Squeezing myself into the jam-packed MRT, sweating it out under the sun while waiting for a bus, elbowing other passengers to climb up into a moving jeepney, inhaling the poisonous exhaust fumes emitted by trikes. These awful occurrences I go through almost everyday of my life.
And these make me desire that my future kids would not go through these hardships. They would be safely cocooned inside air-conditioned private cars. They would arrive in their desired destinations safe and sound, not a drop of sweat upon their brows. They would be comfortable and would have clean lungs. In other words, I yearn to give them easy lives. Not only when it comes to riding the public transportation but in all aspects of their lives. I do not want them to have trials nor difficulties. No needs nor wants that are not acquired. No tears and no hurts. No mosquito bites or knee bruises. What protective parents usually consider when they see their children against a backdrop of a messy world.
I stop for a moment though. I realize that I too went through a lot of distress and pains as I grew up. Not only exposure to elements of nature that batter down my fragile body. More so the contact with people and experiences that brought marks and scars on my life.
While going through them, I may have grumbled and whined. I would still probably do the same if I once again encounter an objectionable situation. And I am sure I will. But if I look from outside the situation and review my life from afar, I must admit to the fact that I became a better person because of them and despite of them. I have learned that many of my experiences, the kind that may give one an upset stomach or at worst nightmares, have made me what I am today. They made me forgiving yet stronger, naive yet a little more careful, introvert yet slightly extrovert, guarded yet to some extent confiding, hesitant yet more assured, a follower yet a take charge person. A living life.
So whenever I would see a child hanging by her mother’s blouse, I would not wish on him a trouble-free life. I would not want it for my own child. Rather, I would try to make him ready to face life.
Bring it on.
And these make me desire that my future kids would not go through these hardships. They would be safely cocooned inside air-conditioned private cars. They would arrive in their desired destinations safe and sound, not a drop of sweat upon their brows. They would be comfortable and would have clean lungs. In other words, I yearn to give them easy lives. Not only when it comes to riding the public transportation but in all aspects of their lives. I do not want them to have trials nor difficulties. No needs nor wants that are not acquired. No tears and no hurts. No mosquito bites or knee bruises. What protective parents usually consider when they see their children against a backdrop of a messy world.
I stop for a moment though. I realize that I too went through a lot of distress and pains as I grew up. Not only exposure to elements of nature that batter down my fragile body. More so the contact with people and experiences that brought marks and scars on my life.
While going through them, I may have grumbled and whined. I would still probably do the same if I once again encounter an objectionable situation. And I am sure I will. But if I look from outside the situation and review my life from afar, I must admit to the fact that I became a better person because of them and despite of them. I have learned that many of my experiences, the kind that may give one an upset stomach or at worst nightmares, have made me what I am today. They made me forgiving yet stronger, naive yet a little more careful, introvert yet slightly extrovert, guarded yet to some extent confiding, hesitant yet more assured, a follower yet a take charge person. A living life.
So whenever I would see a child hanging by her mother’s blouse, I would not wish on him a trouble-free life. I would not want it for my own child. Rather, I would try to make him ready to face life.
Bring it on.
2 comments:
I agree! It might sound like a cliche but hardships do make us stronger. I am afraid for my nephews and niece who I think are having a sheltered life. They seldom take the public transport, if at all.
But i still wish i have a car... with a driver... hehehe
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