Hit It!

It doesn't matter how big or small your foe is. What matters is how big your determination to win and how small your doubt in your capability to make it.

Arrive with a good disposition.
Kick off with a sharp service.
Play with grace.
End knowing you give your best.
Accept results with dignity.

…and always start and end with a prayer.

Whatever the weather is, wherever the action is—hard, clay, grass, or shell—if you condition your mind to win and you prepare your body to fight, the smash and the dropballs of life are not as hard to hit as you think they are.

Have a fighting heart!

Practice.

Don't play safe. Don't stagnate. Don't be overconfident.

Humble yourself in training and learn from others and from your experiences.

Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.

It doesn't matter how big or small your foe is. What matters is how big your determination to win and how small your doubt in you capability to make it.

Fight the good fight.

Play every day life's game fairly.

Listen and obey your coach. Pray to for discernment and passion to rise above every game.

Eyes on the ball—see your target clearly.
Position yourself properly before every shot—your response will go to the direction you plan.
Anticipate the ball coming—your senses will be alert serve you well.
Master the art of right timing—hit the life's smashes at the proper time, not early when you may strain yourself, not late when all you could do is hit the air.
Swing your responses with grace—rattling yourself will consume much energy, and your good form will inspire and strengthen others.
Follow through your swing—allowing your trained natural response flow full swing will make every swing, miss or hit, light to handle. Full swing… if it requires crying, grieving, celebration, then allow it and do it naturally; then return to your proper position right after you follow through within reasonable time.

Don't hit the wall. Go face the ball!
Hit—smash or drop,
Drive with grace whatever life throws at you.
As long as you fight, as long as you try, every life's match will always be worthwhile.

Never ever let life win by default. Don’t procrastinate. Don’t shrink back. Don’t mercy kill yourself.

Go, persist with a fighting and prayerful heart!

Simple Meaningful Prayer

I just want to share one of my favorite short prayers...

May this prayer give you confidence to face and enjoy each day knowing we have a God bigger than our worries :-)

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going,

I do not see the road ahead of me.

Nor do I really know myself,

And the fact that I think I am following Your will

Does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please You

Does in fact please You.

And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.

I will not fear, for You are ever with me,

And you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

Amen.

By Thomas Merton

Kenosis: Self-emptying for New Year, New Way, and New Life

New Year has become the pop time to change consciousness and ways. We refresh our lives to start anew.

We are in a “kenosis” state or “self-emptying” to make space for new habits and new blessings. We make new resolutions that we want to live by for the new year in order to achieve our new goals (or renewed goals, so to speak).

Dreams. Wishes. Resolutions. Goals. Prayers.

Everybody has new set of things to be achieved in order to enjoy a better and happier life, or simply to put life into perspective. Some focus on the aspect of career, others on love, family, studies, finance, or health.

Whatever or wherever we want to improve any time of the year, we must call on Him through whom and for whom everything is made.

Start the day with prayer and go all out with your best, and surely He will do the rest for us. Prayer reinforces our desires; excellence is what success is chasing after.

For every day of the year… Wake up gratefully. Pray faithfully. Work passionately. Decide justly. Think uprightly. Speak honestly. Respond humbly. Share generously. Go to bed joyfully—ending the day with thanksgiving and hope in heart that surely tomorrow God has more surprises and outpouring in our lives.

New year celebration is good; it brings hope and opportunity for new life.

Nevertheless, let us not discredit the fact that every day brings new hope. The good news is, we can transform our lives any day of the year! All we need is persistent prayer for discernment and determination and courage to follow the path to new life.



PS: We can enjoy and appreciate life more when we share its fruits with others. We will receive more when we empty ourselves so God can fill our lives up with more blessings, healing, and miracles. We will never lack in anything if we remain in Him and let His words remain in us and guide us (John 15:7 “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.").

the only Surrender that reaps Victory

In my few months of inactivity in the blogosphere, I experienced and discovered a lot of things (most of them great and wonderful things!) that I wish I could share them all with you in just one seating.

I am an optimistic and grateful person by nature; however, my imaginative and analytic mind occasionally weighs down my high and pumped up spirit—as my imagination causes me interruption and my analysis a paralysis. I dream and aim high, but my time bucket was leaking minute by minute.

So, I resolved to pursue my goals effectively (doing right things) and efficiently (doing things right) to achieve excellent (doing right things right) results.

