By Jan Vicente B. Pekas
Just as tourists littered the city streets last month, uniformed children took their place in giving life to Baguio. The city will always be busy, it is something we all have to accept. And the traffic, a challenge that we must all adapt to week in and week out.
The days after long festivities are always filled with a harsh hangover-like feeling that is hard to overcome. To flip the switch of work mode and drinking mode is a hard one to do. The sweet pleasure brought by the routine of eat, get drunk and repeat is suddenly overturned by the hustle and bustle of navigating traffics of cars and people.
Nevertheless, swathes of employees are back to their offices. Classrooms are filled once more. And students whose Christmas break is still ongoing get to have their turn of laughing at those who had their break earlier than them.
Leaving one’s province to get back to work is a hard move to repeat all throughout the year. As an employee or as a student, the trip back for some will not be an enjoyable one. The loved ones we leave behind are immediately missed. And that urge to go back home taunts the heart in need of family company.
All the events in this life teach us many things. Time away from loved ones always seem to magnify the regret of not spending more time with the family. An enchanted place away from home when looked at closer cannot compare to a simple 4×4 room filled with cousins, aunties, and drunk uncles.
But if we are destined to go far in life, then life teaches us about places far from home. Gives us a taste first, prepares us for something bigger. All that we learn ultimately help guide us to a place that calls for us.
All the effort and sweat is not for naught on this earth. The world is there for one’s taking, but we all must prepare first. The hands that will ultimately grab the gifts of life. Things easily slip when held with hands that are too smooth and without calluses. They are easily cut by objects as thin and small as the blades of grass.
Holiday season is a great teacher of cherishing all that we are blessed with. After the holidays we are back at the stage, where opportunities lie in waiting, and pressure returns.
We know how to cherish, and all that we gain will not be taken for granted. Even when destiny takes us to regions far from home and country, we can learn to love the time away from home. And charge head on to the world. Knowing that we are fully prepared and deserving for all the challenges and rewards ahead.**
