Bahala Na

BAHALA NA

is an unproductive perspective of life. It is rendered loosely as "Come what may" or Que sera, sera ("What will be, will be"). It conjures up utter helplessness in the face of difficult situations. Notwithstanding its sense of fatalism, this common idiom is also a Filipino expression of faith in a higher Being. "Bahala na" comes from "Bathala na" , where Bathala is the Tagalog name of God. Its literal meaning, therefore, would be "Let God take a charge!"

Allan was my classmate in third-year high school. He had always been the laughingstock in our class. Almost everyday he came to class late, if he wasn't late he was cutting classes and palying cards, cara cruz, with his friends near the campus. He had never been in our class as in for whole day and had never devoted himself to studying his lessons. His mother always came to school to check wether Allan was attending in his classes or not. But, sad to say, she seldom found her child in class, or if he was there, she hardly saw himjotting down notes or listening to class discussions.

One day the teacher asked, "Who of you are feeling happy today?" All of the class raised their hands. She was amazed at her students' response. But she was even more delighted to see Allan raising his hand. The teacher said, "Ok, Allan, tell me why you're happy today."

Allan replied, "Because, I have again another day to play and....bahala na!"

The teacher sort of anticipated that answer from him. Allan was very happy all the time, never dreaming of having a good life. The teacher was worried about him, so after class she asked Allan to stay behind. "Why do you remain happy even if you don't pass any test? Aren't you worried that you may fail all your subjects this year?"

Allan politely answered, "I have always wanted to be a happy-go-lucky guy since my father leave us. I always try to pretend I'm happy, but actually I'm aching deep inside when I'm alone. Because of father's loss, I have always wanted to live in the past, with my father, and forget about the future."

The teacher hugged Allan and said, "Please don't waste time by playing and fooling around. I believe your father would not be happy seeing you this way, if he were here today."

The next day, Allan came to class early, much earlier than any of his classmates. He came to realize that living in the past and not planning for the future was not the best thing for him and he can't help his family with that.

From that day he came to class early, attending classes on the whole day, participate, and studied much harder.

It was not surprise then for everybody to see Allan receive a number of honors on our graduation day. He made it to the top because of a simple hug, because of the words of encouragement from our teacher...