One night, during a random discussion I had with my roommates, I found out that the careers they're living out aren't the ones they originally wanted and desired.

Ate Ana, a finance officer, wanted to be an architect, and Elvie, a social worker, wanted to be a journalist. 

This morning, as I was in the bus on my way back to Manila, I thought, "Where would we be if we were allowed by our parents to be what we want to be - career wise?"

Well, for starters, we would definitely not be sitting together in one dorm room having that conversation. Elvie, the social worker, would not be spending countless hours doing case studies. She wouldn't be living far away from her family and she wouldn't be stressing herself over problems of other people. Instead, she would be stressing herself with political issues in Bicol or something of that sort. She could be working as one of the provincial correspondents in one of the biggest mainstream broadsheets in the country. She would be trailing sources and would spend a large amount of time in the provincial offices interviewing government officials (which is not really far from what she's doing now).

Ate Ana, on the other hand, would not be spending sleepless nights doing her "finance thing" (which she is doing right now). She might not be even here in the Philippines. She could be working in the US or somewhere in the Middle East supervising building constructions. She would be sitting in her posh office overlooking vast skycrapers while she draws her latest construction project. She might be married now to an architect and have 3 children. Occasionally she'd be calling her parents and sister in the Philippines, or maybe she'd bring them with her to wherever country she'd be.

And me? Well, I'd be doing revisions on screen and stage plays (and I'd probably be having a difficult time right now because of my writer's block), memorizing my lines for an upcoming show, and doing the outline for a future book. I wouldn't be in Manila. I would be in Broadway, New York and touring Europe.

BUT...

This is the place where God wanted us to be. Just like Queen Esther, God has put us where we are now because of great things we are destined to do for Him.

I just hope we'll be able to accomplish it and He'll find us faithful.