Morning Hush

Going through the day with peace of mind does not mean complete control of things and smooth day; but living through the day with calmness despite uncontrollable situation, with joy from within, and by respecting the events, people, and things around you.

The sun is rising. The alarm clock is ringing. The sound of the city is gradually fading in.

Take time to be SILENT. LISTEN to your body, to the small voice in your head.

When morning comes, we tend to rush on everything. Immediately after opening our eyes, we jump off our bed and zoom our way to the bathroom. We miss to enjoy the beauty of the new day—the comfort of the soft and fluffy bed, the aromatic smell of the coffee, the natural disinfectant of the sunlight, and the fresh thoughts. We want everything in instant.

We rush thinking we could avoid the things we cannot control that could ruin our entire day. There's the traffic, car malfunction, or the silent demanding boss who expects us to be earlier than her 6:30 am lonely time.

It's good and right to start the day early. It gives us ample time to prepare for the day. Remember: failing to prepare is preparing to fail.

However, waking up earlier than the rooster and moving like Flash is not enough.

Wake up rushing results in starting out feeling stressed out early in the day, with a fazed mind and your heart beating fast, that puts you on auto-panic mode. When we rush, we tend to forget something or to push the wrong button or to pour our coffee on the office desk. We commit small errors that have some negative impacts on our mood and productivity level.

Our state of mind when we start our day is important. It is the key to setting the landscape of our day.

Waking up with a serene state of mind, composed mind, and clear vision of the day help us get through the bumps and hurdles of the day gracefully and productively.

Slash the morning rush and start with a morning hush.

Wake up 15 minutes earlier than necessary. Stay lying on your bed, meditate or pray or just simply put things in perspective til the 15 minutes run out.

Smile. Sit on your bed for 5 seconds, still holding your smile. Play feel-good music, then start doing your thing. Whether it is having coffee or breakfast first or taking a bath first, make sure you spend the time pumping happy hormones.

While sitting at the dining table, talk to your loving partner or crack joke with your housemates or share a good story with your kids.

In the bathroom, make mental notes of your today's plans or small goals, or revisit your best feeling yesterday, or shake off all the negative emotions of yesterday and , then start with a clean slate, or just simply think of your dream house.

The quality of your first 15 minutes in the morning is essential in creating the vibe of your day. Then follow it through by living out a positive and driven disposition.

• Wake up early.
• Meditate and set your good mood.
• Have a good breakfast.
• Arrive at work ahead of time.
• Clean your work area and prepare by gathering your thoughts.
• Greet your colleagues good morning or give small positive notes.
• Check your to-do’s and emails.
• Take a deep breath and smile.

Give yourself time to settle after waking up. Listening to the small voice within you or connecting with your Supreme Being early in the morning puts things in perspective. Calibrate your senses by feeling, smelling, hearing, seeing, and tasting the beauty of the new day.

When you go through the day deliberately, you become aware and alert—you see the minute details of the day.

Going through the day with peace of mind does not mean complete control of things and smooth day; but living through the day with calmness despite uncontrollable situation, with joy from within, and by respecting the events, people, and things around you.

Relax. Start early with a me-time contemplating or meditating or praying.

Relieve yourself of self-made anxiety.
You have a choice—to be happy or to be unhappy: to rush or to slow down.

Time gives us the advantage of having "options".
Don't just start early.
Start early with a grateful heart, clear mind, and peaceful state of mind.

Helter-skelter courts disaster; while man of meditation attracts fruition.

Make your 15-minute morning hush a habit and your day will be better than your day with morning rush.

Life’s like it! A Mural

Every detail in your life has a reason and purpose, and the story of your life doesn’t end yesterday nor today. Don’t live a boring and unproductive life. Don’t just exist. Live! Paint a good life.

Mural is a large piece of artwork, usually painted on a wall or ceiling, in which the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously applied into the master piece.

