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.

DO SOMETHING FOR YOURSELF NOW

This post below was written a year ago for someone who wrote to me..... who was at a crossroad in her life and felt crushed by it. Her story is one which many others share. Life is tough, we know that, but we are asked to be tougher..... to be even much tougher beyond measure. I am resurrecting this post here for a dear friend.

BROKEN BODY - UNBROKEN SPIRIT

Dear friend in the blog,

Such consoling thought it is to know that we are not alone in our trials and difficulties -- that despite differences in culture, traditions, color, and creed we stand connected in the same issues in life.

You have touched a common chord with friends and strangers here in the blog. Thank you for your courage in sharing with us your pain and suffering. We are privileged by your trust, sincerity, and honesty. I hope that the rest of us will do just as well in our own.

Often we are kept where we are by our society and culture; often they too help shape our lives. Undoubtedly we make mistakes in life— getting into the wrong marriages; marrying the wrong people; working in the wrong jobs; having the wrong set of parents, relatives, and friends; living bad decisions. But we never really will know how these things will turn out until the very end. We will never really know how these bits and scattered scraps of our cluttered life would fill up the bigger picture of our existence. Because oftentimes good can turn out bad or bad turn out good in the final end. There will be an end, positively, because no story ever finishes in midstream. Maybe we would come to a pause at a certain point but then again will resume at a triggered moment in time.

Whatever a person would do with his circumstances is purely his decision to make. No one can best tell you what to do. NO ONE KNOWS BETTER HOW THINGS TRULY ARE THAN THE PERSON WHO IS IN IT. Yet the truth remains that there are always two sides to a coin— yours and the other person’s. No matter how you think or feel that you are justified in your opinions or stand, the other end of the issue has his or her own story to tell. So goes every tale heard and told by man since long ago.

Let’s stop here to think awhile--- tell me, do you wake up every morning to cook breakfast and send off your children to school and tend to the nitty-gritty chores in the house day after day? Do you see yourself down on your knees in prayer without end? Do you remember pulling yourself together after a big cry and doggedly carry on with the business of living each time? Do you see yourself picking yourself up every time when all you ever wanted to do was stay down in the dump grovel and feel miserable?

YOU DO! Because that is what a person does whenever wherever around the world. We mortals may be battered, bruised, torn, and tossed around many times in the course of this life journey. But one thing is sure—the spirit within us can never be broken. That is why you do what you do then and now-- and onwards some more. You continue to stand and not fall—maybe battered in body but unbroken in spirit and soul.

Armed with that, DO SOMETHING FOR YOURSELF NOW. Build anew right where you are at. Develop yourself. Use your God-given talents to seek out new challenges, new meaning, and new direction. Can you teach, draw or paint, write well poems or stories, sew lovely dresses or embroider, and cook delicious meals your friends enjoy. Find out what you are good at. Never mind the kind of marriage you have or the kind of person you married; the important thing now is— YOU. Move on and reclaim your right to be you.

You know, my mom used to tell me long ago that-- sometimes when your ‘adversary’ sees you unperturbed by his blitz on your nerves and emotions, he goes crazy and utterly frustrated by it all. This takes out the wind from his sails. Do this not because you want to get even – but because you understand more. This is your strength--- seeing and knowing more what you can and cannot do. Don’t waste your time on things you can’t resolve, but rather pour all your energies on what is within your ability and control— YOU.

Last but not least, never stop believing that God sees everything and that it is in His magnificent heart to help you overcome. May your hope, faith, and strength increase and be blessed.

God bless you. Bye for now.