Mental Attitude: The Finest Chauffeur of my Future

by Pearl L. Balanay

Each one of us is driven by our sense of belonging. As a matter of fact, the whole essence of life lies in it. Belonging; it is not about owning the best of things, but it is about giving our best way to show importance to the tiniest things that we own. It is about recognizing our little possessions in life, possessions that become very essential, because not only they matter to us, but because these belongings, define our character for they serve as the carpenter of our future.

          At this point in time, my most valuable belonging would be my mental attitude. I consider my mental attitude to be the finest chauffeur of my life. It decides which path I should take, a path that could either bend or straighten my way to get to the finish line. I think that mental attitude is far more important than any possessions in the world, because attitude is our outlook in life, and our outlook or perspective affects our behavior towards every little thing we do. It is powerful than any source of motivation that we are always in search of, for attitude, in its own complex way, can dishearten or inspire us to pursue on the dreams that we have. Our mental attitude is how we view the world. It is our way of responding and handling each challenge that life presents us. Because once we hold a good attitude and capacity to deal with our problems the right way, every dark portion of our lives would light up. The bumpy roads that we are ought to take may become smooth; drought turns out to be shorter than anticipated, filling our whole lives with an abundance of happiness and contentment. Because where there is good mentality; there is good faith, and where there is good faith; there is true happiness.

I believe that once we possess a decent mental attitude towards everything, the size of the problem becomes irrelevant. The hardest problem becomes easy to unravel, and the dreams which we believed to be merely impossible to get could bring themselves together, in such a perspective that is now within our reach. For this reason, I consider my mental attitude to be the greatest belonging in my life.

Growing Up, Its Price, and My Life

Growing Up, Its Price, and My Life

by Pearl L. Balanay

As I face life’s frustrations and obstacles, I felt the little girl with a hopeful mind inside me to be drifting away. I wouldn’t call it changing because I never knew I was capable of that. But whether I changed or not, wasn’t my choice. It was my world who did. I thought, maybe this is what they meant when they say growing up has its price. But, as a girl with only a little hint of optimism left, I wanted it to stop; I wanted to stop growing up.

       When I was a kid, I always thought that when I grew up, I’d do everything I’ve always wanted to do. I’d finally fulfill my dreams. But growing up, I only realized one horrible truth, that my dreams were just that, dreams. Maybe reality has its own way of welcoming us into its arms. It breaks our shell of rainbows and love, and expresses our core, our hearts and souls to the cold, bitter truth of life itself. Gone are the early winters when we built snowmen and made snow angels. Now, we welcome the mornings of frost and depression, and for good reason. Because although we know that the sun still shines, we likewise know it will not be enough to cull our frozen demons, much like our dreams. We realize, regretfully, that although our dreams still give us hope, they will never be enough to melt the frozen fortress that holds our innocent hearts captive. We despise our cage, yet love it all the same. For though it keeps our hearts from the happiness we so seek, it also keeps us safe from the cold, harsh reality from piercing any deeper into our wayward hearts.

       Years have gone by and I became me. The optimistic little girl inside me was completely gone, only an icy and bitter teenage girl filled with cynicism that’s left. I became a machine with calculated movements to perform. It suddenly felt safer to suppress my feelings, my thoughts, and even my own happiness. I have stopped believing for something good to happen, instead, I just prepare and embrace myself for the worst. I guess I must have witnessed too much human flaws that my mere optimism in life got crippled. I guess in my life, winter came, but it never left.