a life once lived

A LIFE ONCE LIVED

(THE ORIGINAL, NOT THE FAKE)

“Life is like a coin. You can spend it everywhere you want and trade it for anything you want. But remember; you can only spend it once.”

-Anonymous

Bio, buhay, life… Being alive, having a life or living in reality is the best thing everyone had got. Life is the best gift that each man has received more than his birthday and more than a Christmas.

Just imagine how excellent life is. Out of 400 million sperm cells, you’re the one who survived. The other 400 million sperms had just died on a simple way while you, a fully-developed human, a very gifted person, was given the chance to step your foot in this land, was given the chance to drink the waters from the sea, was given the chance to breathe the most fresh air; and was given the chance to live. Yes, we are all lucky… We are all blessed… God chose me, you and us to catch a glimpse of nature. He just let the other 400 million die just for your sake, just for a person like you. See??? We are all special because God chose us to live out of 400 million. We are all lucky… Aren’t we?

A life can be only lived once… We are not like Mario whose life is numbered up to three or a cat whose lives can extend up to nine. Humans have only one precious life; a precious life that should be kept inside a treasure chest as if it was a gold; a precious life that might bring a hundredfold and a precious life that has a mission to be accomplished. That is the main reason on why we are living; to accomplish our great mission. No one knows what our mission here on Earth is, only you and God alone.

A life can only be lived once… No replays and no rewinds. Walang balikan, walang bawian. You can never bring time back again. You can never rewind your life back.

When you grow older, when your hair turns white, I’m pretty sure that you will then realize how happy you are back in your school days. You will say to yourself:

“I want to be back in Elementary, in High School, in College. I want to sit again on my chair where I wrote my name, eat in the canteen, play with my classmates, write on the blackboard, see my crush, open my locker and experience the feeling of seeing a “90” or an “80” in my card.”

But that’s so impossible.

So, as you’re still standing beneath the floors and grounds of Dominican School, while you can still see the pure blue paint in the walls, just try to treasure every second and every minute of the day; just think that every moment is a happy moment; just think that there’s no thing such as a “sad experience”. This will only happen once and the time is near when you will leave.

The time is near when you will leave the Dominican School, where you spent your time growing and maturing from preschool to High School, where you spent your time playing, making new friends, studying for a later exam, standing in front of the class for a report, falling in line during the morning assembly and getting yourself into trouble. We will miss all of that.

The time is also near when you will leave this world. Yes, it’s scary but that’s true. Life is so short. You’ll never know when, where and how you will die.

I am writing this column not because to make you feel scary due to the nearing of death’s arrival. But, I’m writing this to inspire you, to make you appreciate your own life. I just wanted a reader, like you, to treasure your life and make your lifestory the best story you can create. At such times, we are making a kind of film wherein we ourself is the main character. And you will decide what scene to happen next.So better stop your bad habits, change for the better and write your own storybook to be published in each person’s heart. Truly, this is how life is. This is how life will be lived… A life once lived…

JERICO D. MAHANDOG

PS: you can also read this essay at the latest issue of Herald Magazine(2008 issue).BUT, there’s a big BUT, it’s not anymore the original…

It’s the EDITED one..