"All Relationships are about trust." It struck me strongly that I can't help but reflect on my own experience of relationships. The latest roller coaster ride with relationship I had gave me the strongest lessons I have learned so far. There can be no relationship without trust.
This made me reminisce the friends I had made through the years. Most of them were good and healthy friendships. Some are just casual that I could have nurtured more. A few were broken by immaturity then. These many friends, and their memory, had made me cope with life more easily because they shared the experience of life with me. This sharing is an exchange of trust. I am grateful that they had trusted me and they have kept my trust in return.
One of the popular manga around, Bleach, gave a very beautiful reflection on friendship. To the characters, a friend is a "nakama", someone who shares a deep bond. To them friendship is an exchange of hearts so that wherever you are your friends' hearts stays with you.
I believe it is true. Friendship is a sharing not just of hearts but of persons and that makes it beautiful because you get to encounter another person, another beautiful being, and you share each other's being without losing your own individuality.
How I wish it were true for all my friends and all my relationships in general. I once said to a confrere, "When I die, I want to be remembered as a person who loved the best way he can." To all those whom I have hurt before, I am sorry, it is not who I wished to be. To all my friends now, I want you to know I am living for you too. Life is too beautiful to be wasted on negativities. It would be better to spend it on loving, learning, and living.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
How do you eat an elephant?
How do you eat an elephant?
I've heard this question before. At first I was caught in surprise thinking it would be impossible no matter how big your appetite is. Wait, now some familiar faces are popping in my mind… The answer by the way is piece by piece.
Sometimes, upon facing a very big challenge, we are simply stumped. We realize how little we are and how big the problem is. Then doubts come pouring in, confidence erodes, and self-trust vanishes into thin air. Isn’t this our usual experience? The world seems to be filled with so many problems and too few people to solve it.
As the saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles begin with a simple step, maybe we all just need to take that first step of faith. It may be far, it may be big, but the first step is the start of its conquest. I believe we are all called to face our daily challenges and do something about it rather than cry all day in our helplessness.
This is what I learned as I faced the mammoth Philosophy. Forgive me, but many times I'm a coward, and as I face my studies, I tremble at the thought of de Universa. I have heard stories of post-novices jittering and jokes of brothers who faint in front of the panel of professors. My first dive, my first step, into the waters of Philosophy may have brought shivers but once I was inside the water, I realize I know how to swim and I know I can reach the next shore.
Stupid me, there is no reason to rush things. De Universa is years away, there is ample time to prepare. I’m still at the bottom of the ladder, I’ll face things as they come.
Piece by piece, that's it. We don't have to take everything all at once. Take one piece of life a day, munch it, relish it, and gulp it in. After days of taking a small piece at a time, what looked like an elephant before has become a teeny-weeny mouse. An impossible task has become a delightful meal called life.
I've heard this question before. At first I was caught in surprise thinking it would be impossible no matter how big your appetite is. Wait, now some familiar faces are popping in my mind… The answer by the way is piece by piece.
Sometimes, upon facing a very big challenge, we are simply stumped. We realize how little we are and how big the problem is. Then doubts come pouring in, confidence erodes, and self-trust vanishes into thin air. Isn’t this our usual experience? The world seems to be filled with so many problems and too few people to solve it.
As the saying goes, a journey of a thousand miles begin with a simple step, maybe we all just need to take that first step of faith. It may be far, it may be big, but the first step is the start of its conquest. I believe we are all called to face our daily challenges and do something about it rather than cry all day in our helplessness.
This is what I learned as I faced the mammoth Philosophy. Forgive me, but many times I'm a coward, and as I face my studies, I tremble at the thought of de Universa. I have heard stories of post-novices jittering and jokes of brothers who faint in front of the panel of professors. My first dive, my first step, into the waters of Philosophy may have brought shivers but once I was inside the water, I realize I know how to swim and I know I can reach the next shore.
Stupid me, there is no reason to rush things. De Universa is years away, there is ample time to prepare. I’m still at the bottom of the ladder, I’ll face things as they come.
Piece by piece, that's it. We don't have to take everything all at once. Take one piece of life a day, munch it, relish it, and gulp it in. After days of taking a small piece at a time, what looked like an elephant before has become a teeny-weeny mouse. An impossible task has become a delightful meal called life.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Study, study, study!
I took this short time to take a break from a studying. I might be experiencing shock. A few weeks ago, my mind was just floating in the air, now it's floating in the waters of Philosophy, frantically gasping for a breath. I think I need a strong impulse of charge to my brain to heat it up. The constant barrage of reading assignments, the prospect of having to undergo check-up tests every meeting, and the many other demands of this study is some bitter herb for my sweet-toothed brain.
Just like many other bitter medicines, I am sure this is about to unfold some good thing for me. Certainly, it has awakened a brain that is quite becoming lazy. I have an inkling of a feeling that I am getting dumb every time I use Facebook. If I need some powerful jump start, I need it fast and now.
I still hold on to the principle that my studies is an owning of Don Bosco's Pro Vobis Studeo. My mood these weeks have been down so this is really a test of will power. And to think, we all have to study the whole of our lifetime! Everyday, then, is a test of will power. That's all for now, my brain's getting fried. Cheers!
Just like many other bitter medicines, I am sure this is about to unfold some good thing for me. Certainly, it has awakened a brain that is quite becoming lazy. I have an inkling of a feeling that I am getting dumb every time I use Facebook. If I need some powerful jump start, I need it fast and now.
I still hold on to the principle that my studies is an owning of Don Bosco's Pro Vobis Studeo. My mood these weeks have been down so this is really a test of will power. And to think, we all have to study the whole of our lifetime! Everyday, then, is a test of will power. That's all for now, my brain's getting fried. Cheers!
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