At this point in my life, it would be nice to get some 'R and R'. Celebrating four decades of existence through some breather from all the toiling throughout the years is what I seek and what will continually be sought after. Having reached this age, anyone would most likely envision being in a stress-free situation. However, that would most likely contend with and allow us to realize still the purpose of our being. For a while there, you’d also reflect back on the ‘what-ifs’ and ‘what-would-have-beens’ as much as what you have accomplished so far that of which somehow molded your essence and probably determine who you will further be.
It would be hypocritical of me to deny that I’m not aspiring for the finer things in life. I want ‘this’, I want ‘that’… too many of ‘those’ actually… There’s no need to elaborate on what those are if only to point out the difference between the ‘wants’ from the ‘needs’; the necessities from priorities as much as the luxuries from what’s really important. As a matter of fact, it will likewise be trivial of me to even be torn between wanting a status-defining extravagance over a simple requisite for a decent basic need in a time such option is not just dependent on my current financial affair but also subject to the essence of life’s provisions.
We’re in trying times. It’s even more depressing to deal with untimely spending that overlaps with overheads at hand. The escalating expense over several bills coinciding with an additional outlay adds to the pressure. And more than that, that additional cost has been originally allotted for something already. Then it struck me…
The mere fact we’re even in such a situation no matter how tight it squeezes our resources, it’s still some manifestation of a windfall that breaths subsistence. We get to enjoy amenities with the capacity to pay for it and appreciate for ourselves as a reward of some sort. A chronic example is how our family has simply enjoyed even just going around on a joyride with the convenience of having a car yet to an extent mileage has tallied up only to reach a distance-run that needs periodic maintenance consequential of a substantial expense inopportunely befalling simultaneously with tuition fees, internet connection, cable TV, etc. Come to think of it, all of these are actually blessings. We’re even more blessed to be healthy for the capability to do that...
Amidst this awareness seemingly half-grasped and halfheartedly valued, I’m still dreaming of a grand vacation without having to worry about everyday expenditure; the capacity to settle fiscal obligations in full and without delay; equipped with up-to-date technology, currently trendy and other superficial wishes justified as “providential” necessities. Then, as if presenting me a tangible and a ‘touching’ example, it struck me again…
A day after my 40th birthday and along all these worldly yearnings, we facilitated the realization of a dream through the Make-A-Wish Foundation’s program. A young leukemia patient simply wished for a time with her family at SM. Such a wish though as unpretentious, it dwarfed all my materialistic desires. Traveling on a several-hour trip from a far-flung area, they were brought to Baguio for a planned family reunion and had them experience luxury even if only for a day. The most poignant part for me though was upon providing them with new shoes as part of that absolute shopping experience we planned for them as it’ll be their first time. It wasn’t even the thought of the charitable deed they’d probably appreciate regardless of brand or condition as a matter of that sense of liberality. Perhaps regardless if it was even just hand-me-downs, they’ll still be as grateful as it was their first pair of shoes.
For all we know, those shoes could get them comfortably farther. So much for a wish coming true and yet we seem discontented of what we have and still fancy about going beyond on a more affluent indulgence; at times unrepresentatively beyond our means.
There’s nothing wrong with treating yourself and/or your family with such incentives as these are likewise motivational factors for our being if it provides not just comfort but inspiration and life’s essential realizations.
As we start 2013, another estimated good year in the offing, in a time New Year’s resolutions are contemplated on, I’ve realized that I’d be more thankful of every blessing that comes my way and those that are yet to turn up as a result of perseverance for the next 365 days or so… I’ve realized that I’m as normal as any man could be and wanting to achieve and gain so much even the “not so important things in life”… And more than vainly seeking for the capacity to be charitable once rich, I’d continue to wish to have that means for that ability to share… yet achieve to be as generous of whatever I could accordingly contribute regardless of time and occasion…
This year, this time, I wish…
It would be hypocritical of me to deny that I’m not aspiring for the finer things in life. I want ‘this’, I want ‘that’… too many of ‘those’ actually… There’s no need to elaborate on what those are if only to point out the difference between the ‘wants’ from the ‘needs’; the necessities from priorities as much as the luxuries from what’s really important. As a matter of fact, it will likewise be trivial of me to even be torn between wanting a status-defining extravagance over a simple requisite for a decent basic need in a time such option is not just dependent on my current financial affair but also subject to the essence of life’s provisions.
We’re in trying times. It’s even more depressing to deal with untimely spending that overlaps with overheads at hand. The escalating expense over several bills coinciding with an additional outlay adds to the pressure. And more than that, that additional cost has been originally allotted for something already. Then it struck me…
The mere fact we’re even in such a situation no matter how tight it squeezes our resources, it’s still some manifestation of a windfall that breaths subsistence. We get to enjoy amenities with the capacity to pay for it and appreciate for ourselves as a reward of some sort. A chronic example is how our family has simply enjoyed even just going around on a joyride with the convenience of having a car yet to an extent mileage has tallied up only to reach a distance-run that needs periodic maintenance consequential of a substantial expense inopportunely befalling simultaneously with tuition fees, internet connection, cable TV, etc. Come to think of it, all of these are actually blessings. We’re even more blessed to be healthy for the capability to do that...
Amidst this awareness seemingly half-grasped and halfheartedly valued, I’m still dreaming of a grand vacation without having to worry about everyday expenditure; the capacity to settle fiscal obligations in full and without delay; equipped with up-to-date technology, currently trendy and other superficial wishes justified as “providential” necessities. Then, as if presenting me a tangible and a ‘touching’ example, it struck me again…
A day after my 40th birthday and along all these worldly yearnings, we facilitated the realization of a dream through the Make-A-Wish Foundation’s program. A young leukemia patient simply wished for a time with her family at SM. Such a wish though as unpretentious, it dwarfed all my materialistic desires. Traveling on a several-hour trip from a far-flung area, they were brought to Baguio for a planned family reunion and had them experience luxury even if only for a day. The most poignant part for me though was upon providing them with new shoes as part of that absolute shopping experience we planned for them as it’ll be their first time. It wasn’t even the thought of the charitable deed they’d probably appreciate regardless of brand or condition as a matter of that sense of liberality. Perhaps regardless if it was even just hand-me-downs, they’ll still be as grateful as it was their first pair of shoes.
For all we know, those shoes could get them comfortably farther. So much for a wish coming true and yet we seem discontented of what we have and still fancy about going beyond on a more affluent indulgence; at times unrepresentatively beyond our means.
There’s nothing wrong with treating yourself and/or your family with such incentives as these are likewise motivational factors for our being if it provides not just comfort but inspiration and life’s essential realizations.
As we start 2013, another estimated good year in the offing, in a time New Year’s resolutions are contemplated on, I’ve realized that I’d be more thankful of every blessing that comes my way and those that are yet to turn up as a result of perseverance for the next 365 days or so… I’ve realized that I’m as normal as any man could be and wanting to achieve and gain so much even the “not so important things in life”… And more than vainly seeking for the capacity to be charitable once rich, I’d continue to wish to have that means for that ability to share… yet achieve to be as generous of whatever I could accordingly contribute regardless of time and occasion…
This year, this time, I wish…