When you stand close to a Mural, you can see the details—the beauty of the skillfully painted intricate details or the imperfections of the strokes and the hues. When look at it a few distance away, you can see the entire picture—the work of art formed by the combination of the plain and elaborate details and of the dark and light colors and the combination of the imperfections.

Life’s like it! A Mural.

When we examine our lives daily, sometimes we don’t see the reason, or we can’t see the purpose, why some things arrive in our lives or certain events happen to us. But whenever we try to step out of and detach ourselves from the situation, we gradually realize the reason why such things or events happen to us.

The mural is the beauty and meaning conceived by the skill, imperfections, dark, and light elements of our lives.

Living our lives daily is like painting the smallest details of our own murals. We have failures, successes, heartbreaks, breakthroughs, disappointments, victories to tell.

Some parts are dark colored, others bright. Some portions are complex, others simple. Some painted on the corners, others on the center. These elements have their own right places and own roles in your life.

Because the mural is so big, some dark parts could mean non-sense when you look at it closely, or some strokes seem out of place. But when you take steps back, you will see how the dark parts harmoniously blend with the light and bright colors and the beauty it adds to the entire piece, or how the senseless strokes magically form the elegant images of the mural.

So whatever the previous years painted in your vast mural, don’t  sneer, they are just part and parcel of the master piece that is not yet complete. Don’t stay content either. For as you live each day, the meaning and beauty of the mural is revealed in half concealing.

You are in control. You hold the brush and the palette. You can always make the entire master piece become the image you envision it to be. Or, if in the middle of the course you have a change of heart, you can always continue and paint your story the way you want it to be.

You always have a story to paint, a life to live.

So jump off your couch. Don’t just analyze and plan. Move and progress, so once your mural is complete, it will tell a beautiful story of your life—just the way you intended to live it.

You are the painter, you are in control. But God gives you the skill and the imagination. So pray for His guidance and wisdom in order for you to interpret well the things that you have just painted (past) and so you will have the skill and genius to continue incorporating in it the right elements (now) to achieve the vision that you want to achieve (future).

You don't have to go far or do grand things in order to make meaning out of your daily lives. Just live—wherever you may be. Be productive. Improve. Keep on learning. Interact with people, including those you see everyday. Make the most of the moment...seize it. Don't hover regretting. Move over growing.

Every detail in your life has a reason and purpose, and the story of your life doesn’t end yesterday nor today.

Do you want a colorful life, a simple life, or an elegant life? Don’t just sit there. Make it!

Life becomes more meaningful when it is lived actively, not passively and safely. When we let ourselves experience and explore the various emotions out there we learn more and appreciate life from a different perspective.

Don’t be restricted by your disappointments yesterday. Break-free and breakthrough!

Don’t be content of your success of the past. Move forward!

Don’t live a boring and unproductive life. Don’t just exist. Live!

Paint a good life.

Happy new year! May you have a colorful year ahead filled with love, joy, good health, prosperity, and victories! Be grateful for every thing that will happen… God has prepared the beautiful story of your life already. You just have to live it!

Accelerate: Go. Grow. Glow.

Accelerate your life. Constantly go to God and surely you will continuously grow in every area of your life and the people around you will see the glow in your heart.

Exhausted. Empty. Crushed. Confused. Broke. Insecure. Hopeless. Life is difficult!

.

Heavy words? Not anymore!

Now that we have encountered Jesus, we know that when we are being emptied it is because God wants to fill us with new and better blessings and when we are stretched, He just wants us to grow. So now, when life throws us dirt it’s okay. We simply shake it off, shake it off, and shake it off; and use it as a platform to step upon until we emerge victorious.

We are living in an era and area where almost everything is instant, where people are mobile, and where the demands and dynamics of daily life have evolved with time. At one point, we have become slaves of our work, unhealthy relationships, financial incapacity, family issues, personal insecurities, or other problems that dry our spirits.

We have become stray, hungry souls in the modern jungle of glass-and-steel skyscrapers of the present world.

