Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Although, I have here a definition of what desire is, I still associate it wit something that you want to have, achieve, and experience. When I think about all my desires, I kept reminiscing about the past. When I was a little child, I have this wild dream to go to North Pole and see Santa Claus. As I grew up and started to know the truth behind Santa Claus, my mom still keeps on telling me stories about the real Santa Claus. She told me that the real Santa Claus lived in Finland, and that he is really a saint. With my mom’s story running in my head, I now wanted to go to Finland and see for myself the place where Santa originated. I guess, that’s when my fascination about Europe started, with Santa Claus and my desire to travel.

Also, when I think about desires, I think about my past adventures with my parents abroad. I miss those little adventures we used to have when I was between grades 4-6. Since my mom used to work for an Airline company, she gets to have free tickets for us, the downside, it was always a stand-by ticket, meaning we were the last ones to board the plane and if the flight is full, we might not be able to get on our desired flight. At first, it was a bit annoying that although we can go to different countries every summer vacation, we still have lousy tickets. But as time went by, we got used to being ‘stand-bys,’ we just enjoyed ourselves and eventually, we gained some new friends in different airports around the world. Now, my mom has a different job in a different industry, we don’t travel together anymore. Usually, it’s just my mom, going to different countries for work and there was a time that they sent me to New York all by myself. Now, I desire to have again those little adventures of ours, even though in a few months time, I could travel on my own, legally.

Also, since I am an only-child and the only grandchild, in my father’s side for about 11 years, they all expected me to be like my tita’s. My grandfather takes pride when all of the clan is studying in a prestigious university or school. It was my grandfather who was the most excited when they all heard that I was going to study in La Salle, and also having a double-degree course. It was also my grandfather who wanted me to follow his footsteps, and be a lawyer in the future. I really wanted to establish my own name in our family. All of my relatives seem to have their own “thing,” like one of my tita has her own business; the youngest sister of my dad is a lawyer; my tito is a theatrical artist; my dad is a CPA; and my dad’s eldest sister is in the States working for Citibank. I guess, my desire to be as successful as they are came from my grandfather who is, I could say was a successful lawyer when he was still not retired.

Thinking about desires, I can say that a person’s desires are the cravings or the longings of a person that they wish to have. Like my desires to travel again with my family and to have my own distinct career, desires are what truly motivates and moves a person. It is what others say, their driving force. Their longing to achieve something they truly desired makes them work harder and push themselves to the limit.

Personally, I think that your desires could actually break or make you. It could lead you to your desired destination or it could break you as a person. Like what I read in one of Sophie Kinsela’s book, “Shopaholic ties the knot,” there was one character there, Luke Brandon, who desired to please his biological mother. He pushed himself to work harder and establish a name in New York City even if he already established his name in London. His desire to please his mother, kind of made his relationship to his fiancée, Rebecca Bloomwood, even harder. His desire even broke him down. When he finally realized that what ever he does his mother would never be proud of him, he broke down and started not going to work and he was distant with everyone.

I related desire to this story because it clearly illustrates how desire could break a person down. I mean, it is good that you have your own desires and that it motivates you but a person should know when they should stop and notice what they are truly doing.

Also, desires are your passion for life, like my passion to travel. It is, what I have already mentioned, your guide to your future. These desires I have might only focus on me, but I know that in the long run, these desires of mine would also influence or move others as well. I want these desires to motivate me every time I am in the dumps and experiencing a low moment. I want my desires to help me get through, first with my studies and lastly, with career.