Feeling Better by Making Someone Else Feel Better

Exchanging text messages is like a habit for us Filipinos. It has become a national habit to pass the time. Network providers must be earning millions everyday for every text message that is sent every minute every hour of every day. Since it became a fad, it has also become a way of reaching people not only within the country but all over the world. It has been the biggest factor in saving lives in times of natural calamities. It is also responsible for breaking someone's heart or making someone smile. It has become personal.

It is also my habit nowadays to check my phone for messages even before I even get to brush my teeth when I wake up every morning. My mind has been conditioned to do so. It is a habit.

Today, I woke up to read a text message from a fellow volunteer in India telling me how she already feels like going home because she does not feel the love. This is also another self-expression I have come up with every time I feel down I would say, I am not feeling the love. So she said, she wants to go home because she does not feel she is being appreciated by the organization she is volunteering for.

I told her, as I silently told myself, it is just like having a relationship with a man you love so much yet you feel it is unrequited because your expectations are not met. Just because you do not see or feel the kind of love you want him to give you does not mean he does not love you. Most relationships fail because of a certain standards, because of certain expectations, and almost always, we feel we are not loved.

In the same way that just because you do not get a pat in the back by your boss does not mean you are not appreciated for a job well done. Some people are like that. Sometimes words get in the way, and affection, very often than not, is also hard to come by especially if there are cultural differences to consider.

She then told me she would also apply this analogy to her ever faltering relationship with her boyfriend.

I take it that she liked what I told her. I take it that she appreciated my sincere efforts to make her feel better.

I am feeling better myself now.

Someone also told me that I laugh too much and I smile a lot lately. There must be someone who makes me acting like crazy nowadays.

Yes there is someone, and that someone is me. I am loving myself more and more now, by appreciating the little things I can do and accepting the things I cannot do. I am feeling better now because every little step does make the difference. I have accepted the fact that I cannot change the world but there are the little things that I can do to make a difference.

So I say, send a text today and make someone feel better and I promise you that you will feel better too.

Cheers!