Move something.

Yesterday I was invited to attend Katrina's auntie's 75th birthday party. The beauty of this event was that it was put together by her five children, all grown up, successful, and working on families of their own. They brought their mother to tears by presenting her with gifts, photos, songs, and the presence of her closest friends and family.

I spend a lot of time thinking why we're put on this Earth. I believe that by nature or nurture, you are slightly built to fulfill a purpose to make the world a better place.

And while discovering a great purpose and career for myself will be satisfying, I can't forget how I got here in the first place. Too much of my time is spent worrying about how my life is panning out, where I'm at and if I'm having fun doing it. But at the core of anything in life is survival. I got brought into this world and taken care of very nicely, and my parents and grandparents deserve the same from me. And maybe one day, I'll be lucky enough to have someone I help bring into the world complete the cycle.

Ensure that first, because without it no higher purpose will ever be fulfilled.

I shouldn't need reminders like yesterday. They happen often, and I see them in everything from my mom's growing list of medications to the look on Nanay's face when she accepts she's just too tired to take a walk around the backyard. But in the birthday girl's tears and the relief on her children's faces knowing that they've made it, I was haunted by the doubts that I would ever be able to be in the same position for my parents.

These thoughts are nothing new to me. I don't have to hear more stories of struggle and sacrifice for me to get off my ass and work hard. I just have to never let up, never accept complacency, never waste a work day until my parents know I've made it.