Maraming Filipinos pag nasa ibang bansa, sumusunod batas, pero pag nasa Pinas hindi. Bakit ganon? Sa ibang bansa especially Canada and UK, pag bumababa ang mga bata school bus, lahat ng sasakyan nakahinto yan. Kahit mga bibe (ducks) lang ang tatawid sa kalsada, hihinto ang mga sasakyan. Sa Pinas hindi ito nangyayari. Yung mga asong nasa tabi na ng daan ay talagang hahagipin pa ng mga driver para maipulutan.

We have to change the way we think so that we all enjoy the benefit of it. I believe in the saying:

If you can change your mind, you can change your life.

Kaya dapat ang tao handang makinig at kung kelangan ay handang baguhin ang mga maling kaisipan kung may nalaman na sya at natuklasan na ang bagong idea ay mas magaling at mas kapaki-pakinabang. Marami ka isip ng iba:

candado, cerado (Spanish)

When we know something, it opens up new doors of opportunities.  Pero minsan mahirap ng baguhin ang naunang kaalaman. Kaya madalas kung sinong naunang nagsumbong doon ka na kampi. Pero ang isang tao matalino at may mas mataas na karunungan, handa kang ipa-challenge yung information na nauna mong nalaman. You must keep changing your mind, lalo na kung nauna ay passé na or kelangan ng baguhin dahil baka mali or hindi na angkop sa new way of life. Dito mo makikilala ang mga tao na umuunlad sa buhay – sila yung mga kumilala sa mga superior and better understanding and surrendered their old way of thinking. We must change the way we think.

In Romans 12:2 it says: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Do not habitually conform to old ideas. Just because something is old does not always mean better. Do not always conform with those which are conservative. Bihira na nakabubuti yung conservative thoughts. Conservative came from the word: “to conserve, to preserve.” Kaya kung ano na yung nakasanayan, gusto mo i-conserve or i-preserve. Yan ang conservative.

I was watching a TV documentary of those Aetas from Mindoro. Dahil may crew ang GMA7, kase yung anak ng Aeta eh mataas ang lagnat. Pag dating sa bayan, sabi ng doktor na kelangan magamot ang bata kaagad kase nangaganib ang buhay. Kelangan turukan para hindi lumala. Aba, sabi ng amang Aeta, hindi na po. Ibalik ko na lang ang anak ko sa bundok dahil doon may arbularyo na magtatapal ng mga dahon at pauusukan lang daw nila ang bata para gumaling. But the medical expert disagreed that by going back to the mountain which will take them  another 15 hours by foot, the child may die along the way! Old ways of thinking are difficult to die.

Kahit sa conservation of our cultural heritage, sa Batangas, Cavite, Tarlac, Laguna, Maynila – nagko-conserve tayo ng mga ilang bahay for us to appreciate the past culture of our ancestors and for reference purposes only.  Pero hindi naman pwede i-conserve lahat at lahat na lang historical houses na lang ang buong bayan. We must change from past to the present and the future. Due to growing population and housing demands, we must build new developments, real estates and high-rise buildings that conserve energy and those that maximise space.

Ganoon din sa pag-iisip, it is not always good to be conservative. Keep changing with your religious mind. Kase ang Diyos malaki at malawak. Hindi Sya kasya sa isang simbahan lang. Yung nalaman mo noong nasa Sunday school ka pa, kelangan na ma-improve. Yung alam mong biblical interpretation 10 years ago, dapat ma improve na din yan at lumalawak yan. Ang pagkakakilala mo sa Diyos 20 years ago, umaasenso, lumalalim at tumataas. It is not always good to be conservative – there will always be room for growth, for change or for development.

Being a conservative is not always a virtue. Kaya tingnan mo kung sino yung mahihirap kasama sa buhay, yung mga conservative, yung mga manang at matatandang binata or matatandang dalaga or kaya yung mga sarado ang isip – usually over-protective to the point na nawalan na ng kalayaan ang buhay. Kelangan nilang ipako ka sa old lifestyle , style of dressing, life and thinking, na tapos na noong araw at hindi na epektibo ngayon.

