Once upon a time there lived a poor family in a small, secluded province in the Philippines. The father was a struggling carpenter who could barely find work to support his wife, two sons and daughter. The family lived in a small shack next to the dump. The roof leaked, the floorboards creaked, while cockroaches sprawled all over the dirty floor. Everyday they struggled as they had very little money to feed themselves with. The parents felt helpless as everyday the whole family went to bed hungry. “How can we live like this?” asked the mother. “If we don’t get enough food, we’re all going to starve to death.” In response, the father nodded his head as he had no idea how he could put the food on the table. One day when the mother and the children were out of the house, the father was pacing around thinking about his family’s situation until he said to out loud, “How am I going to feed my family?” As the last word left his mouth, a large bang went off right in front of him while a cloud of smoke shrouded his view. While he fell onto the ground in fear not knowing what was going on an angelic-looking woman with a compassionate and caring face appeared out of the smoke. “I can help you”, said the women. “I have been watching you and your family and I know of your problems.” Out of thin air, an old, black pot appeared into her hand as she said, “Take this. This enchanted pot should help solve your family’s misfortunes. Whenever you take off the lid, a steamy, pile of rice will always be underneath it for you to feed your family. But listen to my warning. This pot only works for the purest of intentions. If ever the pot is used for evil intentions, the pot will shatter at the touch and the enchantment shall be lost.” As the father took the pot, the women instantly vanished with the same ear-shattering bang as before.
Completely shocked and in disbelief at what just happened, the father looked felt the warmth in his hands coming from the pot. As he took off the lid, steam emerged from the pot as the smell of fresh rice made his eyes drool. Ravenously, he devoured the entire pot in a few short minutes. The empty pot became cool after he had eaten the whole pot to satisfy his appetite. After he put the lid back onto the pot, immediately the same sensation of warmth comforted his hands. He lifted the lid and in the pot was another batch of hot rice. When his family came home he ecstatically told them what had happened and for the first time in years, the whole family went to bed with a full stomach.
After months of eating just plain white rice, the family desired something else to eat. One day the mother said, “Why don’t you go to the restaurant down the street and sell the rice there so then we can buy some meat to eat with our rice.” After thinking about what the angelic woman said, the father was hesitant in doing so. He then thought about it some more and concluded that selling the rice to get money for food was not an evil intention. Nervous to touch the pot, the man slowly reach out to lift the lid. As his fingers touched the lid, the pot did not shatter. “Thank goodness!” exclaimed the father as he sighed in relief. He took it to the restaurant and amazed the people there by the enchanted pot. Everyday the father would sell a few containers of rice which gave them just enough money to buy meats and vegetable to eat with their endless amounts of rice.
After months of eating assorted and delicious meals, the mother eventually said, “The kids are getting old. Why don’t you start a rice business to get enough money to send them to school?” The father then again thought about what the angelic-woman had told him. Just like before, he concluded that sending his kids to school was a good intention. Hesitantly he reached his hand toward the lid and made contact with it. He exhaled as the put did not break at his touch. The father then established a contract with all the local restaurants that required them to buy rice from him and him only. Business was booming for him as he made more than enough money to send the kids to school. As they made more money, they used the money to move out of the dumpy shack and into a nice two-story house in a nice neighborhood.
Ten years passed as the family lived extravagantly with their great wealth. All three kids were in college and out of the house as the father’s business had made them lots of money. One day the mother said, “I’m tired of living in this boring place. Why don’t you sell the pot so we can buy the big mansion next to the ocean?” Without hesitation the father advertised for the pot to be sold. As numerous companies sought out to buy this, the father took the highest bid and signed a contract with the company to sell the pot. Without hesitation, the father grabbed the pot to deliver it to the company. As soon as his finger touched the lid, the pot shattered into hundreds of little pieces. Within the broken shards, not a single grain of rice existed between the cold shattered pieces. At that moment, the father’s heart sunk down deep into his stomach as he went speechless. A loud cracking sound resonated through his ear drums as smoke appeared the same way years ago. The women however had a look of anger and disappointment this time. In a solemn tone she said, “I have been watching you over the past years and you have failed to heed my warning. Your greedy intentions have caused the pot to shatter and now I can tell you that you will lose everything that you have just gained.” In the blink of an eye she vanished again with a bang. He stood there speechless. After the company learned of what happened, they ended up suing him for everything that he was worth. In a matter of weeks, he lost his house, his company, and all his money. With no money, he couldn’t send his kids to college anymore. And just like that, the family moved back into the shack with many hungry nights ahead of them.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Harangue
Eat all your food; Brush your teeth; take a shower; go to bed; wake up and get ready for school; don’t take so long in the bathroom; don’t drive like a crazy person; What did you do today at school; how are your grades; stop asking me so many questions; do all your homework; stop wasting time; you’ll never succeed in life without all A’s; don’t worry what other people think about you; you need to watch the news more; stop watching so much television; don’t waste your money on that; hurry up and get ready for church; don’t wear that were going to church! Take a shower; don’t forget to soap and shampoo; comb your hair; put on some cologne; you don’t want people to think bad of you; finish your applications, finish your applications; finish your applications; don’t worry about it; don’t chew with your mouth closed; don’t drink soda it’s bad for you; eat everything on your plate because there’s starving people in the world; clean your room; vacuum your floor; dust your tables; your room’s a pig sty; do the laundry; pick up your clothes; stop ripping the sleeves of your shirt; stop working out so much your getting too big; stop laying around and doing nothing; start getting everything together for college; make sure to take care of yourself in college; don’t eat fast food every day in college; spend more time with your family before you go to college!
