IKR

“Excuse me mister, can I ask a question?” said a girl, “what can I do, you’re already asking a question,” replied the man. I once heard those lines from a SITCOM and it was hilarious. Upon hearing it the first time, you will surely crack a smile but when you repeatedly watch it, the humor tends to fade away and you’ll start to discern something else: lack of respect.

Nowadays, sarcasm is everywhere – especially in Philippine humor. Answering sarcastically has been a trending entertainment not only in the showbiz industry but also in our daily lives. When someone asks a stupid question or says something that is already obvious, people tend to answer the opposite just to make people laugh without thinking that they are humiliating the other person. People forget the value of respect just to gain the attention of everyone else, hurting the feelings of others in the process. But whose fault is it really? Is it the person who answered disrespectfully or the person who asked the question? They say that in order to receive something, one must also learn to give. In short, if you want respect then you should start giving respect – including yourself. Some people even ask stupid questions intentionally to amuse other people. What is the purpose of asking a question in which you already know the answer? You are just making a fool of yourself. It is just like jumping in a pool of lava, you’re simply harming yourself. If you want to avoid embarrassment, if you want to avoid being the center of the joke, THEN RESPECT YOURSELF by not asking such a stupid question.

 In my own discernment, it is not the person who answered the question who should be blamed and titled as disrespectful but rather it should be the one who made such a foolish query who should be deemed guilty. Life is not always a joke. Some people are just more serious than others are. Furthermore, all of us have different perceptions regarding humor. It is okay to be humorous and amusing but let us not forget that there should be proper timing involved when making gags. We should also be mindful of other peoples’ feelings because all of us have different opinions and not all may appreciate everything we say. The bottom line of this is still respect. One can never please everyone that is why we should, as the elders say, “think before you speak.”

Worst Thing I ever did!

 One of the many things that distinguish us, human beings, from animals is our ability to feel emotions. We get hurt; we rejoice and we feel rage but above all those things, our ability to love is what really sets us apart from them. Loving makes us superior to animals. It makes us, humans, unique; furthermore, it can serve as a powerful impetus for us to continue fighting in life. It gives us the determination to pursue the things we want and that determination becomes our unwavering strength. But that very strength of ours is also the Achilles heel of our kin. May it be filial love or romantic love; it only signifies that we consider them in our thoughts which could greatly affect our conviction and decisions in life.

Highschool has played an important role in my life. It taught me loads of stuff and gave me a lot of first times and among those first times which I experienced, one thing changed me. I changed because I loved. It was not just a love for parents and blood relatives; it was romantic love. They say that love is the answer to everything and other touching quotes but I had to learn the hard way that not all of those quotes are true. Yes, I admit, I did some things that brought out the best of me when I fell in love but it also brought out the worst in me. I did a lot of terrible stuff not only to others but also to myself. I was overwhelmed by the rush of emotions that I forgot my priorities in life. I disregarded almost everything—even my own pride. I made a lot of grave errors especially in my schoolwork. I neglected my studies and because of that, instead of getting satisfactory grades, I got depressing marks. The fact that I got low grades didn’t bother me at all. College is more important after all, right? As for me, yes, I was hurting—badly. That special someone could not repay what I was giving. It was heartbreaking but still I continued with my stupidity because of “love”. I was inflicting pain upon myself and destroying my future but I didn’t mind; there are always other opportunities, so I thought. It went on and on like that for months that, without realizing, I was pushing my friends away. I said a lot horrible things to them because they wanted me to wake up. I didn’t listen to any of their advices and got mad at them because they kept bugging me. They said I changed a lot and that they didn’t like it and I just said that I didn’t care. After that confrontation, I was left alone in midair. I got so depressed that I pitied myself. THAT incident was what awoke me from my foolishness. I was starting to realize that I was making a fool out of myself. Seeing the damages that have been made, I lost hope. I was afraid to go to school to face my problems. I was so down; I was SHATTERED to pieces. I had no one to lean on because I shunned my friends for what I thought was right but after many dismal days of being a forlorn, I finally came to light. I just woke up one day and said to myself that I’m going to set things right. I spoke with my friends and after a day of all those dramatic words and stuff with them, I was able to reassemble the broken pieces of me. I was able to see and think straight again. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that love is bad. I don’t blame it for all the mishaps that came in my way. I am just saying that to love without thinking can be very dangerous. It consumes your very being and smears your outlook in life. There is a reason why God placed our brains above our heart. He wants to remind us that we should think first before doing anything; a thought we should all bear in mind.

Because of uncontrolled emotions, I fell into a deep precipice and found myself alone. I felt so vulnerable and weak but also because of that happening I was able to venture into new realms and gained valor to face the woes of my existence. I realized that we only live once. So instead of waiting for a storm to pass, why not learn how to dance in the rain? In loving, I made a lot of mistakes and not just simple mistakes but terrible ones. Also because of love, I matured. I learned how to control myself and be aware of my surroundings. I realized that life shouldn’t be wasted on one thing alone. Because of uncontrolled emotions, a lot of things happened in my life, both good and bad, and that is why I consider loving to be the best AND the worst thing that I ever did.

IDK!

"is suffering necessary? yes and no, if you had not suffered as you have, there would be no depth to you as a human being, no humility, no compassion. suffering cracks open the shell of ego, and then comes to a point when it has served its purpose. suffering is necessary until you realize it is unnecessary." - eckhart tolle"out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls, the most massive characters are seared with scars" - kahlil gibran

IS IT WORTH IT?

In This advent of technology, supposing that science one day makes it possible to create a perfect replica of a human being not capable of feeling pain and experiencing suffering, could such being be called human? Or is suffering an innate part of what it means to be a human? Is suffering necessary?


A person who is suffering feels a lot of pain but a person who feels pain does not necessarily mean he is suffering. Pain is just a sensation, something unpleasant that you do not want to feel or experience while suffering is something we are doing with our pain. In a near sighted view, pain itself just stagnates, never touched, and always the same element while suffering is the manifestation of the hurt that is felt by pain, over personalizing it, and taking it into another higher unnecessary level. This does not help to take away that pain or lessen it. 

The degree to which we turn our pain into suffering is the degree to which we obstruct our own healing. Yes pain and suffering are close to each other but this is not the kind of closeness that heals.Taking a look into another brilliant picture, who else in this world did not suffer? Would that merit the argument that suffering is necessary? Even Jesus Christ, a diving being, suffered 3 days of his life before resurrecting. Helen Keller experienced a traumatic time as a child being deaf and blind. No doubt she knew about suffering. Because of that also, she knew that it is possible for pain to be conquered and be forgotten. It is suffering, the conscious and caring entry into or our pain, that we begin to find some real freedom from it. Just like a venom, the healing of pain comes from pain itself. If there would be no suffering, there would be no depth to you as a human being, no humility and compassion. So, is suffering really necessary? I believe that it is a both yes and no. 

A balance between two opposite stands and a unity between the two that would make up a great personality. As Kahlil Gibran said, “out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls. The most massive characters are seared with scars”. Although the word is full of suffering, I believe that it is also full of ways to overcome it, and in that place of hurt, we are not more hurt, but more us. Suffering is necessary until you realize it is not.