PROBLEM-FREE IS NOT WHAT LIFE IS ALL ABOUT

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Whenever I hear these words from someone... anyone... something inside of me gets riled up by such a remark.....
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'Buti ka pa maganda ang tagbo ng buhay mo; alang problema. Ako isang katutak ang dinadala.' -- 'You're having a good life going for you -- no problems at all. I got tons on my shoulder.'
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Oh yes, before Mom knocked some sense into me I admit using those same crazy lines with my close friends who were seen enjoying their perceived share of life's good pie ...and eating it with gusto! I moaned.. bewailed.. anguished about my sorry lot as compared to theirs. Mom then would bonk me on the forehead and say...
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'Baliw! Sa tingin mo hindi sila dumaan sa mga pagsubok?' -- 'Silly! And you think they didn't go through their own struggles too?'
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She taught me what she knew about life... and I learned about it too firsthand when the time came that it was my turn to journey down the same road.
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Pardon me but I must be honest. It makes me seethe in anger albeit silently. Because I cannot truly understand why anyone should envy those who they perceive to be enjoying a good life or perceive to be problem-free. Problem-free is farthest from the truth.
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Allow me my thoughts.....
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I have learned that life is not a bed of roses... never... no matter who you are-where you are-what you are. Nothing is ever handed to you on a silver platter. Even to those who were born rich will come times when difficult decisions or choices will need to be made in hoping to define a desired future. Believe me, making such decisions will surely knock your brains out and weary your hearts.. unless if you're made of steel. But who amongst us is made of steel?!!
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Struggles, trials, tests, difficulties, challenges or whatever else people may call it are the regulars on life's menu list. But unlike in a food restaurant you can't get to pick your favorites. Life, the chef, disregards personal likes or dislikes or preferences. Instead it has set down an array of dishes which it believes you will need. So the bottom line is it's what you need and not what you want that you'll get. The objective which we now get to understand is seemingly your growth and development. This then, I believe, is the true leveler of men. We are all asked to grow. That, too, is by God's design.

VICTORY IN OUR STRUGGLES

 

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March 29, 2015 - PALM SUNDAY
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Palm Sunday commemorates Jesus Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, according to Christian belief. It marks the beginning of Holy Week and always falls on the Sunday before Easter Sunday. (Unquote)
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Some of my friends say this about its significance in our lives seeing it through their own eyes of understanding i.e. it gets better first before it gets worse... joy always comes with pain... the alternating good and bad, etc.
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If you look at those lines and then look hard into your life, you could say that it's true... negatively true. In some of our life experiences we do get to have a taste of the unsinkable duo -- joy and pain. Then too we ride high on good times and in the next beat of the heart plunge down to the bottom as misfortunes assail us unexpectedly and mercilessly. Just like the highs and the lows of a roller coaster ride. Yup, that's life.
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But it doesn't end there. My friends' interpretation of the significance of Palm Sunday is a half-picture view of the full glory of Jesus' final walk on earth. They could only see the pain and misery of His journey and the sad end on the cross. What they may have missed is that the story continues and ends in full glory. Glory......... magnificence! That magnificence is in Jesus' finishing his job of winning our salvation and winning his rightful seat at the right hand of the Father.
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We're free... sinless! Until our free will (both a blessing and a bane) pulls it down to erratically sin-no sin conditions on this planet. Now....... it's our turn to fight our battles to get back our old glory. A battle being fought everyday... nonstop.
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So I guess the story of Palm Sunday tells us that there is victory over our struggles in life. Small victories or big ones.... victories coming in-between the beginning and the end of our own stories... or victories waiting at the end of our journey.
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Victory. Hope. Faith.
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A blessed Palm Sunday to everyone!
God bless you.

