TODAY SHOULD BE OUR MOST WONDERFUL DAY

I had a cousin who would give me that stern look whenever she’d see me laze around the house, her house by the way (I stayed with them in the city while I was job hunting) savoring the moment. But of course the chores were all done (my share of the day’s routine) and it felt good that there was nothing left to do after. But she just couldn’t take it seeing me so content and happy with the moment enjoying myself. She may have thought me quite weird perhaps and in the same manner I thought she was weird too for not appreciating her day comfy and worry-free.

Well, okay I wasn’t always like that. It was some wisdom which came to me a bit later through my struggling years. I used to be the kind who would fret and worry over the slightest mishap or teeny-weeny irregularity in the day. Always was anticipating doom or catastrophes to happen and never could believe that there was something good in the day to celebrate or be happy about. Nor had the right to enjoy that either.

Can you believe that? Gee, I must have been difficult to live with – difficult for others, difficult to myself. Either way you look at it was one sorry losing game.

What made it even more unappealing (to put it lightly) were the people around me. They made me feel that life should be spent scurrying to-and-fro in pursuit of ambition… that I had no right to ease up a bit and smile while struggling for the coveted goal. They made me feel bad not to be working ASAP and guilty that I sought respite briefly from struggling to rest my weary heart and bones. Their idea of success was lopsided as I later on learned -- a lofty title, a juicy job offer, material wealth, membership in exclusive clubs, driving a big car, owning a house with 5 -6 bedrooms. And that it doesn’t matter if you have to work yourself dry to the bones doing it. Yes, I know that too is success – material success. But mom, I remember, told me long ago after my graduation that whatever it is that I so love doing and is good at -- is called success. And that being successful on my own terms is more satisfying than one based or built on other people’s standards

.

That sure helped me see things in a better light and eased the burden of proving myself in the shortest possible time pronto. I then learned to sit back and relax, to enjoy family and friends, to celebrate occasions, to seek out the good in the day and every day, to like just being me and alive, to appreciate my achievements big or small, to look around me and savor the lovely things of nature, to romp around with my pets, and to be grateful to a magnificent God who made all these happen.

"If we are ever to enjoy life, now is the time, not tomorrow or next year. 

 Today should always be our most wonderful day." -- Thomas Dreier

Wow! Get a load of that quote. I like it. I think that would effectively remove the feelings of guilt most people have in wanting to enjoy life – today. C'mon, do it -- enjoy your day TODAY! It should be our most wonderful day. Everything that is worth doing is in our today, not tomorrow or next year. When you do it over and over and over --- soon you will have made for yourself 365 WONDERFUL days. And so much more! :-)

LIFE ONE STEP AT A TIME

Those years when I was a struggling fresh-from-school kid armed with nothing but my dreams, life became another school – a school of hard knocks. Knocking on company doors and trying to keep my neck above the swirling waters of a difficult life at the same time was no easy task. Most times I felt that everything just stood still --- perceived no movement no matter how much I tried. It was more like progress got farther and farther from my grasp and the hurdles just got bigger and bigger. The goal more elusive than I thought it was.

Until one day, I learned to step back (well, I was feeling miserable and close to giving up) and decided to take a good long hard look at how I was doing with my perceived feeble efforts. Only then did I finally get to see that I was doing some progress after all, small as they may have been in part and portions, but progress it was. Progress! And those small advancements or movements added up to one big achievement that finally got me to the top closer to my goal.

A ladder, whatever its kind and size, has rungs or steps we put our foot on alternately to get to the top. Such too is the so-called ladder of life. It is the ladder of life we’re climbing with our dreams, ambitions, and aspirations and we do it one step at a time or one rung after the other. And if you’re smart, you will step back once in awhile and check how you’re doing. You’ll be rewarded with the fact that you have made progress as you see yourself higher and farther from the bottom rung you started with.

So this is what it means, that without losing sight of your goal you take on the hurdles one at a time, one step at a time, and one day at a time. You can’t bunch them all in one big duffel bag and strap it over your back and trek down the road less traveled with its weight, so to speak. It will surely wear you down even before getting half way down the road or up the ladder of life. You’ll be giving up sooner than you should you’ll soon enough discover.

