Weekly Sharin': Walking In A Straight Line

How far will I go?

I woke up last Monday with a deep sense of doing something stupid yet fundamental. Goodness! I'm turning 26 this year and I haven't done anything that goes around with the word 'Achievement'. Yes, I know. Achievement is something that other people cited and acknowledged with. But there's another achievement that I personally would like to gain. Something that I won't get a certificate with. Something that could give you the right sense of direction. Something that would remind you of the past, present and the future. Something that people will judge it awfully and I don't have to worry about what will they say. Something that they can't take it away from you. Something like WALKING BACK HOME from TRINOMA? Oh yes, I'm not kidding. The Almighty knows I am not kidding. And yes, I heard you say: "Whaaat??", "You're crazy!".

I'm not crazy. I'm more sane than the people you read and watched from Guiness Book Of World Records. The difference between I and the Guiness Record holders was I didn't do it for the sake of breaking records. I've done it for personal reasons and gain. I'm totally aware of what I was doing. (Most insane people believed that they know what they're doing, anyway.) hehe!

Having only Quaker Oats and a cup of coffee for brunch, I went to Trinoma Mall to buy something. I went there, wearing shorts, sandals and a shirt. Right. Not the typical malling outfit. Naka pambahay lang. When I'm about to go straight home, I counted what's left from my coin purse: SEVEN PESOS and TWENTY FIVE CENTAVOS. I'm seventy five centavos short to ride an EDSA bus route to Cubao. OH NO!!! That's like some kilometers of pure walking!

And the inevitable occurred. I walked home via the EDSA sidewalks. Our Father gave us feet to use it. And so I did. I walked home in case I might find SEVENTY FIVE CENTAVOS along the way. Unfortunately, I didn't. But instead, I find myself along the way home.

Along the pink-lined sidewalks of one of the oldest national highways, I saw people walk, as well. Going from one point to the other. Busied with their own personal problems and seriously pondering ahead. After each step, I find myself suspended in a fast-paced world. People are frantic to go somewhere versus the time. The faster we go, the slower we become. A sudden thought occurred to me: that vehicles were made not to make the act of walking an extinction in the ways of life. It will always be an option. A last option perhaps.

I walked and walked until I saw Quezon Ave. MRT station. There was this urge and temptation to ride a bus and ask the conductor if I could be admitted even if I'm seventy five centavos short. But I resisted myself. I continued walking until I saw, not-so-far-away GMA-Kamuning Station and after some meters, I can already see Cubao's Skyline. I'm almost there.

I arrived in front of our gate after an hour of walking when I saw a peso in the midst of all the dirt and dust and trash. I smiled and after awhile, laughed heartily in this irony. :)

All in all, I finished that crazy journey of self-actualization and become revitalized. A sense of fulfillment, indeed. A personal achievement that I will never ever forget.

Next stop: Megamall then back home via Edsa route? Hmm... I'll think about it. hahahahah! And I hope this time, I won't be walking alone. :)