“To be able to accept fully, you must give up willingly.” ~Anonymous
If life has one great limitation aside from the fact that it has an end, it’s that it can never give you everything. It can give you one thing, but not the other. It cannot give you both. And when that rare time comes that you do get both, it means you’re just getting lucky and the chance that it could happen again is very slim.
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Yes, I do believe that life is a trade-off. It’s funny because this realization hit me after I watched an action movie last week. I’m not so sure, but I think it’s from the movie John Wick (which was highly-entertaining, by the way). The main antagonist there mentioned about it, how life is all about trade-offs and compromises. Indeed, you really can’t have all the things you wish for. I’ve known about this before, but its relevance today, in this fast-paced world we live in, makes it a subject worth discussing and reflecting on again.
Perhaps, it’s been designed that way, so humans like us won’t feel superior or inferior to others. But then, we know that’s not always the case. Many people, due to a twisted sense of privilege or entitlement, still look at themselves as better than others. Also, there is an equally great number of people, that due to lack of confidence and weakness of soul, still look at themselves as having less value than others. Sad, right?
Life is a trade-off in the sense that we are limited by our abilities and resources to achieve all our dreams in one lifetime. It’s a good thing we humans, know how to adapt and compromise. It’s a good thing that over the years, more and more of us learn about the real meaning of contentment and inner happiness.
We all want to be successful, rich, fit, beautiful, confident, well-mannered, ethical, merciful, compassionate, God-fearing, and all other great things. But do we have what it takes to be all of those things? Are we willing to trade something for a different thing of equal or greater value? It’s your call and nobody else’s. It’s your life, after all.
While we can’t have it all, we can always go for the better choice. Or the one that can give us more joy and meaning. It’s simply just a matter of perspective. It’s simply just a matter of knowing ourselves fully well and finding out what we truly want. 🙂
May you choose happiness always,
I really love this post,Edel!
It’s true that we really can’t have it all. We can choose the best career out there but on the other spectrum,there are sacrifices to make.Life is really interesting.
Thank you, Gladys! I agree, life is really interesting. 🙂
This is a nice post, Edel. Totoo na hindi lahat ng bagay pwede makuha, some materially nakukuha nila sure, pero sa ibang aspects hindi naman.
It’s about contentment sa kung anong meron ka and thankful sa mga blessings na natatangap. Kapag natutunan mo ang mga bagay na yun magfo follow yung happiness.
I love this post at gusto ko mapanuod yang movie na yan a! hehe! =)
Sang-ayon ako sa lahat ng sinabi mo, Joy! Maganda yung John Wick na movie, action kung action. Astig si Keanu Reeves. Hehe. 🙂
Very well said, ang galing mo ms edel, I love this post!!!!!
Thanks, Grace! Totoo naman, diba? Hehe. 🙂
Hmmm, mukhang maganda yang John wick – panoorin ko nga 🙂
Oo, maganda at maaksyon. Fan kasi ako ni Keanu Reeves eh, both his being an actor and a person. Hehe. 🙂
This is very true.
I traded off my high heels lifestyle and career to a more structured and boring office work to be able to go home on time for my kiddo. 😉
Now I am planning to take MBA program in regular class because I love classroom setting but it will eat up my weekends. So now I am considering online program so my weekend is spent at home and with my kiddo.
This is life, I guess. 😉
Wow, that must be a hard but very fulfilling switch because you prioritized your family. 🙂
By the way, I enjoyed the john wick movie too even though it’s a bloody movie. 😉
Haha, yes it’s bloody but fun because in the end, bad deeds should be punished. 🙂
You raise good points here. At the end of the day, what I really want is to feel peaceful and fulfilled. Nothing says I need tons of money or any other specifics for that. It’s an internal state. I am responsible for creating it. 🙂
I can’t agree more. Thanks for visiting my blog! 🙂
True! My dad always tells us, you can’t have a cake and eat it too. Sometimes, you just can’t have two good things at the same time. Give up to gain.
Yes, so true. Give up to gain. 🙂