a life unaccounted for

Enter the Wonderland. Picture Alice, left in quandary upon reaching a fork in the road. Then came the Cheshire cat, and she asked his opinion whether to turn right or left.

"Where do you want to go?" asked the tricky feline.

"I don't know," was her riposte.

"Then it doesn't matter either way," came the reply, and the Cheshire cat, grinning, vanished into thin air.

It may have been Hudibrastic, but his response had hit the nail -- had Alice known her destination, she wouldn't get quite confused in which road to take.

As 2008 rolls over, many of us share Alice's perplexity. What am I to do know? Do I have plans in my life? Am I following a goal? Can I be a coup sur what i really want?

Surely, New Year's resolutions were but a thing of the past, something we are happy to be freed from. (Admit it, the only time you make resolutions is because it's a requirement back in elementary and high school. yeah, you wouldn't mind weaving your personal pointers for a better life in order to bag a decent mark, even if you are fully aware that your religious compliance expires rather fast -- after the Fiest of Epiphany, at the most.)

And as if in sheer mockery, our year started not with a bang of celebration, but with piles of problems faced by our country -- calamities, political wars, and moral degradation. People are left hopeless, both for themselves and the government, and opt to seek Utopia in foreign soils. (As if there is one.)

Heard Mojofly? With Lougee attuning, "Wake up, reality bites," we are left to ponder the rock-hard truth: we are facing a very difficult, groping, tough, irksome, arduous, formidable, and crises-stricken life -- but at least we are sure we are still alive to have it. Anyway, where's the joy in living, if it would be sans problems? you might as well bore yourself to death.

God may seem to give us the tasks of Sisyphus or Hercules or Atlas, but we are still fortunate to experience it.

So, given that we are living a challenging life, what's the catch?

As one underground rock show emphasizes, "Only dead fish swims with the current," we need to have a purpose in life, a reason for breathing, a cause for braving the stream.

And to do just that, we need a guide, a screaming beacon amidst the darkness. But where to start? My proposition? Your own resolutions. (Yeah right, I was ridiculing it six paragraphs ago.) Nevertheless, this time we have to make a resolution not because we should but because we want. It may not be written but still, having resolutions manifests our openness for change, for improvements, for a better life.

Resolutions may not drive us to where we want to be, but at least we will never again be confused as to which road to take.

Because admit it or not, life is one hell of a maze.


"When this is over," she said, "when I know what the next ten minutes of my life are going to be, you and I are going to.."

"To what?"

"To see."

"About what?" he asked.

"About everything. Everything."

-Reed's Promise, John Clarkson