Traveling has created among us the restless urgency to move. While going on adventures requires motion, I have lately realized how keeping still is as equally important on this journey. For some reasons, there is wisdom why people say great things come to those who wait.
It was past eight in the morning and the sun was vibrantly exuding its greatness. For some, it was an opportune time to hit the beach or do something productive out of the sunny day, while there I was, preparing to get toasted on trails. Not that I complain though, but looking at the open trail ahead, I knew the weather would be very unforgiving to me and my comrades. Speaking of comrades, they didn’t arrive yet. Actually, the insides of my mind were already in a havoc, debating whether to push through with the hike or retreat. I tell you, the odds are very tempting given the following stakes: exhausting trails, indifferent weather, and out of nowhere company. But you see, there’s something about friendship that makes it so difficult to break. What is a minute of delay compared to those broken promises? What is a few minute of waiting compared to eternal conflict and stained relationships? And so I waited. And good thing I did.
True to my assumption, it took a lot of time for us to finish the hike, thanks to the warm and humid weather. When we arrived at the lunch station, there were already a great number of hikers feasting over. We had to wait for quite some time for the rice and viand to get cooked. Nonetheless, waiting allowed us to engage into silly conversation with fellow hikers, who just recently returned to hiking. From Sir Jo, we realized how important it is to take a break from the trails, but to never surrender from it. His stories of misadventures, both informative and cunning, allowed us to trackback why we fell in love with hiking in the first place. He also introduced to us a more mature group of hikers whom he recalled as the ones responsible for making the Spartan Trail several years back. When the rain stopped (yes it rained when we reached Pamutan), we decided to continue with the hike. I was at first sold out to the idea of heading back home already; however, due to the absence of transportation, I decided to join the group exiting Guadalupe. Instead of trailing the roads, Carlo brought us to an off beaten path (which was usually used by Sir Jing’s Camp Red). It was a marvelous trail used by locals which exits directly to Guadalupe Church. The various vegetation found on place made me realize what a spec have I known about my dear Cebu.
Probably, Ben&Ben was right: “Leaves will soon grow from the bareness of trees, and all will be alright in time.”Maybe children must be taught to wait instead of directly telling them “no”. We need to understand that we should not limit ourselves with just waiting, instead to do greater things on the sideline. Waiting does not mean sitting idly, but being patient enough to know that better things are going to happen so we continue doing other productive things. It takes faith to be patient, at the same time, patience begets better understanding of the things surrounding us. Til’ then, I hope we learn to be more patient with dealing other people and to keep our faith that things will be better in time.
Dakilanglaagan 