knowing what to do

How do we balance our activities when at the back of our minds we know that some things can be counter-intuitively unproductive?

We turn to unending top lists in the internet, researches on psychology, pieces of advice from self-help coaches and eventually just end up with "What do I really want to do?"

Yet we still end up lost and confused.

Maybe it's because we haven't really asked the One who knows everything and who knows what's best for us. 

every day a victory

If every start of your day is a struggle then consider every end of it a victory. Rejoice in the little things, friends! 

someone understands

There are times when we feel we are restless because of too many things pouncing on us. Too many things to do, too many things to be done and too many things to just even think of.

When life is pulling you from all directions, all you just want to do is teleport to a secluded place and *poof* hopefully things just stay quiet for a while. Sadly, this isn't just the case. Yes, you might find a way to physically isolate yourself from the chaos but this is only to find yourself still restless and unable to get that peace you imagined. This was because even if the chaos from the world was eliminated, what wasn't was the restlessness and the chaos which was inside of you in the first place.

I find this realization sad. Imagine, you take all those measures to get that peace you've always wanted, think that you've finally got it, only to discover that it's just not going to happen! At this point, you just feel helpless that sometimes you either just resign and go back to the busy world burying yourself in work and all other activities or stay in that secluded space you've picked out, yet still do nothing to address these things - in a state of limbo.

This story is a familiar one as I read a passage from the ministry of Jesus:

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (Mt 9:35)

As I repeated the passage over and over, I was struck with the phrase: he had compassion for them. During these moments of confusion, it's but wonderful to realize that there is someone who cares for us and understands us in our helplessness. When we think no one understands how we feel, we're wrong. When we think that we're all alone in our mess, we're wrong. There is someone up there that we can talk to who understands exactly where we are in our lives and how we feel.

I can just imagine how many people today find themselves in cases where they are just piled up with so many things that sometimes leave them helpless and confused. Count me in as one of them. I do not claim to have the answer to address that feeling of being lost. Hey, as I said, I'm part of the club. What I can claim is this - we are not alone. You are never alone.

In response to Jesus's compassion, he addressed his apostles to pray for the Lord of the Harvest to send laborers into this harvest. We can do just that - beyond just praying, we can be the laborers of this harvest ourselves. Hey, Jesus never said that the laborers be perfect themselves. In these times of restlessness, yes, it may be the perfect time to fix yourself and get that self-recovery that you need. These may be the times as well when you can understand others more and serve them. In the sincere effort to help them out, the Lord can grant the grace of clarity in your own life. This is my prayer for you and for all of us.

Is there anything I can help you with?

more today than yesterday

The beauty of music is that it's personal. It's up to the listener's interpretation and it strikes a chord within us based on the experiences that we have. It's a very effective tool to use for reflection and even prayer.

I remember how once in a silent retreat a spiritual director shared the song Grenade by Bruno Mars to the group of students. He asked how it would mean to the group if Jesus were the one singing it. The group had a good laugh at the thought!

This is the same with the song below from the oldies band, Spiral Staircase (I picked out Bruno's cover for this post though). A mentor of mine shared a prayer which is from the song and here I am sharing my prayer with you. I hope you say it with me every day.

 

Lord, grant me the grace to love You more today than yesterday. 

effective procrastination

I was reading a transcript of an interview with Frank Partnoy, the author of "Wait: The Art and Science of Delay" and the topic was about a thing such as "optimum amount of delay." He goes on mentioning that there is a certain amount of time that a decision or action can be put off such that the benefits may be the same or even better. This concept is being used by courier companies when delivering packages where it doesn't matter if they send the package early in the morning as the customer is concerned that the packages 

In any case, the topic gives insight into a lot of things especially in the world we live in today:

1. We need to be wary of the environment around us. A study that exposed a group to a movie clip with fast food logos flashed in milliseconds (without them noticing it) concluded that the clip with the logos had a huge effect on how a person behaved after watching it. The study noticed a significant change in the perception of time to those exposed to the subliminal messages - they read 20% faster than those who did not see the logos, they had a hard time enjoying Nat Geo photos, and they perceived time to be faster, hence a song for them was too long and they were also more impatient with slight delays.
2. Delayed gratification is an essential skill in building up your leadership potential. I won't dwell in this as many personal management materials have much to say about it.
3. Procrastination has been given a bad name! By definition, if you look up procrastination in the dictionary, it simply means the act of delaying or postponing something. Being lazy and not doing anything, yes, that's unacceptable; but putting off replying to your mails by an hour or by a day, that maybe something to think about - do we really need to answer them in an instant? Same goes with our experience with social networking sites.

