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

Rewind and Refuel

We all have dreams. Dreams are for free! And sometimes, we want them so badly that we pray for them night and day.

Dream job, ideal relationship, comfortable house, car... Whatever we dream of, they all have one thing in common--excitement!

All our dreams excited us at one point. And there must be a good reason why we work hard to achieve them, why we can't sleep just thinking about them, why we pray for them, and so on.

However, there are moments when we already have them our excitement dwindles and we gradually take them for granted.

A friend once told me, "I once dreamt to land on this job. Now that I got it, I am not sure if I am still happy." Another friend said, "I was head-over-heels with my girl, and she is till the lovely lady I fell in love with, but the spark has gone."

What steals our attention and feelings? Our perspective.

Just like a camera lens, when we're out of focus, our visions blur making us overlook the details and reasons that brought us to that subject.

Revisit the times when you were hungering for that dream you have now fulfilled. List down the reasons why you wanted it so badly, and from there, press on those items everyday so you are always reminded of the reasons that once fueled you to achieve and move upwards toward that goal.

Do not forget your start off point. Instead, make it a platform for you to reach your next destination. Otherwise, you'll be stuck with your first pitstop all your life and will go round the rotund whining and ranting.

It's much easier to push your dreamcart up the hill, than pull it forward in the plain.

Revisit. Focus! Anchor your attention to where your heart started off. Then move forward to your next destination with the recall of the things that excited you... And capture every turn, detour, checkpoint, people you hitchhike as you journey to your next pitstop [dream].

Don't let any distraction steal your momentum!

Align your viewfinder. Focus. Capture!

Rewind. Revisit feelings. Refuel! ...and dream again, and achieve it!

When Smiling Does a Lot and Silence Says More

"...we shouldn't be angry at the people who use, curse, ridicule, or betray us. Instead, we must pray for them because they might be undergoing something we don't know. They might be deeply wounded or confused or lost."


Many of us are familiar with the itching provocative feeling when a friend or a relative uses us for his/her advantage. I myself have my own fair share of such stories.

I am naturally an expressive and frank person. But there are just those moments when I simply choose to just smile and be silent no matter how hurtful or provoking the circumstance is.

I believe it is God working inside me. It isn't my normal response then--either I talk with the person in private or I would be indifferent because of pride.

I have been betrayed by a close friend when we were in high school. She used my name for her to get what she wanted and even tried to stain my reputation by giving statements that she said was from me. I was totally clueless. Good thing, another friend who knows me so well thought that she was so sure I couldn't be involved in that situation and told me about it. Another instance was when another close friend used my name to cover up her situation. She looks naive and sweet, nobody would ever think that it was really her who did such thing--and with my outgoing, outspoken, extrovert personality, everybody would think it was me who's the suspect.

The particular things they did to me were so provoking that I wanted to confront them flat to their faces. But I opted not to. I didn't know what was going on inside me that I preferred not to defend myself; rather, I chose to just smile, just be silent, and pray for prudence and peace that I urgently need.

Time passed. Now I realized situations of same the nature—provoking, tormenting, hurting, and saddening—happen in our lives so we may appreciate even more the support of our families, who as sure as the sun will rise will emerge and console us; know our true friends; receive the grace of self-discipline; and obtain emotional maturity and strength in character in the midst of torrents of feelings running through our veins.

I learned tonight from a Bible reflection that we shouldn't be angry at the people who use, curse, ridicule, or betray us. Instead, we must pray for them because they might be undergoing something we don't know. They might be deeply wounded or confused or lost.

If we truly want to see ourselves as people who are living upright lives (that we even assess our projected integrity), then we must start from within and take the upward steps of forgiveness and understanding to make it real and meaningful.

Whenever people put you down or pick holes in you, just smile. Forgive even if you don't understand why. In your quiet moment, understanding from heaven will descend upon you. Then, your silence will radiate the peace that you hold and will speak to the heart of the one who hurt you in ways you cannot imagine, because God will work it out for you if you just surrender the situation to Him.

PS:

As King David said in 1 Sammuel 16: 11-12 , "Leave him alone; let him curse for the Lord has told him to. It may be that the Lord will see my distress and repay me with good for the cursing I am receiving today."

In Psalm 3:3-5 David says, "You are a shield around me, O Lord; You bestow glory on me and lift up my head. To the Lord I cry aloud, and he answers me from His holy hill. I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the Lord sustains me."

