How High Are Your Standards?

Be honest—how high are your standards?

I used to be one of those people who had very specific standards for everything. I knew exactly what I wanted, how I wanted, and when I wanted.

With little wiggle room for deviation, it took a lot to get me happy…and I was often really, really frustrated. Back then, I was so focused on what I didn’t do perfectly, what needed to be improved on, or what the next set of steps were.

…and?then I ran out of next steps. I ran out of goals that I wanted to achieve.

I remember laughing at people who would simply marvel at the sky and find happiness—they seemed so “babaw” to me back then. But after 2 years of the pandemic, I became exactly that. I would look at a flower bud and excitedly talk to it; I would feel so kilig whenever the stray cats or dogs dropped by for cuddles; I would feel so much pride whenever I cooked something I liked.

I became the babaw person who didn’t even set a 2022 goal for herself. HAHAHA!

To me, the only goal that matters now is to be continuously happy, to be continuously at peace, and to be continuously grateful for whatever comes my way. Having this open-ended goal over the past couple of months has helped me see the world, the people around me, and myself appreciatively—despite imperfections.

This has allowed me to be grateful for the beautiful, the mundane, and even the things that used to trigger the hell out of me. Now, I see every person, every circumstance, and every thing as a teacher and a supporter for my highest good—nothing by chance, everything on purpose.