With this, I immediately started to figure out where I would start and how I would sustain my progress until I achieve my goals and continue to achieving more, for His glory.

From my experiences, observation, and lessons from friends’ stories...
 ‘good preparation’ proves itself to be indispensable;
 ‘punctuality’ associates itself to victory;
 ‘constant practice’ establishes credibility even without the help of words
 ‘taming of tongue’ molds one to be wise;
 ‘gratitude and joy’ invisibly floats one up to success;
 ‘upright character’ sustains one on top;
 ‘positive thoughts and words’ amazingly change lives (yours and others);
…and most importantly,
 ‘unwavering complete faith’ in Him keeps one on the right track.

I saw how the combination of these eight works in the lives of my friends and other successful people. In God’s grace, I myself am now enjoying the harvest of my used-to-be little seed of determination to succeed… which later on turned into my fruitful tree of desire to glorify Him in whatever I do.

When He comes to your life, you will never be the same again. When you taste the rewards of His promises, you will constantly desire to glorify Him. The sweetest surrender of life, ever—completely putting your life in His hands.

Single is More

‘Single’ isn’t just a faint no-brainer word uttered by everybody… ‘Single’ is a powerful ‘feeling’ (of contentment). It ain’t just a label thrown at us by friends… ‘Single’ is a dignified ‘title’ (of blessedness) earned through genuine wisdom and patience, and sometimes through the Holy Spirit.

It just takes a good pair of grateful eyes; optimistic mind; cheerful heart; and a tireless pair of generous hands to optimize singleness to the fullest.




Whenever…

…we hear the word ‘single (oh, with her beauty and brains she’s still single?)
…we see the word ‘single’ (line for singles and line for married…shall I reveal that I’m still single given my age?)
…we utter the word ‘single’ (yes, I’m still single and ready to mingle!)

…we hear different reactions. Different people hold different opinions and feel of the word.

In our solitude moments, thinking that we are single incites various thoughts and feelings. Some may be happy, others may get frustrated. Many may feel fortunate, and still others may feel empty.

An English professor may even hold a different opinion—that ‘single’ always means one. Yes ONE! Singular. Alone. With no one. By oneself.

I’ve been to some situations of being single (Yes, different phases—committed single with boyfriend around and with boyfriend away; and uncommitted single). I also witnessed various types of being single, and I discovered that ‘single’ is, not one, and it’s does not just denote many, but ‘more’.

I had a long-time relationship. It was colorful. It felt good to have an all-time partner in doing things and also a long-distance inspiration when I had to study away from home.

However, when we broke up many things changed. I went through my own phasing of DABDA—denial, anger, bargaining, and depression. Fortunately, because of God, things happened so quickly and I was able to see what happened as a blessing in disguise. With a grateful heart, I was able to turn the situation around and use my situation—single again—as a good opportunity and foundation on which I will willingly build on more good things.

With gratitude and hope for a better everyday, wonderful things surprisingly lined themselves up to me.

There are times that we must think of separation or the act of leaving (whoever seems to leave the other) as a very good opportunity for growth. Tell youself, “I’m glad he left me because it means I can spread my wings more and soar new heights of self-improvement with and for God.”

Being single once again means knowing myself more and enjoying myself in ways greater than I can imagine. While I’m single again, I can have more time for myself, my family, my community, and my friends. All this means more opportunities to serve God.

Being single means more time doing the things I want to do and exploring more things I’ve long been wanting to explore but never had the chance to… Maximizing all this fun learning curve before I get married, or simply before another year pass me by.

Single is fun… Single is ‘more’!

My mom is also a single mother. My father died when I was 10 years old, my younger brother was 6, and my youngest brother was only 3.

Being the strong independent woman that she is, my mother is able to happily raise her three musketeers well, or so I claim.

My other brother wins in international motocross competitions and my youngest brother wins in dance competitions, among the top students in his batch, an athlete, and an officer in their school. No to mention, the two boys are more obedient to mama than their ate.

I haven’t asked my mother yet how it is to raise up three children alone. But deep inside me, a little voice tells me, “It’s hard to be a single mother. Your mother is playing two roles, a mother and a father, at the same time. She gives more—time, effort, and resources—to provide your needs. Thus, you must also give her the sweetest love and the priceless gift of ‘the-best-person-that-you-can-be’ as her reward.”

Because she’s been a really great mother to us, come all four seasons, that other people start to appreciate and look up to my mom. My father’s side of the family loves mama more and more. Other people’s appreciation becomes her strong morale booster and her children’s love and appreciation her Olympic gold medal.

