taking a step back

A co-teacher a few hours ago told me that PNoy received a failing mark of 70% as 7 out of 10 Filipinos are satisfied with the first 100 days of the new administration.

Hearing that after seeing online different protesters from the various sectors of society condemning the outcome of the first 100 days of the Noynoy Aquino administration, I can't help but ask myself (and I did ask several co-faculty), well it's more of an imperative statement, will the Filipinos be ever satisfied?

Let us ask ourselves that question one more time: WILL WE EVER BE SATISFIED WITH THE PERFORMANCE OF THE PRESIDENT OF OUR COUNTRY?

But before we can answer this question with ardor and with all honesty, let us ask ourselves as well: HAVE WE EVER TRIED MANAGING A SMALL GROUP OF PEOPLE?

If your answer is yes, then answer this question with all honesty: HOW MANY OF THIS PEOPLE HAVE BEEN 100-PERCENT SATISFIED WITH YOUR PERFORMANCE AS A LEADER OR MANAGER?

I am confident to say that at a certain point, a certain percentage of these people who you manage or lead would feel a certain amount of dissatisfaction. And I am sure as well that this does not mean that our leadership skill is ineffective.

Now, let us magnify that small group into a community, then into a country. Imagine if we were given 100 days to become the president, what shall we do? What shall we prioritize? What shall we eradicate? What shall we keep?

As I said previously in another blog entry, many of our country's youth, professionals, and middle-class have been good at doing either of the two things: 1) remaining mum and uninterested or 2) criticizing all negative outcomes, no matter how minute they are.

We need therefore to look into ourselves, introspect. What have we done to ourselves that all we see is the tiny dot on the clean and crisp white sheet of paper? What has happened to our minds that we have failed to find out the whole story first before we choose a side on any issue?

Have we become so immersed in our sector's principles and advocacies that we have forgotten about the concerns of other sectors of society? Has the plurality of voices emanating from the various sectors of society only made us more individualistic and exclusive? Are we becoming more selfish by just simply fighting for our sectors' rights without looking at the bigger picture?

I wish not to mean that airing our concerns is deplorable for ours is a democratic society. But let us contemplate on those questions and answer them with all honesty and sincerity.

I remember a story related to love one friend of mine shared with me.

When we are in love, it feels and looks like writing words on the blackboard. You only get to see immediately what your eye can span. But when you step back, you will realize that there are so many other things and words that have drawn or written on the board.

Let us take a step back, or two. Let us contemplate.