A look at the past year

2016 was quite a year; not in a very good way, though. I wouldn't bother enumerating the events and circumstances that broke our hearts. But amid the negativity, I'd like to remember the past year as a collection of teaching and enlightening moments, even though my heart, too, got it's own share of beating (pun not intended).

To be brief about it, let's just say I was made to realize that the last two to three years of my life had all been for naught (or it seemed like it). One day, the universe just revealed to me that I failed big time. As simple and as harsh as that.

The optimistic in me is still struggling to make sense of it. What good could possibly come from such a blunder? I've been and still thinking hard. But on top of my head, it still boils down to love - how deep, how enduring, how forgiving my love is. Does my kind of love begin and end at merely providing material things? Clearly, I was wrong in believing that that would suffice. Life is constantly teaching me to look past what money can buy, and more on what I can actually give as a compassionate and loving family member and friend.The best things in life are free, right? I missed out on that.

2016 had also made me ponder more on the value of time. The past year impressed upon me the shortness of a day; how it flies by so fast and if you don't pay attention to the ticking of the clock, you end up squandering it. It was a pain to calculate how much hours to allot for sleep, for daily commute, for school stuff, for work. I was chasing time, but was too slow to catch up. I've been learning the art of time management, of having productive leisure hours, of making my motivation big enough to make me jump out of bed with energy every single day. With it is the fact that as days go quickly by, everything around me continues changing, gathering age. I went home to Samar for the holidays and realized that it had been four years since I was there last. My cousins have all grown up, the familiar faces that used to greet me are now missing a few, and my grandparents' house is no longer as vibrant; it certainly has seen better days.

Thankfully, I began and ended the year with my family. Being with them allows me to see how much has changed over the course of time and how there is so much more to work hard on/for. Looking at them gives me a renewed sense of purpose. Over the years, I have only proven one thing - a life that is not shared with others is a life not worth living at all. There is pain in sacrifice, in the giving of self; but the rewards of generosity is inexplicable.

Therefore, no matter how chaotic the world can turn out to be, I know we'll always find our piece of happiness.

*photo from: stocksnap.io