Learn to be kind to yourself. Pushing yourself too hard will only serve to dry you up quickly and sooner. Pace yourself and give yourself credit for whatever you have accomplished, big or small. Don’t let distractions or problems derail you – keep on track, move slowly but surely. One thing at a time is the way to go.

"If you're climbing the ladder of life, you go rung by rung, one step at a time. Don't look too far up, set your goals high but take one step at a time. Sometimes you don't think you're progressing until you step back and see how high you've really gone." -Donny Osmond

So what's your story. I'm sure you have one to share :-) Let's hear about it.

WHEN GOD TAKES YOU THROUGH THE FIRE, IT'S FOR A REASON

It is quite strange that when stuck in a serious difficulty and you feel that everything around you has crumbled down and you think that you don't have it anymore to make it through...... that God stubbornly nudges you forward whispering in your ear ' you can do it! ' Somebody tell me just how can anyone come out of the same situation I found myself in a week ago? Mentioned the situation in the previous blog. Have you ever created something out of nothing?? No? I have... proudly I can say that I have. It's nothing new cos many have done it before me with the same amount of success or maybe perhaps even more. It's neither weird stuff cos we read it in the papers or hear it in first hand experiences narrated in group chats among friends. But this I'll tell you, there is only one hope and one truth that you should ever know.. the rest are simply embellishments to it.

This is that if you believe in a god --- rejoice that you do! Because this one God you believe in is your sole savior - protector - shield - defense - healer - provider in every or all of the challenges of your life, big or small. When everything else fails, God is there. When your own strength in which you have always took pride and confidence in also is no comfort or refuge --- God moves things and people to come to your rescue and relief.

Do you know that everything belongs to God and that he can use all of it for your concern or welfare? Do you know that everything are simply instruments in God's holy hands and can be sent out to do what he wills at any time of day or night? Do you know that not all your brilliance or titles or knowledge or intelligence or power or wealth can work out the miracles you would one day desire for yourself or your loved ones? Believe me, that day will come to everyone as it did to me (fact is, my family and I are 'veterans' lol). :-)

If you don't know that yet.... you'll be in for some tough lessons. Lessons which will lead you to your own spiritual growth and maturity. Oh but don't let that intimidate or overwhelm you. But I'll tell you honestly it can be scary and lonely. Although the process could leave you bruised in your heart and soul... it's all for a good cause -- God's good cause for you!

You see, God wants his children to grow and to enjoy a deep relationship with him, not just the morning and evening prayer kind of relationship. He wants to take you to a point when you can comfortably share your joys and sorrows with him unembarrassed and fearlessly. He doesn't want to be on a pedestal with you simply looking up and honoring him... he wants to be right there beside you journeying with you through this short speckled life on earth. He wants you to receive him as a Father Brother and Friend.... and all other roles you may want him to be in the varying challenging moments of life and living. And the only way to make you come to that privileged point --- is to make you experience the process leading to it.

Like gold is passed through the fire to polish it, you and I will go through difficulties to hone our faith and trust in him. Be assured that we will come out at the end of the tunnel shining in our true light and glory as pure gold does after the furnace.

God bless you!

YOU CAN BE GREAT

A man isn’t if he doesn’t have at least one burning desire or dream or ambition in his heart. Without it you simply exist and not live as you should.

I have a dream, it’s a tiny one kept here in my heart. It’s been there for many years and maybe many more I don’t know. But what I do know is that this tiny spark within keeps me focused on one bright hope that someday I may yet have that dream come true. So my everyday becomes a trek towards it. But there are no illusions set on that journey because I know very well that it’s not a smooth paved road I’ll be traveling on. I’ve been told that all roads leading to one’s dream is always beset with stones, gravel, steep hills, thick bush, and strange creatures lurking on the side. Of course you know that I’m referring to the difficulties and hurdles one usually come across on that road less traveled. But that’s okay; I will take it one stone, one hill, one bush, and one strange creature at a time. It may hurt me some and may even be coming out of it much battered and bruised but… as long as I keep my feet standing above ground and not buckling under, I promise that I will be slugging my way through and up. Time? Oh I don’t know for how long but even if it would take all of my life working towards a dream, you will still find me there throwing my best punches till the sun sets so very tired of me. :-)

You see, life is primed for making things tough for us. Primed but we know for a definite reason and we’ve taken this up in earlier blog posts. But if we learned our lessons well and take the bull by its horn, tough times certainly can’t hurt us. We remove its capacity to hurt us by taking charge of our life instead of meekly following behind hanging on to its tail.

