What a year 2020 has been and we are only in the third week of the year.
Many news cycles report of war, viruses, fires. Of course, the news cycle closest to my heart is the eruption of Taal and its impending fury.
To me, this news wasn’t just a cycle, it was personal. My family in the Philippines lived two hours away from Tagaytay and yet ash fell on our home. It took them about a week to clear the ash and I can only imagine about those who live within the proximity of the volcano.
The Filipino spirit is one that is resilient and hopeful even in the most tragic situations and without missing a beat, they soldiered on, sharing what they could (including laughter on social media), determined to win over another setback with our heads held high.
We are united as a country like we always do, and it reminded me that Filipinos always show up for each other, no matter what the differences are.
The first two weeks of 2020 bombarded us with stories that we did not want to hear, it reminded us of the fragility of life, and how life as we know it changes in an instant. For most people, it offered a moment of reflection on our life choices and what mattered most. It made you hold on tighter to those you love and made you question the depths of your days.
Analyzing your life begins with a reflection of what is going on internally. It is quite easy to place blame on the external (“The world is ending and yet my boss still sucks!”) but there is no power there because we cannot change anything other than ourselves.
Our lives do not merely happen to us, we take an active part in it through the choices we make, whether we realize it or not and it is when the world throws us catastrophe after catastrophe that we finally wake up.
We were given all the tools to succeed but left to our devices when it came to living a blissful life. We are reminded to “work hard” to have a life that looks good on social media but causes so much stress and anxiety offline. We continue to allow negative people to remain in our lives out of obligation without considering the effect on our own mental health. We end up with a life that is steered by those around us instead of owning it ourselves. And this is why by the end of the day, we are left exhausted with no control of our lives. It’s because we allowed others to steer our lives for us.
And this is why taking a few moments to reflect on the direction of our lives is important. It is during these moments that we ask ourselves what truly works for us and what doesn’t. It’s when we take an honest review of what we have been conditioned to think versus what we believe is true in our hearts.
What makes you happy? What makes you joyful? Go after the life you have always dreamed of before the world told you it was impossible to achieve. Live life on your own terms and watch yourself grow. No more anxiety, no more stress, just the bliss you have always wanted. You owe it to yourself, at the very least.