Being a single parent is empowering, fulfilling, and rewarding… Being a single parent means ‘more’!

My grandmother (my father’s auntie) opted to remain single despite some suitors. Perhaps she was blessed to be single.

She happily helped in raising up her nieces and nephews…and eventually, their kids. She hopped from one house of her sibling to the next and one town to another to take good care of her getting more and more ‘children’ and bigger and bigger ‘family’.

When my father was sick, she even traveled a rough 24-hour sail just to be with my father.

My lola Miling, who died just last year, found joy all her life in serving her relatives and making us feel special and loved. In return, she received more love from relatives and even from the relatives of her in-laws.

When she died, she not only gained love and respect, but left and engraved in our hearts the important lessons of her priceless gifts of humility, kindness, and love.

‘Single’ is a fountain of abundant blessings that cannot be bought by money and power… ‘Single’ is more!

No matter what we think of whenever the word ‘single’ pops into our minds… ‘single’ always has superimposed images of ‘more’ (time, opportunities, fun, love, and the list goes on) in our imaginations.

No matter what we feel when we realize that we are single… ‘Single’ always has a power to engrave a different feel of gratitude, joy, pride, and blessedness in our hearts.

‘Single’ isn’t just a faint no-brainer word uttered by everybody… ‘Single’ is a powerful ‘feeling’ (of contentment). It ain’t just a label thrown at us by friends… ‘Single’ is a dignified ‘title’ (of blessedness) earned through genuine wisdom and patience, and sometimes through the Holy Spirit.

It just takes a good pair of grateful eyes; optimistic mind; cheerful heart; and a tireless pair of generous hands to optimize singleness to the fullest.

Single is not one, lonely idea… ‘Single’ is ‘more’ than good things, blissful feelings, and opportunities combined.

So next time you chance upon your English professor telling you that single is singular, you may answer in repartee that ‘single’ is more time, more love, and more giving and receiving. ‘More’ is never one and alone and is greater than ‘many’. Therefore, single is never alone and is greater than ‘many’.

Me. I am enjoying my life with my loved ones and friends as I prepare myself for the coming of my one true love who will one day be proud of me—that her woman has done a lot of good things for other and for God.

More so, that he can enjoy his life with his life partner and bestfriend—from plumbing and carpentry to cooking and doing the laundry; from playing chess and scrabble to playing tennis and diving; from helping ourfamilies to serving other people and God.

More Like Treasure Hunting

“Life is unfair!”

We always hear it. Your eldest sister has a voice that can put a man who drank liters of coffee to sleep. Your bestfriend is the star-for-all-season actor in your school. Your cousin is a Palanca award recipient. Your neighbor travels around the world performing the Philippine folkdances with her co-Bayanihan Dancers.

You? You can do a lot of things too! Like take charge of your yearly induction party in school. You’re the collector of noisy fees. You sing at the bathroom. You naturally make people smile by the mere way you talk. You write on your journal every night… You write every night how you want to be like those people you know who have talents and you keep on asking why life is unfair for not giving you talents, and then you suddenly crack a joke [to make an excuse], that perhaps you were just sleeping when God showered talents to His people.

Life is not unfair. It’s just about being different.

There may be people who were born with talents because their parents are both best at a certain field. But listen! Even the in-born talents evaporate when they’re not being used. They tarnish, they rust. And eventually, they decay.

There are a lot of people who aren’t born talented but emerged as the world’s best because they break away from their fear to commit mistakes, to be laughing stocks, and to fail.

Because of these people’s unwavering determination to grow and know themselves better, they explore, they try, they go out of their comfort zone. They play with people better than they are, they face failure head on, they laugh at their own mistakes, and they keep on trying to hit their target no matter how many times they’ve missed it…knowing that what matters more is the number of hits rather than the misfire.

In the process of trying and trying, they don’t know that they’ve invested time and effort already to what they’re doing… until such time that their ‘play’ is now their ‘expertise’.

Through constant practice Lebron James developed a muscle intelligence that even in a commercial shoot where he needed to miss a shot, he had to close his eyes and take roughly 10 shots before he missed one. Babe Ruth has the most number of strike outs, but he also has the most number of homeruns. The Beatles started as low key 8-hour a day local band performer in Germany before they became an international hit.

Finding our gift of talents is much like a treasure hunting—you have to dig more holes before you find the exact spot of the treasure.

