i love christmas. it's my favorite time of the year.
three christmasses passed with me being away from my family and really good friends from home. i celebrated those three times with different group of people each year. i think that's one more inconvenient thing about working abroad, it's hard to establish permanence. friends change jobs, residences and even relationship statuses. one good friend who i used to celebrate my first christmas here with (she's single then) celebrated christmas this year with her lover. unlike my family at home who will always be around, my foster family here changes almost every year. the past two christmasses were more comforting than the first since my elder sister is already working here in singapore too.
i miss celebrating christmas in the philippines and i very much look forward to christmas next year. i'm coming home for it. but this is not to say that i am not happy celebrating it here. i am thankful that the filipino community takes extra effort to make everyone of us feel home. catholic groups coordinated with different parishes here so we can still practice our tradition of simbang gabi. i saw from a friend's facebook post that she's also attending simbang gabi in dubai. the filipino spirit truly lives on wherever country we are in.
i know how much it means to celebrate this season with our real family. but growing up and growing old, it became rare and something we can only wish for. one of your parents or maybe both of them are working overseas for many years now, or like my family, one or more of your siblings are working abroad. you may all be separated and scattered all over the world, but it could be just temporary. you'll always have the chance to be together even for just one christmas someday if you all will it to happen. or if that can't really be possible, you can always make a phonecall or videocall. and you just have to make the most out of that.
my father died five days before christmas in 2008. this is the sixth christmas without him around. there is no christmas to look forward to that we are going to be a complete family, ever again.
celebrate this season to the fullest, enjoy the company of whoever you are with, remember what you have and do so with a thankful heart. focus on the good, on whatever is beautiful, on whatever it is that makes you smile, because what you focus on amplifies. and when you truly think of what you have, you'll realize you have so much, so much that it overflows, so much that you would want to reach out to others and give whatever you can give.
and that is the essence of christmas -- giving, forgiving and thanksgiving.
three christmasses passed with me being away from my family and really good friends from home. i celebrated those three times with different group of people each year. i think that's one more inconvenient thing about working abroad, it's hard to establish permanence. friends change jobs, residences and even relationship statuses. one good friend who i used to celebrate my first christmas here with (she's single then) celebrated christmas this year with her lover. unlike my family at home who will always be around, my foster family here changes almost every year. the past two christmasses were more comforting than the first since my elder sister is already working here in singapore too.
i miss celebrating christmas in the philippines and i very much look forward to christmas next year. i'm coming home for it. but this is not to say that i am not happy celebrating it here. i am thankful that the filipino community takes extra effort to make everyone of us feel home. catholic groups coordinated with different parishes here so we can still practice our tradition of simbang gabi. i saw from a friend's facebook post that she's also attending simbang gabi in dubai. the filipino spirit truly lives on wherever country we are in.
i know how much it means to celebrate this season with our real family. but growing up and growing old, it became rare and something we can only wish for. one of your parents or maybe both of them are working overseas for many years now, or like my family, one or more of your siblings are working abroad. you may all be separated and scattered all over the world, but it could be just temporary. you'll always have the chance to be together even for just one christmas someday if you all will it to happen. or if that can't really be possible, you can always make a phonecall or videocall. and you just have to make the most out of that.
my father died five days before christmas in 2008. this is the sixth christmas without him around. there is no christmas to look forward to that we are going to be a complete family, ever again.
celebrate this season to the fullest, enjoy the company of whoever you are with, remember what you have and do so with a thankful heart. focus on the good, on whatever is beautiful, on whatever it is that makes you smile, because what you focus on amplifies. and when you truly think of what you have, you'll realize you have so much, so much that it overflows, so much that you would want to reach out to others and give whatever you can give.
and that is the essence of christmas -- giving, forgiving and thanksgiving.
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