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Extended Metaphor
Engirdled by the seat belt with no escape
The extant existence sealed by the safety bar
*Clink-Clink-Clink* the chains rattle
Slowly but surely the cart monotonously climbs higher
Our untinctured lineaments soon ready for the fall…
CRASH goes the cart in a flash
With the sharp wind tearing at your face
Expostulate and deplore,
The cart won’t rebuke but surely ignore
All of the blither and all of the blather
As the cart moves at its own pace without anyone’s consent
In the blink of an eye you’ve already been there, done that
The soul leavened with the “Ups”
But downtrodden with the “Downs”
The soul experienced with the twists
And accustomed to the turns
As the ride slows at the end of the road
Ask yourself this:
Did you learn to appreciate? Or depreciate?
Monday, September 21, 2009
Wordle
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
How has your family history, culture, or environment influenced who you are?
How has your family history, culture, or environment influenced who you are?
With three unforgettable years of high school under my belt, the end of another milestone is in sight. But as one door closes, another one opens with new experiences and opportunities in store. Throughout my life, my parents have always tried to prepare me for the future by always pushing me to achieve my fullest potential, be it in academics or athletics, while also instilling good values and morals. As college exists as the next big step in life, I feel that through the influences of my family, culture, and environment that I am ready to accept the new challenges and responsibility that college entails.
Before my parents moved to America, both of them went through tough childhoods in the Philippines as they both of their families had little money. My mother especially had it rough as her single mother died by the time she was a young teenager, leaving her to take care of her four other siblings. As both my parents struggled, they studied and worked to get the best grades possible in hope of getting well-paying jobs to support their families. Through their hard-earned grades, both my parents received scholarships from numerous schools which helped them get the best education possible. Their perseverance not only got them well-paying jobs, but also the opportunity to move to America and work here.
Through their rough experiences, my parents have ingrained their work ethic into me as they taught me to never take anything for granted and to seize every possible opportunity to better and challenge myself. Whether in the class room striving to achieve the best grades possible, the weight room adding more weight and repetitions to my lifts, or the music room perfecting a difficult guitar technique, I always put 110% of myself into everything to obtain my highest potential. For this to be possible, these actions have taught me to exercise restraint, perseverance and maintain my morals when distractions or bumps in the road appear to hinder my capabilities. I am proud to say that I have kept drugs and alcohol away from myself for my entire life and don’t plan on ever getting sucked into them. I know that giving into them would go against everything that I stand for while it would only hold me back from accomplishing my goals. When faced with difficulties in life I’ve always embraced them and persevered through them as in doing so builds who your character as a person. In the prayer of the “Direction of Intention”, it states “…I offer to you all the good that I may do, and except all the difficulty I may meet therein.” Through the influence of my parents and their history, this statement sums up how I have handled my life.
With three unforgettable years of high school under my belt, the end of another milestone is in sight. But as one door closes, another one opens with new experiences and opportunities in store. Throughout my life, my parents have always tried to prepare me for the future by always pushing me to achieve my fullest potential, be it in academics or athletics, while also instilling good values and morals. As college exists as the next big step in life, I feel that through the influences of my family, culture, and environment that I am ready to accept the new challenges and responsibility that college entails.
Before my parents moved to America, both of them went through tough childhoods in the Philippines as they both of their families had little money. My mother especially had it rough as her single mother died by the time she was a young teenager, leaving her to take care of her four other siblings. As both my parents struggled, they studied and worked to get the best grades possible in hope of getting well-paying jobs to support their families. Through their hard-earned grades, both my parents received scholarships from numerous schools which helped them get the best education possible. Their perseverance not only got them well-paying jobs, but also the opportunity to move to America and work here.
Through their rough experiences, my parents have ingrained their work ethic into me as they taught me to never take anything for granted and to seize every possible opportunity to better and challenge myself. Whether in the class room striving to achieve the best grades possible, the weight room adding more weight and repetitions to my lifts, or the music room perfecting a difficult guitar technique, I always put 110% of myself into everything to obtain my highest potential. For this to be possible, these actions have taught me to exercise restraint, perseverance and maintain my morals when distractions or bumps in the road appear to hinder my capabilities. I am proud to say that I have kept drugs and alcohol away from myself for my entire life and don’t plan on ever getting sucked into them. I know that giving into them would go against everything that I stand for while it would only hold me back from accomplishing my goals. When faced with difficulties in life I’ve always embraced them and persevered through them as in doing so builds who your character as a person. In the prayer of the “Direction of Intention”, it states “…I offer to you all the good that I may do, and except all the difficulty I may meet therein.” Through the influence of my parents and their history, this statement sums up how I have handled my life.
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