Estremera: Raking through the ashes

THIS could be literal it could be figurative. It's that human penchant to ponder on the “what if's” even after the fact and even when nothing can be done about what has been. That is what we were bombarded with right after the State of the Nation Address (Sona).

People with their own agenda and interests are saying that this and that should've been part of the Sona and that President should have given attention to this instead of that. I just heave a sigh and murmur: Why don't you field your own presidential candidate and see if he/she wins?

True, as Filipinos, we have every right to question authority, but aren't we pushing it too far? The way some of these groups are talking and posturing is already playing the singkkil with treason. Where is citizenship? Where is love for country? No. There is but the agenda to criticize no matter what.

I'm in awe of social media friends who never run out of negative things to write every single day, and I wonder how their health and life are doing. You can't possibly live in that negative state without being eaten up by the darkness you see every day, can you? But then, it's a choice we make. And so I let them be. The unfollow button is always there to be clicked.

Last week, we had the near-misfortune of losing everything in our department. But fortune still smiled upon us and chose to just gift us with tons and tons of soot from the ashes that we still have to set aside time to clean up. But over-all?

The damage was much less than what it could have been, and I was thankful right from the very start. Surprisingly, while I stand to lose much, including a good section of my Mindanao books had that fire not been placed under control fast, I didn't freak out about it. There was just gratitude that we were spared, with a gift of tons of black soot that I have to wipe off from everything. There was that certain nonchalance: had they been turned to ashes, then it's goodbye. But since they were not, then it's thank you. Either way, I'm okay.

Here comes an officemate, reacting as everyone else would, prefixed by “OMG!” I was quick with my retort: “Sssshhhh. Chill. Nasunog na. Pasalamat na gamay lang (The fire is over. Be thankful that it wasn't big).” Really. Once a fact becomes a fact that is it. The change will only come after. Live with it, repair it, re-build, whatever. A burned building will not rebuild itself just because you rued its burning.

Lamenting, especially material things, serves no purpose. It's like raking over ashes, they will still be ashes plus maybe bits and pieces of what was there before, but never the whole. So why linger?

In the same way, the Sona has been read and has been cheered by many. You're not the president, the Sona has been read and an accompanying accomplishment report has been released the day before. Move on, work on. I'm sure I'm ruffling a lot of feathers and hair and fur and egos here.

But guess what? This is my article, and you can't do anything except read it, rue about it, or just put it aside. Had this been by someone else and I disagree with the thoughts here, I'd just put this away even before finishing it. For why would I use up my time over something I cannot do anything about?

In this life, there are a lot of things that need to be done. I prefer to act on my concerns. You can choose to do otherwise. That's what we call freedom of choice. You can always click unfollow or turn off notifications... That, too, is a choice.

saestremera@gmail.com