Don’t give in to stereotypes, says actress Antoinette Taus

Singer-actress Antoinette Taus has called on people, especially the youth, not to let theirselves get stereotyped.

Speaking at the third day of the Philippine Congress on New Evangelization at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City on Friday, she said the world is full of “stereotypes and labels” that people tend to be pressured on how their life should be.

“We are born in a world where there are so many stereotypes and labels, every single thing. Whether you’re gonna be successful, this is what you study, this is what you do, this is the path you should take,” Taus said.

At a talk show-type session with Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, she said the turn of her career really gave her happiness where God is the center of it.

“I don’t know what my life would be like if God was not in the center of it. I can’t believe that things completely changed, and I found happiness in a different way,” she said.

“To me, it’s like we should let people and we should let children be free and to find in their heart what makes them happy and use that to make a difference. Stop pressuring them,” said Taus.

The actress emphasized the gift in helping others which really healed her during the time of struggles.

“It was something that I thought I was helping others but in a way what happened was they are all helping me. We are healing others and healing ourselves,” Taus said.

“Collectively, if that’s something we focused on, we are healing the world, we’re healing each other,” she added.

Taus, together with her friends, founded a non-government organization called CORA, or Communities Organized for Resource Allocation that was named after her late mother.

She pointed out to not focus on negativity in darkness for in it there is “an opportunity to find light.”

“The miracles that happened really strengthened by courage to really live by having blind and leaps of faith. So many things po na pinag-uusapan pa lang po namin, biglang mangyayari na,” she said.

“We don’t have resources, all we have is passion, the volunteers, and the will to help. I always believe in miracles really. Since we started CORA, it’s really incredible,” she added.

Taus also said that problems should not be compared with one another.

“You cannot say that someone’s problem is bigger than another because it could be violence, it could be betrayal and so many other big things,” she said.