The Beauty of Poverty.

I am poor and I am not sorry for that. I was glad that I was born poor for I have learned how to value even the smallest things. Here in the Philippines, poverty is one of the most biggest problem that our government is facing.

Year 2020, although a bit hard for every one of us, but also taught us so many lessons in life. It’s like God let us experience this crisis for us to learn the values of life and what it is to live. There are so many tragedies that happened around the world throughout 2020; protest everywhere, crime rates increases, discriminations and all. All of these includes power, greed, and social discrimination.

We shouldn’t let our social status affect our characteristic as humans. If the cost of being rich is manners, then I would rather be poor forever. I am not discriminating rich people because I know not all of them are like that, same as the poor.

But then, I think being poor is God given. Being poor is a blessing. Why? Because they are taught the most lessons in life. And poor are closer to God because whenever they have problems, they would pray. Being poor isn’t a sin, but dying without trying to get out poverty is.

So here are the things that poverty taught me:

1. Never to waste food.

My mother always told me to never waste food and to eat everything that is serve on the table. Every single grain of rice is important because farmers work hard to provide us that. They spent sweat and blood for that single grain of rice. Aside from that, we should never really waste food because not all people have the means to eat three meals a day. Some even sleep with an empty stomach.

2. Conserve water.

The second thing that poverty taught me is to always conserve water. Not all of us have and can drink clean water every day. We may have plenty of water now but that doesn’t mean we can waste it all we want. Think for the future generations. Time will come and water will be insufficient for both people and animals.

3. A centavo matter.

I also learn to appreciate every single thing that even a centavo matters. You can’t make a peso without a centavo, as well as a dollar without a cents. Being poor limits us from buying things we wanted. But it also taught us to differentiate the things we need from the things we only want. Needs and wants are very different that people mostly don’t know. Needs are the necessity we need to survive such as shelter, water, and food. While the things we only want are the temporary things that gives us temporary comfort such as cars, air-conditioned, and gadgets. We should always think first before we spend money lavishly.

4. Learn the importance of life.

Also, learning the importance of life. That it is not only the human lives has a value but the animals as well. Health is wealth. If you are poor, being sick is expensive. Many people have already died due to sickness and not being treated. It’s not just in the Philippines but in the whole world. How hurt it could be to watch your family member die and couldn’t even do anything to help? Though, I was still thankful that I was born poor because I learn to appreciate life more and thanking God that he’s extending my life every single day.

5. Trust God.

Lastly is to always trust God. Never complain for the life that is given to you. You aren’t born rich because God loves you more, or I was born poor because God loves me less. And do not also let destiny decide your life. It is us who create our own destiny with hard work and then trust everything to God. He will do the rest.

I’ve met people who complain about their life to God. I also knew people who are poor and were attached to illegal drugs and whine everything to God when in fact it was their own choice. They made that choice by themselves and now that they are paying for the consequences they would blame it to God?

If we are born with a hard life then we should do anything or everything to make our life better. Appreciating every lessons we learn and to never forget where we came from. We should always look back from where we came from.