I've been staying in more often than not lately, and I don't know why. I don't know why I'm this lazy, I don't know why I haven't been out, either hitting a mall or tagging along to go on food excursions. All I know is that I'd rather stay at home, curl up in bed to an episode of my favourite drama and just sleep in. Even if I'd be awaked by Frankie J's This I Promise You a few hours later. Since I mentioned 'favourite drama' a few words ago, I've been catching up on my 90210 episodes which I'd recently resumed a few days ago after borrowing it from Isabelle.
I swear, the more I watch these dramas the more I understand why Dad has always deemed it to be a complete waste of time and capacity for other knowledge and wisdom. I finally get it; of course, it had to take years of his little voice in my head popping up on me when I'm just about to walk down the path to Drama Ville. But just because I get it doesn't mean I don't watch it anyways. So as you've already guessed it, I alone became a devoted 90210 audience. And today was the day I watched the last few episodes of the latest season - addicted, much?
Anyway, I'm not here to rant about my devotion to 90210 and my diligence to make sure I watch every single episode so I apologize for rambling about so much nonsense. Although, my point exactly was supposed to be about what watching 90210 - or any other drama series, for that matter - has taught me.
1) It taught me to appreciate the things I have.
For those of you who know me, my life, my background... you'd know that I don't have it all. I wasn't raised in a swanky mansion in the richest part of town with a silver spoon in my mouth. I don't have maids for every single house chore or errand to run. My parents don't have any millionaire relatives which would entitle us to inherit their fortunes, if or when they died. There aren't any vacation villas or holiday getaways which my family owns. As for my shopping expeditions, well...let's just say I don't blow my money away like it grows on trees. I don't shop at designer labels or at high-end boutiques because note: no trust fund. My friends aren't my friends because of what I buy them or what I do for them. We don't eat out at fancy restaurants - where it's as if we even paid for the cutlery - whenever we feel like we're too lazy to cook. My parents didn't ship me away to the most expensive boarding school in the world and neither did they pay for every vacation I wanted to go on or party I wanted to throw, let alone give me the green light. I don't get everything thing I want, whenever I want it. To cut this string of "I Don'ts" short, I'd opt to say that what I have and was blessed with is not too little and not too much.
And I think that Frederick Keonig couldn't have said it better:
We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have. - Frederick Keonig
2) It taught me that even without all those things, there still was a life and I could still live.
In continuation of the previous and first point, when you don't get whatever you want, whenever you want, all you can do is just settle and deal. Did I mention that that is what I've been doing all these years? Yeah, I most certainly have. Otherwise, what other choice do I have if I refuse to make moping around like a sad, pathetic glum an option?
Life has been a doting teacher to me in many ways, teaching me lessons that have and would come in handy as I go through life's unpredictable journey. It has taught me love, above all else; compromise and tolerance; understanding and obedience; sacrifice and victory; and the most useful of all, my long-time friend: Appreciation. And from that, I became accustomed to the here and now, to what I have and being thankful for it instead of over-analyzing what I don't and being a brat about it.
I didn't need to be raised in a swanky mansion with maids to tend to my every need, just parents who were devoted and dotting enough to raise a child. I don't need to inherit fortunes from millionaire relatives but just enough to go about my daily routines. I don't need getaway homes or vacation villas, just a place to call home. Forget about designer labels and high-end boutiques, as long as they look nice and are affordable, I'd bag it. The people I love can't be bought by an expensive pair of diamond earrings or an all-paid trip to Cabo because no price can be placed on a relationship, be it friendship or the kind involving love. If they can, well, those relationships won't usually last long. I don't need friends who would only be there for me when my pay comes in or when I'm having a brand new ride, just those who'd be there for me through it all and who'd continue to be there for me if I lose everything. I don't need to eat out every night at fancy, overly-priced restaurants, I'd be content enough with good-tasting home-cooked food. I didn't to go to school at the most expensive boarding school, just a school that provided good education with devoted teachers. My parents didn't pay for every vacation I wanted to set off on or every party I wanted to throw and they didn't have to because well, I prefer it that way.
You see, although I don't have much, I have a lot. I have more than most people in other parts of the countries do and that's something to be thankful for. With all that I am and all that I have, I should be grateful, and happy. And I am.
So, for the last month of the year 2011, please just stop whining or complaining. Stop looking and over-analyzing what you don't have but instead be grateful for what you do have. Cherish your friends, mend broken bridges and bury hatches. Give love a try and take your chance on it.
Just shut your pie holes and be thankful for a change, will ya?
Till' next time, tata!
P.S - As cliche as this blog entry is, the event that took place and drama that happened along with it needed to be lifted off my chest.
No comments:
Post a Comment