Falling and Rising

"Remember, Bruce, why do we fall? So we can learn to lift ourselves up." This was uttered by Bruce Wayne's dad when he (Bruce) fell accidentally on the cave's cavity. With that reminder, the boy grew up with a sense of how life's drama unfolds...the fall and the rise of humans.

Watching Batman Begins reminded me that from time to time, we do experience low moments in our lives. In those instances, our frustrations, our apprehensions, seem to double as we look at them through our myopic vision. Yet, in all of these, there is always that opportunity to bounce back…a silver lining, as we may call it, or a case of a phoenix rising from the ashes, to wax poetic.

Right now, my homeland, the Philippines is in crisis once more. “When has it ever been out of crisis?” one may sardonically ask. But I believe that as a country, we will still rise from our quagmire. Yes, it is easy to say it but a hundred times difficult to do. However, as I’ve heard many a time from our patriotic elders, “if we don’t believe in our own country, then who will?” Good changes may not happen in my lifetime, but the promise of a new tomorrow for every Pinoy will always be a fervent hope.

My fellow Filipinos have gone through a lot of hardships, as attested in history, yet the smile never faded from our faces. Others find it weird that we can still manage to laugh off the seemingly sinking economic and political woes we are in but I see the humor as the Filipinos’ way of coping with what we have left. The common man has no money but remains standing with dignity. The “smile,” representative of the optimistic spirit living within himself…dreaming of that day when he can finally tell his family that everything is fine.

The zeal, the idealism, the love for country…these feelings must reside not only in the youth but also in the senior ones. Hand in hand we must learn to rise above our problems and build a good present for everyone and a better future for our children and the generations thereafter.

My faith in the Philippines remains steadfast…my love, unwavering.