Bits of Life

II. Comfort in Crisis

Wednesday, first of May. By tomorrow I will be receiving my utilities' bills. I'll be expecting double or more for my use of electricity. Living in a studio-type apartment, I don't need that many home appliances - I only have the air conditioning unit, a computer unit for work, an electric kettle for my coffee, and the phone charger. No, I don't even have an electric fan. My monthly electric usage would be 50kw on average. My use of the air conditioning unit is strictly monitored - one hour at bedtime (timer active which turns off after one hour), and one hour at the start of my work shift (I work at my apartment most of the time as a privilege).

It was manageable until the surge of the heatwave here in the Philippines. Most of the time I would wake up in sweat because the air condition has already automatically turned off - and that is in the middle of my normal rest as I am not supposed to wake up yet.

Lately, I have to turn the aircon back on for another hour or two after I use the bathroom in the middle of my rest. At night while I am working, I am forced to turn on the aircon for thirty minutes to one hour from time to time because the heat has become unbearable and inconvenient while I do my tasks.

I monitor my submeter (electrical measuring equipment) on a daily basis. The last time I checked, I almost doubled my budget usage already. If the normal peso charge per kilowatt remains constant (which is expectedly would not be the case) I am anticipating more than double my average electric bill considering other added charges. Simply said - additional burden in a country with a sustained rising inflation.

Seeing some posts on social media, most people would share a meme that says (nonverbatim) "If you're not getting a shock because of the heatwave, you're going to get one when you receive your electric bill." While this is true, we can only choose one: get shocked (health-wise) by the heatwave, or get shocked (money-wise) by the electric bill for more use of the air conditioning unit. This is if we are lucky enough to choose - because others are unfortunate not to have the aircon available.

Thinking about the crisis, if we have the capacity to buy the air conditioning unit - or live in a place that provides one - why do we deprive ourselves of the comfort it provides us during this weather phenomenon? If we work to be comfortable, why are we not utilizing the fruits of our labor? Yes it is a sudden change in budget increasing our expenses, but does that not mean we should come out of our comfort zones again, better ourselves, so we can have more comfort in life - rather than just rant and be stressful?

This brings me back to the story of the sparrow and the eagle I once heard before. When the storm comes, the sparrow hides. When the wind is against it, it flaps its wings and fights. Most of the time, sparrows do not withstand storms and many of them lay dead on the ground once the weather calms down. How about the eagle? They build their nests on high cliffs, not on branches. And when the wind comes gushing forth trying to sweep them, the eagle stretches its wings wide and ascends where the wind would bring it. It does not fight the winds, the eagle becomes one with it. It just soars. It does not flap its wings against the winds. It makes itself comfortable in times of crisis.

We are in a storm right now. You may have an increasing electric bill because of the heatwave. The rocketing inflation destroys your grocery budget. You may even have other challenges - your relationships, your education, your health. But do we act like sparrows and flap our wings against these problems even though we know we are at the losing side?

Why don't we become an eagle? Stretch those wings, accept the realities of life and face them with solutions rather than hiding from them on rants and stressful overthinking which will only make it more difficult. Start with enjoying that aircon.