Etzel Austria Tandoc 3H1 IB

Reflection: Christmas Outreach

02/09/13

Mission. Before, I used to define mission as a duty that a person has to accomplish in fulfillment of ones purpose in life. I used to perceive it as something mandatory that I have to do no matter what just be done with it even though my heart isnt in it. I have always portrayed it as a form of assignment wherein the final result should always be in line with what I always apt myself for EXCELLENCE. I have always thought that way ever since I could even remember and I believe that its not going to change even if I grew up, or so I thought.

People talked about mission as a way to get themselves thinking of how they would become productive and enhance their way of living in line with how God wanted for them to act which is according to His will. And I think they got it right. Having a mission in life is a manner that would help a person in putting his act together and eventually make him realize the things he/she has been looking for in his life whether it is a worthwhile relationship or an accomplishment that he is going to be proud of in his/her lifetime.

However, being part of the Christmas outreach that had taken place in Gawad Kalinga Better Living last December 16, 2012, I began to realize how ignorant I was into thinking that having a mission in life is as simple as accomplishing it. Mission is not a job or an undertaking done with just our heads, rather, mission is a task that we must fulfill with the use of our minds and hearts. It is an assignment that we must do not because were looking for excellence; it is an obligation that we must carry out because we want to experience the presence of love that weve never felt before. Mission is LOVE. It is a kind of filial love that exists between a wife and a husband; a man and a woman and paramount to the love that exists between God and His children no pretenses; true to oneself.

Somehow, through the laughter we shared with the children and the joy we gave them even in the simplest of things, I realized how important it is to give back. Not just for self gratification but for the fact that through our acts of kindness do we actually have a lasting effect on those lives we touch. Helping need not be extravagant; helping and reaching out arent things that could be measured. It may be a small action on our part but the reward of seeing smiles plastered on the faces of those we want to touch is in its grandest of gifts one can ever wish. Social responsibility gives us a glimpse of the realities of life we dont know or never really taken into account. It helps us realize how blessed we are and, having such blessings, we are to share what we have to those who arent as blessed to experience what we have. It somehow adds up to our morale; giving us the way to actually become human and LIVE FOR OTHERS.