Walking down the memory lane, our experiences a month, a year or years ago may bring pinch on our hearts, deep breaths, or tears in the corner of our eyes.

Thanks to our merciful and gracious Father Lord God, He called us in ways and times unexpected to give us new and better lives for us to do good and enjoy blessed lives. (He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. ~ Titus 3:5)

Through our transformation, the jungle turned into a mecca of love, care, and enlightenment that propelled us to do our best to become obedient to God’s word, to have better relationships at work and at home, and to be channels of God’s blessings wherever we go.

We now have new and better perspective about life and reinforced Christian values.

Breakfree! Move forward!

Whether by responding to a friend’s invitation, reconnecting with God due to necessity, or personally choosing to renew personal relationship with God, it is by no accident that we are transformed. We were all hand-picked by God and are now renewed in spirit and heart. It’s just up to us how we will remain in Him.

We are all works in progress!

Embrace your potential not your past. (But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ~ Philippians 3:13).

“Your past does not define you. God can take all your imperfections, so don’t stay there,” shared by Randy Borromeo.

Close your eyes. Take a deep breath. Remember the old days—what you were thinking of and how you were feeling.

Look at yourself now! People may know your transformation, but only you can truly tell how your life has changed. Perhaps, you have already moved forward and are now aware of your bigger and brighter life ahead.

When we listen to God’s word and make good use of our blessings—time, talent, and treasure—we feed our souls and nurture our life in general.

Accelerate your life. Constantly go to God and surely you will continuously grow in every area of your life and the people around you will see the glow in your heart.

Be Jesus’ torch-bearer. Listen to His voice. Respond to God’s call and reflect the light of Jesus’ wherever you go.

Accelerate your life! Move onward and upward.

 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ~ Jeremiah 29:11

Sure, You Can Make It!

Intelligence and money are not reasons to pull you down or to hinder you from achieving your goals.

 

Sure, learning is a process.

Sure, maturity is a choice.

Sure, life is a constant voyage.

Sure, each of us is given built-in skills that will enable us to be better and to better enjoy this good life.

Sure, we are the captain of our own lives.

We can become whoever we want to be. Truly, we are not given equal amount of talents, skills, and other gifts gifts; but surely, we are all given the same amount of time each day—24 hours. Whether too long or too short for you, we can’t do anything to adjust its length.

Time is equally given to each of us—rich-poor, young-old, girl-boy, literate-illiterate, good-bad. 24 houts a day; 525,600 minutes a year. Period.

Time is fixed. But the good news is, we can diminish or increase its value by how we make choices and how we act upon our choices.

Learning and maturity should be directly proportional to our time alive, our age. But we all know that a big chunk of humanity is not a reflection of it. I’m not discounting myself.

If we look around, we will see many people who have become skilled and empowered in their chosen fields, and  some in the places they found themselves. However, there are more people who are otherwise or who don’t enjoy the lives they are entitled to enjoy.

We sometimes catch ourselves quipping, “She’s brilliant. I wonder why she ended up like that,” or “He’s diligent, but it seems he toils today to feed himself today so he can work tomorrow.”

(Setting aside those people who are able to get what they want because they know how to manipulate people for their own advantage, or see things as “delegation” when in fact they know in themselves that they intentionally make others do things for them, or get to finish a requirement by doing 20% of the work…)

The legit achiever knows four basic things: diligence, focus, responsibility, and sharing. The self-made achiever is like a house built on a rock, strong storm or raging flood comes, it stands firm. Wherever you put him, whatever you ask of him, whenever you need him, he can deliver well.

I. Diligence

Being diligent doesn’t require exceptional IQ. What one needs is only common sense and initiative. Being diligent is being able to discern what an ordinary prudent man would do in a specific situation.  Diligence is also the ability to delay gratification and do some a-little-tightening-here-and-a-loosening-there.

A diligent person would ask himself what shall I do first; what is the most efficient and effective way in doing this; will I bypass or disrespect or hurt someone; what degree of care is appropriate.

