WHILE hearing an anticipated Mass two months ago, I heard FJ, my section editor, declaring that he was close to sighting 50 backpacks with the exact design after seeing another one among the throng of churchgoers. Earning a curious look from me, he explained that it was a personal challenge to find 50 bags and then make a wish after that.
I thought that was a strange challenge to have. I wondered, is there any certainty that your wish will come true after that? Not wanting to spoil the fun – as I thought it would surely be an interesting activity whether the wish would come true or not – I decided to try it out.
FJ said that you can pick whatever rare thing to look for. He even told me about one of his classmates who had to look for 100 red taxi cabs (with the prevalence of white taxi cabs, I really wondered when she’d be done). I let him pick my challenge since I didn’t want to choose something that will be too easy or too difficult. A few minutes later, he told me that I will have to look for 50 jet planes. Thinking that it is something that’s not too easy nor too difficult as I have seen many jet planes in the past, I agreed.
Weeks have passed since that Saturday afternoon and I have yet to find my first jet plane. As I continued balancing my duties as a student-writer and extra-editorial activity organizer, and attempting to expand my social life, I found it hard to take time out from staring dejectedly at the ground to look upwards and wait for my first jet plane to pass.
When I remembered that I had to look for fifty of them, I just heaved a heavy sigh and wondered if I would ever finish this whole thing. I somehow forgot about the challenge and went on with my life. The cycle of remembering and forgetting continued for two months. Once, I complained to FJ about my frustrations but he only told me that I should look up to the sky more often.
March arrived and I was more upset than before. Because of my academic workload, I was not performing my duties well as a writer. And despite my efforts, I didn’t make it to the dean’s list, which may endanger my chances to graduate cum laude. What made things more despairing was the realization that although I occasionally took the time off from my duties in the publication and in academics to socialize with my classmates, that was not enough as my relationships with most of them are limited to sharing a few laughs, school tasks, and gossip. In addition, I was not even halfway done with my challenge.
Then one evening, while on my way home from UST in a taxi cab, my thoughts started to wander. I saw a group of lights glide slowly up in the sky. But since I was so lost in my thoughts, it took me a while to remember and realize that I’ve finally seen my first jet plane!
In all my excitement, it dawned upon me that it’s already been almost two months since I took that challenge. And it took me such a long time to find my first one. FJ eventually finished his dare after almost one year. At this rate, when will I finish mine?
And that was when I learned my lesson – that there are just some things that we’re looking for in life that we should not force ourselves to find. God has his own plans. When things are out of our hands, all we have to do is leave them all to Him. Things will eventually show up as long as we trust Him. It may take a long time to find it but when we do, it’s definitely fulfilling.
