Mental Gymnastics

So troublesome.. in a good way.

I believe that we are who we choose to be. And as we age, we learn how to deal with situations that we consciously or unconsciously find ourselves in.

My father, and the other elders at home, made things simple for me and my younger siblings by giving us simple choices. When it comes to food, we either eat our vegetables or we get a taste of his leather belt. If we want to have merienda, we've to take a nap early in the afternoon. Otherwise, you're just gonna have to watch others eat. On weekends, we've to do our chores and homework first before we can play or watch TV. When it comes to education, we either get one or we don't. I remember him warning us that if we don't take our studies seriously, he'll stop sending us to school altogether.

It's always been like that as I got older. I often had to choose what my father wants because it makes things less troublesome. He's usually right anyway. But there are times when I had to choose otherwise. And that's when 'troublesome' happens.

When I chose Literature as a major, I found myself in a niche and had a hard time marketing myself for my first job. When I chose IT for graduate school, I found it really taxing to complete all of the programming-related projects. When I chose to study French, I discovered a nomadic lifestyle which I wasn't prepared to deal with at the time. When I chose to pursue migrating abroad, I found a big hole burning through my pocket.

When asked why, I tell them that I'm just creating opprotunities for myself. For what? Well, i'm not always sure how to anser that. But by now, I'm aware that whenever I choose the path less traveled, I'm bound to find excitement, fear and doors of opportunities opening up.

posted by kquill @ 10:09 AM