Dear mindful readers,
I hope you are all in better circumstances after that horrifying heavy rainfall from typhoon Enteng. Always best to have 2 sets of rain gears in your homes and workplaces, ready and just up for grabs should the need arise. Take plenty of Vitamins C as well to strengthen your immune system.
Now back to the topic.
To give you guys a glimpse of how my family was back in the days, I was born into a middle class family of Spanish-Filipino-Chinese descent. Mom was a family physician who mostly served the underprivileged sectors of the society, persons whose addresses were either at the North Cemetery or at informal settlements in Quezon City and Caloocan. The meager fees that she was able to charge from some of her well off patients she used to defray household expenses and for our school needs. The rest she used to buy medicines for her patients during medical missions in Tiwi, Albay and in the most remote barrios in Bataan, Zambales, Davao and Marinduque.
My dad was a businessman, who, despite a number of unsuccessful ventures in retail trade, never grew tired of racking his neurons and dendrites, trying to find better means to be a good provider. And since we lived a fairly modest life amongst my rich and brand savvy friends and classmates in the private schools I attended, I’d be a hypocrite not to admit that at one point, I felt that I’d be happy if I had the luxuries they had. I dreamt of that day when I would literally become a point person - yun bang point lang ng point then buy agad without having to look twice at the price tag then return to rack, sabay talikod! 😂😂😂
Going back to that thought provoking title while picking my synapses, it simply implies that while we may not possess all the material things that we had wanted and hoped for, finding that sense of fulfillment and completeness through experiences, relationships, and passions, or even in things we find most mundane, may accord us that elusive peace of mind and sense of gratification, knowing that somehow, some way, somewhere, we are that person who was able to bring happiness to the depressed, help to the needy, and perhaps, the feeling of warmth to a cold and contrite heart.
It had to take a lifetime of roller coaster realizations for me to find bliss in simplicity through meaningful connections and experiences based on parameters of fulfillment which vary for each and every individual. Regardless however, that sense of having everything in something lies within one glaring truth - we all just want to be happy. There you go! Simple yet deep. It is actually a reminder that true richness comes from the intangible aspects of life that give us a sense of purpose and meaning.
Focusing on what truly matters in a perfectly imperfect world is a challenge we take on every single day. However, having an attitude of gratitude and acknowledging that perfection is nil should be able to guide us in searching for fulfillment in all our endeavors. This should also help us create a powerful mindset as we navigate through life's challenges.
I am now at that point in life where my experiences - good and bad, my material possessions - big and small, and the wealth of learnings I have gathered, repressed, and adapted through the years have taught me to be grateful for each and every blessing, to acknowledge that life is short to spend on unnecessary and senseless bickering, and to appreciate the fact that yes, we may not have everything, yet we believe, that there is always everything in something to be grateful for.
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