No honking.
2:44 PM | Monday, December 30, 2013
Hello! It's been a while. This post is dated Dec 30, 2013 -- Just one sunrise more and it's a totally different year. But, what a year it has been.... Truly.
But what brought me back here to this seemingly deserted corner of the web is a simple realization that occurred to me just maybe an hour ago.
As I was on my way home from a uneventful trip to the nearby grocery store (to get some Yakult! Haha so addicted to these yummy little bottles filled with bacteria.), I rode a jeepney that had music turned on. From the backseat, I noticed how the jeepney driver was singing heartily to the songs, with emotions, as if it was his own song and that he was singing it under the spotlight in front of adoring fans. Then I thought, maybe, just maybe, that in his younger years he dreamed to become that person he is trying to envision himself at this moment. Maybe, this person who looks so different from the celebrity artists we normally adore on television screen, also had his dreams and aspirations... Dreams and aspirations that were swallowed by the reality of life.
Think of it, what child would've dreamt to become a jeepney driver one day? Don't take me wrong, I have nothing against jeepney drivers. In fact, they have very noble jobs and let's admit that whether we are aware or not, these people have become invaluable to our lives (especially to people like me who are non-private car owners). How the hell do we go to school, work, appointments and just go around places if there was no one to drive the PUJ for us? But it's just that human that we are, we all aspire greatness in our lives. We want our lives to mean something for many.
That's when I realized how lucky I am to be where I am today. To have reached some of my dreams at this age, when there are people out there who couldn't. People who just get by with their lives doing what they could to keep living. The world was truly not made to be fair and that this race is indeed made for us to fight for our own survival. But one thing... let's not get consumed with our own survival that we forget to be compassionate to others. Once in a while, I encourage you to pause and just look around and realize the things that you should be thankful for because more than not, you have a lot more to be thankful for than most people.
Let's be kind to one another because it doesn't mean that because we have achieved more in life, we can look down at others like they are lesser. Take jeepney drivers for example. Sure, you might be better than the driver of the jeep you are riding but that doesn't make his function in this world any lesser than yours. You can be a doctor, a lawyer, a businessman, a graduate school student -- or just someone who's resume can easily outshine his. But remember, at that moment, it's the driver that's bringing you to the hospital where you can be a doctor, to the court where you can be a lawyer, to the office where you handle your business or to school where you pursue your graduate studies. At that very moment, you are nothing but a passenger dependent for the service only the driver can give...
Bottom line is that, I am one with the idea that in this world, no one is absolutely above or below others for this world is just a huge conversation of ideas -- ideas from big AND small people. We are all part of this conversation. So let's be kind to one another and see the beauty that is in the small things around us.
