SANA ALL
‘SANA ALL’ has become a fad, an expression used by fellow Filipinos from different walks of life – mostly among youngsters, teenagers, or young adults. Other variations include ‘NA OL’ or ‘CHINA OIL’. But then, what does it exactly mean? Whenever people utter it, does it mean they feel envious? Does it mean they have less of what they are supposed to have? Or, does it mean they lack some things about their lives?
Friedrich Nietzsche said that it is fine to be envious of others because it provides us an insight of how we could possibly attain things – that there is a great possibility to its fruition. We feel envious because others are good-looking, because others have a lot of achievements in life, because others can visit so many places, because others are witty, because others are simply amazing, among others.
Honestly, whenever we meet relatives, batch mates, many successful individuals in their own rights, or those who are in romantic relationships, we sometimes envy them – ‘NA OL’. We become curious about how they got to where they are now. These are the moments when we feel like a speck in this wonderful, yet diabolical planet, so we just whisper to ourselves ‘SANA ALL’. We may keep on rewinding these scenes on our minds to remind us that things are possible to happen, and the right ones will happen at the right time, may it be graduating from college, passing the licensure examination, promotion for others, or maybe just for personal development.
‘SANAL ALL’ is an expression that we have learned to live with; it is a constant reminder that things may not go according to plan but still opens a ray of hope that it is possible – that our dreams and aspirations will eventually come true.
AWIT
Another widely-used expression is ‘AWIT’ which is a combination of ‘AW’ and ‘SAKIT’. This Filipino slang exemplifies awful situations experienced by the common ‘tao’ in his/her everyday dealings with life. For instance, “Grabe! Hindi ako pumasa sa subject ko, AWIT,” “AWIT, ipinagpalit niya ako sa iba,” “Napagalitan na naman ako, AWIT,” among others. However, there is more in this expression than what meets the eyes.
Albert Camus presented the Greek myth of Sisyphus to encapsulate the idea of what humans experience every day. In the story, Sisyphus was punished and had to roll a gigantic rock up a hill. Upon reaching the hilltop, the rock rolled down, and he had to roll that rock all over again – ‘AWIT’. Despite this awful situation, Camus expressed that we should take it as a challenge, and we should be happy instead.
People have various circumstances that we may not know. We may feel like we have many problems in life, and these challenges wear us down – “AWIT, ano bang klaseng buhay ito? Puro problema na lang,” but this is exactly what life is telling us: light and shadow co-exist. In the presence of a terrible situation lies a silver lining, and vice versa, because these are two sides of the same coin.
In the end, there are a number of phenomena in our day-to-day dealings in which we will say ‘AWIT’. Consequently, we have to embrace these stumbling blocks, take them as a challenge, and be happy that they come because, eventually, they will go – AW, SAKIT! By Joseph B. Quinto
The writer assures that the contents of this article are free from plagiarism and copyright infringement. Any copyright violations are the sole responsibility of the writer. The opinions, recommendations and suggestions are solely of the author and don’t necessarily reflect the stance of Baguio Herald Express management and staff and does not replace professional advice.
