Lessons in life to be thankful about

I took Saipan by storm, literally. I call my first 12 days on the island disastrous, and why not, when I was welcomed by Supertyphoon Keith’s Herculean winds and ponderous rains. We do experience the same thing in the Philippines but a two-week brownout spelled the difference.

It was like there was no way out of my night-dimmed, fiery room which felt like I was inside an oven being prepared well-done for starving cannibals. I could not open my windows or I’ll get wet, which I already was because I seemed like bathing on my own beads of moisture.

“What have I done to deserve all these?” was all I could ask myself as I silently weep inside that dark box where I was supposed to stay one year. Just the thought of staying in that unlit, hot chamber for one more night almost prompted me to call Manila and ask my parents to send me back home.

The torridity in my room was embittered by the little fires of candle I had to use to literally light up my nights.

A first-time migrant worker, it was harder for me because I would have to live without household help, which forced me to clean my room, prepare my meals, wash the dishes and launder my clothes.

That is not to mention the air-conditioned room I have back in our home that was replaced by a rusting stand fan that moved only after 12 days because of the power interruption. These things almost made me chicken out.

But then, I asked myself “What am I really on Saipan for?” Simultaneously, I heard my mom’s popular piquing oration telling me never to expect things that I have been accustomed to in the Philippines from my destination. “Blah blah blah blah blah…dadada dadada dadada.”

“You will be going there as a contract worker you would have to live like one,” she told me repeatedly in desperate attempts to convince me to reconsider my decision to work overseas. I never failed hearing mom’s sermon everytime I was alone in my still unlit, filthy room.

The want for luxuries eventually disappeared in my mind. I have learned to accept that there will be no household help, no air-conditioned room and no parents who would hand out cash whenever I would ask for it. Saipan has witnessed how my hands got dry washing the dishes. I clean the house and sweat at night.

But I thought it was okay. As it has been said, there is always a reason for everything, like my own reason in deciding to work overseas and leave a stable, flourishing writing career in Manila.

The untold story of my sad fate with a friend was the major reason why I had to seek greener pastures in a foreign land. My sorry nemesis with my friend has been a closed chapter but it is always nice to open the book once in a while to keep me reminded of the lessons that come with it.

On my second Wednesday on Saipan, I went to the Kristo Rai Church and said the Mother of Perpetual Help novena alone. Nobody was inside the church with me that time so I prayed hard and loud, asking God why did I have to end up in trouble by helping a friend.

Is there something about this story that is worth being thankful about? God said yes. “All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result, you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering. God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled…”

A month later, I learned that my friend has been fired from her job and was sued for embezzling the company’s money. I am thankful not because someone who pestered me finally got her punishment but because I’ve seen her true colors even before she could slash me off my wealth.

I am thankful that she ran away even before I could entrust her my life. The cash, at least, is redeemable. And the lesson I learned from her is already too much a blessing to be thankful about.

This goes the same with the hot, wooden chamber and the household chores that I had to deal with while working on Saipan under my first two employment contracts. Heaven gave me the opportunity to learn important lessons in life — the hard way.

The fact that I have already seen Saipan’s worst even before I could take a glance of its beauty makes the island prettier now, shaking off my system the sad thought of living away from my family and friends.

In addition, the experience that comes along with living in a foreign land like meeting new friends creates more lessons to learn from. We will meet people because we were created to live and mingle with others. One could feel alone at first but friends will eventually come along.

The beauty of having friends, as well as being a friend to someone is, again, another wonderful thing to be thankful about.

This is practically the same with what the older people had said — that we should be thankful because we were given the chance to live. Our existence has a purpose and when we learn to know what are we in the world for, everything, including saying thank you becomes a lot easier.

I have survived a wooden box which I shared for almost two years with termites that have left sorry and disgusting marks on my legs. But then again, I am thankful for the experience because it paved the road for me to realize that I am worth more than a few hundred bucks, and that I can only continue honing my skills if I would work with the people who really know what professional writing is.

We are not submitted into a trial to burden us but to let us know what our weaknesses are and how to draw strength from them. Only when we realize this can we sat thank you Lord for making me what I am now. Only then can we sincerely say Thank You. And only than can we understand that there are a lot of things in this world to be thankful for.

Only then can we stop complaining why roses have thorns but be thankful because thorns have roses.