Sentidokomon

(Tinig Pinoy article re Pinay Sense, 26th January 2008)

By Josephine “Joy� B. Miranda

We women are naturally figure-conscious. We always want a beautiful body and we always throw an envious look at those fellows who do not have any bulges (bil-bil or taba) in their tummies or other outside body parts. It must be flat. We praise slim or slender bodies and make fun at the opposites. Slimming pills or drinking tea are in demand and much more, a regular work out in the gym will do. For those who are desperate, then liposuction is the answer.

It has never been a problem to me anyway, being born with a petite body structure. In fact, consular volunteer Emong is fond of calling me “Malnu,� as in, short for “mal-nourished.� I did not mind it at all because Beth and Marlyn are not spared from it. They are called “Porky� and “Choppy� respectively while Lissa is called “Shakira.�  When you look at us, you would say: “What is lacking to one is too much to the other.�

I could not go beyond 45 kilos or 99 pounds otherwise I will have breathing difficulty. Yet my advantage is that I can eat any fatty foods without fearing I would gain more pounds.  For me, a day is not complete without chocolates and it is also my sleep appetizer. It is not hard to burn excess fats because, well, I have none. What is hard is more on having an enforceable nerve to listen to one single voice within myself. Yes, a voice, so tiny that it is almost always unheard of. Yet in its tiniest might of trying to be heard, it creates some unwanted fats that fogs out my breathing system. I could not breathe well. Why is this so? Why such a voice can really make me looked like a raw meat ready to be chopped?

Every new year, I always make it a point to think of the things which I ought to change within me, and definitely for the whole year, I hold true to some of it, if not all, my new year’s resolution. Number one in my list is what I called “soul-cleansing.� I am not a regular church-goer. Sometimes I always find excuses not to attend the mass. But out of guilt then I find my feet heading to church. So what is this soul-cleansing? We in this materialistic world are focusing mainly on the physical aspect of life. Like what I have mentioned, we give too much sweat on our physical appearance maintaining firm and nice figures. We want to eliminate excess fats in our body to be able to look good. Would that be enough? How about, to “feel good,� can it really happen once you are looking good? Nope. To “look good� is for the outside while to “feel good� is for the inside. And I prefer the latter.

Most of us are going to church just to impress others by our new outfits and looks, then afterwards indulge themselves into gossips and back-fightings. We religiously brush our teeths to appear clean, yet we utter curses and bad-mouthing others. We take shower many times as necessary or put on perfumes all over or change clothes whenever we want, yet our thoughts are dirty. It is a great responsibility to live and such responsibility starts by loving and respecting yourself. Once you respect yourself, then you are capable of respecting others. By then, no matter how fat or thin your physical appearance would be, that does not matter because what is important is how clean and tidy you are inside.

A friend once noted that it is intriguing how many different factors in life persuade and create the person we become. It was a pinchhitter to me that in our lifespan journey, we should try to live within bounds. Any excess in any form, can but give us temporary happiness and lifelong griefs, because somewhere within ourselves, there is this strange tiny voice. A voice that reminds us that SOMEBODY not in this world but up there, cares for us so much. We are brought in this world to simply discover the goodness in one another and that is what we should focus on. We will come out more secure, confident and happy because we have learned how to listen to that voice which eliminates excess pounds in our system. It is dramatically called “conscience� and it is the powerful voice of one Truine GOD. We are humans who might be easily gone wrong through some of our actions, but we allow our conscience to do its job well and in the end we listen to it because we are good and God-fearing individuals.

I do not have to wait for the new year, or new birthday to try to feel good. I have to do it NOW and consistently. How about you?