More than being industrious, a diligent person thinks of the implications of his actions before he executes his action plan. He eats first the icing before the cake, I mean, he does first the things he doesn’t like most so he can enjoy the rest of the day doing the things he likes.

II. Focus

A purpose driven and dedicated person knows his goal and he presses on it every single day. He knows where he should end up. Whatever the weather is—stormy or sunny; whatever kind of road he is taking—bumpy or smooth—his mind, feelings, words, and actions are all oriented to his goal.

A focused person is not discouraged or demoralized by trials or failures. Instead, he is fueled by his challenges. For him, another trial means another platform for him to stand on so he could see things from a better vantage point. He sees failure just as a delay to his goal or sometimes a detour so he may take a better path towards it.

Being focused is being able to see clearly what you want and seeing it steadily through layers upon layers of distraction.

III. Responsibility

Acceptance of responsibility is being open to challenges, pain, heartbreaks, and other uncomfortable emotions associated with growing up, achieving, and victory. Responsible persons know that trials, challenges, or problems don’t go away unless you yourself work through them, or else they will remain a hindrance to your growth and victory.

Some people deny to themselves the problems they encounter; others acknowledge the problems but do nothing about it hoping the problems will just go away. But the responsible person acknowledges his problems, sits down and studies each problem for a reasonable time, make an action plan, and face the problem properly—right time, approach, and means—based on his evaluation of the situation.

A responsible person knows that when he avoids the legitimate suffering that results from dealing with problems, he also avoids the growth that problems demand from him (Peck).

Learning is the twin of responsibility. As in taking on responsibility for what one feels, for what one ought to do, for whatever situation one finds himself, one will always surely learn whether he fails or succeeds.

A responsible person's mentality is, "Either you win or you learn."

IV. Sharing

An empowered person shares what he learns. An empowered person is someone who becomes who he is because of what he has gone through in his life. He has a personal account to share about his journey from rags to riches, or from being a victim to being the philanthropist, or from being the last to being the first, or being the nothing to being the superstar.

Having a first hand experience of the essential polishing in life—from thinking of a dream to being diligent to pursue his dream and making it a goal; to being focused and dedicated to his goal; to taking on the responsibility for every circumstance that leads him his goal—an empowered person knows the feeling and thoughts of one who is also driven to legitimately achieve their goals, which enables him to empathize and believe in them.

A small mind will tell one that his dream ridiculously difficult and he will not achieve it because of he is poor or he is not intelligent or he is ugly or he because he is who he is. But an empowered person will encourage one to pursue his dream, pray, and work hard and that if others can do it, he too can do it and may even do things better.

Sharing is a mechanism that multiplies and scatters good things in life. Sharing is the system which makes giving away good things come back in better packages, better quality, and sometimes more in quantity. Simply put, sharing makes good things last from generation to generation.

Whatever our statuses in life are or wherever we are and whatever we want to achieve, it is possible to achieve our goals if we are willing to do our part and focus our energy and resources on the goal.

Intelligence and money are not reasons to pull you down or to hinder you from achieving your goals.

Everyday, within 24 hours, do something that contributes to achieving your goals. If you want to be a teachers, entrepreneur, priest, lawyer, doctor, or corporate executive…

Think like one.

Talk like one.

Act like one.

What you think of, speak of, read about, or do in a day will make a difference in the quality and essence of your 24 hours and 525,600 minutes.

Dream. Believe. Feel. Receive. Thank. Share.

…and thank God for the each brand new day He gives you to become better, do better, and become step closer to your goal.

One sure thing, you can make it if you believe and want it.

Never underestimate your capacity and never underestimate God's power.

Pray and work hard! You can make it, I know!

Death That Brings Many Good Things to Life

Truly God's unconditional love, grace, and mercy are best reflected to us through our parents :-)

Papa must be very happy in heaven celebrating his 16th year today of being a citizen up there :-)

I thank God for lending us one of His greatest creations to touch our lives, inspire us, and teach us many useful and significant lessons in life that we can use, especially when he had to leave and upgrade his citizenship and leave for heaven :-) Because of papa I strive to become an imperfect yet doing my best to become better person so when people see me they will think how good the tree that bore me...

