Above all, gratitude
As tradition goes, many news outlets will be dishing out their serving of “year-ender features” where they do a review of the big stories, important events or the rare positive accomplishment by an individual or outfit. Chances are this would involve a favorite basketball team, individual athlete or survivors of a disaster or war.
This year’s ender will be no different from others because human history and behavior are never changing. We have two ongoing wars to pick from, we have the Gilas and Green Archers to glean positive stories from, the fight between Speaker Romualdez and Vice President Duterte, several floods and typhoons and we even have a survivor who got out alive after being held hostage by Hamas terrorists. Yes, the Filipinos had their fair serving of tragedy but very little in terms of triumph.
As I began working on this year-ender column, I was reminded of what Mr. Ramon Ang of San Miguel Corporation recently said when asked what the highlight of the year was. “That I’m healthy. That you are all healthy.” Not sexy, not sensational, definitely not headline-worthy, some editors would even say not quote-worthy. But all of us would have no second thoughts wanting good health over P100 million but only six months to live.
Even more people would rather keep a low paying job for six to 12 months more than a month’s vacation, while others would willingly give up their job just to spend one more week or month with someone who recently passed away. I know Lolos and Lolas who are presently gazing at photos of their grandchildren abroad and wishing they could just get on a plane to play with or be “yaya” to their apos. They say that such choices and priorities are relative and often realized in hindsight, and all we can do is make the best out of the situation.
Last week, I finally got confirmation of something I sensed would certainly happen a year or so ago – our TV program AGENDA would end today, Dec. 29, 2023. No one wanted to be the bearer of bad news despite the fact that all the signs were “written on the wall.” The good thing about such prolonged agony is that you can finally deal with the “moving on” part. I was honestly glad to be “hinted” before
