Your destiny

It is impossible to find the destiny you seek if you don’t know that you’re already there. Don’t ask God for something he has already given you.

Whether you are a post-teen adult, a person going through midlife crisis or a late in life seeker, many, if not all of us have regularly been confronted with our search for meaning and purpose. Most people are mental about it, meaning they spend a lot of time and energy generally just thinking or dwelling on it. Others kind of wing it or coast along hoping that opportunity and circumstance will conspire to inspire, and reveal their mission or purpose in life. Most Filipinos regularly spend time “talking” or crying out to God to show them a sign. Others decide they have to run for public office and become a Congressman or a Senator.

It might as well be dengue or scarlet fever, but there is no doubt that election fever will surely rack up an alarming rate of victims infected by politics in the Philippines many of whom will justify as a calling, a challenge to serve or once again blame God who spoke to them to run. I don’t mean to mock those who may have experienced the genuine article but it’s that time of the year when a number of people start believing their very own lies. To be fair, there are those who are really “called,” qualified or have been invited to run for public office and you know they are legit based on lifelong advocacies, work history as well as competency and experience in matters of law as well as public service. They consistently fight the good fight and continue to run the race.

The funny thing I’ve noticed in life is that many people are already where they are supposed to be but they simply don’t realize it. Society has a way of setting bars and positions and telling us all that you have to be such and such in order to make a difference. In the Philippines, we are made to believe that you have to have a title, political power, hold public office, make lots of money or hold numerous diplomas and degrees. The funny thing is many Cabinet members are already holding such position of power and influence and now they all want to move out of Malacañang to run for Congress or Senate!

The truth and reality of life is you don’t have to be rich and famous or popular and powerful. God places us at the level of our competence and purpose. Abraham was 100 years old when he had a son. Moses was a stutterer forced to confront the all-powerful Pharaoh of Egypt. David was a shepherd. Those special circumstances were intended to highlight God’s intervention over man’s imperfection or weakness. Henry Sy used to sell shoes on the pavement, Ramon Ang was an engineering graduate who preferred to engineer racecars, President Duterte was a Mayor from far far Davao. Nobody believed Manny Pacquiao could re-invent himself from gambler to preacher and influencer or boxer to successful businessman.

We are not all meant to be Steve Jobs or an Ayala. You could be an ordinary guy like Efren Peñaflorida with his library on a pushcart. You could be Iliac Diaz passionately bringing his one-liter of light to homes without power. You could be some unnamed chef giving food to street children, a barely getting by pastor and his wife running an orphanage in Zambales, the street sweepers in Barrio Kapitolyo who clean up the mess of rich diners littering our streets. Whether you are a simple nurse at a government hospital, a policeman, you are making a difference where you are and if you don’t realize this then maybe you should Google lessons to develop gratitude and appreciation for the work you do and the difference you make. Pastor Joel Osteen once said: if no one celebrates what you do, celebrate yourself!  Recognize the good work you do and the difference you make. 

We in media are not exempted from such offers or temptation to give up what we have and run for public office. A few have succeeded but the rest who tried their hand in politics have generally lost or failed. Many still go back to the fold. The irony is that many elected and appointed government officials actually want to be in media during and after being in public office. Go figure that out! The reason is because media is probably the most independent, influential and I daresay powerful pillar of society. But as Spiderman says: With great power comes great responsibility. Those who can’t or could not handle the power, eventually crash and burn very far from their noble goals and visions. I have learned to recognize both the responsibility and the benefits that go with being a media practitioner. We generally call attention to problems not to be critics but to get someone responsible to act. We make suggestions, we inform and in performing our job we actually cause others to do theirs. When you can do that, you are making a difference.

I always tell the story of how I used to spend my late afternoons fixing the front yard of our family home in UP Village after I returned from the US. I put in plants and carabao grass and painted the wall and every afternoon I would water the front yard. Then I started watering the adjoining yard just to help the plants. Then the neighbor’s maid caught site of what I was doing and started putting more attention to their front yard. It did not take long for other neighbors to do likewise. I was jobless then. As they say: be the change you want to see in the world.

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