We have to keep on trying so we know where we perform best, or at least find the thing we enjoy most doing and invest time and effort in it.

It all just takes a determination to say YES—to keep on trying and exploring no matter what happens around you—and your willingness to INVEST time and effort.

Finding your gift is like any other journey: 1. you discover; 2. you develop; 3. you deliver.

When you discover, you dig a hole, fail, dig another hole, make mistake, and FIND.

When you develop, you invest time and effort knowing that the sweet fruit is just ahead. At this stage, your availability is more important than your ability. Just DANCE, DANCE, DANCE or COMPUTE, COMPUTE, COMPUTE.

When you have ‘played’ well regularly, you’ll be surprised of the BIG returns of your investment come you deliver. You’ll be in awe about how big your audience is, how many projects arrive, how many invitations to perform you have.

Remember, it’s never too late to hit upon our undiscovered talents and to put them to good use, especially if we use them to bless others and to glorify God.

God doesn’t wait for you to be perfect. He is a proud Father who cheers you as you perform with your best even if your notes jump once in while, or you left foot dominates the right, or you write two-line poem in five days.

When we don’t use our in-born talents, we lose them. If we don’t put them to good use, they peter out and don’t reach their full potential.

Trust that the BEST will happen everyday if we just believe. Even our miss out with the first hole is there to bring us closer to our own talents and failures are there to improve us.

Talents, when put to good use, are built to last… no matter what your age is when you finally find it.

Life isn’t unfair after all. Now we know everything depends on us—our faith, our determination, and our execution.

Stand up! Play! Have fun!

Hope: No good thing ever dies

We watched the Oscar awardee movie Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King last weekend. I so like the plot, it is so good and realistic and the lines are wittily crafted. (Another movie to my short list of favorites).

One of the many good lines that struck me? “Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.” This is the line that Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) tells Red (Morgan Freeman) in a letter as he hopes that one day they will share the promising good life outside the prison.

The line is true in the real world, not just in movies or in books created by the ingenious human minds. We all aim for something, and we hope we receive or get it… right?

When my father died, everyday I hoped I could strengthen my mother and help her raise well my two brothers. Whenever I fall down and commit mistakes, I hope I can immediately stand up and avoid the same mistake again. Whenever I get hurt, I hope to heal myself soon, reap all the lessons the situation brings, and to have a forgiving heart so I can have peace of mind. When I’m left with couple of coins, I hope next time I will have more savings… and so on.

Everyday we are awakened, stirred up, and sustained by our hopes. As long as we live, whether we know it or not, we have our big and small hopes inside us. Without hope, our lives become meaningless… our spirit withers and eventually dies.

Yes we may still be physically present, but our minds and hearts stop working when we stop hoping.

As we hope, we are able to utilize our potentials, and even discover our untapped abilities. Our hopes enable our mortal selves to make things happen.

Once this powerful optimism and anticipation is coupled with love, whatever we hope to accomplish becomes light, easy, and fun to complete.

But once our powerful optimism and anticipation is partnered with our strong faith, God Himself becomes more compelled to bring about for us what we think are impossible.

Hope and love make us do our best. While hope and faith makes God do the rest for us.

It’s never a waste of energy to hope (ask), love (feel), and trust (faith). Just sit back and gloriously wait for what you hope for… No good thing ever dies.

Say “I’m better and wiser than that!”

Oh it’s been almost a month now since one of my, if not the only and the most, excruciating and obnoxious encounters with… let’s just say another mortal being, capable of being taunted by mundane things and giving in and leaving you hanging just like that, had passed.

To be fair though, a month before that obscene experience was the doom of our 10 years 8 months bond. Let’s just call it that way. So maybe, just maybe, for him he has now the total freedom to do whatever pleases him, whoever gets hurt or affected. End is end. Hence, so be it.

By the way, it was his personal decision to cut the strings. He welcomed me with that good news (as I see it now) the very day I arrived from a good vacation with my family back home.

Sure things were hard at first. Initially, I had a lot of questions to ask and things to say to practically almost every person in front of me, not discounting him. But I’m wiser than that… I kept my mouth shut and just rolled with the punches.

I have a good friend who stayed beside me through and through my journey in that dark tunnel of adjustment, perhaps. No no no, let’s call it… my journey along the foggy avenue of adjustment.

She never got tired of asking me how I was. That time, I didn’t feel like verbalizing all that I felt and gone through thinking that my feelings’ natural death would just be delayed.

