'Most people give up just when they’re about to achieve success. They quit on the one yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game, one foot from a winning touchdown.' – Ross Perot
It was such an extraordinary feeling...because in that moment, I felt as if I was meant to see it, because it was something I needed to hear. So I've decided to push on. I'm not going to be that guy who was about to win, and just gave up."
This was a conversation I had with a friend on Tuesday, after someone bumped into my car in a parking lot, and the dreaded admin ensues on my already busy week... Upon reflection, it was on that same day, that I left gym, and there was a sticker on the slot where the parking ticket goes in, saying:
'Everything will be okay.'
At the time, I didn't think much of it. I just thought it was quite cool that people do things like this: sticking encouraging messages for other people - to help them get through a tough day. Little did I know that I actually needed it by Thursday.
Positive change is a lot of persistent hard work.
So I've finally decided to embark on my health and fitness goal this week. It sounds a little silly, but compared to all the other things I am committed to, looking after my physical health is almost always thrown out the window when I'm consumed by work, admin, family, church and social commitments. It sounds almost laughable, but it's been my reality for almost my entire life, and my own health has had to pay for it.
And by Thursday, when I'd gone four straight days of keeping up with the new exercise regime I've started, I was exhausted, in pain, and when I thought of all the other things that still demanded my attention...I wanted to just throw in the towel. I was just tired!
Paulo Coehlo once shared this story: The Languages that God Speaks
A Spanish missionary was visiting an island when he came across three Aztec priests.
“How do you pray?” asked the priest.
“We have only one prayer, ” answered one of the Aztecs. “We say: “God, You are three, we are three. Have mercy on us.”
“Beautiful prayer,” said the missionary. “But it is not exactly the prayer that God hears. I shall teach you a much better one.”
The priest taught them a Catholic prayer and went on his way to spread the Gospel among others. Years later, on the ship taking him back to Spain, he stopped at that island once more. From the deck he saw the three holy men on the beach – and waved farewell to them.
At that moment the three began to walk on the water towards him.
“Father! Father!” shouted one of them, approaching the ship. “Teach us again the prayer that God hears, because we can’t remember it!”
“It doesn’t matter,” said the missionary, seeing the miracle. And he asked God to forgive him for not understanding before that He spoke all languages.
This story was in his foreword of By the River Piedra I Sat Down & Wept. As I began to read it on Wednesday I learned this: We often miss the miracles in our lives, in search of something that we've been taught to be great and meaningful. When we cast aside our own pre-conceptions of what our lives are meant to be like, how our path is supposed to be, who is supposed to help us along the way, and how we entitled we are...we stop living in our own heads, and we start opening our eyes to the world around us.
It's been a tough week. Professionally, it's been alright - which is a big change for me. Personally, I've had to re-evaluate what's on my list of priorities. I almost always feel dragged down when I look at my out-of-office hours to-do list. Where do I even start, and when I do, it doesn't even feel like I've dented the page, and somehow something always comes up.
And then my helper arrives, telling me this amazing message she heard on the radio by a motivational speaker on Nkosi-FM (Nkosi = Lord in Zulu), as she reflected on her own tough times:
"We all have our own positions in life, Donna. Just like in a team on a field. Just like you have your own position on the field, I have my own position on the field. When people are coming to me, I need to stand my ground, because if I run away, who is going to do my job? When I run away, I am not doing what I'm supposed to be doing. When I run away, my team loses. Times will get tough, but if I'm able to stand my ground, I will be able to conquer whatever challenges that lie ahead of me. If I'm going to run away, I may just run off the field, and that might be a very dark place. So I must stand in my position. You know, God was speaking to me today!"
Indeed, He was. I felt He has spoken to me every day this week - Through different people and their stories.
A Chinese brother came to me to share his own testimony at the end of church service, this evening. For the first time he started speaking fluent English to me. He told of his past shame, his greed and how empty, tired and lost it made him feel. Then he told of his joy, how his new focus in life has given him so much meaning. His new focus in life is to live a life that glorifies God, instead of a life that glorifies himself. It was amazing how seeing his new focus: from focusing on his own greatness, to God's greatness, has allowed him to experience something greater in himself that he's never experienced before.
This week has shown me, that if you are willing to look up, there is God beside you, in whatever tough time you may befall. He may not appear as the image you have in your head, but rather, if you quieten your heart and your mind, you may just ever so slightly feel him moving his words through the people in your life, through the passing window, or an accidental encounter. This week has also reminded me that where you put your focus is really important, especially if you want to live a meaningful existence, says my person.
And when I left church, that's when I decided that I needed to share this message, even if it is on a Friday evening.
Good night all! Have a wonderful weekend, and a Happy Mother's day!
