Wednesday, October 08, 2008 Antalan: Simple and ordinary lives By Roger P. Antalan Dateline IGaCoS
IT IS always great to know and be friend with people who live simple and ordinary lives. These are people who are happy and contented with their work and what they have. They have no filters, no mental baggage. Knowing them makes you count your blessings, makes you feel good.
Let me mention a few of them without giving their names. They are shy and do not desire publicity. They are that simple, humble and unassuming but very likeable.
The first in the list is a driver by profession. He is tall, good-looking, always neat and well-mannered. He does not look like a driver. "My parents were poor. I only finished high school," he explained. He loves his work, takes good care of his vehicle, knows how to repair the vehicle and is more than willing to do other chores. He is what is known as "Driver sa makina, dili lang sa manibela." It is safe and enjoyable to ride with him.
My next example was the maid we had when our kids were still young. Single-handed, she did the marketing, cooking, cleaning of the apartment and the laundry. Most important of all, she really took good care of the children. But she got married. A family in Hong Kong hired her and she has been working there up to the present. Today all her children have finished their schooling and the husband manages the children, a sari-sari store and two passenger jeepneys.
Then there's the resourceful housewife. The husband's salary is just enough for the basic needs of the family. They have two growing kids. To supplement the husband's income, she goes into buying and selling all kinds of goods that her neighbors might want to buy. It is hard work going from house to house, but she loves to help her husband and she likes the income too.
Another housewife is so even-tempered you never hear her raise her voice with her three hyper-active kids. She even found time to run a little carenderia. What is so nice about her is that she always sings to put the kids to sleep.
I also like very mush the young lady who is a consistent honor student. She comes from a poor family but her scholarship grants keep her in school. She is active in sports, in her church, and in the student organizations. In spite her age, her classmates call her "Ate" because she is always ready with a cheerful attitude to help other in their studies.
A policeman I know could have been a lawyer but did not pursue his studies because of financial constraints. He could have easily become an officer but he declined to go for training because the wife is sickly. But as a simple policeman he really is a shining example of the PNP motto - "to serve and to protect". He likes his job as a peace officer and people feel safe with him around.
Our last example is a Kagawad from a distant barangay. His apostolate, so to speak, is bringing the sick to the poblacion for treatment. Since the patients are poor and he himself is poor, the Kagawad would patiently make the rounds asking for help. He is a familiar face at the Social Welfare and Health Departments, the Mayor's Office and the District Emergency Hospital. Armed with a constant smile and a humble bearing, he often gets the needed help for his sick constituents.
There are so many of these little twinkling stars in the vast permanent of ordinary lives. People who are happy and cheerful even with moderate means.
They really appreciate and value what they have, thankful of their present jobs and little businesses. They have passed the test of their vocation by loving, or at least bearing up with, the drudgery that it involves.
They are not miserable about what they don't have. More significantly, they have poor memories of problems and miseries endured in the past.
The win happiness because they have lost themselves in the work they love, and in the service of their families, their fellowmen and their God.
