The year 2008 has been rough for me. It signified many losses and goodbyes, and the decision to forget the past and press on to the new challenges of the present moment. Because my children did not anymore want to go back in Mindanao, I decided to stay with them. Literally, I left all my possessions in Mindanao, including the last money I had which was in different hands for the copra business. Mindanao is more than a thousand miles away from where we are living now.
Early this year, I invested the savings I had the other year to a community-oriented business with the objective of continuously helping the people I once served when I was with the non-profit cause-oriented organization. The capital had significantly increased in just a couple of months despite all the pressures from the big traders, until I noticed that the capital was diminishing. I gave them several chances but their “needs” became more important for them than my trust.
In short, I nearly lost all my hard-earned savings for trying to help people. Still adjusting to the change in environment, I had no other option but to accept the fact that I would be starting from scratch. After all, I have been used to treating all things as temporary. Though all my possessions were gone, at least, I lost them on good purpose. Of course I also had low moments after what happened, but I was quick to rise so as not to miss the opportunities that might be passing.
I believe that I am always in the right place at the right time. “There is something for me here,” I always tell myself. What I want will be, and what I want is to have more time with my children while writing and earning. I assessed what I had and realized that the most valuable possession I had at that moment was my old CPU. I left the monitor and printer in Mindanao because I could not carry more than 20 kilos for the trip back home. And if I had the monitor and printer, it would still be difficult to regain lost customers (we had a computer business for more than 5 years but when I relocated in Mindanao, all customers also “relocated” to other computer shops).
Time has indeed changed. I thought then that I had to adjust. The computer I had years ago is not the same computer that I have now. Its purpose and uses have changed and I need to know how to adapt to the change. Then the bulb flashed at the top of my head, I went to a computer shop and rented for hours looking for work-at-home jobs. It took me days searching the web until I found a home-based customer service support. I did not land on that job because I had no VOIP but I was able to set up a computer system with a DSL connection, thanks to my ex-husband who gave me his old 17-inch CRT monitor.
It took me another month to find an outsourcing site that provides a lot of work for home-based workers. It connected me to a lot of buyers from the different parts of the world and each of them has taught me new lessons that I would not be able to learn if I were on my own. I have discovered the new use of the computer and I have unleashed an old passion which is writing.
We can all surpass the challenges in our lives if we believe in ourselves. Failures, poverty, economic crisis, big traders, big landlords, and all woes in life must not prevent us from moving on. It is not a crisis-mas, it is Christmas! It is the best season of the year no matter what. You have the power to choose to be happy just like all the children who always choose to be happy every Christmas despite all odds. When you do, your happiness will give back what your heart truly desires.
Merry Christmas! May good health, peace and plenty be yours for the new year 2009!
