Without pressure, there's no diamond

We are all witnesses of how complex this life is. Every day – we have to make decisions, we have to deal with problems, and we have to face judgments. It’s the nature of life – dreams and tests, triumphs and downfalls, despairs and delights.

But when tough junctures approach, when our fate is in our hands, we pause in the crossroads and consider the fact of termination. We have experienced this not just once or twice; and luckily, we’re still here – breathing and existing.

Challenges are inevitable. One cannot pick a flawless life, where red carpet is laid down the waxed and polished staircase. Maybe God really designed our life with a dazzle of imperfections; for us not just to conquer it for nothing, but to instill, inspire, and mold us.

Some people fail to see the purpose of challenges – they give up. Sadly, people who had piled-up-discouragements terminated, committing suicide. These people had great dreams for their selves, family and friends, and also vast challenges stopped them. They could have been the hope of their families, they could have been an asset in their companies. They could have been the leaders of their nations, they could have been the changers of the history.

Challenges will shape one to be a resilient person. In the days of adversary, the only choice left for that somebody is to bounce back; shake off the defeats, downfalls, worries, pains, bitterness, rejections, hurts, offenses, negativities, and even those seemingly tolerable but sharp and upsetting prejudices. Victim mentality and the infamous I-can’t mind set will certainly bring one nowhere-and when I say certainly, know that I am full of assurance and I myself, am very convinced. Therefore, at the end of the day, the only option is to fight and press on towards the goal. This is how we wrestle with life.

“When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not yet ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back. A week is more than enough time for us to decide whether or not to accept our destiny.” 

― Paulo Coelho, The Devil and Miss Prym

Born to Leave a Legacy

There is a thin streak in our blood that is aspirant to leave something in this world. We do even write our names in a bark of a tree. We sometimes leave something in a place we’ve been to. In fact, we observe that there are so many establishments, buildings, streets, and schools who are named after a well-known name.

Yet there will come a time that we will stop breathing and will halt revolving around this planet. And we do not know when that will be – today or tomorrow; or maybe in just a couple of hours. Leaving something before we die is something innate in us, because we want to be remembered, after that cul-de-sac.

We know so many people who had their own monuments and have their own holidays named after them. We know some whose names were inscribed in our textbooks and lesson plans. And we know certain person whose deeds were never forgotten, up until now.

I am not to shed my blood neither sacrifice my flesh so people could remember me; nor outrageously fight the rotten system. I am not to protest along the Mendiola road neither counterpart Mother Theresa’s acts; nor be a source of a soon-to-be viral issue that will popularize my name. But knowing myself, I’m the kind of person who wants to touch hearts and transform lives. I have this strong faith in God and I’ve shared it to so many people. I received Jesus’ love and I also want the people around me to experience that kind of love also.

Being a Sunday School teacher in the church, my heart is so close to children. Every Sunday, I teach 7-9 year-old children and I’m a witness of their behavior and growth. Being their ‘ate’, I cannot expect them to thank me and say, “Thanks for patiently teaching us on how to be good, you’ve been part in molding our character.” But I believe that time will come when they will be good leaders of their generation, loving people around them and serving God wholeheartedly. Imitating what I’ve shown to them.

I do not know, but it is really a pleasure for me to teach these young generation. I am grateful for being part of their formation period; by being there listening on their sides every time they feel so pressured in their family, school and environment. Knowing that these children have different kinds of families, grew up in different cultures, raised up in different principles, some didn’t experience a fatherly love, some are financially unstable, and some don’t have established healthy relationships with their parents and siblings.

In our every week meetings, I know, I am touching their hearts. I can’t wait to see these children grow up and be successful individuals. In simple lessons I impart to them, no matter how tough it may be to handle wayward kids, at the end of the day, there is this sense of fulfillment I feel. As they let me cross the threshold of their hearts, knowing how I impart a part of my life to them, I sleep every night with a happy face. As I meet them every week, my life just become more significant and meaningful. Having been known that even if I die, a part of me remains alive; and that is through the life of these children that embraced the teachings and instructions I bequeathed.