YOUNG VOICE
Compromise
It has been almost six months since I last mimicked a gymnast on a balance beam, only that I was in two-inched black shoes geared with my community health nursing uniform while walking cautiously along the 'kahon'. The crops were filled with dew as they were remnants of the previous night’s shower. I spent almost fifteen minutes taking the mudd off, using a twig and several talisay leaves.
I revisited the family I once was assigned to last semester. By then, I already established rapport and can easily evaluate my previously given health teachings. I was quite excited to find out if Lolo Leo (not his real name) kept his promise to quit smoking in order to prevent the recurrence of his hypertension. Lolo Leo’s daughter told me that he smoked again, shattering my optimism.
At times, you really can’t teach an old dog new tricks. To be honest, I blamed myself for not being more encouraging with my health teachings. I couldn’t help but recall the scene six months ago, when Lolo Leo kept in his wallet the printed handouts on hypertension that I gave him. He seemed to believe in my teachings; that he will change. But, I guess there are just instances that are out of our hands and situations beyond our control. We wanted to go straight, but involuntarily fate made a U-turn. There are harsh realities that we can never change. There are impossible ideals that we can never actually practice. There are unhealthy habits that we can never kill. Lolo Leo reminded me of this cruel truth.
It’s nerve-wrecking to find out that your expectations will all go to waste because the rest of the world hesitates to ride with your wave. How many beauty pageant titlists have sought and campaigned for the renowned world peace? Yet, firearms and weaponry seem to be just as common as your everyday laundry soap. How many environmentalists have advocated and tried to lure the majority to fight against global warming? Yet, icebergs continue to melt and increase the water level, endangered animals easily go extinct, and more violent natural disasters happen at every corner. How many politicians have made countless promises and have shown comprehensive blueprints and plans for projects? Yet, corruption is still as abundant as air, roads are still unkempt, education stagnates and controversies flood the administration.
These are the realities, the habits that have grown rooted in the soil of stubbornness. It is hard to crop them out, since more than half of each of their existence was spent with these realities. It is difficult to weed them out, since these habits were considered routine, were considered essential to life. It is complicated to drag them out, since these truths have been established, and people had blindly followed with this truth. If we will exhaust and exert all available effort, I’m afraid we’ll lose more than we plan to allot. Thus, I guess it is either you find a magic lamp and rub out a genie to grant all our wishes or we’ll just have to adapt. Not exactly that “if you can’t beat them, join them” strategy, but to arrive at a compromise.
Yes, to cut the faction in half, to arrive at the midpoint, to settle at the center. Wars need compromise in order to really have a ceasefire. Global warming couldn’t completely force every car owner to throw their vehicles in the dumpsite and walk to prevent further exhaustion of fumes from soot. But, they can compromise by filling their engines with unleaded or smoke free fuel. It still contributes to soot exhaustion but lesser than usual. Unfinished roads and other faulty government-sponsored projects will always be around in our practice of patriotic politics and innate greed. But compromise is at hand with simple checks and balances of government power from the public in order to remind and monitor our leaders in case they ever forget what they were in position for.
Yes, Lolo Leo did return to smoking and I know I’ll have a hard time encouraging him to quit. I already had a hard time once. So, we both settled for a compromise. I’ll keep on reminding him, and he’ll keep on trying. But for the meantime, he will be eating more nutritious and well-balanced meals, exercise and get plenty of rest to in anyway neutralize his vicious habit.
I bid goodbye to Lolo Leo, his family gave me two plastic bags that I will wrap around my two-inched black shoes so it won’t be iced with mud. Like the muddy clay soil I am stepping on, I can never change it’s being muddy and clayish. But I can do something to prevent my shoes from being covered in 'lunang'. I’ll compromise and wrap plastic around them.
There are some things in life that we couldn’t change.
Let us not give up hope, let’s keep on trying.
But for the meantime, let us compromise.
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