Exactly 16 years ago, I cried so hard because I lost the man I loved most... Now, I smile peacefully and with a very grateful heart for the love and all the good things that I receive through that loss.

Like a seed that needs to die in order to make way for a beautiful fruit-bearing tree is the love and presence of papa that needed to physically go to make way for the lasting good fruits in my life, including mama's and bros'.

More than papa's inspiring love, mama's unwavering and unconditional love as a mama-and-papa-in-one for makes me feel truly blessed and truly loved :-)

So to my angel up there, happy birthday in heaven Pa!
To my wingless angel with me here, thank you very much Ma!
Truly God's unconditional love, grace, and mercy are best reflected to us through our parents :-)


(...2009 letter to the greatest man in my life. )

Sunrise: New Day, New Life

When a dream slips out, you can always make another one, a better one. When your drive withers, you can always take a break...but never stop progressing! Or sometimes on the way to your dream you get lost... just keep moving forward, you'll find a better one. Keep on keeping on! There is joy and wisdom in waiting and working.

Rise and shine!

New year, new life, new learnings, new opportunities, and new goals are here!

The holiday has just ended... Christmas, our time for loving, giving, and reconciliation. New year, our time to start anew and set our goals for the year and years ahead.

Some of us started the year right. Others did not.

The good news is, it’s okay! Whether it was because of our own choices and actions that we started the year right or not, the important thing is we sustain our desire to become better, wiser, and live a more joyful life.

Christmas, the time for loving, and New Year, the time to change, are NOW! Every day is a day to love and to become better.

Focus on your goals! Pray for them. Write them down. Read them everyday. Act upon them.

Better than new year is NEW DAY every single day.

You can always decide to transform and elevate your life every single day.

Everyday we have to test ourselves and do something for ourselves… if not, it would be a wasted unrecyclable, unreusable day that is supposed to be a priceless resource.

If some things get in your way as early as now, don’t be disheartened. Just keep on moving forward and upward. Dedicate yourself to your goals and remember your feelings and thoughts when you decided to make them your goals.

When a dream slips out, you can always make another one, a better one. When your drive withers, you can always take a break...but never stop progressing! Or sometimes on the way to your dream you get lost... just keep moving forward, you'll find a better one. Keep on keeping on!

There is joy and wisdom in waiting and working.

 

Don’t be fixated on the problems, trials, roadblocks, and vampires… focus on your PURPOSE. What are your goals? Why are they your goals?

Be patient.

When things don’t always turn out the way you plan them to be, it’s alright. God is not in a hurry anyway… Besides, impatience never works. Press on!

You cannot right a wrong with another wrong (impatience). Never operate out of ego, selfishness, envy, nor impatience.

If some people, things, or circumstances beyond your control try to dishearten you or pull you down, let them do their thing but you… you keep on moving like a snowball—getting bigger and better and rolling towards your goal.

Pray for your goals. Focus on them. Always do something about them everyday—no matter how small or simple—because God wants you to be involved and part of the solution and your improvement.

Don’t be concerned on how fast you get them, focus on how good you get them and how long will you be able to sustain them once you get them.

Focus more on your journey than on your destination. It is always better to get there equipped and deserving, than get there quickly and pass out or unhappy or could not enjoy things for long.

If along the way you lose something important… move forward focusing your time, resources, and energy to the new things you may receive, learn, and get hold of.

Keep on rolling! Be patient. God has a wonderful future for you… enjoy each step every single day.

Live out your PURPOSE! If you focus on the purpose, the problems and losses become irrelevant. Aspire and achieve!

Enjoy every sunrise! Hope and give hope. Be blessed and be a blessing.

Live each day a happy life… Decide uprightly and maturely. Like a piece of clay that we mold into whatever we want, our decisions are what form our future.

