Stick with Your Story

A job application turned down.  A project that never worked.  A diet that was never started.  A business that went south. A sweet life turned bitter.  A love that became hate.

"Why such a sad opening?"

Because we live in the world where "duality" of things and events prevails.  Life isn't always good.  We can't always have a good life, can we?  Well, as we have said before, to everything there is a season.  Let us just say that I just had my share of it no so long ago.

We are all aware that nothing is permanent in this world, even our jobs that we thought were stable enough to survive the tests of time.  We have seen corporate mergers and takeovers.  It's a world of "dog-eats-dog"  the "survival of the fittest."  And normally, it is the people who are the first ones to go.  We have heard of top honchos being kicked out of their offices.  What more could save a rank and file? So I said to myself, before that thing happens to me, I gotta be few steps ahead of it.

But what if, you've applied for a new job and you've been turned down not just once but a lot more?  Well, I know it's frustrating.  The world isn't just unfair, it's ruthless.

Once in our lives we experience helplessness and desperation (and the author of Live the Good Life is no exception).  In one of those low moments of my life thinking how I could be more successful in my career and how to augment the money I've been earning, I have resorted to all the self-help books I could grab, financial magazines, leadership books and business ideas.  I did not spare internet just to have ideas on how to earn more.   I was too fascinated with success stories of other people - people who get rich quick and people who earn money with virtually doing and investing nothing.  I thought my blogs could help me.  I put on adds and joined affiliate selling.  But so far, I have yet to earn my first dollar.  Then I get depressed even more.  I applied for another affiliate site and I was turned down for the following reasons:

"The website does not have enough link popularity"
"The website is submitting too many posts in a day"
"The website is not posting unique content"


What do all these things supposed to mean?  


Was all the time I've spent on reading and researching getting me no where?  Well, it seems to be heading that way.

In my desperation, I just wanted to isolate my self from the world.  Sometimes I would just blankly stare at something somewhere.  I longed for the moments when my head would just be still and quite.

Then it hit me.

It was staring at me for the longest time.  I haven't found my biggest "why" yet.

Do I want to be wealthy?  Yes, of course!  I believe that there's nothing wrong with being wealthy.  More so, I believe that there are more good things that I can do when I become wealthy.

But why?  So I can buy freedom of time to do the things that I wanted to do.  But why?  Because I want to spend more time with the people who matter to me the most?  But why?  Because I want to show to them how much I love them and how much I longed for the moments to spend my life with them without having to worry about where, when and how to get the money to spend.  But why?   Because at the end of my life story I want to be remembered by the very people I loved that I've lived my life for them.  But why?  Because it is my way of repaying the Lord, in my own simple ways, to give back to others the blessings He has given me - love, talent, time and treasures.  These are my big WHYs.

At the end of this journey, it won't matter how much I've succeeded, nor how many times I've tried and failed.  It won't matter how many streets they would name after me, or holidays after me, or books they would write about me.  It won't matter how much money I've made, how much I gave or how much I've kept.  At the end of this journey, what would matter would be how much I've complied with what was expected of me - loving with all the love I can give.  Being rich is just one of the many vehicles I can ride.  (We want to be rich not for the sake of being rich but for what we are becoming along the way.  This is the philosophy of we have at one of our new blog Pinoy Millionaires Circle.)    

Ahh... what a relief.  Just a while ago, I was about to bang my head on the wall because of the gloominess I've felt.  Now, I feel much better.  Is this the hour of "sweet-lemoning?"  Nope!  I don't think so.  I think the darkest part of the night just passed, that part of the night when the dawn is about to come.

Do I still feel down because after all the money and time I've invested on books and researches and yet the only source of my income is STILL my monthly salary?  Do I still feel sad because my blogs "aren't popular" and "without unique contents?"  YES!  I won't deny it because I can't and there's no need to.  But I can say now that it doesn't matter to me that much.  As long as there are people who read my posts and learn from it, even that be only a single person, I won't stop sharing my thoughts.  Whether I earn or not from my blogs, it doesn't matter.  What matters to me is the life that I could change because of what I share.

Maybe earning from blogging isn't for me.  Maybe my "luck" is yet to come.  But that's no excuse for me to stop acting on my dreams.  I think I'll just have to squeeze out some more ideas.  If there's such thing as "luck", i think it would be "being the right person at the right time, at the right place and FOR THE RIGHT REASON."  

Life doesn't always give us milk and honey. Sometimes, it throws us lemons.  And when it does, let's be thankful we now have another flavor for our drinks.

I believe in a greater future.  I believe in miracles and I believe that I am one.  I believe in Living the Good Life!  How about you? 

Trials, success, failures, joys, sadness... It's a roller coaster ride.  But this is my life.  This is my story.  And as inspirational speaker Les Brown would say, "This is my story and I'm sticking with it."

