I’ve been tagged… again. This time it was Jonas… who tagged me… hehehe! Well, the question being tagged around is something most of us are slowly running out of answers for… “Why it feels great to be Pinoy?”.
Why, indeed?
When I noticed I was tagged… I shrugged it off for a while… not cause I didn’t want to participate but because I realized as I pondered my answers that I was actually having a difficult time figuring it out… As hard as it may be for me to come up with a whole bunch of reasons… I did find a few arguments why it still feels great to be Pinoy.
- OPTIMISTIC. Pinoys are optimists. Even in the midst of personal, national, political and often tragic calamities, we pinoys seem to always find that glimmer of hope… we always find a way to look at things in a different perspective. As cliche as it may sound, it is true that we see the glass as half full, instead of half empty. We laugh at our own quirks, mistakes, absurdity and shortcomings.
- FORGIVING. A trait very admirable of Pinoys but oftentimes also our bane. To forgive is divine… of course. But in no way should we “forget” in absolute. Case in point… look at all the national scandals and embarrassments we pinoys have been subjected to year after year after year… personalities and politicians who have deceived us, hurt us and abused our trust in every way possible. We get angry… we protest… then given time… we forgive… and forget. This seems to come out more like a rant only because this wonderful trait of ours has been exploited time and again. But don’t get me wrong, this characteristic of Filipinos have probably been the very reason why we still aren’t in a state of civil war considering all the hardships that have been thrown at us… and that is saying a LOT! So yes, it still is an admirable trait.
- GROUNDED. Faith/Family/Community grounded, I mean. We always find the strength and courage through our great love for others… we rely on family… on friends and the community… on our faith… to be able to achieve many great things. We simply just overcome; We don’t question… we just do.
- HOSPITABLE (Updated). Pinoys do everything to please their guests… to make them feel at home. This trait I admire of Pinoys so very much! Example given: During a meal, even when there isn’t enough food for everyone, a Pinoy will insist that a visitor sit with his family and partake of whatever meal they have served on the table. “Kahit walang-wala na talaga… magpapabili pa ng ulam para masiyahan ang bisita.”… very Pinoy!
We always enumerate reasons why we love being Pinoys… is it our way of coping with our shortfall?
I suggest we reflect on the seemingly irreparable (and undesirable) traits associated with being a Filipino and act upon them. Why address only the positives? We should determine the negatives and work on them… only then can we truly feel great to be Pinoys.
TAG TIME:
Ok… here’s the fun part. I tag the following guys: Cryst, Martin, Kat, Patty, Roland, Jane, Jim, Tinggay, Poytee and Zerovoltage!
Bagong Puna