There are many I see around me doing the good fight. They trudge on in many diverse roads and in creative ways that would shame a lazy bum simply content watching on the sidelines. And if that wasn’t enough, these unproductive dark creatures would taunt or belittle the efforts put in by those who strive and struggle to make their dreams come true..

I’ll put my foot down on that one. Don’t let those types block you from taking that road and making good progress. But remember too not to fall into the trap of reacting to them on that same turf they’re operating on – negativity. Better yet stay clear out of their way; leave them where they want to stay and where they belong in their own dark realm of unenlightened understanding of life’s rules and laws, one of which is that ‘in life you move with the flow of the universe… or be left sorely behind’. And if you have the mind for it, use their negativity to fuel your fire or drive to push you farther and faster towards your goal. Funny but sometimes it works that way – a slight irritation can push you out of there quicker in a way working to your good advantage.

And to those you make it through to its successful end… great job, great YOU!

“Keep away from those who try
to belittle your ambitions.
Small people always do that,
but the really great make you believe
that you too can become great.”
(Mark Twain)

STOP AWHILE TO ENJOY HAPPINESS

Let’s try something which many of us tend to overlook. Think about this… don’t we often complain how unhappy we are – how miserable, gloomy, forlorn, sad, wretched, heartbroken, hopeless, or bleak life is? Well, I do. Yeah, maybe it’s normal and everybody goes through something like that sometime. But...

Imagine yourself going about your day with a long face or a boring expression or with a lifeless look in your eyes… and… your feet feeling like a ton of bricks. Have you noticed too how you are affecting those around you or people who happen to cross your path in that day? Notice what comes out of your mouth when you talk – negative static and unenthusiastic talk? Sense people slowly steer themselves away from you or put in a marked distance between you and them?

Unhappiness causes all that. But unhappiness is not the cause of your feeling that way. You don’t say that you are that way because you are unhappy. But rather that you are unhappy because something going on is not right with you or in your life and this in turn is causing you some misery.

That something may be failed expectations, disappointments, loss, grief, broken promises, betrayals, or even a status quo where you had hoped there would be some movement or progress.

But it’s not healthy.

The thing that we should note is that we have full control over it. Two things we can do --- one is to stay or wallow in misery and the other is… to decide to pluck some bits of joy in our midst or from within ourselves.

Life does not offer us a basket of difficulties alone believed by most of us. But it offers us a good mix of both joy and sorrow. It’s right there in the same basket. All that we must do is learn to do some picking for stuff which would make us happy. You’ll be surprised to know that often those things are the trivial bits around us which we often ignore or neglect –

a lovely sunrise, a poignant sunset, the cool drops of rain, intriguing cloud formations, the deep blue skies, a bud transformed into a beautiful flower, a statuesque tree silhouetted against the sky, tree tops dancing in the wind, gurgling waters flowing merrily down the stream, a baby’s small fingers clutching your thumb, the deeply lined face of a bent elderly woman smiling at you, the gentle hearts of good friends, the love of your family, the adoring eyes of your sweetheart, a rainbow in the sky, or God’s treasure of blessings pouring down into your day and life -- And many more.

Have you ever stopped to enjoy these things? There is no reason to be unhappy for long. Maybe you will for awhile as the unpleasantness of that something is touching your life, but not for long because you can change your attitude towards it and turn your negative feelings into one of wise tolerance and acceptance and understanding. This will help you see things in a much better light and even feel appreciation for the presence of good and better things in the midst of misery. Happiness therefore is already there for your easy picking, if you would only stop awhile to see it and enjoy it.

Plenty of people miss their share of happiness,
not because they never found it,
but because they didn’t stop to enjoy it.

–William Feather