Twist Around

Have you ever noticed how a lot of people often focus a good deal of their attention and energy to scrutinizing the gloomy struggles we occasionally face rather than highlighting the brighter side of things? It's ironic that a lot of people, compulsively at times, choose to zero in on life's tough times and challenges rather than counting their blessings, enjoying all the wonderful and special times and grasping the remarkable opportunities that life presents to us daily. It's even more ironic that coincidentally I used to be that kind of person. I used to have this ever present gloomy disposition and harsh demeanor because all I could see was that nothing was ever right in my life and a lot of people thought that I totally allowed myself to be drawn into the depressing, downbeat, pessimistic side of life. I used to feel like I was being sucked into a whirlpool of depression because I never used to be content with anything that I had. It was almost as if I used to have a huge chip on my shoulder and it was the worst feeling ever. I've changed though; I've grown up thanks to one of those moments in my life that has defined me greatly as the person I am at present.

Pilar College has always practiced the presence of out reach programs every school year. As a Pilarist, I joined and actively participated in the out reach programs which has a primary goal of allowing the Pilarists to execute Ignacian values such as preferential love for the poor through generosity, kindness, sincerity, sensitivity and the like. As a senior I took it to heart to really make the time I spent with those needy children worthwhile. My class was segregated into groups, each assigned to a number of children. I waited in great anticipation for that Saturday we were assigned to have the out reach program. I wanted this out reach to be different. Little did I know it would be a turn around moment in my life.

I never really appreciated my blessings until that day at the out reach center. Surrounded by those little kids, well it just broke my heart. I don't even know where to start in describing their condition physically and what more emotionally. Huddled closely in that little center with all those kids and the awe in their eyes while they took a look at us it was a little unbearable. Maybe because I had so much and they had so little. A lot of those kids don't have formal education, while I managed to get my education at one of the best schools in Zamboanga. Those kids barely eat well while I have three square meals a day with tons of extras. I have clothes that fit me properly while they feel blessed with those tattered clothes that are either too small or too large for them. It's sometimes a little too messed up how kids as young as them have to undergo such difficult times. It made me think twice about my own life and my blessings.

Charles Dickens once said "Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some." After that day at the out reach center my whole life took a complete turn around. I started looking at the brighter side of life and I've started being more content with the things