Yes I opened up. I needed  that. But only vague ideas and only a fourth of my experiences had I unlocked.

I was already okay with seeing people or being surrounded by a friend or two. I was fine with that. I wanted to keep my mouth shut and just open up few things when my chest almost outburst.

The only One whom I was spilling everything to was my Man, my God. Whenever I felt like crying or panicking or shouting or asking a lot of things I just went to His place. The solemn Adoration Chapel has been my comfort zone and courage zone, at the same time.

His place was a couple of blocks away from home. I enjoyed every walk to the shabby chic place. As I walk I could free my mind up. I could think better and breathe comfortably. There I could think of gradually forgiving and even thanking him for what he had done to me.

Just like my easy walks, the days passed unnoticed. The keen-to-details in me knew its place. Since I told myself to train my mind, my sharp memory just operates when necessary and hibernates when becoming unhelpful.

Since day one until now, my safest and most comfortable refuge is Him. After all the pain the separation had caused me and the fast-paced, faster than a bullet train, events that really overwhelmed me, only Him gave me a total power-rest and freshing up.

Fortunately God is in the business of filling up vacuum and empty spaces in our lives.

So instead of just letting my energy fritter away and letting myself drown into the murky situation, I went to Him and decided to give up everything and to give my all as I raised the white flag.

Only when we totally, as in totally, surrender to Him all our worries and fears can He totally work into our lives—filling us up with all the strength and wisdom we need so we can turn the situation around and still be grateful about everything.

Now I see the situation as a blessing in disguise.

Early this year I sincerely and completely decided to serve Him and know Him better, by then I said we would do it together. But then we went separate ways, but it’s all fine now. Maybe if things didn’t happen two months ago, maybe by now I am still be figuring things out on how I will better serve and know Him.

In the last two months, I was always greeted by surprises each day how He revealed Himself to me… without effort, I have adjusted very well and progressed every day. It’s because as He unfolds my days, He draws me closer to Him—wraps me with the sweet protection of His word and lays me to the comfort of His unconditional love.

There are things that we tackle with friends and loved ones. But there are also things that we only discuss between Him and ourselves. Just like what Abraham did when he was asked to offer Isaac in the mountain.

I am wiser than just depend on y own strength and on mortal’s understanding.

God is asking us to give our all to Him so we can tap all our potentials, and when we feel drained that's the time He steps in so He can provide us with more of His abundance.

With all that happened, I lost one thing but gained a looooooot of great things—know myself better, closer to loved ones, opportunity to correct my mistakes, brighter and lighter life, and most importantly, the Source of all things is holding my hands tightly as I am knowing Him deeper.

Then it’s not that bad to give up some not-so-good-but-feel-good things after all, no matter how short or long we’ve been holding on to it.

That decade? Oh, it was not a waste of time. He was cooking up a good big platter of life’s best for me. Now, it’s freshly served and I’m enjoying and sharing it with you.

Oh I forgot to mention him. I think he’s now enjoying the life he's long been wanting to have (if only he had been honest with me, I could have understood him better and given him earlier what he wanted and we both could have refrained from investing into the relatioship and from hurting each other). But God knows best. He is never late. He's not in a hurry. and He's always on time.

Snapping back to my sanity, I took the courage to talk to him and I told him "I am not mad and I am wishing you well." It helped me to cope with and advance in my life better.

One thing! God is more concerned on changing YOU than changing your circumstances. He is just building your faith and perseverance as He prepares you to receive more and more blessings without getting puffed up and overwhelmed.

Level Up and Roar

There are a lot of things—both pleasant and unpleasant—in life that escape our senses from being recognized as the actual answers to the ones we had long been yearning for.

Others are undeniably good (or sometimes sugar-coated bitter gourd) that we easily discern, or claim, them as the answers to our yearnings. Some have façade that are rather unfamiliar, gloomy, scary, and sometimes pain-inducing, that just by the mere sight of them we shiver.

Nonetheless, only when we have already gone through the frontage that we come to realize that inside there is an overflowing abundance of great things that are just part of the answers to our prayers—more wonderful things are yet to come. We just have to take some courageous steps forward to experience them—God doesn’t want us to just see them from afar, but to experience them and own them ourselves.

I wouldn’t appreciate the value of challenging moments—melancholic, scarcity, chaotic—if had easily thrown my hands up and go back to my comfort zone.

