A Toothpaste Story

I was watching Little Women last night when In-Joo said they used to brush their teeth with salt because they couldn’t afford toothpaste.

Suddenly, a memory from my childhood flashed in my mind—when my mom taught us to sprinkle salt on our toothbrush because we hadn’t bought toothpaste yet. I turned to my husband and said, “Hey! We used to do that too!! If we ran out of toothpaste at home, we’d use salt instead!!!”

Now, we have boxes of toothpaste and soap, bottles of shampoo and lotion stored in our kitchen cupboard. We can afford to buy in bulk and always keep extras on hand. We never run out of toothpaste anymore—because there’s always a backup in the cabinet.

And so, Thank you, God.

Lately, I’ve been feeling a bit stressed about how prices are rising. You know that feeling when you’re busy all day, and out of nowhere, anxiety sneaks in—reminding you how hard life is in the Philippines. Everything just keeps getting more expensive…

But last night, I remembered the salt on the toothbrush, and whoa—it’s been so long! I had forgotten how far we’ve come.

Don’t get me wrong—I’m still upset about how bad inflation is, and I don’t mean to throw toxic positivity at the situation just to make us feel better. All the things we're feeling—they’re valid.

What I’m trying to say is—I still want to practice gratitude even in the middle of all this. To still be thankful for the little luxuries we now get to enjoy—the things that used to be out of reach.
Thank you for the toothpaste, for having complete ingredients in the kitchen, for the bottles of cooking oil (we can deep fry now, imagine that!!), for the aircondition unit, the fridge, for everything…

Here’s to hoping we don’t forget the goodness in our lives, even when things feel off.
Gratitude can turn what we have into enough—and sometimes, even more. ✨️