Every Breath You Take

"Life is not about how many breaths you take, but how many moments take your breath away."

While my plane was getting ready to land in Davao (Yes, I know, I'm quite behind with my travel stories on this website), I looked outside the window and had that "I can't believe this is happening" feeling. I was only minutes away from fulfilling my Luzon-Visayas-Mindanao goal and it was surreal. At the same time, I couldn't help but think, "How come I didn't do this sooner?!" I could've done this in 2002 when I was earning dollars interning at the U.S. Embassy and money was not an issue or I could've done this last year when leisure time was overflowing by the buckets. But then again, everything happens for a reason.

I'm so thankful for all these experiences, the opportunities that have come my way. It's unbelievable when I think about what has transpired over the last 13 months and how they all came about. Life is truly amazing when you live it, when you put yourself out there in the world.

But don't get me wrong, it's not all jolly-bee-happy around here (Did you get the pun, did you, did you?). You'll always find me in a bad mood when it's time to walk home after work (Have you noticed that it starts raining right around 5:00-6pm? And funny because it ALWAYS starts raining right when I step out of our building. What's up with that?!). You'll always see me turning red in anger whenever I encounter horrible customer service in this country (Latest villain: Teriyaki Boy in Megamall. Grr!). If you're Tet who lives in the same building as I do, you'll always hear me sneezing inside my unit from all the dust/bad air of this metropolis. You'll also understand the frustration in myself when I tell you about my daily "orange, bold, four points bigger" endeavors at work. And if you're God, you'll always know that my head is full of confused thoughts about my existence here in Manila.

If you're just like everyone around me, I already know what you want to ask me. The answer is one because I want to finish what I started, and two because I'm still learning. Albeit it's not learning about myself anymore as it was last year, but I'm learning what I want in the future: the graphic design certificate, the husband, the kids, the house with a nice kitchen full of my Starbucks City Mugs, the immediate family being near me (Naks!), the sunny skies, the yearly out-of-the-country vacation, the volunteer work...to name a few.

And yes, we can't forget that there are still those moments that take my breath away which always remind me why I did all of this in the first place and why I continue to stick around.