absence of support, trust and love to him, he could become rebellious against his father and mother—to his home as whole. Worst, he could become an enemy of his community. His weaknesses would all be connected to the home that he has been longing to have. On a lighter note, because of a very poor family background, a person’s ideals may also be different. He would think that his parents did not do their best to give him all he needed. And this case may lead to anger against his home in general. He may not want to go back to it and would rather look for his own way to achieving his happiness, his dreams.

So what do this people do? They look for a home, another home. They make one of their own where they could freely hope and dream and create relationships. Some people may find a true home in their own newly created families. Others may find it from friends and other relatives. This just goes to show how important a home is in creating our own hopes and dreams. At the end of the day, it’s the only place that we always want to relive even though there have been a lot of changes that have happened in us.

PHOTOS OF THE WEEK: Reaching For It

Perhaps the distant part of the sky always seems clearest, 
so that we will always strive to reach it, the Samurai X once said.

The coconut tree bowing,
the child climbing,
aiming higher and higher…

while I sit watching
the blooming sunflowers

And so he does after sweeping
the leaves that has been drying
decomposing

Some flowers blossom, 
some of them fall
and I sat alone

They loiter together
Never on their own

Hope lingers on

as he cycles on his way home…

SMALL AND BIG DREAMS

Usually a lot of us dream big. We dream because of different reasons. We dream because we know that it is the first step to achieving. But some people are not like this. They are contented to having simple and small dreams (some are just stuck with their own dreams).

FROM SMALL TO BIG DREAMS

To achieve do not mean one just needs to dream. It requires us to do something. If one wants to have a big house, he/she needs to work hard or harder to get it. It needs a lot of effort to do it. My friend once told me about a story she has in her life. Knowing that her family doesn’t have a good and stable life, she said that when she was a kid, she dreamed of graduating from a university because of the thought that she could help her family with a good educational background. That was just a little dream of hers that became bigger as she stepped to college. But everything became difficult as she passed through every academic year. Increasing tuition fees, expensive projects, limited allowance – name it. These required her to work so she could help herself from finances, but she turned out to having limited time to study which also required her to learn how to manage time. Luckily, because of all the efforts, she graduated with flying colors. From a small and impossible dream, she was able to reach it and made it big.

But why do we dream big? According to a famous quote, all successful people men and women are big dreamers. They imagine what their future could be, ideal in every respect, and then they work every day toward their distant vision, that goal or purpose. We dream big because we want to prove something not just to other people but to ourselves. For some, dreaming big is a way for them to see their better selves. It is a way for them to realize their own potential and make a big impact to the world or at least to their community. By dreaming big, we develop an open mind and we make connections to our own selves. We could think of new possibilities and we could have opportunities to achieve more.

FROM BIG TO SMALL DREAMS

As time passes by our dreams could become smaller. When we were kids, we dream the biggest dreams because we do not have the self limiting subconscious thought compared to adults. Now, because of our experiences we tend to stop and make our goals smaller than before. When you first enter a class, you always aim to get a 100% grade from your professor. You try your best on your first long exam, but unfortunately, you fail, so instead of 100%, you make it 85% and later on prefer to just pass the subject. When you were a kid, you aimed to become a doctor, a lawyer or a scientist, but because you weren’t able to study in the university or you weren’t able to pass an entrance exam, you just feel contented of having a job not related to what you want in life. On the other hand, just like the story of ARNEL, we may be stuck to our dreams due to our fate and life circumstances and may not be able to reach any of it.

One reason why we do not continue dreaming could be failure. We do not want to fail and experience the same again, so we just accept what is already in front of us. Second, we see that there are no more reasons to believe and dream, we see that there’s nothing that we can do in our life right now, so we just accept our fate and dream a little enough to our capabilities or nothing at all.

But we have to remember that dreams and hopes are the only free things we could have in life. Just like what was said make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood…make big plans, aim high in hope and work. It is just important to always think positive, desire what you want, visualize yourself achieving the goals, and most of all, do not stop working and make all of your hopes and dreams as your reasons for existence.

ARNEL

Let’s just call him Arnel. He was 28 when I first met him, first born son of a kidnapper-turned-state witness/police asset. I don’t know much about him. But once, while I was running errands for my boss and he was driving for me, he said, in a slapdash comment, “I want to have my own bus someday so that I could be my own driver and I could provide for our family.” I could never forget that moment when he said that. That was the most sensible and at the same time the most impossible dream I’ve ever heard of.