In Psalm 4:4 David says, "In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds search your hearts and be silent."

Small Act Makes a Big Story!

Many amazing and great things come from small stuff or done by small things.

A tiny ant can carry scraps ten times its weight.

A mosquito bite can make the tallest, heaviest, brightest, or even the cutest guy sick.

A few centimeters of smile can bring sunshine to a gloomy day.

In the same way, you can make the entire story of your life great by starting small—choose one habit!

Yes, only one… and your entire life will change. Your future will be big!

The smallest gestures often have the humongous impact on our biggest goal! That simple gesture of kindness, note of thank you, uncomplicated "sorry", smile, slight adjustment, small talk, extra minute, etc. That certain habit we are focusing on at a specific time, in a greater or lesser degree, can bring us to our biggest star.

Start now! Write the story of your life! Don’t wait for life itself to make your own story for you.

Easy! Dream big. Start small.

 1.  “Draft” the story of the life you love by selecting one habit. (Yes, one at a time).

2.  Make your “table of contents” by mapping out the impacts it can bring to your life. Know your purpose and make a plan.

3. Move forward by creating your “introduction” or your 30-day vow with yourself. Be determined. Dedicate your time, attention, and effort in building your “introduction” which makes up the sturdy foundation of your story (desired life). Path on a grassland is made by walking on the same tall grass regularly.

4. Write every “page” with passion and honesty. Practice the habit daily. If you miss a day, go back to day one. (Of course you want to move forward). Fuel your motivation with your passion.

Our passion provides reasons and justifications for our desires. (You see a pair of red stilettos in a storeè the red stilettos make you happyèI will buy this pair of red stilettosèhundreds of because…/ Your crush tells you your fat and he likes slim ladiesèyou feel embarrassedèyour embarrassment becomes your motivation to lose weightèother reasons why you think must lose weight/ You grew up in a squalid hutèyou were belittled by a classmate and you know the discomfort living in a squalid hutèwhat you felt becomes your motivation to work and save for comfortable houseèyou find many other reasons to work and save)

5. Do your “writing activity at your most productive time”. Schedule it on a specific time. This prevents you from resorting to the destructive mañana or the do-it-later habit.

6. Make your “story dynamic”. Replace the old habit with a better or more productive activity. Don’t be stuck with the story on page one. This helps you move away from the past. (You want to flip through pages with story to tell, right?)

7. “Study the story (habit)”. Proofread. Research! Ask! Read! Talk about it with friends. This helps you fine tune and asses your story, your life.

8. Lastly, “support it!” Sell the idea to friends! They can serve as your watchdog and, at the same time, your inspiration to keep going. They can be your prayer warriors.

When your effort snowballs as each day passes by, you will have more and more motivation to keep going and have more and more reasons to change. When your effort snowballs, your target become bigger and bigger and clearer and clearer.

There is no limit to how high, big, and wide we can reach! Just be dedicated to take one step at a time; reach a little higher; go an extra inch; and stay a minute longer.

Small goes a long way!

PS: Let us pray persistently in order that we enjoy the life we desire. Spur one another on toward love and good deeds. We can be confident that He will listen to us whenever we ask Him for anything in line with His will. And if we know He is listening when we make our requests, we can be sure that He will give us what we ask for. Our loving and faithful God wants the best for us.

The Power of 'Pure'

Purity could mean a lot of things. But in Christian parlance, it simply means GIVING YOUR 100% TO GOD!

Yes. “Simply!” Just three steps.

God simplified things for us so we can all enjoy the best gifts He prepared for us.

Firstly, PRAY EVERY MOMENT (1 Thessalonians 5:17). God is a loving Father and zealous friend. He wants to be constantly in touch with us. What is it you want to happen? Tell Him! With a trusting and grateful heart, claim your prayer! Make it your mantra. Everything is possible for him who believes (Mark 9:23). Pray anytime, anywhere, whatever you’re doing. God doesn’t care. He is everywhere (Psalm 139:7).

Secondly, SUBMIT IN EVERY AREA. Zacchaeus the tax collector (Luke 19:1-10) and Peter the persecutor (Acts 9) received salvation even before they practically submitted their ways to God. All they did was simply sought Jesus and said ‘yes’ to Him. The rest was Jesus’ love working in their lives. God knows what is best for us. The easiest and most convenient way for us to receive and enjoy the His blessings is to submit ourselves to Him. Let us not cheat and deprive ourselves of God’s gift of amazing life.