Rise. Shine. Give light to others.

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” ~ Isaiah 43: 18-19

PS: Joyful, meaningful, and blessed 2013! May you start the year with thanksgiving for the year that was, and with stronger faith, refreshed spirit, renewed ways, and transformed heart. More than relying on gems and charms, utilize and let shine your inner gem—loving, generous, cheerful, grateful, and faithful heart. Let prayer and faith in God be your shield and strength. Have a blessed and meaningful 2013! Pray. Work. Bless.

Protecting Yourself from Vampires

The biggest blessing of protecting yourself from difficult people is gaining the freedom to genuinely see the seed of goodness that God planted in their hearts and their significant roles in refining and molding you to the wiser, more loving, and more joyful person that you are now…or simply the better you.

Do you feel exhausted? Are you fed up? Is someone sucking your energy?

You have the power to protect yourself!

After spotting your vampire, it is important to protect yourselves from your personal vampires; otherwise, they will attack your core and decay your soul or will influence you and make you one of them.

Their national game that exhausts you is the “Damned if you do; Damned if you Don’t” game.

Whether your vampire is your parent, boss, spouse, or close friend, you still need to protect yourself from them so you can love them more, or at least preserve yourself so you can give more of yourself—you have the energy and zest to serve, care for, and love those who deserve your energy most.

You cannot give what you don’t have! If your energy is low, you cannot help others. If you’re stressed out and irritated, it’s hard to sincerely share joy. If your heart is full of hatred, how can you genuinely give love? If you lack knowledge, how can you properly guide and teach the younger ones?

Hence, we need to protect ourselves so we have selves to give to others through service, friendships, and by simply sharing blessings.

But in order to protect ourselves from these difficult persons, we need first to recognize and appreciate that “understanding” them is the key to free ourselves from their bondage and vicious cycle. Still, we need to protect ourselves from them.

Don’t allow them to abuse you, nor allow yourself to spoil or tolerate them. Otherwise, you will bear the consequences of making a vampire in others.

If you love someone, you set him free and want him to be happy and successful… same goes for yourself (Leviticus 19:18, “love your neighbor as yourself.”)

Loving our vampire neighbors does not mean allowing them to stress us out. Instead, loving them means not spoiling and tolerating them and protecting ourselves from them by putting boundaries or limitations so we can love them properly sans the decaying stress between us.

Unless you’re free from the power of difficult people, you cannot understand and love them.

Remember, you have the power to break free and to protect yourself! You will not be tested beyond your capacity to solve your trials, including freeing yourself from your vampires.

We can protect ourselves from the vampires by preparing for their “Damned if you do; Damned if you don’t” game without the intention to hurt them.

So basic and simple like ABC 123. Here’s how…

Be aware. We need to deliberately and properly prepare for the difficult situations the vampires have had hurling at us time and again; so when it happens again, we already know what to do to protect ourselves and go about the situation to avoid further and unnecessary hurts.

Love ourselves. Loving oneself breeds respect for oneself. It makes us feel good about ourselves; thus loving ourselves naturally and automatically creates sturdy wall that protects us from exhausting vampires. Properly loving ourselves results in good health, good disposition, and doing good to others.

Living with a vampire is tantamount to allowing ourselves to be punished emotionally (sleepless nights and trauma), physically (sickness due to stress), spiritually (losing purpose, dreams, vision, and direction).

Damned if you do… damned if you don’t game.

Imagine this: You’re watching TV at home with your older brother. You’re enjoying the show. You’re laughing, you’re learning. Then suddenly you feel hungry. You get your favorite pasta and bread from the dining table, the last serving and the only food left by your mom for afternoon snack. When you return to the living room, your brother is surfing the channels and asks you to give him your food…  if you will give him the food he will eat them all as he scans the channels through the only remote; if you will not, he will throw hurting words at you, bully you, and will still get the food from you and will not let you hold the remote control as he is watches another show.

So what you do…

      1.    Retreat and find food elsewhere

Take one step backward so you can take two steps forward.

