When do we say it’s ENOUGH?!!

When can we say that we have given much? Will we ever ascertain a point or phase wherein we can say that we already helped and that’s it! It’s already our fair share. But really, how do we define HELPING? Do we help to some extent or extend our hands all the way? I’m quite confused with all these helping stuffs. Does it make me a bad person if I intentionally halt helping someone ‘coz I think I already have given my best? Does it make me cruel if I think first of my family’s sake?

Helping other people, most especially in their greatest time of need, is a great privilege. My mom kept telling me that it’s better if you’ll be the one helping rather than being the one seeking for help. Yup, it made sense to me. We should be thankful and proud if we’re helping someone ‘coz that only means that we’re capable of sharing a part of us regardless if it would payoff or not. But is there such thing as rules and regulations when it comes to helping? Is there any limitation at all? What type of help weighs more – financial, emotional, or prayers? Or would it even matter? In my 20 years of existence, I have encountered different sort of situations wherein I needed to help and I needed some help. It felt good when you’re helped but it’s a different kind of feeling when you are able to reach out and lend a helping hand.

Who should we help then? Is it even right to choose people that we should help? From a young adult’s perspective, I say that it’s so much better to help someone who’s also helping himself. One reason why many of us hesitate to help because this makes the person very dependent on us. That person may even do nothing to improve his life because he thinks that there will always be a certain person where he can turn to (ready and always available). Instead of helping, we end up contributing some points in messing up his life. I think it’s better to help a person who is also willing to change and help himself. There is no use whatever trying to help people who do not help themselves. You cannot push anyone up a ladder unless he’ll be willing to climb himself. Lastly, it would be heartwarming to look at a person who has become a self-reliant individual because you shared to him how to stand up like a real man.

When is it considered to be less or more? Is there such a tool that can measure the amount of help that we have given? They say that it’s not good to share something just because it’s abundant or we have much that’s why we share. When we share a part of us then that usually includes sacrificing something we value. I’m really okay with that thought. We can only give what we have, right? Now, this one makes my understanding of helping a little bit blurry. How do we know that we’re sharing just enough for us not to be the one needing in the end? Is helping really that critical? Worse comes to worst, we can end up broke and needy if we won’t combine helping with thinking.

Are we doomed if we refuse to help? Or are we gonna be saints for being so selfless? The risk of helping and the remarkable feeling each time we help – two opposing factors that we should take into consideration each time we lend our hand. We are human and we coexist in this very small world. We give help as we also need help. Now, am I condemned if ask this question, “When can I say ENOUGH?!!”.

The Year That Was..

It took a long time for me to write another entry for my blog. I was just so busy these past few days. Aside from the stressful days at work, I also have to deal with a lot of reporting in my master's classes (4 consecutive reports! How is that???). I really wouldn't like to mention certain problems at home but it really counts though! Certainly, it adds up a lot of stress (don't worry I'm not yet gonna explode!hehe). Indeed, this New Year welcomed me with a blast! Anyhow (enough of that stressful events!), I'm gonna talk about the year that passed. Okay, I know I'm 29 days late ‘coz I should have been writing these stuffs earlier on January but then again it's still January (first month of the year!) and last Monday the Chinese folks just celebrated their "Kung hei fat choi" so I think I'm not that late!haha

Anyways, I'm going to sort of recap some great things that happened to me last year 2008! I know it's not good to linger on our past but this one is just reviewing! Reflecting to some of the greatest lessons I learned in that year alone.

• Graduating from Nursing - It's tough. Looking back, I still can say that it wasn't really easy to finish a degree (especially nursing!). It took a lot of sweat, tears, and blood intertwined just to march on that stage and receive my diploma. But seeing my parents' faces that day, I knew I must have done something really good to make them so proud!

• Taking and Passing the Local board - Nerve-racking experience. It came to a point wherein you'll realize that your whole life depended in that one-shot-friggin'-exam! And that scared me the most. After getting the idea that I actually passed the exam? I sort of stoically digested reality. What now? Graduating and then Taking and Passing the Board. I just realized now, being a full pledged nurse is the toughest challenge!

• Falling in love - It was amazingly beautiful to fall for someone. The feeling is just beyond anything. Now I learned, that falling is the sweetest part while hitting the ground if no one ever catches you is still the sweetest way to break yourself into pieces. Now the best part is you LOVE.. knowing how to LOVE is a gift itself.

• Goodbyes - I said goodbye to a lot of friends back at college. I rarely see them now. Now I learned that people come and go! Well, that's the awful truth. Important thing is - I should always bear in mind that once a friend, always a friend! Time and space can't argue with that.

• Hellos - It's a cycle of life. You bid goodbye to say hello! Last year, I found my first ever work in my entire life. It's non-nursing related but at least I was able to find a decent job. I met new friends and I'm enjoying my job so far.

• New School - I enrolled at a graduate school. Cool classmates and incredible professors. My way of excusing myself from the guilt of having non-nursing related work. It actually helped me a lot to avoid losing my grip in nursing. Up to now, believe me, I still want to be a nurse!

• Responsibilities - It's getting bigger and bigger. You have no choice but to embrace it with a smiling face ‘coz you don't want to be a useless crap in your family and in the society as well..

The year that passed is nothing but a mere memory now. But for me, it's one of the greatest years of my life. Success poured down on me as failures kept me to persevere in life. I found new friends as I regained lost friendships. The year that was so memorable I couldn't bear to forget. Right now, I'm just so thrilled what life has in store for me this year. I bet there'll be a lot of disappointments, frustrations, and failures but I'm sure there will also be triumphs and victory. Most of all, there'll be greater lessons that would help me to become a better person.