Well, do we really have to hurry? Do we really have to race with time? That’s the question raised in an article read to us during our Philippine Literature class. Honestly, I can’t remember the title anymore but I remember the name of the author – Mrs. Pura Santillan-Castrence. According to a background study we did about Mrs. Pura, she was a famous female essayist that made her life revolve around writing. What really struck me about her was the fact that in her latter life, she became legally blind. But that didn’t stop her. She continued inspiring and sharing her ideas by narrating her essays and articles to an encoder. Can you imagine? It’s like from the beginning until the end, she dedicated her life with writing. So its not that hard to understand that when I heard one of her articles, i was at awe with her words.
Back to the article, it was mentioned how different people look at the word “urgency” or “urgent”. First one was the actress. According from the text, the actress was already at her 60’s but she can still manage to entertain the public with her unbelievable beauty that doesn’t reflect her age. Everyone thought that she’s so amazing, but no one understood what she went through to achieve that timeless beauty. Daily trips to the salon, a ton of beauty pills and a lot of money spent in the clinic to get that ageless look. That’s how the actress spent all her time – by chasing time itself. She felt urgency to maintain her physique by the fact that time is taking its toll on it.
The second one was the “big man”. He’s everyone’s boss. According from the article, the big man can be anyone – the boss in your office, a government official, or even your professor. He spends his time working. And working and working and working again. He enjoys the rush of deadlines and lives by cups of coffee and paperworks. Some people call him “the workaholic”, some people call him “the dark dragon”. Why “the dark dragon”? Well, aside from enjoying paperworks and deadlines, he also wants everyone to do and feel the same by commanding unending chains of work. “Go, go, go!” and “I need that by tomorrow” are his favourite lines. That’s the reason why everyone hates him. But he doesn’t care because the workplace is his territory. Everything has to be urgent. But is it considered as truly living?
The last one was the medical student. Actually, its not just the medical student. Other people can probably relate to his way of life. Being dictated by his parents on what to take in college, he studies day and night just to repay his family soon by graduating. Well, actually, not by graduating but by being able to work and help the family financially. “Financially” – that’s the key word there. It’s all about the money. The medical student felt the urgency to work and be financially stable. He’s focused on working. He dedicated his life for money. He wants to survive, not to live. There’s a huge difference with surviving and living. Surviving is doing something just to continue breathing. Living is enjoying life itself. But coming from the lowest level of society, all a person could think is “will we be able to eat tomorrow?”. That’s why he chose a medical course, not a course he preferred. Maybe he was talented with music or the arts but because of the circumstances, he chose something practical.
So that’s it. Three people. Different situations. Different ways of life. One races with time, the other one lives to work, and the last one works to live. But all felt urgencies. Now, if you consider yourself as one of those three, do you really think that your urgencies are necessary? Me? I don’t think so. But I could honestly say that I’m one of those three. There’s times that “urgent” things can be prioritized, but one should remember that the clock is ticking. Tik tok, tik tok. To just survive, or to live fully? Its one’s decision. Nothing is really urgent. Man made the urgencies, it’s not nature.
Daily Thoughts 