Rational Insanity
By Bryan Mari Argos

Envy, or not to be

You probably noticed my absence for two weeks; well, to tell you the truth, aside from my being really busy, I also had to take care of a few personal matters. This week, I would like to take on the weight of a problem that most of our young people are grappling with at the moment – security for the future. I will be the slaughtered lamb for this week as I tell you about how I feel about my own future.

I am a very social person and I have met so many young people in my twenty-eight years. Most of the people I meet are people I have been associated with once or twice before, old high school friends, and work associations. While it is true that I have met old high school friends who pretty deserve what they have at the moment, I have also met people who don't deserve what they currently have. It is true that it is not for me to determine whether someone deserves something or not because I am a mere observer, but sometimes, the odds become really, really obvious. For instance, I have this work association who is the child of my former employer. This person, even in his late twenties already owns several businesses and has probably made the nth million already, while some are still waiting in line to make their first. The trouble with this person is that it had been very obvious through the paper trails I have seen that the money used to establish such businesses did not come from the person's blood and sweat! Then I have this high school classmate who was a pea head in high school, and because of his family's inherent wealth, he currently manages one of their family's real estate business and travels a lot all over the world.

With these people, I am sometimes forced to ask myself the following questions, “When will I get what I need to start my own business when I have my head brimming with great business ideas, but no capital to materialize these ideas?”, “When will my million-peso opportunity come?”, “Did I ever sit on my hands to deserve what I have now?”. All these questions are bittersweet reflections of how unfair our world can be. Most of the time, people who work very hard, earn very little, and people who do not need to lift a finger have very fat bank accounts. Hence, the all time favorite question young hopefuls always ask themselves, “When will my big break finally come…? When I am already too old to enjoy it…?”

As I said, the world is unfair – when will I have that thirty thousand peso phone that I saw my classmate so casually use, or that nice, sleek, sedan my college pal drives all over town, or the job that makes that kid from the other section in elementary go around the world in a matter of a few weeks? I work my ass off, I study hard to improve my academic stature – when? The world is unfair, but if we dwell on how unfair it can be we will end up becoming so preoccupied with envy that we forget our dreams. Envy is a sin, and although, I look miserably at others who have achieved and gained so much in their young ages, more than I could probably have in my entire lifetime, I simply accept that the cards I have in my hand are the cards I have been dealt and the best I can do is work out a means to make my hand the best hand there is in this gamble of life…

Be the best YOU that you can be and regret will never be part of your vocabulary. Yes, some of us may not have the luxuries that other people enjoy, but always remember that we have ourselves. Look at the brighter side, we may not have money, but we are rich in health; we may not have fame, but people love us because of what we are and not because of what we want them to see in us. Life balances everything. For the pauper, life has patience; for the prince, life has justice. In our country, equal wealth distribution is a distant dream because many people who have millions in their hands refuse to part with a single hundred peso bill to feed the hungry – but you friend, with that one peso coin in your pocket, and nothing to see you through after that one peso leaves you, part with it, because it is only when we have nothing that we truly see what we really want.

If you want to die from jealousy and envy, look around you and you will see how the tangible has conquered millions of young minds; keep your mind free of the rot of materialism and you will appreciate more that life is not really just mind but a harmonious relationship between the mind and the heart. Sometimes, you will hear other people say, “Be practical!”, simply smile, and tell them, “I am, I always have what I need, and I trust that ‘I shall not want' anything more…”

Now, if you happen to drop by a café where everybody seems to be living in their own illusions of affluence, order a barako, and if they tell you it isn't available because all they have are Americano's and Espresso's, frappes, smoothies, and an unsightly plush couch shipped all the way from Belgium, snap back and say, “Well, no thanks, but it seems to me that you don't have the best after all…” Simple pleasures are for simple people.

Be rational; be insane…every once in a while!Thanks James! Welcome to RI! Hello to my dearest readers, to Sheen, Hellpen, Anne, Mary Dale, Chan,Michelle, Zarthus, Jonald, Mr. Bobot, Vic, Vincent, and Rex, Alex, Arvin, Corz, Jim, Kiara, Malikh, Audrae, Franz, Hendrick, Janice, Jay, Jim, Jonathan, Mark, Marz, Mel, Pres, Nhonoy, Niel, Piper, Rheavil, Joey, Alma, Rodolfo, Ecker, Ryan, Roni, Ian, Narle, Sunny and to Anuj of CMC, I love you all! Byers! Salamat gid sa mga walang-hintong text and reactions nyo! Catch Rational Insanity in TNT's online edition, check us out at www.thenewstoday.info, text me at (0920)9254269, or email me at prague@eudoramail.com. Byers! Mmmmmmmwah!