It is coming again, a feeling familiar to us all. Walking around the metro, the lights and sounds are in full blast. There is a chill that mixes with the look of innate happiness exuded by people hurrying to get to the places where they ought to be. Parties are sprouting everywhere; a celebration of the excesses, a movement away from the stress and pressure present throughout the year. In the early hours of the morning, a specter of cold air mixed with the swirls of smoke coming from the puto bumbong machine and bibingka pots are all welcome aromas to the nose as one heads to the Simbang Gabi in anticipation of D-Day. D-Day, of course, pertains to the holiest of days and to us Filipinos, an extended holiday that stretches all the way to the first week of January. And we have a lot of fun with it.
We’ve had our share of heartaches. From the passing of influential people, to the countless lives taken by the onslaught of the forces of nature; this year was a tough one for the Filipino. Habagat’s meaning has forever changed in our dictionary of catastrophes. There were heated moments with a country that continues to impose its weight around while threatening the rights of other countries. We’ve witnessed one of our brightest stars fall in his attempt to close the supposedly final chapter of a heated rivalry, but he came up short as he was knocked out cold and it created a national heartache among Filipinos. Our national teams were also just a foot away from international glory. They always got the boot instead of the loot when things were on the line.
Despite the seemingly dire sequences of events that we have been made to endure this year, there are things that we should be thankful for. Laws are being passed to ensure that the quality of our lives will be held to high standards. The economy is getting better as the administration steers it to greater heights aided by an honorable vision of treading the straight path. We need not to count our blessings one by one for they will keep coming if we keep on working and celebrating our existence everyday in this country of ours. And when Christmas comes, it is just the apple in the lechon, the ice cream in the halo-halo, or the seasoning spicing up our hearts. Amidst all the reveries and excesses—let us always be reminded of the importance of this day, His day.
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