The first thing I noticed in Dr. Jose Rizal’s life was that he lived a simple one.

He did not
choose to have a luxurious life like the most of others wanted. Even before he became under
surveillance by the Spaniards, he had lived his life as simple as possible. I think it was the work
of his parents that made him lived like this. I also grew up living a simple life; I valued what I
had because it was taught to me by my parents. I strongly believe that one’s lifestyle is
influenced mostly by parents. As a student one of my similarities with Rizal, I also value
education as a step towards achieving success for myself and for my country. Since there is an
enough motivation to study and explore by wisdom, I made this an encouragement to myself
that education shall not only stop within the corners of classrooms but shall also extend until
the corners of the world.

Another similarity I have, Rizal and I did not believe in the Catholic dogma that salvation
was only for Catholics and that outside Christianity; salvation was not possible even if Catholics
composed only a small minority of the world’s religious groups. Though Rizal was born from a
closely-knit Catholic Family, he still fought for what is true. His religious philosophy approves a
part of our Wesleyan beliefs and that is a good thing that we should be happy about.
Furthermore, I learned that even though he has gone that far in his attainments, he did not lose
his humility and his faith to God. The difference between me and Rizal was his calmness and
ability to think rationally even in the most complicated circumstances. His advocacy is very
different to me, because he wrote many books in order to fire-up the revolutionary spirit of the
Filipinos.

In order to sprout in my own life the heroism, I have to be the hero of my own story
and save myself from a life of mediocrity. This severe epidemic of mediocrity that has swept the
globe will confine me to living a life of conformity if I do not step up and design the life of my
dreams. I have to be the one who takes charge of my life and turns it into a masterpiece. I must
get rid of the unnecessary daily activities from a life and only engage in success. Every day I
move towards achieving my goals or I fall behind in my dreams.