My Eleven Peso Lesson

9 July 2009

Tonight, I learned a very valuable lesson – to be grateful despite this financial setback that I am in.

Tonight, I only have eleven pesos left in my wallet. The house rent is overdue and I can’t endure the somewhat “accusing” tone that my housemate said to me. I have to give the weekly allowance to my three siblings. EVen if I gave them my last 200 peso bill yesterday, I know it will not be enough. My parents are also having financial difficulties back home so I know I can’t burden them with all these concerns.

The pressure is building up and I can’t help but cry in order to release all these. Time to let go of all these tears that I’ve been bottling inside me for the past months. I may be crying out of helplessness. This is it, I've hit rock bottom. But one part of me says I’m not helpless. I know I’m still blessed, overblessed even. Money should be the least of my problems. To illustrate, let me enumerate my blessings so that I’ll always be reminded of the reasons for my gratefulness:

1. I’ve got a loving family who remains united throughout these trials. I get my support from them, and they from me. I always tell my father that at least money is our only problem. Its very easy to find a solution to this financial problem. We are also blessed with excellent health.
2. I still have a job. Even if I haven’t received my salary for almost three months, I just think of it as forced savings.
   
3. I am still able to go to school and enjoy myself in the learning process. I have supportive blockmates who make this lost school experience more bearable.
4. I’ve got sincere and genuine friends who will never let me down and who manage to keep in touch despite our busy schedules. I can feel their concern for me even if we don’t see each other often.
5. I finally came to my senses after enduring months of uncertainty. I now understand that it will not work and that I should stop wasting my time for someone who do not appreciate the attention.

The future looks very bright. I have lots to be thankful for. This is just a minor setback. I know I have to learn something from this experience and that is to be grateful for what I have, for the simple blessings in life. But after this, I know I’ll never live in want again. I swear, I’ll never worry about money again. I believe I’ll have an abundance of wealth. But more importantly, I’ll have an abundance of non-material blessings like love of family and friends, contentment, and gratefulness. Money is just material – it wouldn’t last. May this experience remind me of the more important things in life. I will never, ever be fixated on earning money that I’ll forget about the essential things.

Tonight, I celebrate my freedom from these material things because I know I have a very generous God who will never leave me and who showers me with many blessings, essential blessings. I thank you for making me realize this. I know I’ll never live in want again because I know that You know all my needs and You will provide me with it.