Power of the 13th Month Pay

Posted by shush

January 1, 2014

Being an adult who has been made to understand that Christmas is merely a grandiose plan to increase the sales of many retail items from all over the world, I kind of see this tradition differently.

In a whole year, you are paid for each month’s work. Then there is this extra month’s salary that is given as a requirement every year. For what purpose? For every recipient to be able to have extra money to spend on things they otherwise wouldn’t spend their monthly salary with. And the battle to get even just a portion of that so-called 13th month pay is repeated every Christmas season by every retailer imaginable. But the competition doesn’t stop with retailers. For that amount can also be given partially to other things besides manufactured retail items. They can be given as donations, payment for services, saved in a bank account, used as investment in various types of securities, or even as capital for business ventures.

In the spirit of things, that extra money given every year, no matter how it is spent, makes someone happy. It can be the retailer who gains a sale from a portion of that 13th month pay spent on buying their merchandise. It can be the person paid for rendering services, It can be that needy person that receives a donation. It can also be us, the ones who made the decision on how to spend that 13th month pay.

That extra money, in whatever way it was spent did these things altogether:
> It made someone happy
> Made someone receive an income
> Fed, clothed, sheltered or educated someone
> Gave someone a sense of financial security

If indeed some old geezers thought of making Christmas a grandiose spending spree time, they probably didn’t foresee that it would turn out to be more than just shopping time for many. For if the concept of gift-giving during Christmas was conceptualized to ensure monetary returns for the old geezers who thought of it, they probably didn’t anticipate that;

> It could make someone happy
> Make someone receive an income
> Feed, clothe, shelter or educate someone
> Give someone a sense of financial security

And if you are not one of those who celebrate Christmas, and you spent your 13th-month pay on buying someone else or yourself a gift, then you have unconsciously practiced the real essence of Christmas. Even if you don’t really believe in it.

We bust our asses working every month to get a month’s worth of pay. Getting extra at almost the end of the year and using it for whatever we want and feeling good about it afterwards is definitely worth it.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone!

Momhood

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