Seeking Self Worth In A Hundred Days To Heaven

I cried.

It’s not usual for me but I did when I watched the June 2, 2011 episode replay of ABS-CBN‘s 100 Days To Heaven.  I am not an avid fan of this network but I got stuck with this show.  And I must say that in my following, ultimately, this particular episode showed the plot of the whole series.  It’s all about seeking one’s self-worth.

In brief, a wicked boss dies from a car bomb explosion.  Screened and rejected at the gates of what seemed to be heaven, she makes a round trip back to her life on earth to redeem her wrong doings but as a young girl.  In a hundred days, she must accomplish her task or she will be sent to hell.

In her mission, she struggles to find people whom she has wronged and then to seek for their forgiveness.  Her self-righteousness makes her quest more difficult.  Until one day, a janitor confesses to her how ironically his allegedly dead boss’s  wickedness has changed his life as he used to be an illiterate.  He takes the scolding as a motivation to learn to read and write.  Beyond that, he admits feeling more empowered with a beefed up sense of self-worth. After that tear jerking scene she resolves that her strictness at work aimed to motivate people to be their best.  And that sometimes scolding them is just her way to be firm and less emotional as a boss.

 ..nasa pagtanggap na ng tao yun.. at kung uunahin nilang isipin na inapi sila, kinawawa, pinahirapan, imbes na tingnan nila at hanapin kung ano pa ang pagkukulang nila para (walang mangyari) sa kanila..[..it all depends on one’s perception… that they were scorned,, made fun of, trampled on , instead of looking within themselves for whatever they need to improve..] transcribed from a dialogue of Little Anna from a recorded video of the episode.

And then referring to the janitor:

..imbes na magmukmok siya o sisihin nya ko sa pagpapakita ng pagkakamali nya, , pero tinanggap nya ang pagkukulang niya, and he chose to do something about it.. at yun ang nagbago sa buhay nya. [instead of sulking or blaming me for minding his mistakes, he accepted the shortcoming and he chose to do something about it.. and that’s what changed his life] transcribed from a dialogue of Little Anna from a recorded video of the episode.

In the same way that it had to take Anna Manalastas her life to realize and accept her faults and to choose to do something about it, we too have to learn things the hard way almost all of the time.

A lot of people whom I know have so much bitterness in their hearts.  Sometimes it comes from hurtful experiences, frustrations, deprivations, or simply lack of contentment.  This bitterness is what Anna represents.  Her character reminds me of the dark night skies of which I always asked my fiance about what he sees in it while we lay on the fields and stargaze.  And he would reply:

I see the stars.  And the moon.

Indeed.  But I took him beyond what he saw.  I said:

Don’t you ever wonder why you see the stars and the moon first?  The moon and the stars shine brighter when you see the beauty of the darkness of the sky.

Everyone of us has a dark past to tell.  But just as Anna continues to justify the confessions of the janitor:

dahil alam nya na walang responsable sa sarili nating buhay kundi ang sarili natin. [Each of us are accountable for what becomes of us in our own lives].

100 Days To Heaven Copyright ©2011 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Anna Manalastas Copyright ©2011 ABS-CBN Corporation. All Rights Reserved.