You Are Not An Exception

"Nobody has a more sacred obligation to obey the law than those who make the law." -Sophocles

 Let me ask you a very personal question today.  Why do you think you experience things going out of orders or simply not the way it's supposed to be?  Was it because of some external factors and the circumstances or was it because of our own actions?

I have been in this world for more than a quarter of a century and in my life and work experiences I've seen people who make and break their own laws.

You may have heard of lawmakers being sued or accused of graft and corrupt practices, business owners and executives being fired out for not following established rules and regulations, and companies going into bankruptcy because they violate the laws they are supposed to adhere to.

I don't have to go too far and cite as many example as I can.  All I have to do is just look in the mirror and there I'll see the living example of a man who makes and breaks his own law.

As humans, we know we have to abide to certain order of things.  But how do we really respond to this order?

Let's take the following examples for living a good life:

• Love and serve God
• Honor and love your parents 
• Treat others as you want to be treated
• Make new friends and keep the old ones 
• Eat healthy foods
• Exercise daily
• Get enough rest/sleep
• Read a good book
• Save
• Invest
• Work hard
• Pray harder

... and the list goes on and on.  These are just some of the laws or rules we set for ourselves but remain in the list and were never followed.  Most of the time, it is us, the person who are supposed to impose it, are the first ones to break it.

In every aspect our lives there are laws - in living a good life, in dealing with people, in dealing with our families, in running our businesses, and in our workspaces.  As many as the laws we have are the ways we do to circumvent it and make ourselves the exceptions.  

We know the laws.  The universal ones and the ones we make for ourselves.  But more often than not, we are the first ones who break it.  Then we ask why are things falling apart?  We ask why we don't get what we want.  The answer is simple - STOP BREAKING THE LAW.  You are not an exception to the law, even if you the one who makes them.  Because when you do, you are throwing away your self-respect.  

Remember what we've always said, Be More to Have More.  If you want more respect from others, learn to respect yourself more.  If you want a more orderly life, put more order in to your heart.

God said that the wage of sin is death.  That's His law.  There's no one above it, even His own Son Jesus.  Jesus died in the cross as a payment for sins.  Whose sins?  Mine.  Yours.  Ours.  Even God did not excused Him from His Law.  That's obedience.  That's dignity.  That's true honor.  That's leadership.  

If God did not spare Himself from the Law, who are we not to follow?  

May I ask you to do something?

Write down your personal laws, it could be ones you've already established or the ones you would like to implement into your life in the future.  Then, WILL YOU PLEASE STOP MAKING EXCUSES!  YOU ARE NOT AN EXCEPTION!  

It may seem that I am a little harsh this time.  That's because the message is not just for your, my reader, but for me as well.  

I encourage you to take time to think about this.  And in the process, may you learn to Live the Good Life.

"Lead, follow, or get out of the way." - Thomas Paine

Young at Heart

Happy New Year Everyone!

It may be late but still, I think I ought to greet each of you a very wonderful new year.  However, a few days ago, I mentioned in Facebook that we are too excited about new years and the new things it could bring us that sometimes we neglect the changes a new day brings.  So each day, why don't we greet ourselves a "happy new day?"

Normally, at every turn of the year, people started thinking about their age increasing.  Like me, every new years eve, I would always say, "It's year ___ now and I will be ____ years old by next month.  I have grown older by a year."

But the thing is, it is not always the number of years that adds to our lives that matter but the number of lives we've touched all those years.  

My New Year's wish for each of us, "may we find meaning in those years we've lived."

***

Earlier as I was preparing for dinner,  I played my Michael Buble album and for the first time, my attention was caught by the song "Young at Heart."  I believe that this song was an original by Frank Sinatra.  For those who happened not to know the song, here's the lyrics that I've got from the internet:

"Fairy tales can come true

It can happen to you if you're young at heart 

For it's hard, you will find

To be narrow of mind if you're young at heart 

You can go to extremes with impossible schemes

You can laugh when your dreams fall apart at the seams

And life gets more exciting with each passing day

And love is either in your heart or on the way

Don't you know that it's worth

Every treasure on earth to be young at heart

For as rich as you are

It's much better by far to be young at heart 

And if you should survive to a hundred and five

Look at all you'll derive out of bein' alive

And here is the best part, you have a head start

If you are among the very young at heart

And if you should survive to a hundred and five

Look at all you'll derive out of bein' alive

And here is the best part, you have a head start

If you are among the very young at heart" 

The very lines that made me stop with what I was doing are the lines that say,

Don't you know that it's worth

Every treasure on earth to be young at heart

For as rich as you are

It's much better by far to be young at heart

So my friends, instead of worrying about your age this new year, think that those are just numbers.  Material treasures matter, but it is much better by far to be young at heart.  So Dear Friends, feel young, feel the energy, feel good.  Live the Good Life.  

Take time to listen to good songs like this one and may you also find inspiration as you continue living the good life.

Happy New Day!