It seems that we all can't wait until 2013 is over. There were just too many painful, tragic memories that the year 2013 has brought upon our collective consciousness, and we want these to be eternally obliterated from our heads. In the secret corners of our minds we want 2013 to end right now. And we mean “right now.” Despite the bleakness that has painted the horizons of 2013, it remains true and powerful that there are enduring lessons that this closing year has taught us, the wisdom of the ages that would have stayed buried deep in our uncanny innocence until we came to a point in which we were called upon to share a common sorrow and pain in order to discover the great love and unity within us, Boholanos. For all the ups and downs of 2013, the Oct. 15 earthquake that had shattered the physical aspirations of the Boholano people persists as the most chilling reminder of how fleeting our existence on earth and how fragile our hopes on material dreams. But it was also the same earthquake that brought us back to where we should heed to, and the tremor has unwired the chaos of our minds. That calamity has untangled the threads of bitterness, frustrations, madness in our hearts.

We realized that in the face of an unexpected calamity, in the midst of ruins and shock and pain, it is the simple and basic things in life that would keep our taken-for-granted sanity intact. And most importantly, in the immediate aftermath of the strongest earthquake that rocked Bohol in recent history, it is our faith in God that would sustain us through the darkest hours of our lives. Thousands of intermittent aftershocks may steal the restored peace of our mind, yet our new-found strength and hope, abundantly supplied by the grace of Christ Jesus, can no longer be shaken by a thousand more aftershocks. As 2013 is about to close its last chapter of history, we will soon enter into a new chapter of events, of stories, of expectations. The lessons we learned in 2013 might soon disappear from the landscape of our minds, and what might remain are old pieces of ourselves, the unwanted patterns of thoughts and habits, and the untamed cravings of the insatiable flesh that could derail our journey to an eternal perfection. It is natural for humans to seek for happy memories – that's why 2013 is not among those years we wish to cherish for so long. However, it is in happy memories that we become thoughtless, careless, loveless. Indeed, it is in sad memories that we become better humans, more profound, wiser, more equipped to face the worst-case scenario. Let 2013, with all its unpleasant remembrances, be archived in the unknown corners of our minds, but don't let the lessons of 2013 that would carry us over 2014 be ever deleted from the writable storage of our hearts.