by Alex M. Eduque
IT’S THE SMALL THINGS
This coming Tuesday is Valentine’s Day. Traditionally, we celebrate Feb. 14th – or as hallmark and Hollywood culture supposedly dictate – with a significant other. This is perhaps why Valentine’s Day has also given rise to the notion of Single Awareness Day when really, it need not be the case. Of course, as a high school student, the girls who received grams and roses were always the “cool girls,” and Feb. 14th was yet another excuse to highlight that invisible crown they sported. It was not until I got to college in the most cosmopolitan city of New York when my eyes were opened to the reality – Valentine’s Day celebrates all sorts of love and relationships. Not only the types we knew and were accustomed to, but even the most mundane – if one can even dare label a relationship as such. From friendship, to romantic love; sisterly love, parental love, the list goes on – my opinion of Valentine’s Day since transformed to becoming one that is yet another excuse to make those special ones in your life feel loved. After all, love wins. It always has, and always will.
For many, the path towards finding true love – regardless of the type – is not a linear one. After all, it would not be as exciting if it were. It is more of an adventure of trial and error. For many, it takes a lot of heartbreaks and earthshaking moments that question reality before finding the one. But in the end, it is how we transform this pain that we have lived through and endured into bettering ourselves as individuals that matters. The trials and hardships we go through shape us. Pain, in no way, is pleasant or pretty, but if we choose to turn it into growth, then it can become one of the most beautiful experiences and life-changing lessons we will ever know.
And then there is the strong bond of friendship which ultimately, is cemented by love. In our lives, just like finding “the one,” we also go through a lot of betrayals until we find our tribe – our people who will stick it through with us, and by us, through hell and high water, come what may. In this day and age, friends like that are not easy to find, and I have learned that you will know once you have found them. And when you do, hold on to them, and never let them go. These are the friends who will be tone deaf to the rest of the world on instances when they may go against you, and will unquestionably blindly fight for you even when you are not around. These are the friends that give you the happiness and contentment that numbers will not. The ones that remind you that as we grow older, though our circles may grow smaller, the ones that remain are the keepers – the truest of gems that add only sparkle to our lives. The diamonds, whose love will just grow stronger through the test of heat, time and pressure.
Of course, there will always be familial love – the kind that should be, and is forever. These are the people who know you at times perhaps more than you know yourself. Who have seen you through all your phases and changes, yet accept you regardless of how you look in the morning. These are the people you can be most openly yourself around, yet, can also sometimes be the ones you tend to mind the least. If there is something I have discovered in the recent years, it is that we must give utmost importance to those who will stand in front of a bus for us in any situation, and these people, you will most likely find first (and in some cases only) within your family.
So as Valentine’s Day rolls around this year, do not think twice about those who you love. Show them, tell them, and let it be known. There is no better time than now.
