WHEN I was in Journalism school, I had classmates who could not write a simple news report. I knew they were there not because they loved the course but because their parents had chosen it for them.
Old folks insist on forcibly shaping the destiny of their children, either because “it’s all we can afford” or “that’s where the money is.”
Where there is not enough money to fund a child’s expensive course, the parents mistakenly urge the children to settle for an “affordable” alternative while expecting them to succeed just the same.
The world is so steeped in materialism that we think success should be spelled $ucce$$. It is not unusual for young men and women to give up a local job to earn dollars – even as mere caregivers – in the United States.
In truth, however, money is not what we want. Among the most miserable people are those who keep so much of it while spending so little. I remember as a boy one rich man in our barrio who would walk six kilometers to and from the town daily to save his jeepney fare.
Money is important only because it can buy the goods and services we need and want. If by becoming a doctor Juan earns well and enjoys the job, that’s a perfect combination. As a familiar poem puts it, “If you like your work, you work no more. For work when you like it is work no longer but sheer enjoyment. ”
On the other hand, it is seems ironic that more and more young girls take up Nursing despite its high cost; and its graduates are among the lowest-paid hospital personnel in our country. In truth, however, they are there primarily to serve humanity, and only secondarily to make money. It is in giving their humanitarian services that they receive happiness and self-fulfillment.
The Bible in Mark 11:24 says, “Whatever you desire, believe that you will receive it and you will have it.”
I was in Grade 6 when I found out that English was the subject that fascinated me. While the rest of the class complained about how to fill up their theme books, I enjoyed doing it.
“You will make a good journalist,” our English teacher patted me in high school. I believed her.
But my father had another plan for me. He would have me take up Veterinary Medicine because the government lacked veterinarians. I would certainly find my proper place in the sun.
Against my will, I enrolled for the course at the University of the Philippines (UP) in Iloilo City. But a subsequent circumstance intervened as I was about to enroll for my second year at UP-Diliman in Quezon City. Enrolment had closed. It was then that my dad allowed me to shift to Journalism at the Manuel L. Quezon University.
To cut the long story short, 47 years have passed since I finished the course in 1971. Have I enriched myself within in that long time? Having performed well in my chosen profession, yes!
Even inanimate objects are as good only as the tasks they are intended to do. The gold but non-functioning watch is a failure while the cheap, time-telling one is successful.
The famous English writer H. G. Wells once wrote, “The only true measure of success is the ratio between what we might have been and what we might have done, on one hand, and the thing we have made and the thing we could have made of ourselves on the other.”
The young bird does not decide whether to fly or swim; she flies because she is meant to fly for survival. (hvego31@gmail.com/PN)
