Complex and Intagible

The human soul is complex. Human beings, even with their immense capacity for understanding had failed to really quantify and identify what a human soul is. Does it manifest itself in the shallowness of our habits and prejudices? Or is it as deep as our character?

However, one thing is for certain, the human soul is as beautiful as it is intangible.

                People always say I was blessed. It is as if some divine hand is always working for my behalf to save me whenever I get trouble. For the most part, I believed them. I believed them not because I agree that God delays the teacher whenever I am late. I believed them because a divine will had given me an opportunity to appreciate the strength and beauty of the human spirit in the most unlikely of places.

                The strength of the human spirit I learned from a 1 year old boy who was fighting for his life. I can see it in his rapid breathing and his dull eyes, the weeping of his parents, I was sure he wouldn’t last a fortnight. I wanted to stop then, because I fear that my care would make no difference, that no matter what I do, he is doomed to his inevitable end. I went home tired and exhausted that day, disturbed by the fact that that child will leave this earth not remembering how his last hours went by because nobody made it significant. I was sure that all of my efforts were in vain; he wouldn’t live long enough to appreciate it. Two days went by and I heard a miracle, the boy I took care of survived, and maybe, just maybe, what I did mattered, that I gave him some strength to fight for his life and that no matter what happens, I shouldn’t give up, because he never did.

                Optimism I heard from a man with a terminal illness who managed to make a group of exhausted and anxious nursing students laugh because he thought we are “too serious and uptight.” I was beyond touched, here was a man who was uncertain if he would live long enough to even see the passing of a month or a week, making an effort to make somebody laugh, not wallowing in self pity and depression when had every right to do so.

True happiness I learned during a revelation. We were once asked by a lecturer to rate our happiness with the career we chose with a 1-10 scale, 1 being the lowest, and 10 the highest. That made me do a double take, because I realized that I never gave myself the opportunity to ask the question of how happy I am with the career I chose. However, after a minute of introspection, I raised my hand for a 10. I was the only one who did, and when asked why, I was so surprised because all I could think about was, “because a patient had said thank you.”

                I knew I was blessed. We all are. Everyday, we are given the unique opportunity to see the beauty of the human spirit. All it takes is a heart full of appreciation, free of prejudices. Amidst the daily problems and crisis that we face, amidst the insensitivity and apathy we experience from other people, let us be reminded that the human spirit is beautiful; there is goodness that exists in every individual.

                The human spirit may be complex and intangible, but it will never cease to be beautiful.