It pays to read the day’s paper. More aptly, it pays to read more than just the paper’s Entertainment or Lifestyle sections. This I proved after I read an article by Francis Kong on The Philippine STAR’s July 28 issue, titled “At The End Of The Day”.
Kong asks, “In this demanding and challenging word, how hard are some of us running to keep pace with our lives, are we running to achieve personal best or are we paying a huge price for our so-called success?”
God knows I too, have asked myself this question a lot of times lately. I’ve worked more than 3 jobs since college. I start out okay in a job but I somehow grow tired of it along the way. And as much as I want to play the I’m-still-young-anyway-I-can-find-another-job and I’m-resigning-because-I-want-a-more-meaningful-job cards, I’m not proud of not having been able to keep a job however it wants to keep me. This eternal search for a “greener pasture” is becoming so exhausting that I wonder if I’ll be able to keep up with it. I’m not even sure as to why I search for it in the first place. What’s a greener pasture for? More money? Adulation?
Kong’s article echoes these sentiments seamlessly when he says, “Many of us are running on the treadmill of life at an incredible place and we’ve lost the plot. We are like hamsters on a wheel and we are spinning that device at an enormous speed without really knowing why. I am not sure that we all know what really matters in life.”
Really what does?
At the end of the day, what makes us really happy? What puts a genuine smile in our faces? What makes our hearts full of gratitude? What gives us peace?
The article cites, “it’s not how much money you make, the kind of car you drive, the label you wear, the size of your house or how many pats on the back you received at the office. At the end of the day, it’s about going home to find someone eagerly waiting for you—with a smile to steal your heart, and a hug to make your day." Now this should be good news for us who are not Ayala’s, Sy’s, Tan’s, or Gokongwei’s. So long as we have that someone we can share our lives with, we’ll do just fine.
“At the end of the day, it is about how you will pull yourself together to meet every obstacle along the way. It is about every sacrifice you make in order to be together. It is about how you forgive someone for the mistakes he or she makes. At the end of the day, it is about expressing truth and love to everyone”, narrates the article.
The article turns to ask, “have we lived well enough to have made ourselves part of someone else’s success? Well enough to have helped someone through a difficult time without thought of reward or compensation? Well enough to have children and young people respect us and old people value us because they can see our contribution towards making this world a better place to live in?”
I’m nearing 30 and sometimes I feel I haven’t lived well enough that I ask for more. But this article reminded me to ask, what and whose standards should I use anyway for me to say I’ve lived “well enough”? And if I’m to base it on the questions above, I can say I’ve lived fairly well, thank you very much.
I’m not saying we shouldn’t search for that “greener pasture”. Everyone’s entitled to his own happiness and satisfaction anyway. I just think sometimes we’re looking too hard we miss out on realizing we’re already in it; that we don’t have to go somewhere else to get something we don’t need to begin with.
Mr. Kong segues into saying, “I guess no words can ever be more important than hearing our Creator say; “Well done my good and faithful servant.”
Indeed Mr. Kong. Indeed.
