The Parable of the Saba and the 1000 Books
THE PARABLE OF THE SABA and the THOUSAND BOOKS
(But there is no parable at all) (repost because the first one sucked)
Today wasn’t good.
To start with, I received a rather angry text from a not-yet-client that was feeling abandoned and neglected (this shall be further expounded in another post). No amount of groveling could pacify her, and in the end, I just had to calm myself down and surrender it all to God.
It’s normal for us to allow a bad morning to set the mood for the entire day. Murphy’s Law, they call it. One nasty thing happening after another, and the next thing you know, the day is nothing but a series of unfortunate events dogpiled on top of each other.
The afternoon was just as awful because I had two people asking for financial assistance. One after the next. And seriously, I know I’ve been going around dolling myself up, signing books and praise the Lord for the past amazing days, but everyone who heard my story (and their pets) knew that my bank account has been threatening to dip below the poverty line once again. Bills to pay. Condo key to claim.
Yes, I’m feeling truly rich and wealthy, but that’s me talking about the things money can’t buy, yo! Because when it comes to finances, I’m about as tight as a freshly welded chainlink fence.
And I felt rotten—absolutely, positively downright rotten—because I couldn’t give or help as much as I wanted to. I felt awful because at this point in my life, I’m still on the way towards financial freedom. I’m getting there, but not quite yet. And so I couldn’t help my friends.
Queue in promises to earn more so I can give more. Seriously.
Queue in another retrospection moment about how I could give if I didn’t have enough for myself. (But what about the stash I had hidden in my drawer—the one I was saving up to claim my condo key? Should I give that away? Should I lend it to my friends? But how could I get my condo key? Am I being too selfish if I wanted to claim my condo key first, because seriously, turnover has come and gone months ago.)
So. Bad day. And the only thing that could make me happy was, check this out, a bundle of saba. Don’t ask me how bananas could make me happy, but I’ve been craving for it for weeks now, and this afternoon I was finally able to buy myself a whole bunch of them. In my happiness I even gave lots away, because who doesn’t love saba?!
I was so looking forward to bringing it home and eating it in a wide array of grand culinary preparations. As grand as saba could get, anyway—raw, boiled, broiled, fried, sweetened, whatever.
By the time 6:00 rolled in, everyone in the office were anxious to go home. A miracle, really, since we almost always come home really, really late. I was one of the last few to come home (at 6:30 Really!), so I helped lock the office. I double checked everything before latching the lock: cellphone, check. Lunch box, check. Laptop, check. iPad, check. Bag, check. So I hooked the padlock in and listened to the satisfying click of the lock settling in.
And then that was when I remembered it. My saba. I left my saba in the office.
I felt like somebody kicked my dog to death. I felt like I had broken up with my long-time lover. I felt like God has abandoned me.
See, I had been having a bad day. I was able to survive the angry texts, and the guilt of not being able to give enough to my friends, but what made me so depressed was a bunch of forgotten saba. It was depressing, really. on my way out of the office, that was when I heard it.
That one good news that should have been enough to lift my downtrodden spirits: CHAMPIONS ALREADY SOLD 1,000 PLUS PLUS PLUS COPIES!!!
While walking to the jeepney stop, I was having mixed feelings over the loss of my saba (it was a REALLY bad day, give me a break) and the happiness over one thousand books sold. It was Erika who finally knocked me to my senses. She said, “Don’t let one sad saba experience eclipse the happiness of one thousand books sold.”
There you have it. 🙂 God is indeed, the best. Oh, and congratulations, my Champions. You’re more than 1000 strong.
Thank you for the awe-inspiring picture of saging na saba:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Saba_banana_4.jpg