“Your salary may just be half of mine,” a friend once told me.

“But it’s okay because at least you feel that you’re alive, you got to visit many places naman eh,” she added.

I always get this kind of reaction whenever someone asks me what I do for a living. “I am a writer,” I always say and “Wow” comes next but adding, “I work for an international humanitarian organization,” sometimes raises eyebrows.

Don’t get me wrong but how are you loving your high-paying jobs without feeling alive?—much more without feeling relevant everytime you sit in your office chair, open your laptop, and just do your workloads for the day?

Ah, practicality, yes of course.

I don’t have anything against that “feeling” but you must at least feel something whenever you enter your office’s premise because dude, you get paid for that!

So, answering the question of why am I still staying in this line of work, here are five things I learned in my almost one year of “official” service. (I spent my entire childhood and especially college life giving service to the humanity but I feel that it officially started when I volunteered in my work).

1. I feel alive

Alive in a sense that I wake up everyday still thinking of the stories I will be writing that [may] inspire other people. I feel alive that I get to finally be able to write about the stories of my fellowmen who are mostly striving in their daily lives. Alive because I am always looking forward to my next “mission” because it means I will be meeting other people again and I will have the chance to encourage them in believing that God exists and He knows what to do with their lives. That, my friend, is my point of living. 

2. People need encouragement

It’s a cliché, but “every person you meet is fighting his own battle” so one should not be afraid of reaching out to the least-reached people. Naturally, people sometimes need that someone who will ask “Hi, how are you?” because it may crash a long-built hiding-my-problem-to-the-world-and-I-need-someone-to-talk-to-thank-you-for-asking wall.

3. I am able to share people’s struggle to the world

“I write compelling stories of hope, resilience, and bravery for a living” are posted in my ABOUT ME section of my social media accounts and I have never been so proud. I interview the not-so-privileged Filipinos, asking if they are still eating three times a day. I did it maybe a hundred times already and mostly I get the answer of, “Yes, but struggling to.” That is something that I need to write for the whole world to know. 

4. Other people’s testimonies inspire many

Yes, testimonies of God’s faithfulness. Need I say more? That “I am thinking of ending my life but thank God you came” testimonies? Yes.

5. I instantly become an “Ate” to many children

I don’t know but I always make it a point to play with other kids whenever I go out for a mission. Their giggles and youth glow make me forget (for a moment) that they are struggling in life.. and I thank God that it’s usually the other way around.

There is more to the world than buying material things, love.