Give More To Life

“What is your life’s purpose?” I asked an elderly neighbor as we strode toward the chapel area for a talk, the kind of casual talk I used to engage with him during my daily strolls from the office to the house. “Why do you want to know? You mean, until now you haven’t known your purpose yet?” was his quick reply. Sheepishly, I said that I have an idea but I’m not that sure yet if what I’ve been doing contributes a great deal to my life-purpose. “Well, my life’s purpose is to give more to life than take more from it. Does that make sense to you? If it does, you write a book about it.” Then off he went. I was caught speechless, it took me awhile to digest what he meant by the statement. Well and good, I learned a very striking lesson that day, enough to make me ask and examine myself, am I giving more to life rather than taking more from it? Or am I just neither too concerned nor too cold about it? This question repeatedly rings in my head each time I find time to be alone and contemplate. Yeah, I am confident that I’m giving my best in anything I do but sometimes I find myself guilty because I tend to sweat simple stuffs and I complain a lot. I render extra service but once I get too tired, I could easily whine and worse, curse at times. How could this be considered giving more to life than taking from it? I know my weaknesses as well as my strengths and sometimes no matter the inner prodding to give out with much gusto without strings attached, I still do otherwise. The past three weeks have been a very tough time for me, my body already felt so tired, so overworked but I kept pushing it to its limits. I still played badminton for two hours last Saturday despite the backache. Thank heavens coz on Monday morning, I awoke feeling energized and vibrant again! A brand-new day has come, a new opportunity to live and give more to life, as I should. I promised never to sweat the small stuff this week but here I go again, getting involved in too petty but essential issues. I bet this makes life tick around the workplace and to care about small, minor details is relative to gradually making life better and giving it more profound meaning. That in order to make big leaps, one must take those tiny little steps required each and everyday. As long as we have a heart that constantly gives thanks from above despite the hardships of daily struggle, a mind that acknowledges God as the giver of wisdom and proper judgment and hands that do the work that we are given with all gratitude and thanksgiving and a yielded spirit to do God’s will for our lives on a day-to-day basis. I guess this is what it’s all about, isn’t it? To appreciate great things, we must first recognize the impact of little blessings in our life. Indeed, I have loads of loads of little blessings I devalued. Those little things make up my archive of grand blessings and endowments. The morning sunshine, my cab driver who gives me a lift every morning, the smiles, kicks and giggles my son gives me as I lift him up from the crib, the mixed expression on the face of my little one as I wave my goodbyes before going to work, my husband’s warm kisses and his tender massage when I get really tired, my eldest son’s diligence in answering the books that his Ninang gave him on his birthday, the words of encouragement from friends, my multiply buddies, the kindly staff in the warehouse who always casts his smiles at me each time I come to the office, the lady janitress who greets me every single morning and the gardener who warns me to slow down every time he dampens the pavement so that I may not trip or lose my balance. And the list goes on and on, I know there are still more to be thankful about and to smile about. Oh, one more thing, Marlon’s smile, he has such kind of smile that takes away my feeling of weariness, that smile that I need in the middle of a very tense day. I know these people ought to give more to life too like me. J

Reminds me of St. Francis of Assisi’s prayer, “Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is injury, let me bring pardon; where there is hatred, let me bring love; where there is doubt, faith; where there’s despair, hope; where there is darkness, let me bring light; where there is sadness, let me bring joy. Help me to show I understand; help me to want to offer my hand; help me to be where, I find a need there, comfort the man suffering alone; forgetting that I have needs of my own.” Indeed this is a very beautiful prayer of selfless giving of self for others. Giving more to life, this is my constant desire. And I ask God to touch me into doing the things that He wills for me everyday. And I thank Him for giving me a keen sense of understanding to reflect on things like this every chance I get. Thank you, God.