come and stay on your back, pulling you down to the ground? You could count and think of the difficulty of each and every one of them, but for sure it would never defeat the most common problem that exists in every single place in the world: poverty. As you see in the picture, a man is casually crossing the road, nothing else. But look into the picture longer, and you would see the man is definitely no rich man. His clothes, though quite clean, looks unironed and worn-out with years of use, telling us how much he lacks money, not even able to buy clothes, cheap or not, that would make him not look like a beggar in the streets. His build, though not completely starved and dying with just bones and flesh, looks like he hasn't eaten a proper meal in months. His hunched back that looks tired and fatigued from whatever work he has been doing, all just to earn money that he could provide the needs for the family he has at home. Poverty is a hindrance to the progress of a country. There is no end to poverty, and no one is gullible enough to think otherwise. They think, they hope. But no one believes. But even with it existing everywhere in the world, making it become unavoidable to not be affected with, what makes a person go on despite the ruins that they see around them? What makes a person drag his feet to the ground and live on with life, even if the road is full of thorns, even if they know they are fighting a losing battle, and even if they only see a tiny speck of light at the end of the cave? Look at the brighter side of life. Look at the sunshines and rainbows that exist at the other side, the side opposite to yours. Look at the happiness that shows up in the eyes of the people, how at ease they are, with only burdens light enough not to bring them down. Now, compare yourself. Compare how dark your surroundings are compared to them, how everyone and even everything is depressing and soulless. Do you see the difference? Now choose to become motivated, to change your life for the better. Persevere for a better existence, one worth living in, one worth living for. Don't sulk and suck your thumb, mumbling about life being unfair for the existence of the rich and the poor. Hold your head up high, chin up, and don't let anything bring you down. For the discrimination, the injustice, the unfairness that will come, ready your smile and your finger. This is your life, not theirs, and you are definitely also worthy of the things they have. Free yourself from the chains that keep you on the bottom, and step by step, even with great difficulty, rise higher and higher. Live, and be great. By Alyssa Marie Malhabour
been an issue even centuries ago. Millions of individuals and families have died in the hands of this silent killer since then. Countries worldwide have scrambled for the solution in order to uplift their citizens from this terrible social ill. Poverty is defined as the condition where people’s basic needs for food, clothing and shelter are not met. Poverty is a challenge for us individuals to overcome in order for us to have a better quality of life in society. According to Nelson Mandela, poverty is not an accident like slavery and apartheid; it is man-made and can be removed by the actions of human beings. Indeed life is a continuous challenge; poverty is one hindrance that we have to face as human beings. It is a basic reality of life that we have to accept in order for us to come up with answers to this problem of society. We have to remember that it is not our fault if we are born poor into this world, but you should be blamed if you die poor in this world because it is only an indication that you did not do anything in order to uplift your life and raise your standards of living. You did not work hard enough or make use of any available resource or opportunity to earn a living and improve the current state of your life. What we fail to see sometimes is the fact that there are teeming opportunities surrounding us whether in entrepreneurship or in employment. There are a lot of opportunities around us. We just have to broaden our perspective and analyze these opportunity for a better life. Poverty should not be treated as a weakness; rather it should be turned into an opportunity for an individual to dream, strive and succeed later on in life. Challenges and weakness should be translated into opportunities for a better life. Engaging one’s self into employment and business is a good avenue for a person to excel, grow and live a better life. It is a better chance of improving one’s life, than of engaging to crimes and other illegal activities, which are detrimental to the growth of society as well to its security. This life will always challenge us to be more competitive when it comes to our income, by being hard working, determined, innovative and creative. We should put our heart in whatever things that we are doing so that we can give our best in everything that we do. Living an impoverished life should not deprive you of dreaming for a better tomorrow for yourself and your family. It should be a motivation for you instead, to get going and to achieve your dreams. Realizing that you came from a poor family and that you have dreams to fulfill would push you to go an extra-mile in achieving a better quality of life for yourself. Dreaming is not for the people who can afford but for the people who can afford to reach them by hard working and faith. In the face of adversities, we tend to settle for what is less and prefer to stay in our comfort zone that utilizing all opportunities available. We limit ourselves to status quo and never dare to venture out into the world which is full of possibilities. Jimmy Dean once said, “Poverty was the greatest motivating factor in my life”. Being born in a poor family should not stop us from dreaming and achieving the life we want to live. Poverty is not a curse; instead poverty is a choice and sometimes a state of mind. Yes, you may be poor financially but the good side of it is that you are rich in love, security and health, which money could never buy at the end of the day. We should always bear in mind that poverty is not forever if we only work hard enough to achieve our dreams and aspirations. By Allen Dave Evidente
