Your Shadow and Your Past

In the office, there's this certain group that has been observing us for quite sometime now.  They're frequent visitors at our workstations, looking over our jobs, timing how long it takes for us to do a certain task, etc.  In short, they're there where ever we are.  That's why we call them our "shadows."

Shadows follow and never leave us.

Have you ever wondered why shadows are black?  Or, why are they always opposite from the light?  Or, can't we just leave our shadows somewhere else?  And, what's their use anyway?

Shadows, like the past, are just indicators of our presence but are not meant to replace who we are or what we are.   A shadow exists because there is a "light" that shines upon us. There are no shadows without light.

Shadows are black so that it will not be given more attention than our being.  In a stricter sense, it only shows that shadows are of less importance than who we are. And so is our past - it only tells us of what we've been before and who we once were. It is not as important as who we are right now.  Who would want to look and talk to a shadow if he or she can look and talk to the living, breathing, caring and loving person?

Shadows are always opposite the source of light.  The same with our past, we cannot look at our future and look at our past at the same time. We can keep looking at our shadows but in doing so, we  are turning away from the light.  The choice is always ours.

Can we leave our shadows somewhere?  Of course not.  The same way, we cannot leave our pasts behind or ignore it every time. But, we can make the conscious effort to set it aside and focus on the more important things - the people around us and the grand future that waits for us.

What's the use of our shadow, anyway? It is a reminder that we exist and are of physical beings. And, it also reminds us that between the shadow and the source of light is where we always stand.  Between the past and the future is the present.  A reminder that among the three - the past, the future, and the present - is a choice we have to make to LIVE THE GOOD LIFE.

So next time you see your shadow, remember to look on the opposite side, and there you will see the "source of light."

Be More....

Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 3:13-14

Shaken Not Stirred: As Solid As A Rock

"Shaken not stirred."   That's just one of the famous lines of world's most known spy, James Bond a.k.a Agent "Double-O Seven" (007).  Of course he referred that line to his favorite Vodka Martini.
Do you think that it could also apply to real life?

In simple terms, let us define them.

Shaken - "Disturbed psychologically as if by a physical jolt or shock"

Stirred - "Being excited or provoked to the expression of an emotion.  Mixed"

Hmmm.. doesn't make any significant difference at all, does it? I think being shaken means being disturbed while being stirred means acting based on emotions, being pushed around unreasonably and illogically.

Let us take a closer look.  James Bond, as most of us know, could face and overcome all kinds of troubles and dangers and accomplish superhuman feats, either using his wits or his latest gadgets.  We have seen him experienced harrowing experiences that would definitely shake every average human being.  But despite of all those saddening and literally painful experiences, he remained true to his oath of service to his government and to his missions.  No matter what happens, Bond always completes his assignments by isolating himself from the situation. He is very seldom moved by the emotions attached to it, enabling him to judge rightly and think accurately as warranted by every situation.  He is shaken, yes, but not stirred.

But that was 007, a fictional character, human, flawed like you and me.

There is, however, someone who had shown a true meaning of being "Shaken but not Stirred."  This man is a Carpenter who lived thousands of years ago before us.  His name is Jesus.   Jesus was disturbed by what was happening to the world during that time.  Evil doings were rampant.  Dishonor and disobedience to God were everywhere.  People were living in sin.   He thought that it was the right time to  come down to earth and bring these people back in the arms of the Almighty.  He was shaken.  His love for mankind moved Him to offer His own life as a ransom for every human's wrong doings.  Was He stirred?  No.  He was tempted not just a single time to abandon His mission.  But He never bent.  He was accused of treason, rebellion, blasphemy and even associated to the devil himself.  He was  arrested, persecuted, crucified and killed by the very people He saved.  He know all these would happen.  But was He stirred enough to abandon His mission? No.  Was He shaken by these things.  Yes.  We know that He wept for these people.  But He never gave up on them.  He never gave up on His mission.

Unlike James Bond, Jesus did not rely on His intelligence or gadgets.  He used His love for mankind to help Him accomplished what He was supposed to do.  His faith in humanity that somehow, someday, they would all return to their true God inspired Jesus to stick to His mission.

Jesus was shaken but was never stirred to abandon or take another path to His mission because His foundations are as solid as a rock.

In our daily lives, we also face situations where we are shaken and stirred.  More often than not, we tend to play the James Bond role, trying to overcome everything, relying on our own wits and abilities.  There's nothing wrong with that.  In fact, it signifies that we trust that which have been bestowed upon us.  However, the problem arises when we tend to rely too much on our self, forgetting that there's a greater source of power and relief.

Human sufferings and experiences will shake and stir us.  It's a given fact.  It can sway us away from the path we ought to take.  We're just humans after all, vulnerable to pain and mistakes.  But before we totally surrender to our opponents - the challenges of our lives, let us try to look for the example that Jesus have shown us 2000 years ago which still applies today.

