Make The Difference
Very nice film advert for a bank (it’s called TMB, probably a Thai bank). Really, really good and will inspire you 
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Life is Like Juggling Balls in the Air
This is said to be written by Bryan Dyson, former CEO of Coca-Cola.
Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air.
You name them –
Work –
Family –
Health –
Friends –
Spirit,
and you’re keeping all of these in the air.
You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball.
If you drop it, it will bounce back.
But the other four balls – family, health, friends and spirit are made of glass.
If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered.
They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life.
How?
- Don’t undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others. It is because we are different that each of us is special.
- Don’t set your goals by what other people deem important. Only you know what is best for you.
- Don’t take for granted the things closest to your heart. Cling to them as you would your life, for without them, life is meaningless.
- Don’t let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future. By living your life one day at a time, you live ALL the days of your life.
- Don’t give up when you still have something to give. Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.
- Don’t be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect. It is this fragile thread that binds us together.
- Don’t be afraid to encounter risks. It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.
- Don’t shut love out of your life by saying it’s impossible to find. The quickest way to receive love is to give; the fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly; and the best way to keep love is to give it wings.
- Don’t run through life so fast that you forget not only where you’ve been, but also where you are going.
- Don’t forget that a person’s greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated.
- Don’t be afraid to learn. Knowledge is weightless, a treasure you can always carry easily.
- Don’t use time or words carelessly. Neither can be retrieved.
Sitting On Your Talent
If you are like me, there are some things you may feel you do pretty well, and others that you would not admit to having done even at gunpoint! I do play guitar adequately and I can make a memorable enchilada dish. I also enjoy working with people and I seem to have made it a lifelong project to learn how to become a better listener.
I never thought of myself as one who has any great talent, but like each of us, I have certain skills and abilities. Let me tell you a story, however, passed down through jazz circles. It’s a story about a man who had real talent.
This particular man played piano in a bar. He was a good piano player. People came out just to hear him and his trio play. But one night, a patron wanted them to sing a particular song. The trio declined. But the customer was persistent. He told them bartender,
“I’m tired of listening to the piano. I want that guy to sing!”
The bartender shouted across the room to the piano player,
“Hey buddy! If you want to get paid, sing the song. The patrons are asking you to sing!”
So he did. He sang a song. A jazz piano player who had not sung much in public, sang a song that changed his career. For nobody had ever heard Sweet Lorraine sung the way it was sung that night by Nat King Cole!
He had talent he was sitting on! He may have lived the rest of his life playing in a jazz trio in clubs and bars, but because he had to sing, he went on to become one of the best-known entertainers in America.
You, too, have skills and abilities. You may not feel as if your “talent” is particularly great, but it may be better than you think! And with persistence, most skills can be improved. Besides, you may as well have no ability at all if you sit on whatever talent you possess!
Some people ask, “What ability do I have that is useful?”
But the better question is: “How will I use the ability that I have?”
– Steve Goodier, Author of “Joy Along The Way”
Read MoreThe Burden and The Rest
Matthew 11
28 “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for your selves.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”
Burden.
Have we got one today?
From our job, our school, our family, our friends, our community, our relationship, or maybe even from strangers.
Being human, all of us got our own burdens.
But Sometimes the heaviest burdens are not the physical, external burdens such as health or financial.
Instead, it is the intangible, internal, spiritual ones.
When communications are not good..
When relationships are not good..
When respect is gradually diminished..
When truth is absent..
When virtue is diminished..
We feel bad.
When faith, hope, and love are not strong, we feel weak.
Have we ever wondered why?
It is simply because there is too much bad thing/evil in such situation.
The more evil is there, the less we feel good.
Or to put it in academia terms: “There is an inverse relationship between evil and feeling good”
We can put it the other way around too:
The less evil is there, the more we feel good.
So if we want to feel good more, there must be less evil.
How? It is very simple.
What is evil?
Evil is merely the absence of good.
So if we do good, we reduce evil.
The more we do good, the more we feel good.
But sometimes we just feel that no matter how hard we tried, we feel that the burden is too hard.
The situation is too bad.
The evil is too.. evil.
Jesus answers our worries. “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.”
Look at our visual images of Jesus: he comes with an openness (His hands are always open). He wants us to come to Him.
But how might we achieve the rest Jesus assures us?
It is not easy; if it were easy to attain, we would not bother wishing or praying for it..
Jesus explains how to get the rest: “Take my yoke upon yourself, and learn from me.”
But what is Jesus’ yoke?
Jesus came to do the will of the Father in heaven.
He had suffered and died for us. Why?
Not only to save us, but to set an example.
He demonstrates truth and love by giving his life for all others.
We can attain Jesus’ rest by doing what God wants us to do, just as Jesus has done the will of the Father.
By humbling ourselves, facing and accepting the realities of our lives, discerning what God would want us to do, then trying to do our best in our situation, we can find divine rest.
God creates each of us in the image and likeness of God; we are inherently good in our being, even though we commit sins in our behaviors.
That we are created to be good and to do good, that the purpose and joy of our lives is to be good. Conversely, sin makes us sad.
God wants you to do good.
The more we do good, the more we feel good.
By doing such, we will find rest to the degree that we turn to Jesus and the Church which he founded. And when we share Jesus’ vision and Jesus’ way, we will live better qualitatively.
As St. Augustine said, “Our hearts are restless, O Lord, until we rest in you”,
Let’s respond to Jesus’ invitation: “Come to me all you who labor and find life burdensome, and I will give you rest.. My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Sincerely yours,
Andrew
Reflection:
Think of your own experiences when in the past you have felt, or currently feel, terribly burdened … weighed down… at the end of your rope… imagining that the next straw will be the one final straw to break the camel’s back.
The range of feelings we experience at times of great burdens are not happy feelings.
Can you identify at least one situation like that?
This article is based and inspired by the writing of Father O’Malley of Emmitsburg, Maryland as found in here
Read MoreWeakness or Strength
Sometimes your biggest weakness can become your biggest strength. Take, for example, the story of one 10-year-old boy who decided to study judo despite the fact that he had lost his left arm in a devastating car accident.
The boy began lessons with an old Japanese judo master. The boy was doing well, so he couldn’t understand why, after three months of training the master had taught him only one move.
“Sensei,” the boy finally said, “Shouldn’t I be learning more moves?”
“This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you’ll ever need to know,” the sensei replied.
Not quite understanding, but believing in his teacher, the boy kept training.
Several months later, the sensei took the boy to his first tournament. Surprising himself, the boy easily won his first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, his opponent became impatient and charged; the boy deftly used his one move to win the match. Still amazed by his success, the boy was now in the finals.
This time, his opponent was bigger, stronger, and more experienced. For a while, the boy appeared to be overmatched. Concerned that the boy might get hurt, the referee called a time-out. He was about to stop the match when the sensei intervened.
“No,” the sensei insisted, “Let him continue.”
Soon after the match resumed, his opponent made a critical mistake: he dropped his guard. Instantly, the boy used his move to pin him. The boy had won the match and the tournament. He was the champion.
On the way home, the boy and sensei reviewed every move in each and every match. Then the boy summoned the courage to ask what was really on his mind.
“Sensei, how did I win the tournament with only one move?”
“You won for two reasons,” the sensei answered. “First, you’ve almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. And second, the only known defense for that move is for your opponent to grip your left arm.”
The boy’s biggest weakness had become his biggest strength.
Read MoreNick Vujicic: Are You Gonna Finish Strong?
Nick Vujicic was born without arms and legs. He is happy with his life, he loves his life.
No Arms, No Legs, No Worries!