But as a child what’s most important is a child should enjoy its childhood no matter what the circumstances are. Time goes by so fast one day you’re a child that has no worries and the next day you’re a man full of responsibilities that’s why even though a we may be poor their a lot ways to have fun it doesn’t have to be you playing consoles and using phones and computers but simply running with your friends or spiders fighting on small twigs is enough to make a child a happy it doesn’t mean that if you are poor the word fun is missing in your vocabulary you just have to think outside the box and look for it in the most unforeseen places If we stop poverty, we will save many peoples’ lives. Life is so hard and if we don’t help these people, who will do that? Let’s support this cause, because this is the way that we can see smiles on children’s’ faces and we can make some children’s’ dreams come true. Poverty destroys many children’s’ dreams and it is time to say stop. So let’s help before it is too late and let’s show these people that they are not alone and somebody, somewhere cares about them. By Mark Louis Trespeceshomeless. The poverty of being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for is the greatest poverty.", which talks about the poverty of being neglected and unloved, but here in the Philippines, the kind of poverty that people see and are going through is the poverty of the lack of shelter, food, income, and etc. This is a horrible truth that we Filipinos see daily. The thing is, we only see a portion of the truth, but if you look closely behind the stereotypical truth the society has accepted, what then will you see? The man in the picture fishing. If you look at him you can easily say that he is a person in poverty, Due to his lack of t-shirt, faded shorts, and worn-out slippers, one can easily deduct that this man is in the state of poverty. If you look closely at the picture, you will be able to see the solution that he has found to continue living even though in poverty. That is patience and perseverance. In essence, this picture is about a man in poverty but is still moving on with his life and surviving through patience and perseverance. He has come up with the idea of fishing as a food source, but fishing is a very hard task that requires patience but if you are able to wait you will be rewarded with food. The man in the image is doing exactly that. He is willing to wait and wait and wait to get a meal. This can apply to not just what he is doing but if you have the trait of being patience and persevere through the hardships one can overcome any challenge. Poverty isn't just about begging. If you look closely it is about survival and moving on with life no matter what the hardships these people might face. The man in the image shows that if you have the willingness to wait you will be able to survive, and if you persevere you will be able to live better. The man went on with his life even in poverty he doesn't wait for loose change but waits for a hard earned meal. By Miguel Angelo Raynaldo
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Is it Worth the Pain? Taking a bullet to the heart for someone else, choosing to give an organ for someone’s surgery, and drowning from saving people from a boat crashing are acts of sacrificing oneself for the benefit of others. They are called heroes and are identified as soldiers, doctors, fishermen, and normal everyday people. They give up something, whether big or small, and are praised for it. But there are people who sacrifice every single day, but are rarely praised, only sometimes called a hero and are only considered as doing their job. These people are teachers.
It is definitely a general knowledge for all that teaching is a profession that includes great sacrifice. They think of late night shifts, extra days of working on grades, and dealing with troublesome troublemakers. Those are definitely sacrifices right? But those are only what scratches the surface. They are only half of what teachers really sacrifice, and aren’t what makes this profession really looked down upon. What exactly do teachers sacrifice? Their time, their capacity, their emotions, their health, their heart, and their soul. They sacrifice their personal, family, and nearly all their free time, even with the low price the government pays them despite how vital their position in society is. All just in exchange for children? No, this is all in exchange for the future of the country. Because the future lies in what the teachers are able to provide for children to grasp and absorb, for them to apply all learnings for the betterment of the country. Being a person that sacrifices almost everything in their life seems foolish and insane. If I were them, I would have given up long ago just upon seeing and experiencing even just one mischievous and trouble making student. I would have been disheartened by my failure to convince those students to change for the better, and surrender myself to defeat. For those reasons, I can only cock my head to the side and wonder what is it that teachers only have for them to still have the courage to keep on going despite the challenges that are thrown to them. As I would look into the eyes of my teachers, there I try to see what makes them still be able to stand on their feet and go on with their profession with no hint of giving up and going back. It was plain determination. Before deciding to sign up for teaching, they had already known that these were the hardships that they would get through, but the help they would be providing for their country in ways such as developing its children is what is what made them hold on. I can see, from their smiling faces they bear when Teachers’ Day arrives, that everything was worth it. I can see, from their bright eyes when they finally receive the thank yous in the form of flowers, letters, and gifts, that not a single one of them regret taking into their hands the responsibility of molding hundreds of both obedient and complicated children to be the leaders of this country. So let me thank you for all the teachers of SPED-ISEC for the sacrifices that all of you had made, whether they were small or big, they were still for the benefit of the education of all your beloved students. For this Teachers’ Day 2016, we hope you will continue to teach us more than we deserve and we will then repay you with our success. We will never ever forget the things that you all have taught us. We will make you proud and will make all the years of pain you had to endure all worth suffering for. You, shall I teach you what knowledge is? When you know a thing, to recognize that you know it, and when you do not know a thing, to