Ganoon din sa relihiyon or sekta.  E wala naman religion na perfect. God is so big and He cannot be contained in one dogma or doctrine. Hindi Sya pwedeng solohin ng isang relihiyon lamang otherwise ang isang tao ay magiging dogmatic because of the doctrine being followed by the religion. Marami nagsasabi sila ang tama at ang iba ay mali. Sila lang daw ang pupunta sa heaven at ang iba sa impyerno lahat. Magiging judgmental ka na tuloy dahil mali sila ikaw lang ang tama. Magkakaroon ka ng self-righteousness dahil banal sila lahat demonyo. May mga relihiyon at sekta na hindi pwedeng maghawak ng Bible ang mga members…dapat ministro at pastor lamang ang pwede para walang makaalam ng totoo. Pero how do you know the truth if we are to deprive people of having access to the truth? Kaya marami ang blinded by the doctrines but some did not come from the very teaching of Jesus. We must use God’s given gift of brain to change the way we think, baka we are following a wrong path. Baka yong sinasabing ‘tamang daan’ ay hindi naman pala tama, kundi maling daan. Kelangan tini test din ang lahat ng bagay so we know that we are on the right tract. Don’t practice blind obedience.

Maraming mga oligarchs and elites and even the ‘people in the high places’ in the religion would like the people to be ignorant so they can manipulate them. Even though religion can and may bring people closer to God but the German economist and philosopher, Karl Marx, said:

Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.

Minsan kahit maling pananampalataya sinusunod na rin ng mga tao dahil yun na ang kanilang nakagisnan. Kung saan daw sila pinanganak, doon na sila mamamatay. They did not change the way they think because they did not have the opportunity to know the truth. In John 8:32

You shall know the truth and the truth will set you free

The word ‘free’ is there which means that somewhere somehow, there is something which is imprisoned. That can be the way we think, our thought. When a concept or idea is confined in a container, it is in prison…but the truth must be known so the wrong thought can be freed.

Kaya minsan pag tiningnan mo sa Pilipinas ang daming dapat nating baguhin. Gusto ng mga pulitiko na maraming mahirap, maraming pobre kase jan nila kukuhanin ang mga boto. Yan daw ang demokrasya. Pero marami sa mahihirap walang pinag aralan kaya their judgment is also poor. Hindi na nila alam kung sino ang magaling at may kakayahang mag govern ng bansa. Yung iba basta kilala, at maganda ang asawa, artista or sport personality, iboboto na kahit wala namang abilidad na magpatakbo sa gobyerno.  Paano tayo uunlad nyan kung yung mga nasa show business na lang palagi na -elect natin. Hindi na magwagi ang mga deserving but poor candidates. Tingnan mo sa UK, wala tayong mga tarheta masyado na nakakabit sa mga puno, walang mga banners na naglalakihan sa panahon ng eleksyon, walang trapik dahil yung mga pulitiko nagpapasikat sa paghuhukay ng mga daan. Filipinos must change the way they think. Kelangan natin alamin sino talaga ang mga karapat-dapat na opisyal ng bansa.

We must change the way we think because it also affects our behavior, it impacts our actions. Pag nag-isip ka ng masama sa kapwa, mag-iiba ang trato mo sa kanya. Iba ang pananaw mo sa kanya. For example:

Lahat ng negro maiiitim, maitim din ang budhi.

Ang asawa ko, bungangera!

Ang asawa ko hindi na magbabago!

Parang masama pakiramdam ko, mukhang hindi ako makakarating sa church.

Wala naman ako alam, kaya wala akong gagawin sa church ministry.

Wala akong pinag-aralan kaya hanggang ganito na lang ako sa pagiging domestic worker.

How we think determine our future kaya sinasabi ng Diyos na we have to change the way we think by the ‘renewing’ of the mind because it will transform our behavior. Minsan maling paniniwala na hindi tayo magtatagumpay. I always encourage many Filipinos to change the way foreigners see us. Mag-aral kayo, magsikap kayo upang mabago ang paningin ng mundo sa Pinoy.

As a man was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from their bonds but for some reason, they did not.

He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away. “Well,” trainer said, “when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.”

The man was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn’t, they were stuck right where they were.

Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto an old belief that we cannot do something, simply because we think we will fail  and we won’t make it?

It’s time to break free. Change the way you think!