By Misaki F. Koizumi
Sunlight is a necessity for plants to keep growing, but it does not necessarily need to fill every corner of a room. Sometimes, even a small patch of light can brighten a dim space, giving a growing plant the courage to keep reaching toward the sun. Humans can be much the same — not every reason to keep going comes in the form of a grand dream or life-changing moment. Most of the time, it takes shape in a familiar voice waiting at the other end of a phone call, a pillow that feels like home after a long day, or the hopeful thought of a future that has yet to unfold.
These little things may seem ordinary on their own, but on difficult days, they can become gentle reminders that there is still room for growth with so much left ahead of us. For some Tamaraws, mundane things have become their own little pauses from everything that asks them to keep moving.
From small routines to cherished memories, here are the simple reasons that can make difficult days a little easier to get through.
1. Intention behind every step
Purpose is a quiet thread that runs through the life of Far Eastern University (FEU) first-year psychology student Rhean Nicole Maglaya.
In an interview with FEU Advocate, she shared how being diagnosed at a young age made understanding what her emotions were trying to convey difficult, especially during hardships. Over time, however, she began to realize that every feeling has a reason behind it, even when that reason is not immediately clear.
“I have this motto in life, ‘Always do it with purpose.’ It’s a reminder that whatever I do, I will always have a reason to pursue… My therapist once told me that there’s always a reason why I feel blue most of the time, it’s just that I don’t know how to identify it,” Maglaya shared.
There were times when fear kept her from acknowledging what she truly felt, sometimes leading her to make decisions that brought regret or anxiety. Understanding these emotions also taught her to become more mindful of the choices she makes.
“I told myself that before making a decision, I have to make sure that I do it with purpose and that if I did fail, it will be fine because I did it with purpose,” the psychology student reflected.
This perspective became especially meaningful when she failed several college entrance examinations. As someone who had grown up as an achiever, constant rejections made her question herself and the direction she was pursuing. Yet looking back, she now sees those failures differently.
“I realized that there was a reason why I failed and it led me to create a new purpose in life,” she noted.
For Maglaya, living with purpose does not mean having the answers right away. Sometimes, it’s about trusting her feelings and experiences despite the uncertainty, hoping that it will lead her somewhere meaningful.
2. A 15-minute breather through the screen
A phone call from a loved one can become more than a conversation. For first-year business economics student Chicco Maria Ordenes, it is a small pocket of stillness, a place where the noise of the day can soften and he can simply be himself.
As he transitioned from high school to college, Ordenes found himself juggling academics, a side business, and his relationship. Amid the weight of these responsibilities, his phone calls with his long-distance girlfriend became a space where he could set his worries aside even just for a while, returning to the person beyond his deadlines and obligations.
“Particularly for me, the reason [why it’s] what I always look forward to is because it serves as a reminder that [I’m] allowed to have good things… I would still have someone on the other end of the phone, no matter how far we are that I can reside in, that I can rest and be human with,” he recounted.
This space became especially important when he had to leave his aunt’s apartment and return to his parents’ home. What once took two hours on the road now stretched to twice the time, leaving even less room to breathe between one responsibility and another.
With the change weighing heavily on him, Ordenes leaned on his girlfriend, who understood the difficulty of the situation and reminded him of his capacity to go through difficult days.
“Talking to someone that actually believes in you [and] is patient with you is very soothing, even if she’s not there physically,” he shared.
Perhaps that is what makes their phone calls worth returning to. No matter how overwhelming the day becomes, there are still a few minutes he can spare for a person who believes in him — a small certainty waiting on the other end of the line.
“Everything can just stop and I’d still be fine because at the end of the day, I still have 15 minutes on the phone with the person I love,” Ordenes said.
In 15 minutes, Ordenes’ world does not have to be completely fixed. The exhausting commute, the mounting deadlines, and the weight of tomorrow can wait because a familiar voice carries through the phone, reminding him that there are still moments worth coming home to.
3. A pillow that carries the warmth of home
A bed with a tucked-in blanket and pillows waiting at the headboard is a sight so familiar it can easily fade into the background. It is simply there at the end of the day, ready to hold whatever weariness we bring home. But for first-year architecture student Amber Pippa Garcia, a pillow becomes more than something to rest her head on.
She remembers one particularly rough day at school, when her friendships were put in an overwhelming state. Amid everything she had to process, she found herself looking forward to the stillness of home, where she could press her face onto her pillow and finally allow herself to let everything out.
“That comforting feeling you get whenever things get so rough and all you want to do is go home and put your face in a pillow. It’s meaningful to me in a way because it gives me hope, and has become my way to rest and process my thoughts,” Garcia explained.
Ever since, that pillow has become a familiar refuge after a long day, especially when she needs to unwind and make sense of her feelings. Its softness offers more than a place to rest her head; it gives her solace from whatever the day has brought her.
This feeling of safety and familiarity also brings her back to the comfort of her mother. Garcia remembers moments when she would open up about something, expecting to be scolded, only to find reassurance waiting to embrace her instead.
“Besides it making me feel better, it makes me feel and remember what it’s like to be comforted by my mother,” she recalled.