recognize that you do not know it. That is knowledge. This analect by Confucius focuses on acknowledging one’s strengths and weaknesses.It is about setting one’s ego aside and being honest with yourself. If you know something to be a truth and believe it really is, stand by what you know. If you lack knowledge in a given area, be humble and accept that you cannot know everything, then proceed to learn what can make u know everything. There is what we call true knowledge, which is only a higher form of knowledge that one can acquire by being honest of their knowledge of something to others and even to themselves. When you know something, then boldly declare to the world that you know it, but when you do not know something, never be ashamed that you lack education and admit that you do not know it. A person should be proud of their learnings and experiences that is given to them and shouldn’t be hesitant to show them. They should share the knowledge that they have to the people that are not blessed and do not have, but not flaunt it to the point where one is being boastful and self-praising. One should be careful that you shouldn’t become overconfident because this overconfidence will create a barrier that won’t allow you to learn new things. Teach others of the things that they do not know, and also give them the wisdom that they can have. But there are also things a person does not know. We are not a God, so there are things that we also lack understanding of. There are things that we still are unfamiliar of and things we still are unable to grasp and figure out. We must be open to the recognition that nobody knows every single thing there is to know about the world, and accept the fact that we are not perfect, and will never be perfect. We should face reality, and always be open to what people can share and tell us about that could increase the things we should learn about. Admitting humbly what one knows and admitting confidently what one does not know, is true knowledge. And then upon understanding what this so called true knowledge is, one can overcome whatever thorns that will try to hold you back, avoid the bumps in road that will make you stumble in your path, and push pass whatever wall, no matter how strong and tough it is, holding you back from the light at the end of your dark path, from the throne that will deem you worthy and from the success you desire to have. In old days, men studied for the sake of self-improvement; nowadays men study to impress other people. Knowledge is power. For that reason, intelligent people are always praised for the wisdom that they reveal to the society. They are adored for the things that they know and admired for the things that they can do. For that reason, men are greedy of the worship that they will receive upon having the knowledge. That is why, with what the society is of today, intelligence is desired to be gained by men only for other men to be impressed. In this quote by Chinese philosopher Confucius, he has directly stated the difference between the men of the past and the men of today. He had said that as the centuries passes by and the ways of the world and rules of the society begin to differ, knowledge is little by little now easily handed over and not acquired anymore. Knowledge is not for oneself anymore, but for one’s ego to be fed by the cheers that men can hear, and for the idolization and admiration of other people. Men long ago desired, sought, and fought for the sake of the knowledge that they could gain, no matter how difficult the process for it had been. Knowledge was scarce back then, and only little were educate. But every single man was still determined and persevered to gain knowledge, because they wanted to learn. They wanted to improve themselves to have the wisdom to face the challenges that were to come. Men back then wanted the mentality to improve themselves, to be a better person than who they already were. But now that knowledge is just mostly given and only sometimes earned, men now only treat of it as nothing. They are now not grateful of the learnings that they could gain. Men now only want to learn so that other people will think they are intelligent, not because they want to be intelligent themselves. What other people view you as does not mean a thing, because only you know the truth. If they see you as someone stupid and not educated, it doesn’t matter. But actually take their opinions to heart, because these will make you improve. Improve only for yourself, never for others. We all need knowledge to overcome the challenges that would come and try to destroy our lives. We should absorb the learnings and the experiences that we had earned ourselves and apply them to improve ourselves, and not use them to impress the people around us, because the perception of other people is never as the same importance as what we see in ourselves, as who we think we are. A gentleman can see a question from all sides without bias. The small man is biased and can see a question only from one side. Judgmental people are now what commonly roam the world. There is not a single person that does not look at something without bias and without any kind of unfairness, because that is what men are. When the first men gained the knowledge from the tree of life, no one could avoid a biased person’s opinion. Because they are knowledgeable, they think what they are thinking is right and choose not to look at the circumstances clearly. They do not open up their mind to the possible reasons one can have, and leave themselves open for unfairness. In “The Analects”, Confucius had stated this quote, and even though this has been published millions of years ago, this can still be applied to the acts man are giving till today. There are men that try to find right answer without bias, like a lawyer does. But because we people have emotions, there are things that stop us from thinking clearly and having an unbiased mindset. The situation might be talking a topic you are very sensitive in, and no one can avoid having heightened emotions, which is the result for jumbled up thoughts. A small man, according to Confucius, is someone that is petty and biased. They are people that are not knowledgeable of the other hidden significance and reason a situation is happening. They only look at the surface of the problem and can only scratch the surface, not digging deeper to find the right answer. They easily influenced and gullible, only understanding what is on the