A health scare.
A messy breakup.
A transition to a new job, in a new place, leaving family behind.
Bad enough that this happens to you, but all in one year? It can and does happen, and I can only hear you say, “God please let this year end without one more bad thing happening.”
I know a kabayan to whom all these things happened in one year, enough for one to experience mental health challenges.
One of the above alone is enough, so you can imagine dealing with all those issues, not to mention minor ones just bubbling below the surface.
Pinoys have a support group, religious groups and above all, family to help deal with unexpected multiple setbacks like these, but what if you’re an OFW, alone and without anyone to turn to?
What do you do when troubles creep up on you either singly or all at once? I have nothing to turn to but my personal experience kabayan, in my 15 years here as an NZ migrant. so here goes:
SMILE.
It may not be at first glance what you expected, but smiling has proven to have immediate emotional and physical benefits to your body.
Studies have shown that as soon as you smile, even to yourself, you feel better, and release body chemicals that soothe any part of the body experiencing stress.
Smiling is your body’s way of telling you, “everything’s gonna be alright” even though it may not appear to be so at the moment.
Another way of looking at it is “fake it till you make it” though it may involve a little trickery on your part.
When you smile, morever, you change not only your own mood but that of the person you face, and even those around you. Almost always, for the better. TALK . Not just talk, but positive talk.
Wives, do you know why your husbands never fail to attend their weekly inuman or drinking sessions with or without a proper occasion or celebration?
Your husbands don’t talk about business, sports or other pursuits as much as they talk about the most important thing: the main things wrong with their lives, and the different ways they deal with it.
Talking has been proven to affirm a person’s intention to resolve issues or problems within said any topic, and in fact just talking about something bothering you is a massive step towards unburdening yourself from said problem.
PRAYER. Most of us (including your kabayan) were brought up with religion, and although some of us have no longer retained the same level of devotion or belief, many of us will instantly turn to prayer the moment we find ourselves in a jam or a problem we can’t solve.
This is for good reason, as prayer fills us with positive thoughts and attitudes.
Science has shown that the latter invariably gives us inspiration and energy to either tackle a formerly unsolvable problem, or focus on new ways to meet the problem head on.
All because of prayer.
The coming year will have its own set of challenges and problems for all of us, for Pinoys as much as anybody. if we acknowledge that 2025 can be met like any other year, as long as we believe that everything will turn out OK, life will be good. Mabuhay!
Article and thoughts of Noel Bautista for Pinoys in New Zealand Community