Wednesday, November 13, 2013

celebrate by giving ...

Christmas is just around the corner. It's a time to celebrate and a time to give thanks. It's a time to share joy and be with family. However, what happens when you don't have anything to celebrate because you just lost everything? What happens when you can't give thanks because you keep asking why this tragedy fell on your and your family? What happens when there is no joy but only sorrow and misery? What happens ... when there is no family to celebrate with because they all perished with the most recent storm to hit our country?

What does Christmas mean now?

A lot of the people I know are not directly affected by the recent typhoon to hit our country. For this I am thankful. I'd like to think we were spared for a reason. We were spared because we can give so much to help the ones who were hit and affected. We were spared because we are the ones chosen to give what they can no longer to feel on their own ... HOPE.

At a recent meeting I was in, there were talks about Christmas parties and whether or not we should push through with exchange gifts. Personally, I think the best thing that we can do right now is to help our fellow countrymen. Php500 goes a long way in buying medicines and canned goods. I can't fathom how we can come up with parties and festivities when we have fellow countrymen who have no food, no shelter, no change of clothing, or even a decent grave to bury their dead in.

We just seem shallow, superficial, and frivolous. No. We are shallow, superficial, and frivolous.

I wanted to speak out and say, we need to do more than just cancel the exchange gift. If you really want to help, turn that Christmas Party into a party for a cause. Turn something shallow into something worthy of time and money being spent. However, I didn't speak out at that time because I was the new person in the group and I wasn't sure how it would be accepted.

Mulling it over now, I realized that I should speak out ... I need to. If not me, then who? I may be just one person but if I can convince someone to help instead of just doing nothing, then my voice would be worth something.

We are so blessed compared to these people. We are so fortunate that we do not have to wake up wondering where our next food will be coming from, whether the fever our child has will kill him because there's no paracetamol available, and whether or not we need to drink that dirty puddle simply because there is no clean water available.

We are so lucky compared to these people. We don't need to wonder where we will sleep, whether our children will still go to school, where we can take our next bath, or what the future holds. These people are not as lucky.

Please ... let us do more and BE MORE ... let us share what we have and do what we can. Sitting in our office chairs, enjoying the cold air from the aircon and worrying about stats ... we are more than that. Other people have cancelled their parties. Other people have cancelled their travel and donated the funds meant for it to help others.

What can we do? What else can we do? What more can we give? Let us not stop at giving something that is convenient to us. Let us not stop at giving something that is simply spare for us. Let us do more. Let us be more.

Let us celebrate by giving. Let us remember that Christmas is not about parties or gifts ... its not about the decor or festivities. It's about giving ... so let us give ... and let us give not just what we can spare from our pockets but let us give time ... effort ... ourselves .

Let us do more. Our countrymen needs us. Our country needs us.


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Hi! Let's all try to add more positivity in this world and adhere to the saying, "if you don't have anything nice to say, keep silent."

Showering you with unicorn poop so you'd always stay magical! Heart heart!