Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Chicken Soup-type of an entry...

One incident struck me last night, upon going home from my lady’s abode. I rode in front of a jeep going to Sta. Ana bridge, and accidentally eavesdropped at the conversation between the driver and his backrider (a backrider is a person who rides with the driver, and in charge of collecting fees and calling passengers). They were talking about preparing for their children’s future. I was amazed at how determined the driver was to provide for his children’s education. He told the backrider that he gave his kids a free hand to select the courses they want to take. “Kung gusto nilang mag-Nursing, kakayanin ko ‘yan.” He was ready and willing to finance for them, no matter how expensive their chosen course would take. He even jokingly uttered, “Malakas mangarap ano? Samantalang jeepney driver lang ako.” He seems to take everything lightly and confidently. Not to mention, with full optimism, disregarding the challenges of the difficult times. Let’s just hope he is not into something illegal.

Kidding aside, this exchange between two people with relatively ordinary lives (at least compared to squandering yuppies in Makati and Eastwood) has struck me. All along, people complain of low wages, harder way of life, more difficult times. But this man looked at the world in a totally different perspective. He was taking life in a stride, and was determined that he could bring his children to college, no matter what it takes. It just made me reflect that sometimes, we complain too much at things small things, making us so pessimistic about the current situation. However, just like the jeepney driver, we can always look at the bright side of life and work to face the challenges ahead. Instead of complaining that we have less food, we could always look forward that things will be better in the future. There is always a light in every tunnel. “My children will finish college no matter what.”

On the second thought, baka nga mayaman yung driver. Nagpapalipas oras lang sa pag-dyidyip… Oh well… My reflection stays… hehehe.

With this, I remember a quote with the same theme: “I was complaining I had no shoes, until I saw a man with no feet.”

Despite the hard times, we should never stop dreaming and believing.

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