This may mean staying away and taking a break, pausing and catching some breath, and recuperating elsewhere for a while.

It may also mean not cutting relationship with the vampires. It may mean decreasing your time with the vampires. By doing this, you strike your chances of being drained or influenced by the vampire (Proverbs 22:24-25, “Do not make friends with a hot-tempered  person, do not associate with one easily angered, or you may learn their ways and get yourself ensnared.”)

If your boyfriend or girlfriend is cheating on you or manipulating you, then walk out and find food elsewhere. If you have friends who are sucking your energy, joy, and peace, then spend lesser time with them.

      2.      Protect your head and eat your food

Bask in the sun, float on top of the wave.

This entails creating an emotional space between you and the difficult person.

If your vampire is your boss, spouse, or parents, you cannot just walk out immediately and create a physical space; hence you create an emotional space. As Eleanor Roosevelt puts it, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”

We can create emotional space by imagining, especially when the truth is not obvious.

Imagine your difficult person as little Hercules.

Reduce the significance and impact of your vampire on you. Whatever he says or does becomes insignificant to you. You no longer focus on his sweet empty words or you can take his harsh words as unsharpened doubled-bladed sword. Now, you see your little Hercules vampire shout at you, but you cannot understand his little voice. You see him, but you’re no longer terrified.

Though this way, you focus on the only two important opinions, “First, what God thinks of you—full of potential, beautiful lamb, and a victor; second, your opinion of yourself—who you can be and want to be.”

Imagine an angel coming.

Through this way, you emphasize the element of “understanding.”

You see his brokenness not his badness.

By surrendering the difficult person to God, you let your angel come to take the vampire from your life to bring it to God’s repair room.

Imagine the truth.

Through this way, you give yourself time to “retrospect, honestly evaluate yourself, and listen to the hopes and dreams of the still voice inside you.”

The evil is in the business of deceiving you.

If one wants to become better in whatever aspect of his life, the evil will always try to pull him down, trap him, or to block the way just to keep him chained in his dark, unhappy underworld.

So, “Watch and pray so you will not fall into temptation (Mark 14:38), and  If God is for us, who can be against us? It is God who justifies (Romans 8:31-32).” 

If you want to get rid of your emotional vampires and achieve your dreams, you need someone who believes in you and in your dreams and who supports and cheers you on as you reach them.

There will always be people who will spice up your life with difficulty and challenges, whether they’re conscious of it or not. Moreover, there will always be people around you who will hold opinion about what you believe in or do, and they may even have predictions about your life… but hey, it’s okay!

 

You have a choice… to remain with the vampire or to break free.

You have two important stronghold… what God thinks of you and what you think of yourself.

The biggest blessing of protecting yourself from difficult people is gaining the freedom to genuinely see the seed of goodness that God planted in their hearts and their significant roles in refining and molding you to the wiser, more loving, and more joyful person that you are now…or simply the better you.

FLY! First Love Yourself.

 (Third and last installment, Unfinished Business: Transforming the Vampire will be posted soon)

Metamorphosis

Like a butterfly, we were once a crawling caterpillar unappreciated by many; then surrounded by cocoon of problems. But as we persist and do our best to move forward, our sweat and tears soften the cocoon and the hardshell that seemed to block us sheds off… then poof!

In this material world, everything flows and nothing remains the same. As Heraclitus observed, change is the only permanent thing in the world.

If we are to improve, then we have to move upwards and onwards.

Nonetheless, as we act let us not confuse movement from progress; for our state of action doesn’t always translate to advancement and improvement.

We must know which change we have to accept as it is and which we have to deliberately act upon on. We shouldn’t just be purely passive accepting every change as it happens or purely active reacting on every change.

When it comes to our personal changes, every transformational change always comes with resistance. It is but normal.

Sometimes we become comfortable with our conditions that we no longer want to take another step or change positions or transfer locations. We settle to where we are. Sometimes we stagnate, or worse, we tend to deteriorate.

