09/05/2025
A**s, Kadua.
Sometimes, the wisest advice comes to us in the most mundane, the most unexpected ways, in the most random of places.
That advice came to me last night on my drive home—on a rainy Thursday evening, at an unexpected time in mid-May.
It didn’t come from a self-help book or a motivational podcast. It came posted on the rear of a truck.
“Anos, kaddua.”
I’m not sure if anos can be justifiably translated as “patience,” because I think it is more. Anos is persistence, grit, fortitude, and faith. Anos is pushing on despite pain and hardships—not because relief is in sight, but because you know you can hurdle through any struggle.
If patience is a virtue, anos is character.
(And following the correct KWF orthography, anos should be correctly spelled as a**s—which makes it all the more interesting as an Iloko word.)
The past weeks have been nothing short of a struggle. It’s been noisy, hazy, crazy. At some point, it all became overwhelming. But when the loudspeakers are turned off, the computers shut down, and the barrage subsides, you sit in silence—and all you hear is your heart, still throbbing with the desire to serve, piman.
Whatever comes, a**s latta, kadua. There’s so much possibility on the horizon, as long as you believe it’s possible—even when others try to dim your light. ✨