Most of us, by the time we reach our early twenties, dream of having our own car, a stable job, or an apartment – material possessions within our reach. These things are non-existent in Kuya Arnel’s dreams. When he told me about his dreams, I did not see any desire for self-fulfillment nor gratification in his intentions. All he has wished for was that simple life of a bus driver so that he could provide for his family. He could have told me that he wanted to be a rich businessman, or a lawyer, or a doctor, but he didn’t. For others it might be an absurd dream, mediocre, ludicrous. But for me, it was sensible, well-thought of, innocent and true.

But indeed, for him, it might be an impossible dream.

To the people who work with him in the office, he did not even get that much respect so as to be called by his first name. He was merely known as the first born son of the “Ampatuan Family” (Ampatuan – the name which is almost synonymous to the Maguindanao massacre that has happened in the Philippines in 2009) just because he was his father’s son. He earns enough to get by day by day by doing the ‘dirty works’ for the police, running difficult errands, on-call 24/7. And his safety depended on how he gets along with the authorities. His job wasn’t stable enough. One wrong move and he could be thrown out of his harbor with nothing but his clothes.

He was just so unlucky that he did take this one wrong move when he was tempted to steal something from his boss, out of necessity, because of poverty. Without any questions asked, he was immediately robbed of his only chance to even get a head start for his simple dream.

Kuya Arnel’s story was not meant to question the existence of poverty or humanitarian issues concerning the way he was treated. This simply tells the story of someone who possess such a small dream but was still unable to reach it because of his life’s circumstances.

THE GOOD THING ABOUT KNOWING YOURSELF

Have you ever come to a time when you have asked yourself who you are? In everything you do, it is all important to know where to position yourself. Before you understand and know other people, it is better if you know yourself first. Remember that it is the greatest discovery of all. It is the most courageous thing that you can do for your own goodness.

Knowing yourself doesn’t mean that you have to know your favorite color, your favorite actor or your favorite sports. It is beyond the ever-known-slam book-thing. Knowing yourself requires you to think deeply of what your thoughts are and what you believe in. Just because everyone is doing this and that do not mean that you have to do it too. Oftentimes, the “standards” created by other people generate big damage to us. Well, it is good to follow them, but it doesn’t always work that way. You have to think deeply and work best for your own. It is a difficult and long process but the results will be all worthy. It will improve the quality of your life.

You ask, “Why do I need to know myself? I have a lot of friends and they understand me.” Truly, we do have friends who are always there to understand us. You are lucky if all the people around you understand you. But sometimes, you have to be realistic. Our life doesn’t revolve with the same people. We get to know others. We get to know people who are different from us. Our reactions to certain things might cause problems to our relationships. When you understand yourself, you can be able to see a different perspective. By knowing yourself, you’ll get to understand others too. Then again, this will improve the quality of your life.

Just like what was said, knowing oneself is a difficult and long process. So you really have to give a big effort in all the things that you do. Growing up doesn’t mean that you automatically become conscious of who you are. It requires you to intentionally learn from every situation that you encounter and analyze every moment for your own good. The following are my self-thought guidelines in understanding one’s self. Remember that these are just guidelines. Find out what’s good for you.

GIVE TIME FOR YOURSELF. When I was in the university, my professor told our class that in order to fix things in life, one should allot at least 30 minutes for oneself every day and use this time to think and analyze. I tried to do this and until now, this activity plays a big role in my individuality. It gives me the opportunity to understand my attitudes, moods and habits and to think of things that requires deep imagination and knowledge. This is also a moment for me to know what I really like or plan to do in life, what I value and believe and what I prioritize.

LEARNING AND APPLICATION. One of the things that keep us from living is by learning in all things every day. It is one thing we have to give our attention in order to have a good life. On the other hand, people often forget the application of the things that we all learn. It is good to think well but you must act too. What’s the sense of everything you have thought of if you do not apply them for real?

UNDERSTAND THAT THERE ARE OTHER PEOPLE IN THE WORLD. Remember that you are not the only person in the world. You are not the only one who needs to be understood. You also have to understand others.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK: Beginnings

Every beginning is a foundation
Of our relationships and experiences
It must be nourished and taken cared of
It must be fueled to grow

It entails where you could go
It confirms what you can show
In life, there are different beginnings
Some are bad, some are good

I am just glad we started it this way
Now I know what is up for us
Now I know what awaits us
Worry I shall not