By Jan Vicente B. Pekas
In the early days of my lessons on driving, a quote from a movie came back to me. It went this way, “We create our own demons”. And as my own nervousness continues to be a big hurdle in my current lessons, the cause has to be traced and dealt with, rooted in past events that fed my anxiety due to being unprepared and being late.
The majority of my elementary days were marked by entering the classroom late. Though the location of our house and the traffic seemed to be great excuses, the fault was in me. I created my own demon the moment I slept late. And a late start to the day would naturally result in a late arrival in the classroom.
From my lazy days in the beginning stages of the lockdown was another demon I would create. The amount of food I was eating didn’t seem to matter to me. After all, what was there to do when you were stuck at home? A couple of months later, the demon came back in the form of a 10+ kilo increase in my weight.
Changing the outside world starts in the inside. In the few events when I slept early, arriving on time in school was almost certain. No lessons and quizzes would be missed and grades would not suffer. From something so simple can bring such a massive impact.
The weight I gained would later be lessened due to exercise and proper diet, but the consequences were already there. Body scars or stretch marks from the sudden gaining of weight would be hard to remove.
We are now in the early days of a new year. The mistakes from the past cannot be repeated and the lessons we learned must not be wasted. The sudden increase of Covid cases is something we have caused. Misplaced anger will not help. And blaming each other will only divide the already desperate people. A divided people cannot possibly hope to solve a major issue such as the covid-19, and climate change, something I’m sure most of us have contributed to, knowingly or not.
The demons we had created as individuals and as groups are many. But we cannot define ourselves with mistakes. Nor should we rely on previous successes. With an ever-evolving world, the problems today require more complex solutions. As problem solvers though, the proper answers will surely be found if not provided. Whether it will come after mere months or decades, we, as a species would not be stopped by earthly hurdles.
But even with something as simple as late arrival in school or as massive as climate change, discipline is needed to change the outcomes. To gain self-control, we must properly reflect inside.
When the head is “hard,” the change must occur inside. To show our maturity and be able to discipline ourselves is a feat needed in our current situation. The self-control to wear masks properly, and the recycling of plastics are things we are capable of doing. And even with noteworthy stubbornness, self-discipline is something we, Filipinos, have shown. The forming of a proper line when waiting for and then boarding a jeepney, and being respectful to elders are habits that could not have been developed in us without some sort of discipline.**
