Rika :
I'm 24 now. Right after graduating, I left my province and took a risk by moving to Manila to build a life of my own. I was only 22 when I started working and learned what it truly meant to live independently.
Imagine the loneliness, the homesickness, the sadness, and the stress of facing everything on your own. There were days when life became so overwhelming that I didn't even know how to deal with my emotions or where to find the strength to keep going.
And the hardest part? When you get sick, there's no one to take care of you. You have to get up, find your own medicine, prepare your own food, and deal with everything yourself. No one is there to check on you or ask if you're okay. You learn to take care of yourself, even when all you want is someone to take care of you for once.
I guess I never really learned how to handle all of it. I just knew I had to wake up early, get ready for work, spend the whole day trying to survive, come home late at night, and sleep because another day was waiting for me.
And then, the same routine repeats itself.
Wake up. Go to work. Come home. Sleep.
Somewhere between those endless routines, I learned how to be independent, even on the days when all I wanted was to be home.
2026-11-04 22:06:33