Going for the Goal!

And it’s lift off! Going for the goal
Flying on the plane from Singapore to Manila, it took the usual amount of patience to wait for the other remaining passengers to board. Then for all the flight attendants to check that everything is in order. All this waiting is coupled with excitement, a sense of adventure, a certain unknowing.

The plane finally taxis from its lot, slowly, carefully, inching its way toward the runway. After a short pause at the start of the runway, it gathers all the speed it can muster and races itself to the end of the runway, giving it all it has. Finally, after an extremely short, but exhilarating 30 seconds, it lifts itself off the ground and ventures off into the clear blue skies. Leaving land and country, to a new territory, a new adventure, a new phase, new people, new direction, new goals.

It is this short 30 seconds that I feel my ears plug up, my body giving itself a jerk, a little churning in the stomach. And my mind says ‘This is it, we’re on our way, there’s no turning back now’.

Setting a goal, having a vision
It is like the plane on taxi. Slowly, surely, it takes time to listen to the voice inside. It takes careful consideration, praying and waiting for direction, to be really convicted with the goal in mind. And even at the start of the runway, at the short pause of waiting, it is psyching oneself up for the challenge. There can be no courage without fear.

There is no turning back
At the word ‘Go’, there is no turning back. Once the mind is made up, with full conviction, we move ahead, no matter what comes in the way. As John Maxwell said in his book ‘Be all you can be’, “The poorest person in the world is not the person who doesn’t have a nickel. The poorest person in the world is the one who doesn’t have a vision. If you don’t have a dream – a goal and a purpose in life – you’re never going to become what you could become.”

Are we just existing from day to day, without direction, without dreams? Do we feel a restlessness within? Have our questions to life been answered? Do we dare to dream and dream big?

Picture of the month

besides sunrises, sunsets, calm seas, I love flowers, and dew. This was taken at 7am. Little jewels that cannot be recreated. As an avid photographer (thank God for the fellow who invented digital cameras), I havent yet developed a desire to 'recreate' dew just for a shoot. Real stuff cannot bluff. Translation: Only the real thing gives me joy in awe and wonder.

Love is a decision

What do we live for?

The New and the Beautiful
Long long time ago, I used to be a shopaholic. If you relate to that term, see if you relate to this,
I used to own:
40 watches (some of which were given to me because friends knew i liked watches),
50 bags (different shapes and sizes to match clothes)
earrings so many I couldnt count.
And when I went on my frequent shopping trips to Thailand (years ago), I used to stock up on everything beautiful. There's always something more beautiful than the last thing I bought.

Retailers always manage to come up with something different, new, unique to attract sales.

Ours is a society of disposables. When something new and beautiful comes along, the older, less beautiful gets put aside. Sometimes it's just out of plain boredom.

People: Disposables?
People are another thing altogether. They are always unique, constantly changing, each beautiful in their own way. Some more obvious than others. Some still discovering their own beauty. Still some needing others to tell them how beautiful they are. And many still trying to accept the truth of their beauty. People dont come with manuals, expiry dates or guarantee cards. People are not disposables. If you are like me, at some point in our lives, wished we could 'exchange' some people in our lives with what others have. Parents, teachers, pals, boyfriends, classmates, colleagues.

We think that if we only had this/that particular teacher, we would've performed better. If we only had a husband/wife, our lives would be happier. If only...

"Love is a decision". We decide to love a person whether he/she deserves it. We can't simply give up on a person just because they have failed us in our expectations of them. We can't 'replace' them with someone else just for the heck of it. But i can see the effects of being brought up in an 'instant' society. "If this doesn't work out in so-many months, we'll call it quits."

I thank God for all the people in my life who believed in me, gave me a challenge, helped stretch me beyond what i think i can do. People who decided, and still continuously decides to love me despite of everything. People who stuck by me through all the ups and downs, doubts and uncertainties. People who believed in me even when i didnt believe in myself. Thank you all, for deciding to love. Not judging me when i had 40 watches, not condemning me when i gave up my cool career. And most of all, thank you for not walking out on me when I needed to do this missionary work, even when you didnt understand, you persevered, thank you.

Lenten reflection

Every Lent, I love to use Megan McKenna's 'Lent, the daily readings'. She quote Henri Nouwen, in 'Love in a fearful land'...

"Praying is letting one's own heart become the place where the tears of God and the tears of God's children can merge and become tears of hope"