Because of those moments I now see things more beautifully; I have more patience to wait; I have more energy and reasons to inspire myself to keep going; I become happier; and I don’t easily get worried nor easily get mad.

Certainly life has become brighter and lighter for me.

In times of surrendering things, I wouldn’t realize the genuine and wonderful freedom I am entitled to have, which I enjoy right now, if I tied myself to a certain sugar-coated, glazed with honey and strawberry uninteresting routine. I could have blinded myself and regret my life years before I pass.

If I didn’t take bold steps forward perhaps until now I am stuck with round-about questions and deceptively see the putrid fantasy as the nirvana, when in fact it is just the distorted shadow of reality.

Life is much much more meaningful than my own fancy, than the life in the cave.

It’s a wonderful feeling for once in my life I have my own time and I don’t have to worry about someone or something else before the right time when I will forever be committed. It’s nice if I can responsibly freely do whatever I want to do which I could no longer enjoy when I grow old because it may no longer be inappropriate for my age. It’s wonderful to break free to give other people and other hobbies importance than just focusing my energy and time to one person or thing.

It’s beneficial to note that without the uncomfortable feeling induced by the unfamiliar façade, I wouldn’t be able to clearly see and optimize my ‘built-in healer’ [of emotional and physical infirmity] and to realize more fully the essence of ‘enjoying and loving ourselves in generous and humble manner first so when our happiness and love overflow we can reach and touch more and more people.

Now I see it better…

Good thing I wasn’t specific with my prayer that time, when I was still unripe and a cab asking God for happier life, more meaningful moments, and enjoyable youth. I wasn’t specific because I wasn’t sure if I was genuinely happy with where I was. Now, I have unlocked my life for and welcomed more loved ones.

The deepest fibers of my humanity have now been awakened to enjoy the reality, no matter how sour or spicy they get.

If I didn’t break free and didn’t take bold moves, I would certainly catch myself right now sitting on the corner still bargaining for more interesting and meaningful life—I mean the one which is anchored to His word and has limitations, for only when you know your boundaries that you can actually act in liberty.

When things are really not meant to be, the more you try to fix things, all the worse and complicated things get.

It’s amazing that God gives us a birth right to be constantly in molding process until we become who He intends us to be. No matter how painful the process is, He keeps on pouring us strength and wisdom. No matter how many times we turn our back from Him because of pain, He keeps on coming back to our heart just to give us our gift of eternal wonderful life.

Like a potter, God constantly moves and tosses things until we become the kind of person He shaped us to be and until we receive the ever-wonderful life He designed us to have.

It only takes a faith like a mustard seed that flourishes into a humongous tree of enlightenment and victory for us to enter into the paradise He prepared for us.

At last, like a cab turning into  lion I have transcended the hill of the unfamiliar feat and now roaring triumphantly on the peak of the mountain of victory.

Difficult beginning is not that bad after all

Some people say, ‘beginning is always difficult.’

It may be true… but now I believe that it’s always relative with one's perspective, with one's priorities, with one's strength, with one's wisdom, and most especially, with how much one trust God’s abundance.

In times when we are surprised by circumstances, we may become more vulnerable or we may become indifferent. When unwanted things happen deliberately, we can be prepared to face everything or we can be resistant to what we know will happen next and plot our counteraction to protect our egos.

Others say live life like Teflon, wherein you just let things slide off. No sticking to the situation nor persons. Some may advise us to get on our knees, close our eyes, clasp our hands together, and pray sincerely.

Whichever we decide to follow, in the end it’s still up to us to decide how we will let external factors affect us and how we will live our lives moving forward.

Me, being a person who distinguishes special from general or common (why is there such a word 'special' after all?), there are persons and circumstances that I treat like a Teflon and there are things which I willingly endure and joyfully see difficulty as a sandpaper or a coal-transforming-to-a-diamond until their accompanying pain and pressure come to their natural end, believing that through my strong faith in Him I will attain progress everday and through my sincere prayer God will overflow His abundance upon me.

I’m surprised that now even though I still randomly feel the pain brought a specific subject, I just see it as part and parcel of the necessary process for me to gradually achieve my full potential and experience the wonderful life at its best.

We just have to believe that through our good stance about life, we can heal our own selves through the help of God and the prayers of our loved ones. Truly our trials are just avenues for miracles to happen in our lives.

Now I can say that difficult beginning is a premise for a sweet surrender towards a wonderful and blessed life. Let’s perk up our cheerful hearts and open our grateful eyes!

