23/06/2015
nothing is worth more than laughter.
these are angel, bugoy & maebel - three out of four of the children in my host family. we look ridiculously happy in this photo that we spontaneously took on our way to play, and this made me realise that it is actually quite difficult to be unhappy. in gk, i wake up worrying about the day’s programmes, anxious about plans going wrong but as soon as we spend time with these three little sparks, the day turns ten shades brighter. as fyodor dostoyevsky said, “the soul is healed by being with children” and for letting me count the little things in life that matter, i thank these three.
from them i have also understood a deeper meaning of family. to me, family meant blood relations over everything else but to see how my nanay & tatay welcomed us with such warmth & love made me understand that it is definitely possible to see unrelated strangers as family. the last sunday that beini & i spent with our family was probably my favourite day although that was the first & last time for bonding since tatay only came home on weekends. nevertheless, i felt so much joy just by sharing a hot pot of chicken soup & vegetables with the bonus of watermelon for dessert simply because we all sat around the table eating together. there isn’t a single formula for happiness, no. but i believe you prescribe your own and i guess my prescription just came through.
this past year i’ve been learning to see that there’s more to life than good grades & a coveted career but this experience has shown me something greater. i’ve seen that the people in my life are the most valuable and in order to live each day to its fullest, i need to surround myself with people i love who make me happy, because at the end of the day, nothing is worth more than laughter.