outside. They are categorized as unwise men who are unjust and can only see a fault on the other side But what the great Chinese philosophers says a gentleman is, is someone that is fair and is never prejudiced. He can see the negative and positive side on all corners, angles, and distance of the choices that is given. He is someone that takes as much trouble to discover what is the right thing to do and what are the right things to think about the situation at hand. Confucius focused on telling that in order for one to be worthy as a gentleman, they shouldn’t be crowded with judgmental and heavily-opinionated thinking and they should think the other meanings an action or situation could be giving. The world is full of meek small-minded people that know only to judge from their perspective, that do not care to also find the reason for the action at other angle, but it is up to you which one you are according to our great Chinese philosopher; the gentleman that sees a question from all the sides without any kind of bias to it, or the small man that is only biased to anything and can see several questions from only one side. In old days, a man kept hold on his words, fearing the disgrace that would ensue should he himself fail to keep pace with them. A promise is a promise. Some men think of the scale of a promise, believing that breaking a big promise is inexcusable, while a small one is acceptable. That’s simply false. Promises are as important as secrets, no one should feel pleased that they had broken a promise to someone, even if it was something small. Actions start from small ones, and if a person starts breaking small promises, what would happen if he starts breaking big ones? A reminiscent childhood promise assurance was the pinky swear, and children were trained and told of how important that pinky swear was, no matter how foolish and childish it really was. This is proof that since long ago, men were taught to keep their promises, no matter how big or small it is. Confucius had indirectly stated in “The Analects”, that men are not what they were in millenniums ago. Honesty was still important in the past, and people feared that they were letting someone down, whoever that someone may be- might they be the man’s family or friends- if lest he ends up not keeping hold of his words that he had told his family he would keep pace. Men dreaded to see themselves as a dishonor to the family, as a disgrace that can do nothing more than walk. They shuddered at the shame that they could bring to what may happen if they do not keep their word, and that is what encouraged them to keep their promises. But all those are now in the past. Men think nothing less of promises as something that is said as enjoyment, as something that is only said for something to be said, as something that is only done for no reason. They think that promises are only there for the other person to be assured and trust them, even if they are never the trustworthy ones. These kind of people are the ones who break promises, and aren’t even a teeny bit regretful and ashamed that they had, because they never thought of it as important, because these people had only thought of keeping promises as a joke. Promises aren’t as important as they were in the past and are now only thought of as something that they can break when the time that the person that they had promised becomes useless to them. Promises are now taken lightly in our generation.Remember, trust is built through a series of experiences shared with others. When behavior is consistent, faith in the relationship develops. When promises are broken or people are misled, the bonds of trust are broken. Remember to keep your promises, no matter how small that promise is, because trust starts from small actions, never big ones. In the presence of a good man, think all the time how you may learn to equal him. In the presence of a bad man, turn your gaze within! Men are easily influenced. They will be only lightly persuaded and then they will follow you around and obey your orders like you are someone high and mighty. When man is around a good man, it is an opportunity for one to learn and become a better person. And when man is in faced with a bad man, it is a challenge one needs to overcome in the way of understanding oneself better than before. This quote from “The Analects” by the great Chinese philosopher, Confucius, states that we must adapt to the good and bad situations that surround us in our daily lives. This quote also means that the people you are associated with have a major role in your life. So if you’re around good people you should aim to be like them and learn from them. However, if you’re around bad influences you shouldn’t make yourself adaptable to their ways. The first sentence talks about how we must aim to learn from the good people that come in our lives and be like them. We must think about what benefit good situations and good people can give us. They can provide to us more knowledge to things we still might not know about, and we shouldn’t be blinded by our ego and refuse such help. We should open up ourselves and look at the brighter side, the advantages that they could give if we were to calm down and equal the situations or people that come and go. For the second sentence, this is where one must be important and have the vigilance to continue in their lives. If you are encountering a bad situation or a bad man, we must look into ourselves and the meaning of our life. We should understand who we really are and think how this situation or man cannot bring us down, but will rather lift us up. By understanding what is within ourselves, we will not be able to doubt ourselves during the challenges that life will throw to us, and can think clearly of the situation at hand and find the perfect solution. By learning to understand ourselves, we will not be troubled when we are made to doubt. All we need to do is turn our gaze within. We should always try to be a good person as much as we can, and to be the best that we can be. We must turn away from the bad people that come, or understand ourselves for us to overcome them. We should learn from others and not let pride surface for it is what can destroy relationships. Understanding of others and understanding of oneself is what can make us overcome whatever challenges that will come and make the most of the opportunities that will arrive in our lives. |
Just meFluff. Sweaters. Cold. Cuddles. I like them all. |