Continue to nurture our love for one another.  Keep the faith in humanity alive.  Believe that pains and trials are not meant to hamper us in arriving at our destination but rather stepping stones that will help us reach higher and farther.  Each of us has at least one mission in life.  Find it.  Stick to it.  Have faith in God and in Jesus so that no matter what life may throw, though we may be shaken, we will not be stirred, because we know what we need to do and we know where we could anchor our faith as solid as a rock.

Enjoy the rest of the day!  Continue to BE MORE and Live the Good Life!

(The contents of this article are the author's personal views and opinions and his sole responsibility.)

Old Habits Don't Die... They Simply... Well, They Just Don't Die

Staring at the monitor for a half of a day isn't a good way to spend your waking hours, is it?  There's more to sore, dry and tired eyes that it brings - it is the feeling that you haven't done anything worth the while.  Unless you are being paid to stare at the computer which is probably impossible, I think there's no personal satisfaction in that.  Well, again, that a different story if you enjoy looking at your monitor simply staring blankly at you.

Old habits, same, old habits.  Just when you think you're finally over them, they'll just come back creeping silently into your world.  Habits could be both good and bad.

Good habits include daily reading of your Bible, daily exercise, saving a certain portion of your income, choosing healthy foods and the likes.  Bad habits include, among others, unhealthy midnight snacks, gossips, laziness, impulsive buying, procrastination and many more.

For the purpose of this article, let us talk about the "bad habits."

Bad habits are like some annoying weeds on you yard, no matter how many times you've cut them, they'll just grow even more, suffocating the flowers and eventually killing them.  Uproot them! Uproot them, I say!  Great if you can do that to your old-bad-habits.

Unless you take old habits out from the roots, they will just keep on coming back.  Always worse than before.

But uprooting them doesn't seem to be way too easy, right?  So what do you do then?  Discipline.

Discipline yourself into fighting bad habits with good ones.  You can't just wake up one day and say that all your bad habits are gone.  I don't think so.  Trust me, I've done that many times before and yet, those old habits just keep coming back.  So what do you do then.  Commit yourself to the daily grind.  Take that painful step of saying "NO" to what were once blissful and easy activities. Admit it, you find it more fun and easy doing your bad habits than the good ones.  

Join me in this journey as we wage war against this old-bad-habits of ours.  It doesn't matter if your bad habits are the same with my bad habits or not.  Let's do this simple and general approach.  Customize it to fit your needs.

Ready?  Here goes...

1. Commit to yourself that you are putting an end to your bad habits - starting NOW!  Yes, it should be NOW, as in right NOW. In this instant, as you are reading this post. Why?  Because that's commitment.  If you don't do this first step NOW, then you aren't really committed.  Or maybe, you are just aren't that serious to shake off that habit.
2. Write it in a piece of paper and read it when you wake up and before you sleep.  Do you remember when you were still a child your parents used to teach you a prayer usually at night, just before you go to bed?  Remember that?  I don't know how you would explain it but the prayers you say at night seems to stick in to your mind more than the prayers you heard or say during day time.  Haven't you noticed that?  Or is it just me?  Anyway, give it a try and see for yourself.  Also, when you prepare for an exam, you review your materials at night, right?  With the hope that maybe you'll get the chance to remember more.  And most of the time it works, agree?  Well, consider your battle against your bad habits as part of your prayer and an exam you have to pass as well.  Prepare at night, before you sleep, and remind yourself when you wake up as you went your way into the day.  
3. Remind yourself that no matter how bad your habits maybe, it isn't you.  Your habits are just part of your being but it isn't you.  It's just like your favorite dress that you love to wear.  You can always change it and you still have yourself.  
4. Think of all the wonderful things that I could bring if you have totally subdued your bad habits.  Also, I don't know what's in it if you imagine the outcome of something.  For example, you want to see a movie and you believe that you'll gonna enjoy it.  Isn't it true that even before you buy your ticket you already feel the excitement and joy?  And the more excited you are, the unstoppable you become.  Be excited about the NEW YOU and be unstoppable. 
5. Commit everything to GOD.  You can do all the first four but that will be futile if you are not clinging on the right rope.  It is like like being in a boat and rowing to death but towards the opposite the current.  USELESS.  So before you proceed any further, remember the basic: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, on your own intelligence rely not; In all your ways be mindful of him, and hi will make straight your path (Proverbs 3:5-6)"  Let God show you the way!

I hope that with those steps, I have helped you in your fight with your bad habits. So there, don't let those bad habits take the greatness that awaits you in your life.  ADD MORE GOOD HABITS and BE MORE!  Habit can only be destroyed by another habit.  So make it a habit of Living the Good Life!


To a new and better you!

J. Roy
Author of "The Five Successful Ways to Fail (Things You Weren't Told About Success)"


P.S.  One day on my way home from the office, I asked myself, "why do you keep on writing even if your readers don't increase in numbers?  What do you get from writing?  You haven't even earn anything from it?"  Well my answers are these: One, "why should I not write?"  And two, I think it is not what I get from it that matters, but rather, what am I able to share through it.

Or maybe... just out of an old habit!

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."