When pain becomes a tool...

As human beings, we are capable of being hurt and of hurting others—deliberately or not. Our emotions prod our imaginations to create various things in our minds that almost burst our thought bubbles. Sometimes our emotions stir us to plan things that we don’t normally think of.

In times like this, it is most appropriate to pause, breathe deeply, and close our eyes for a moment… not thinking of anything. Then poof! Jump back to reality, and tell ourselves, “I’m not okay, but I know I can bear all this. I am bigger than the situation and I have a God of abundance. Wonderful things are on their way to me now.”

I have been hurt a lot of times. By people I value. By strangers. By circumstances. By objects. And even by myself. There are millions of reasons why we get hurt—sometimes because hurt is inflicted upon us and at times because our own pride creates it for us.

The good news is, whatever the reason why we get hurt is, we can always go to family and friends and solicit words of encouragement; and we can always spin around the situation 360° by turning to God and listening to his word. Only the word of God can provide us real confidence and security as we journey through life everyday.

Family and friends are heaven sent to accompany us and walk with us, while God is our light and our safe destination.

Just recently, I have been hurt by the person I valued most in ways and degree unthinkable. I struggled to stand up again after I fell down. I staggered. I faltered. But only when I decided to bring everything to Him and let His hands hold me tightly as I walked down Trial Avenue did I found courage, freedom, and real happiness in the middle of difficulty. I managed to have a cheerful heart and a pair of grateful eyes knowing that everything will be fine and something great is being cooked for me, I just have to wait.

Between the beginning and the end (when I already fully understood ‘it’s over when it’s over’), I’ve been playing tug-of-war with anger, bitterness, and indifference—which I believed was the best gameplan, but was just so hard to execute.

I left our longstanding paradise which straight away turned into haunted house for me. I walked away declaring to myself I was no longer mad. I bid goodbye and said, ‘I’m not mad and I wish you well.’ Nonetheless, I could still feel in the deepest fiber of my humanity the pushing-and-pulling of the tiny pinch of deep-seated resentment and of love, which I homed for more than a decade at the core of the layers and layers of the protective shell of my heart.

Finally, after two months of restless night and days and glorious days of constantly finding refuge and comfort from Him, I told myself ‘I could decide better than make myself be soaked in the toxins of anger and bitterness’ and ‘I can do better than being indifferent.’

Believing that now is the perfect time for things to fall into their places, I mustered all of my courage and held my emotions together as I decided to face the person and the situation head on—sheathed with faith in God and driven by a forgiving heart.

We talked heart-to-heart. Courteously took turns to talk. Listened intently. Admitted our pains. Declared our forgiveness.

I begged that we not just dwell on the things that have hurt me and I admitted that I’m still wounded. I re-assured the person by finally acknowledging my ace... that I never blamed the person—he hurt me but I immediately saw God’s hand in the situation. I kept it from the person thinking that the he may just feel good about what he did and move forward without even a tiny bit of remorse.

At last, I’ve broken the shell of my deep-seated pains… I totally let go of everything I kept about us—both love and hurt. I’ve had loved him in the face of sweet joy and in the face of hurt. I accepted him and forgave him time and again. I’ve loved him in his worst and in his best.

Now I’m letting God to be totally in control of the situation, believing my place of desperation is just His way of making me stronger, wiser, and more prepared to receiving His truly wonderful blessings.

Subsequent to our talk, I felt relieved and happier... It's a wonderful feeling if you don't hold on (too long) to your negative feelings and thoughts just because you were hurt--deliberately or not. It takes courage and willingness to face it, and even discuss it with the person who offended you. But in the end, you just don't help and free the person, but also yourself.

Now I can say, our emotions and circumstances are just God’s tools in awakening and strengthening our faith in Him—the key to releasing His power and abundance over our lives.

After more than a decade of believing God has blessed me with a great gift, which is him and the life we shared, now I see and understood more clearly that those 10 years and eight months of good life is just His preparation for our sweet surrender to God and far better life.

God uses our emotions to hone us into our better versions… we just need to keep moving forward and stay focused on our destination, which is God’s sweet blessings and embrace.

Now I remind myself, ‘Don't toss away your sight from the shattered pieces of glass that pierced your feet... Pack the fragments in the small chamber of your memory to serve as your roadbook and sweet wound memento as you take your journey to the paradise, and never let them annoy and hurt others you will be with like how it hurt you.’