We don’t notice we no longer learn new things so our minds get rustic and we become left behind or narrow-minded. We feel too safe in our seats until our sedentary lifestyle brings us to the hospital due to illnesses we didn’t know we’re forming over time. We get stuck in our relationships that hurt us, stagnate us, or rotten us thinking we would never be loved again.

Desire change! Be willing to be transformed!

At first we will naturally feel resistant to change. We will become inconsistent with our desire to improve, or at least, change status in life.

No matter what you feel, just press on!

Remember the reasons you had in mind why you wanted to change, to improve. Revisit your feelings when you first acted upon the change you want to happen. Feel your excitement and joy.

Do not limit and doubt yourself to do great things.

Ask our faithful God to guide you every step of the way.

The best change comes from God—turning your good to better, and your better to best. He is faithfully transforming us from glory to glory.

All we need to do is be willing to submit to His wonderful ways of transforming our lives. For God desires nothing but our best.

Rest on God’s unconditional love and limitless grace. How?

I. Believe in God’s Transforming Power.

                -God’s love changes us for the better, He wants us to be saved and to enjoy the gift of life

                -God’s miracle, blessings, and healing are always available each day

II. Change Your Perception of Yourself

                -God created us with inherent capabilities no matter where we came from or how we look

    -God has equipped us with necessary tools to victoriously face our refining trials

                -When God calls, He equips.

III. Look at God differently

                -God is faithful to His promises and generous to both evil and good, sinners and saints (Matthew 5:45)

                -God is understanding and considerate, that He even allowed Himself to become human for Him to experience the things that we experience as humans, even the harder and most painful things, to relate to us and inspire us

                -God was tempted like us, but he managed the temptations well by remaining obedient to God’s word and by holding firmly to His faith

IV. Desire to be Healed Totally and Completely

                -Allow God to work in our lives through and through

                -While God is healing us at one area, don’t block Him to other areas so He may also transform us there because He wants to bless us and make our joy complete

V. Be Willing to Learn

                -Seek for wisdom, hunger for knowledge and share them with others

                -Acquire new information, modify existing ones, renew your ideas and incorporate with others'

                -Have the humility to be mentored… life is an open university that is pro-students who are willing to be taught

                -There are a lot of things we don’t know that we don’t know

                -Even the greatest men in the world get help from others

                -Leaning is the result  not the simply the process of being taught of

Remember that God is giving us our situations because He has a perfect and glorious plan for each of us. When God calls us to change, let us be responsive and be confident that all things work for our best.

Resist your resistance, not God’s transformation of us.

God continuously pour forth His blessings to us even as while we are asleep. If we think we don’t receive His gifts, or we question why others are better than we are, it is because we unconsciously resist God’s blessings.

Our laziness, our procrastination, our envy, our crab-mentality… our attitude toward receiving God’s graces is the one which hinders us from enjoying them.

1. Remove your umbrella of laziness, procrastination, skepticism and catch God’s blessing with open arms.

2. Patch the holes in your lives so the blessings you catch will not leak. Constantly train and desire to improve. Focus! Be diligent . Be self-discipline. When things become part of your system, they gradually become easy and automatic… they become you!

 

3. Share the things you receive and learn. What you learn and receive triples when you share them with others because others share what they have or their learnings to you too. And the good news is, even if others don’t share what they have to you, God will bless you in other amazing ways you deserve.

Like a butterfly, we were once a crawling caterpillar unappreciated by many; then surrounded by cocoon of problems. But as we persist and do our best to move forward, our sweat and tears soften the cocoon and the hardshell that seemed to block us sheds off… then poof!

We become the most beautiful insect in the field, flying high from one flower of opportunity to another. We have just been transformed by the transforming love and grace of God, through our own desire to improve and our constant action to press on.

Surprised as we are, after the refining fire of difficulties, we are now the precious gem in the midst of the vast quagmire of struggles giving hope to others—if the once feeble person has improved and so can they!