THINGS CAN EITHER MAKE OR BREAK YOU - BUT IT ALL DEPENDS ON YOU

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Look hard into your day because you just might find or get your gold. I can say that because, more often than not, I truly find my inspiration which immensely feed the writing each time each day.
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Like this quote which I saw this morning.............. "Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny." -- C.S. Lewis
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Don't you think this quote is the story of most everybody's life?
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Hardships .. it befalls each one of us ordinary people in our ordinary lives in our ordinary days. That's as old as the ancient ruins of Greece... as old as time. It comes to us in different shapes, sizes, predicament, inconvenience, discomfort and it minds not whether we like it or not. It just goes ahead and does what it does best... hurt us.
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That can be a big ouch or a small one and a pain in the butt (pardon the expression) or a heartache. You will groan, whine, hiss, complain, bang your head against the wall, kick the furniture and end up with a broken leg, cry oceans of tears to drown yourself in, or jump from the highest mountain but you wouldn't because, as you stop to think, that can hurt bigger than your whining. Besides the tallest mountains are in Pampanga, Batangas, or Tagaytay and before you can reach your destination miles and hours away you would have met your future love in the bus you're riding and so together head back home for a nice date! Or get married! Destiny! End of story.
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The nicest part though (not just meeting the love of your life) is having the power to turn things around to your advantage or favor. Yes, you are far more stronger than you think you are.
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But... that would depend on your responses to your situation. The situation can either make or break you.... but it all depends on you! Really, it all depends on you.
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You know the drill..... work harder, take positive attitude and action, push yourself to greatness, be creative and resourceful, hope bigger, pray harder, think-think-think, be fearless, seek the counsel of the wise, be mentored in the right direction, persevere, believe in your own strengths, build on who you are and what you have. Remind yourself not to let your hardships define you but rather to let it shape you into your biggest and brightest potential.
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That may sound tough but truth is.... you're tougher than tough. That is by God's design.
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May God bless you with the wisdom to see yourself as He designed you to be.... His obra maestra!

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God bless you.

 

WHERE WILL YOU HAVE YOUR POWER LIE

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Lifted off the book - 'Good Morning... God" - (Pamela Steinke)
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UNHAPPINESS
Philippians 4:11
January 21

  "You must realize that no circumstances in life have the power to make you unhappy, it is only your attitude towards the circumstance, your failure to trust ME in that circumstance that causes unhappiness. Things or situations in themselves have no power over you. You are the one who chooses where the power lies --- whether it be in self, in circumstances, or in ME. Where will you have the power lie?"
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Where will you have the power lie?
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That's a good question, isn't it? .Many of us are so unhappy (C'mon. admit it) --- here in the silence of our souls or in the trappings of discontent that soaks up our being from top to bottom. And which many of us are not ready nor able to answer, particularly those who pride themselves to be self-contained, independent, or self-made. I have learned this that to see the answer one must lift one's gaze or shift one's focus or turn one's head away from the self. It's the 'I' 'Me' 'My' 'Mine' of things which clouds our view from seeing with clarity the answers to questions such as this.
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Let me tell you a story...
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Inday, not her real name, is my laundrywoman. She comes to the house for the weekly laundry schedule. She's a widow in her sixties, struggles to support her adopted child through school, and lives a stark simple life not very far from my place. Yet she can be so happy that she succeeds to rock the whole house with her laughter over the slightest joke she hears. In our chats, I hear no such words as ------- 'I'm so sad I could die' ... 'I'm choking to death with all of these problems' ... 'This phone sucks, I gotta buy a new one.' ... 'I have nothing to wear.' ... 'I have to have those shoes or my day is spoiled.' ... and all that stuff selfie lives are prone to engage in.
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What I hear instead are these ---
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'Sakit ng buto-buto ko pero okay lang. Kelangan ni apo mahatid sa eskuwelahan kaninang maaga.' -- 'Not feeling too well but it's okay. Took grandchild to school early this morning.'
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'Madami akong problema. Minsan di ko alam kung saan ako babaling. Pero andyan naman ang Diyos. Tutulong Siya. Siya na ang bahala.' -- 'I have tons of problems, sometimes I don't know where to turn to. But God is there, he'll help; he'll take care of things.'
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'Minsan nalulungkot din ako. Sana hindi ganito ang buhay ko. Pero kung iisipin ko, mas blessed pa ako sa iba. Kasi eto ako sisenta na at umaaray sa sakit ng mga buto-buto pero...... may konting trabaho, nakakakain ng tatlong beses sa isang araw, at nagigising pa rin sa umaga para sa panibagong sikap uli. Salamat sa Diyos!' -- 'I am lonely too. Wishing life wasn't like this for me. But I also think I am still blessed...... look at me at sixty with aching bones, yet have a little job to work at, with three meals a day, and still waking up to a new day every morning for a fresh new start to my life. Thank God!'
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Inday moved her gaze away from her personal pains and set it down on what a beautiful day and life can still be in the midst of it all. This was the source which brought the tiny glimmer to her weary eyes and laughter to her face. She stood ten-feet-tall in her wrinkled small frame as she displayed her trust and faith in the goodness of the Magnificent ONE.
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This was and is the same light and faith we saw in the faces of the crowd in the recent pastoral visit of Pope Francis in the country.
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So where will we have our power lie?
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Blessings, everyone. Seek your power in the Lord.