Oh Reality, Check Please?

By Susan
With less than two weeks left before I leave for Cebu, a few well-meaning folks have asked me why I chose to go back there, as opposed to taking another trip to Europe or to a place I've never been before. My answer is simple: I need a quick dose of reality check. And I'm convinced that a trip back home will do the trick. You see, lately I seem to be operating on autopilot and have taken some important things for granted. I seem to have lost sense of gratitude. Gratitude for being healthy, having common sense, wonderful people around me, for the stuff I have, or for having been born at all. What went wrong? Media and society as a whole, that's what! During the last two years, my focus has shifted towards things that meant nothing to me in the past. My guess is, like everyone else I unconsciously bought into our culture's toxic obsession with excesses. Of course, it's perfectly fine to be ambitious. Well, to a certain extent. But people don't seem to understand the concept of moderation anymore! And why does everyone appear to be racing pointlessly? Does anyone even know where the finish line is? At what point do we stop and say we're happy and content? Where do we draw the line between ambition and plain old social-climbing? The recent assassination of Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto really hit me like a truck. I literally stopped and took a hard look at myself. What have I done to make the world a better place? Not sure I could answer my own question. A handful of good deeds here and there? Maybe, but hardly enough. The sudden realization that we all have only one shot at doing things right in this life has never been more apparent than right now. Bhutto, who had everything she could ever want & need, chose to go back to Pakistan and put her own life on the line for a cause she strongly believed in - to save her country. She could have chosen to carry on living a relatively ordinary life in London, being a wife to her husband and mother to her three children. So what if she had to do it while in exile? Instead, Bhutto willingly picked the most difficult choice despite knowing the dangers she had to face. She showed the world how strong her sense of nationalism was and commitment to her people by going back home. In the process, she looked death in the eye on a daily basis. But she never flinched... until death caught up with her. Her courage was nothing short of heroic. She has inspired me immensely. Anyway, back to my point - I have to change! I want to shift my focus back on what truly matters in life. Screw all the nice clothes, cars, shoes, latest toys, and all that shit! We will leave those things behind when we die. We will not be remembered by what we owned... but rather by our actions. People in other parts of the world get by on virtually nothing, yet Americans are behaving like a bunch of spoiled & idiotic celebrities. And we have the nerve to complain about never having enough. Puhleeze! Thanks, but no thanks. Enough of the selfish behavior! This madness needs to end now. I'd rather spend my time trying to make a difference. I only have one shot at it...and the time is now.

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