On Higher Ground

​I have the opportunity to climb the peak of the mountain which took us about 4 hours just to get there. The path was to steep and nerve-wrecking but it was a satisfying experience. 
We climb there on Lenten Season, time for reflection, and I did. The experience was so memorable to me because that was the first time I engaged in an activity after I got injured with an ACL. Also we met our housemaid (back when we were young) living in the small barangay near the peak of the mountain. 

It made me realize a lot of things especially on Family and People. 

Family

• I came there with my family and relatives. We’re the young ones getting excited with the trip to a place we never imagined going. With us are our parents, uncles and aunts, they were also taking on the challenge of climbing there despite their age and numerous reasons not to. Being with Family makes the climb bearable. Family tend to encourage one another and lift each other up (figuratively and literally speaking). Family is an important component of life that we tend to neglect but it is on of the things that is constant in a changing world. 

People

• As I mentioned earlier, We met our ex-housemaid. We spent almost 3 years with her taking care of my younger sibling among other things. We liked her since she was one of those who lasted more than a month (believe me it’s a very short list) but due to the request of her father she went back home to marry the one her father had arranged for her. She was from a mountainous area from our town and there she was in a mountainous area of another town. She was happy as we was seeing her. Now, she has 5 children and she’s working with her husband in the other side of the mountain. Seeing and experiencing a bit of their life made me think that there were still unfortunate people who were deprived of access to health care, to a nearby school since her eldest child had to walk for an hour or so just to reach the bottom of the mountain to go to school in the next barangay, and access to opportunities that may elevate the quality of life they had. At the same time, I felt that they were perks of having a lif such a theirs. One of those is the cold and pure water coming from the springs, bountiful harvest of crops that they grew there and the clean air that I surely miss. They have a simple life and have simple dreams. I hope that most people would realize that there were others such as Manang (who we call her) that lived with even less than what we normally have. We should be thankful for what we have and appreciate the strength of people despite of adversities or unfortunate circumstances.

God really do wonders in things even if we least expect it. More than reaching the peak and seeing the magnificent view from above, I gained experiences, learnings, realizations and most of all seeing a familair face in an unexpected place. This makes me believe in more on God, family and people.

#reality

Life Lesson: Bookmark

When my sister and I are roaming around the city, this caught my attention on one of the stores we went into and bought it right away. I got one for her and another for me. 

Since I have plenty of books compared to her which means I have a lot to study and topics to cover, mine were gone after a month or two. She offered the half of her part to me but my need for it is much higher than hers so in the end she gave me the other half.

Lesson of the story: if you like something and it is one of your needs in the near future you better have it, enough to sustain your demands. Law of Supply and Demands applies.