Thirdly, LOVE IN EVERY ACT (1 Corinthians 16:14). We hold the ultimate key to an amazing life. The key to heaven and earth is within us—love is within us! God commands us to love Him above all and love our neighbors as ourselves, and we will live (Luke 10:27)! Love even the most unlovable persons. Love is the mother of all great feelings; it can transform any hard rock into a soft ball of cotton candy; it is the main concoction to successful relationships; it is the ultimate power that heals. If your love is not reciprocated, rejoice still! You will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous (Luke 14:14). Nothing is wasted in love. In the end, the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love (Galatians 5:6).

Purity of heart is best manifested in the action of someone who knows no one is looking—except God. Purity of heart breeds the positive feelings of peace, gratitude, and love—the force at work behind every miracle, blessing, and healing.

The ‘Hiling’ Ministry

Temple, church, house of God… whatever our religious affiliations are, many of us see the Supreme Being’s abode as a place for two confused things: ‘healing’ and ‘hiling’.

Whenever exam season comes, we visit His place to ask for knowledge and good memory. During financial crises, we go to His house, no matter what time of the day, to beg for sources of income. If we need to restore balance in our lives, we long to feel the serenity of His house so we can ask for His guidance. When we think we already see the love of our lives, we go to church to ask for signs from Him to validate our feelings or instructions on how to get close to our object of admiration.

We don’t run out of things to ask for… well, that’s good! It’s better to come before our Supreme Being and ask for His grace and guidance rather than just relying on our own understanding and strength.

Besides, it is said (for Christians), “Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened.” Yes! The promise that we will be blessed.

Me, whenever I go to the church for sure I am asking my God for something—good health, peace of mind, discipline, discernment, strength, among other things that almost everybody wishes for.

The thing is, many of us when we go to our churches, temples, house of God, or however you may call it, we always go there ‘asking’ for our hearts’ desires then leave thereafter.

Many of us see these infrastructures as places for wishes. And when we don’t get our wishes after arduous asking, we get mad and blame Him.

We sometimes tend to overlook the meaning of what He said, “Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened.” By this, He wants us to ‘ask, seek, and knock’. Meaning, He wants us to do our part, with our best probably, and he will do the rest for us.

Sometimes, we are even asking for things contrary to His plans for us. Thus, when our hearts become persistent to what they want and we grant our wishes with self-made answers (we go ahead of God’s answers); all the more He also becomes persistent in pursuing His plans for us and keep us back on the right course… to complete the best plan of all, in accordance to his glorious riches and best timeframe.

There are also times when He already answered our prayers, but we just don’t notice them because we are so focused on something else—on what we want.

In times of waiting or blindedness, we don't even tell Him, "God, I already labored with everything and did my best. I have hit blank walls. Whatever you want me to do, reveal it to me and I will follow." Faith. Yes, faith! Asking to increase our faith.

Moreover, there are also times when He wants us to wait and persevere so we can learn and grow from our circumstances first as He prepares us for our premium blessings.

When we feel tired from praying and waiting, we blame Him, we go away forgetting that He loves us and all He wants for us is the best, and only the best.

On the other hand, in pleasant times when our wishes have been granted and when our pains or difficulties ebb already, our gratefulness to him simultaneously recedes… then proceed to another ‘hiling’.

We focus more on our own wants, desires, and needs that we already forget the other equally important actions we must offer Him whenever we visit his abode or even just while spending exclusive time with Him somewhere else.

When we intentionally visit His house, we immediately proceed to ‘supplication’ or ‘hiling’, skipping offering Him praises (adoration), asking for forgiveness (contrition), expressing our gratitude (thanksgiving), and sometimes, allotting quiet time to listen to Him.

We are so active on asking and asking and asking… and we can stay awake on our knees until dawn just to ask. But we don’t get shy come thanksgiving time. We just thank Him in two minutes—dashing like in the last two minutes of a hoops playoff.

Now, as we already mastered the ministry of ‘hiling’, we can now start learning and mastering (with just the same zeal) adoration, repentance, thanksgiving, and listening to Him. And perhaps, we are now ready to explore other ministries so we can better serve Him as we become His instruments in blessing others and as we become blessed through others.