What makes the pillow meaningful, then, is not its utility, but the feeling of home tucked into it — a place where Garcia can rest, lay down the burdens she has been carrying, and return to the warmth of being cared for.
4. Promise of better days
When everything seems to arrive at once, it can be easier to take comfort knowing that not everything has to be figured out in one day. Most of the time, what we need is the quiet assurance that things will eventually fall into place — the belief that first-year psychology student Ashley Jovaine De Vergara holds on to.
“The one thing I always hold onto when life feels difficult is the belief that everything will be alright, in the perfect time. These words are meaningful to me because whenever life feels darker or heavier, I remind myself that things will eventually get better,” she shared.
The thought became especially important as several difficulties converged in one season of De Vergara’s life. With numerous academic responsibilities, pressure from her parents’ expectations, and an eventual breakup with her boyfriend, she found herself carrying several worries at once.
“Despite all these painful experiences, I still tried to believe that everything would eventually get better — and somehow, it did. I am slowly learning to solve my problems one step at a time, and I realized that things really do happen in their own perfect timing,” she reflected.
The belief that tomorrow can be better does not erase what is difficult in the present. But it gives De Vergara something to look forward to, a reminder that the weight she carries now will not always feel this heavy.
“Thinking this way lessens the heaviness I carry in my heart because it gives me something to look forward to — the possibility of better days and better situations ahead,” she shared.
For De Vergara, comfort does not always come from knowing all the answers — it can be found in the reassurance that not everything has to make sense right away for life to still hold something good.
5. One day to feel human again
Rest can be easy to dismiss when there is always something left to accomplish. But somewhere between one task and the next, first-year nursing student Xia Ezrah Ballesteros has learned to look forward to the simple rituals that come with finally having time for herself.
“I look forward to rewarding myself after hard moments, like eating at my favorite fast-food chain after midterms, buying nice clothes, spending time on my phone without limits, or simply resting,” she stated.
This sense of reward can be found in the ordinary routines she enjoys after an exhausting stretch of academics: cleaning her messy bed, taking a long shower, eating her favorite food, playing games, scrolling through TikTok, reading fanfiction, or simply spending the day without having to do anything else.
“The feeling of satisfaction, cleaning my surroundings, and myself makes me feel better about my living situation. It makes me happy to know I won’t be doing anything else but relaxing the whole day,” Ballesteros noted.
She finds comfort in putting her surroundings in order as well as knowing that, for once, she does not have to rush to another responsibility. Being clean, well-fed, well-rested, and free to spend time on things she enjoys gives her a chance to step away from the constant demands of school.
“It’s the continuous little things that keep you sane,” the nursing student emphasized.
Ballesteros finds that caring for herself does not have to be complicated, but can begin with these simple routines. In a field centered on caring for others, she finds that tending to her own needs can begin with something as basic as giving herself permission to pause.
“For now we can only rely on the little things that give us comfort, and for me — organization [and] basic needs, those are the little things that make me feel good,” she shared.
6. A future still waiting to be lived
While reasons to keep moving can be found in the comforts of today, they can also live in the possibilities of tomorrow. First-year psychology student Rheyvian Caelyn Magabo finds hers in the future life she imagines: having a home of her own, traveling, building a life with the people she loves, and creating new memories in a space where she feels peaceful.
It is not simply a dream of reaching a particular destination, but the hope of one day looking around at the life she has built and knowing that she made the right decision by working toward it.
“It reminded me of how these problems can just be a chapter of my life, and I should keep writing my story. For as long as I am still breathing, there is no end to my life, and there are chances of finally being at peace and happiness,” the psychology student reflected.
Such vision gives Magabo something to cling to whenever she finds herself lost in her thoughts. Rather than letting difficult moments define how the story ends, she reminds herself that there is still a life ahead that she has yet to experience.
Her relationship eventually became part of that picture — what began as her girlfriend imagining their future together became something Magabo could envision for herself too. The possibility of a life filled with love and peace gave her a sense of direction when she struggled to find one on her own.
“For some people [it] can be simple but for some people who are exhausted of living and losing hope, these so-called ‘something simple’ can be the only beacon of light in their lives,” she emphasized.
The dream may sound simple: a home without constant conflict, a place where new memories can grow, and a future where she can finally feel at peace. But when the present feels exhausting, having something to look forward to can become its own reason to keep going.
Each item on the list reflects a different reason Tamaraws find meaning in the everyday. At first glance, these things might not seem big enough to carry the weight of a difficult day. A phone call cannot shorten a four-hour commute. A pillow cannot erase the different situations one faces in long hours of school. Imagining a future with someone cannot guarantee what tomorrow will bring. Yet perhaps the value of these mundane comforts was never about fixing everything, but giving people the motivation to remain in the moment.
There are reasons in life that do not have to be groundbreaking to matter. More often, they are the quiet things that ask us to pause and remember that there is still something worth looking forward to. Like a small plant reaching for sunlight in a dim room, we, too, may find ourselves turning toward whatever light we can find. It may not brighten everything at once, but perhaps a little spark is all we need to keep reaching, keep growing, and leave more room for tomorrow to unfold.
(Illustration by Miles Munich Montreal Jimenez/ FEU Advocate)