There's no such thing as ready.

"There's no such thing as ready..."

Do you believe in this statement? Actually, there's a statement after it, but I'm going to reveal it later. Let's first talk about the meaning of this, and why is there no such thing as it.

I'm contemplating this ever since my friend said these statements back in 2013. She was a young journalist who had ventured into street photography, and eventually published a photography book. During that time, she met her partner who was also a photography enthusiast. I think it was those years when she was madly in love. We were young then, and we didn't talk that much about her love life at that time. All I just know was that she was in love with a guy who has a child. You might think I am judging him for having a child with a former partner, please don't think that way. I am just stating some facts. Anyway, back to my friend... I actually supported her and was more likely listening to her stories about her and her partner. We even found it amusing to know that back when we were in college, we were on a different campus of the same university. She was in Diliman, I was in Los Banos. But during those times, I was working in Quezon City, near her campus, and she's always in Los Banos, Laguna because that's where her partner lives. It's as if we'd exchanged.

After some years, they broke up. I am not sure of the very reason, but I just knew that she thinks she has done her best to stay in the relationship, but well, maybe, it wasn't enough. I remember her telling me if she'll be able to get married given the situation that they were in, I think her partner was married to the mother of the child back then. But well, she continued until, I guess, she can no longer take it.

There's no such thing as ready...

So much had happened in her life before her breakup with this guy. She was unwilling to meet other people, she just focused on her craft. I don't know if she felt and thought (at that time) that publishing that book which took a lot of money and effort was just put to waste. I am not even sure now if she's reminded of him whenever she sees her published photography book.

I was there in Makati when the book was launched. And I can still remember her very words when it was her time for her speech -

"There's no such thing as ready, only willing."

There, I realized, and actually related to her. She was not ready to venture into this, she was not ready to start something that's so uncertain, that will take a lot from her, that might lead to nothing and nowhere, but she was willing to take the risk. She was willing to gamble into the uncertainty. She was willing to take it all, whether it succeed or not. She was not ready, she was willing.

When I think about her journey, I also think about the same opportunities that come my way. Was I really ready when I graduated from college? Was I really ready to become a teacher when I applied to become one? Was I ready to fall in love with the same person who broke my heart? Was I ready to set aside my own happiness to get along with a lot of people?

My answer is no. I am not ready, I was not ready, at all.

However, I was willing... I knew that I was because I decided to be where I am, to do what I am doing, to go where I'm going. I was willing to face the uncertainty, to face my fears... to face the reality that I may fall at times, and make mistakes yet I can get back up again stronger, smarter, and happier.

Going back to my friend's story. We met some months after she broke up with her boyfriend that time, I still remember that we ate at this shawarma shop near the university campus, in Malingap Street. There, she told me another friend had arranged for her to meet someone. And from there, they took off. She was uncertain about the idea, she does not know if she'll like him, by her words, she said she was not ready... yet, she still went because she was willing.

And you know what, they tied the knot this June 8th in Bohol Island, Philippines. I was not there physically, but I witnessed the wedding virtually. I couldn't be any happier for her, for them both... for she had found someone who takes care of her and sets her as a priority, someone she gets along with, and someone who maybe wasn't ready as well... but certainly was willing.

There's no such thing as ready... only willing.

Don't you agree?