However, a caveat that we should also note:

• It’s all about determining your values and setting priorities. It doesn't mean that you'll be guilty not cleaning your room if you've been busy flying in an out of countries stopping world hunger (or doing service in the community day in and day out – though this is still not an excuse!)
• The optimum amount of delay concept is not an excuse for inaction. The concept in Partnoy's cases (at least in the interview) dwelt more on situations involving tactical decisions and not strategic ones. 

The reason why I shared these few things as well is because the items I’ve listed above actually tells a lot about the things that we should note in living out our Christian life – after all, there’s no such thing as having a double life and still be a Christian!

1.      Start every day with a prayer. Set yourself first thing in the morning apart from the world and joined in the loving embrace of our Lord. The world around affects us whether we like it or not, consciously and unconsciously, positively or adversely. We see more than just fast food logos every day as we step out of our room. A similar impact happens even when we just open our gadgets first thing in the morning. We should protect ourselves from the impact of the world on us and on our Christian life. A classic example: 'riches to honor to pride' – the strategy of the evil one that St. Ignatius of Loyola teaches us to be aware the world's grandeur as all other vices will follow once the three are ingrained in us.

2.      Wait on the Lord; trust, persevere, and turn only to Him. The Lord has an appointed time for His return and judgment (Habakkuk 2:3). This is the ultimate vision on why we aim to control our need for instant gratification. I need not talk about completing your emergency fund before buying your luxuries, or even just waiting for the end of work to play those online games, these are nothing compared to the vision we, Christians, have of meeting our Creator face to face and until then persevering in this world in waiting for Him.

3.       Do all things for the greater glory of God – not for the good but for the greater glory! This is where all things depend on when setting priorities. The priorities we set determine which things can be put off and which things need to be acted on immediately. The optimum amount of delay concept on tactical and strategic decision can be used in these cases. As for rightfully discerning how best you can serve the Lord in your current state of life and capacity, there is much time to explore and really figure out the best way that would give the greater glory to God while in the meantime still serving Him (tactical). As for gaining the prize to be one with Christ in Heaven (strategic), there is no more tomorrow, now is the time to respond to the unbounded love that He has given us!

balance in life

Living a life of excellence is doing the best one can do in everything, giving more than one can give, and pursuing what can give greater glory to God.
This is how we are called to be living testimonies of His goodness.

"It is not so much as striking a balance in our lives. It is more of excelling in as much areas of our lives as possible," said a mentor of mine.

being a man of excellence

A question came in to mind when I was asked to share my thoughts on being a man of excellence: "Is there any difference between an 'excellent man' and a 'man of excellence'?"

A lot would say that Manny Pacquiao is an excellent fighter or Kobe Bryant is an excellent basketball player, but to say that someone is a man of excellence is a different thing.

"A man of excellence is someone whose very being and essence is of excellence," said a friend of mine when I posed the question to everyone. Personally, more than just being excellent in an aspect, a man of excellence strives to being his best in all aspects of his life. Many would react to this pointing out how we only have a limited capacity to do things and instead just propose something to the effect of striking a balance in all areas of life. "It's not so much as striking a balance but really being your best in all of these areas as much as possible," said a mentor of mine.

But all this talk stems from the usual definition of excellence in this world as being the best, being superior and surpassing standards of measure as compared to others - being the best, so to speak.

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Col 3:17)

If all the things that we do are for the Lord and His glory, then it is but fitting that we do all our endeavors with all of our capacity - our heart, our mind and our soul (Mt 22:37). This is pursuing the good.

However, I would like to stretch excellence further to be more than just pursuing the good. Doing the good versus the bad is a no-brainer. Pursuing the good that would give the greater glory of God - that is the more challenging task for the man seriously following the Lord. The moment one notices oneself thinking at any time on what more one can do for the Lord or thinking what can give greater glory to the Lord, then, friends,  that is already treading the path of becoming a man of excellence.