Note: This is a writing that I'm supposed to pass up to my English teacher,
I'll be posting this here anyway as I want to share to you a tale from
somebody that is close to me.
Let's begin...
Hardship, from this one single word we can abbreviate it as a problem faced by a person. One question that I would rather ask to not only you but to myself too. How deep is our understanding towards this one word? Have we gone through it or are we facing it right now at this very moment ? For me hardship is just temporary. It is a test from God to us human being. I'll tell you a short story of mine which pretty much sums it all up.
She is a woman from the Philippines named Didi, grown in such environment we all can never imagine. She has faced many challenges in life. All mainly from a single object called "money". Imagine waking up early in the morning, as the sun hasn't fully arise, mainly to go out to work. Bathing in ice cold water and have nothing but a slice of bread for breakfast. The sweet scent of fresh air greets you as you ride a bicycle to your workplace. Isn't it a blessing for us here that we go to work by car or motorcycles ? A 1 kilometer journey every morning by bicycle or foot is too much for us city-folks to handle, let alone 5.
Didi was married to a loving and caring man and was blessed with 6 children. She worked all day and night just to support her beloved family. Life there is far from convenient. I was stunned by her will power to ease up the burden of her family, especially for being a woman with such attitude. She had no time to stop and enjoy the wonderful things in life. She often came home late. A feeling of burden on her shoulders arise as many more family members asked for help, that was the feeling she had. She couldn't stand seeing her family members being in such condition that even a grain of rice is hard to find.
After several years, Didi made up her mind to go abroad and to support her family from the money she earned abroad. As it is so hard to find a decent pay rate in the Philippines to support a large family of hers. She started to write a diary just to let some of the feelings she had put in her heart out. The diary was olive green in color and was long in length. As she wrote on the very first page of her diary "If I am to be gone, I beg to those who are reading this book to send the money I kept in this very book to my beloved children.", a translucent lining of tears began falling from her eyes to her cheeks. The feeling of being lonely in a foreign country without any familiar faces was hard for her to get used to. The scent of this new place differs by loads as she was in the city and no longer in the rural areas. A thick smoke from the exhaust of cars can be seen all around.
Soon after she had settled in, Didi met a woman who was a local. The woman's name was Ani. She has fair colored skin and average in size. They shared knowledge and the same degree of understanding between each other. Ani guided her as a friend and helped her by loads. By then she wrote another entry in her diary stated how grateful she is to meet a woman like Ani. She was often called to come by Ani's house as she is a masseuse. After awhile, she became rather close to Ani's family and to Ani as well. Ani has 3 children, 2 girls and one boy. Her daughters were in 2 different countries as they were on their road to reach their life goals. The eldest was studying in Australia while the other was in the Philippines. The boy in the other hand was still in high school.
Seeing how Ani would gather around with her own family made her miss her's back in the Philippines. She smiled as she saw them being happy with one another. A sudden flashback played in her mind. Reminiscing the moments she had with her children back at home. The smell of fresh air and how life was in the Philippines still fresh in mind. She tried to hold back the tears of longing and tried to be strong. She just smiled and stared.
One particular night, Ani's younger brother came to her house to ask for money. He said that he needed some cash for fuel as he needs to go for an hour long journey back to his house. The scent of cigarettes lingers on his shirt as he is a smoker. Ani gave him a hundred bucks and Didi gave another ten. He then left in pitch darkness of the road as it is night time.
Soon after, Didi had a talk with Ani about how he resembles Didi's older brother, who came to seek financial help often. Her older brother was a farmer and has to wait for every 3 months for an income. She then began to talk to Ani about how life was in the Philippines and how she has suffered just to support her family. "I feel burdened as all of my siblings are depending on me to send them money for them to eat" said Didi as her eyes began to become watery. She added on "I feel like I'm the only one who's holding up an umbrella as the harsh rain falls from the sky to the earth and everyone in my family are taking cover under it. What if I fall ? Who will support them ?". Her heart shattered as she recalled all longings and all responsibilities. Ani just smiled and said, "Be grateful as there are many others who are struggling even bigger challenges than you. Whenever you feel burdened, look at your back as there are many others who are having a rough time as you do but some are unable to do anything about it." Didi began cheering up as she wiped the tears off of her cheeks.
