During my trip in the Philippines there was one moment of awe, when we were waiting for the boat to depart from the docks. We saw a gaggle of boys aged from 7- 10 sailing in their little boats, paddling like there was no tomorrow, headed towards us. It was apparent that they made their boats from their bare hands too. At the time, they looked excited to see fresh faces.
They climbed onto our boat, as the sides had wooden stabilisers, and started to beg for change, my friend told me that this was a regular thing that they do, and some people would throw the money into the water so they would fish it out from the sea. From the sidelines, you could view them with pitying eyes, but to me, they also looked fearless. They climbed and walked around the boat with ease, as if they were going to be recruited as pirates. Yelling and edging each other on, even though they were doing this because of their circumstances, I could feel the aura of enjoyment from them too. Someone mentioned to me that when you grow up, you never will feel that same exhilaration that you get given a certain amount of money, so much that you think how do I even spend it.
Which is true, think about it now. Money nowadays feels like it's never enough, right? You always feel like it isn't enough, you want more and aren't quite happy with what you have.
I would never wish that lifestyle of those lost boys on anyone, I wanted to pick them up and hug them. But life isn't like that, it takes moments like these to make you think things through again, to understand the values of what you have and to realise that it may not be enough to you (so you think) it could be a ever lasting fortune for someone else. Be grateful for what you have, and try and remember what it was like to have that moment as a child.
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