Taking Things For Granted While Others Long For It

May 31st of 2022

I thought this day comes out as ordinary as the usual days I had in my life. I had nothing special to think of but just to do my usual routine as planned. I had tasks to do and I did everything well.

I took the dogs to the bath after I ate my breakfast. By the way, I had a heavy breakfast meal because there were lots of leftover food last night because of the birthday celebration of my nephew. He turned 7 yesterday. No longer a baby, indeed but still our baby in the family.

I turned the speakers on and played my favorite music. You know there's something about music that gets you in the zone and pumps you like you are the most energetic person in the world. I took Shadow and Papi to the bath and cleaned their houses.

Just a few minutes after I sat down to take a rest, I heard a voice saying "Ayooo" outside. In the Filipino language, it's "Tao po". That means that they wanna catch the resident's attention. I got annoyed a little bit because I was in the middle of taking a rest and I was feeling it already so I had to get up and see what was going on.

When I looked over the window, a mom (probably in her 30s) and her daughter (probably 4 to 5 yrs old) called me and asked for alms. I gave her 10 pesos but she asked for food even just for her daughter only.

To my judgment, they seemed sincere and honest though. They brought an umbrella with them to protect them from the sun and a backpack for them to put goods or stuff in it. I'm not really sure if her daughter was barefooted because I focused on their expressions.

I was thinking twice about giving them money because I discouraged myself to not give money to these people because they might do something illegal out of it and that makes me an accomplice to their actions. I don't want that to happen.

But my sympathetic heart led me to give her leftover rice, pancit, and chicken wings. When I hand the food over to them, I was very touched by how thankful they were to me. Man, it was real. You would know how genuine it was.

And her daughter's reaction when she saw the food was priceless. It's as if a toy was given to her as a gift that she's been longing for so long. It goes to show how hungry they were. They said "salamat kaayo ma'am", and I nod while saying " Oo" and smiled.

I thought they already left but they stayed beside our gate, found a shaded and cool spot, and happily ate the food together. That urged me to give them more food along with bottled water.

The back story of the bottled water:

I got it from the political rally I attended last April given to us free. The staff were very friendly and accommodating. I had it stored in the fridge until today. Not even knowing its purpose until someone needed it.

Her daughter gladly accepted the food and water. Those smiling eyes left a mark on my heart. Then, realizations dawned on me.

Most of the time,

We take things for granted as if they're not essentially associated with our existence. We get used to have these things as usual than they are. We even get dissatisfied by keep asking for more even when it's no longer necessary.

Moments like this remind me to always practice a grateful heart. We don't usually appreciate the things we have in the present because we get used to them but when we see others longing for them, we'll realize how blessed we are.

Someone else must be praying for the things that we take for granted.

The fact that we are still here existing gives us the hope that we are here for a reason and it is our choice to make the most out of it by helping the people who are in need and always choosing to be kind to everyone.

I guess, that bottled water was there for a purpose and that was to hydrate the driven thirsty mom and courageous daughter.

Lead image source

Thanks for reading.

Keep safe everyone!