Ani understands her situation well as she was dealing with the same problem Didi has. Ani has to work hard for her parents and siblings just to support them financially. The difference between them was Ani took the problem into a positive thing while Didi made it negative. Didi felt a slight warmth in her heart hearing the words of another woman dealing with the same problem. She grinned as she counted her blessings and she felt grateful. Ani was holding a cup of coffee and later on said, "Never bother to seek the compliments from a mere mortal as God's is far more important.". She said that because Didi mentioned about how others began to mock her with heart breaking comments. The heavy feeling of longing and responsibility began to disappear. The scented aroma of coffee came strong as she put the cup on a glass table.
Didi refrained and said, "I miss my children and yet I can't go back to see them because if I leave this country, it will cost me a lot of money and a period of 2 months to come back. My family will be starving by then.". A thin lining of tears began to fall again. As a response, "Whenever you feel down, always remember to seek help from God. Ask Him for strength to go through such obstacle as He would help those who are in need." said Ani. Her shattered heart began to reassemble itself as she gathered her strength.
Didi is now still struggling with the same obstacle but with a more positive attitude. She is a friend of my mother and hearing her story made my heart throb in pain as I can only imagine the pain she's been through as a mother of 6 and the youngest of her siblings. Her mum is sick and she can only provide them financially. As I said, for me, hardship is just temporary. It depends on the attitude of the person on how they deal such situations. Everyone have their own form of hardships. Some may be greater than others but with the help from God, everything will fall to back to place like a single piece of puzzle waiting to be put inside a beautiful crafted imagery of one's life.
Soon after, Didi had a talk with Ani about how he resembles Didi's older brother, who came to seek financial help often. Her older brother was a farmer and has to wait for every 3 months for an income. She then began to talk to Ani about how life was in the Philippines and how she has suffered just to support her family. "I feel burdened as all of my siblings are depending on me to send them money for them to eat" said Didi as her eyes began to become watery. She added on "I feel like I'm the only one who's holding up an umbrella as the harsh rain falls from the sky to the earth and everyone in my family are taking cover under it. What if I fall ? Who will support them ?". Her heart shattered as she recalled all longings and all responsibilities. Ani just smiled and said, "Be grateful as there are many others who are struggling even bigger challenges than you. Whenever you feel burdened, look at your back as there are many others who are having a rough time as you do but some are unable to do anything about it." Didi began cheering up as she wiped the tears off of her cheeks.
Ani understands her situation well as she was dealing with the same problem Didi has. Ani has to work hard for her parents and siblings just to support them financially. The difference between them was Ani took the problem into a positive thing while Didi made it negative. Didi felt a slight warmth in her heart hearing the words of another woman dealing with the same problem. She grinned as she counted her blessings and she felt grateful. Ani was holding a cup of coffee and later on said, "Never bother to seek the compliments from a mere mortal as God's is far more important.". She said that because Didi mentioned about how others began to mock her with heart breaking comments. The heavy feeling of longing and responsibility began to disappear. The scented aroma of coffee came strong as she put the cup on a glass table.
Didi refrained and said, "I miss my children and yet I can't go back to see them because if I leave this country, it will cost me a lot of money and a period of 2 months to come back. My family will be starving by then.". A thin lining of tears began to fall again. As a response, "Whenever you feel down, always remember to seek help from God. Ask Him for strength to go through such obstacle as He would help those who are in need." said Ani. Her shattered heart began to reassemble itself as she gathered her strength.
Didi is now still struggling with the same obstacle but with a more positive attitude. She is a friend of my mother and hearing her story made my heart throb in pain as I can only imagine the pain she's been through as a mother of 6 and the youngest of her siblings. Her mum is sick and she can only provide them financially. As I said, for me, hardship is just temporary. It depends on the attitude of the person on how they deal such situations. Everyone have their own form of hardships. Some may be greater than others but with the help from God, everything will fall to back to place like a single piece of puzzle waiting to be put inside a beautiful crafted imagery of one's life.
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