Back to Basics

I’ve always been interested in the fields of counseling and coaching and it has been my long-term plan to get into these fields when I’m ready to leave the corporate world. Throughout the years, I’ve been looking for a good opportunity to jumpstart my learning while working, but working in a fast-paced environment meant putting all my energy and focus on the present job.

While this has turned out really well for me because of how my career has progressed, I’m also finding it really interesting how I’m discovering that over the years, what I thought was just an interest turned out to be what I am really passionate about. During this pandemic, I have seen the awareness for mental health and the need for people to have someone to talk to or consult about the basic things in life as well as about coping with emotions and feelings rise. Instead of feeling overwhelmed about the situation, I felt a strong desire to help people, whether it be by lending an ear or offering support and guidance.

And so after many failed attempts, I finally made a decision to begin my learning journey by consulting people who are experts in both fields to get an idea on how to get started. And while a post-graduate degree might not be an option for me yet, I have decided to pursue learning the coaching field first, this time without having any excuse of not having enough time to do it.

I never really thought that I’d be doing any studying again after all these years. But I guess life has a way of turning things around and somehow, each time it happens, I find myself actually ready to embrace the change and the challenge. It’s been a very long time since I felt really excited about studying and learning. I guess being able to use my own advice has its perks. 🙂

To be honest, I had some hesitations in the beginning. At one point, I felt like it was too late to get started on something new or it just wasn’t the right timing. There is so much uncertainty in going into something completely new. But like what I have mentioned in my previous posts, one should not worry too much about how things will turn out. Just go ahead and get started, and that means start NOW. And when things don’t work out, stand up and try again.

On the First Day

I always think that the first day of any occasion, event, or month, is special. Because after several days, weeks, or months of preparation, the first day is the time when everything comes into fruition. Ideas and plans are no longer just in people’s minds but it is now in motion. The first day of a month is always an opportunity to start all over again. The first day of the work week is also the first day where you feel the effects of being recharged over the weekend, helping you look forward to a brand new week ahead with a fresh perspective and renewed energy.

Just like this blog where I am posting for the first time for the month of May. I have been given a chance to start all over again, figuring out that the best way for me to balance my time between everything that I am doing, and making that decision to stick to a regular posting schedule, which is once a week, on a Saturday evening.

And this is still one of the things that I have learned in one of my reflections during the Lent season. In any endeavor that you undertake, you will have to keep trying and trying until you learn what works best for you. And once you know what works for you, then everything will eventually become manageable, or maybe even easy. You will finally gain your momentum and confidence, having now a better understanding of why you are doing something and what you will need to keep going.

And so if you find yourself stuck because you don’t know where to start or you’re afraid of making a mistake, I encourage you to just take that step forward and set things into motion. Just get out there and work with something, and eventually you will figure it out. Once you do, you can start over, because by then, you would already know exactly what you want.

ctto: Power of Positivity

Unworthy

So many movies have been made about the Passion of Christ as well as the other stories in the Bible, and people usually watch them during the appropriate season. Recently, it was my first time to encounter this series called The Chosen. I believe it’s the first of its kind and it was launched back in 2019. Instead of a movie about a specific event, it’s a series about the life of Jesus from before and during his ministry. It has 8 episodes on its 1st season which had me crying the entire time and this year, it began to release the episodes for the 2nd season, which started on Easter Sunday.

I’ve actually seen some of the videos where the director, writers, everyone who has worked behind the scenes, and even the cast talked about the reason behind this project, their experience while creating and shooting the scenes and the effect that it has had on them. And what they shared was exactly the same with how I felt while I was watching the episodes.

Personally, if I compare it to the movies I’ve watched in the past, this series is not just informative or a visual presentation of the stories that we already know. I would say that it “fills the gaps.” It gives us a glimpse of what life was really like during that time, how Jesus interacted with the disciples and the population, how they got by when they were travelling from one place to another, what the disciples were like, and how these disciples immediately followed Jesus.

It feels so real that I came to better understand how an imperfect human being can be “called” by God to do great things even when in the human eye, he is seen as unworthy. It was beautiful how the past life of each disciple were shown before they became a follower of Jesus, and that even when they were already with Him, they were still imperfect, but was given so much love and patience by Jesus, which always left them in awe and gave them the motivation and divine inspiration to move forward with the mission and establish Christianity that we know today.

In every moment that I feel ashamed of the past mistakes and sins, when I’m feeling unworthy because of some people making me feel that way or because it’s just me being hard on myself, or when I find myself helpless and frustrated because of the things that are out of my control and the uncertainty that comes with it, I really do know now that the only way is to seek for the truth in Jesus. There is a reason that we find ourselves in a specific place, time, position, and situation, and Jesus is there with us, reassuring us that we are exactly where we are meant to be and that as long as we follow Him and do His work, He will take care of the rest.

Photo by Aricka Lewis on Unsplash

Making Space and Time

One of the things that I really tried to do during the Lent season was to make a sacrifice. In the old days, people would usually make a sacrifice through the way they eat – fasting and abstinence, and this practice continues to be true for the Catholic faith as there are days where we should observe this.

In the more recent years, sacrifice can also be applied to many other things. It can be a favorite food or drink even if it’s not necessarily meat, or it could simply be staying away from playing your favorite video games or watching your favorite TV shows. It can be something that’s not exactly sinful but you are addicted to (i.e. excessive shopping, whether online or in shopping malls) or it can be a bad habit that you’ve been trying to get rid of and overcome.

For me, I’ve decided to sacrifice watching my favorite shows on Netflix. It’s nothing sinful and it doesn’t really affect the other important things in my life, but because I know that there could be other things I’m doing instead of binge-watching these shows, I decided that I would not watch them until Easter came. It might sound funny, but I really struggled with this in the first few days. Lots of self- talk was happening in my head just so I could stop myself from watching them. And that’s how I knew how addicted I was. But eventually, because I didn’t spend my time on this activity, and because I had to distract myself from thinking about the shows, I found other things to do to fill the time.

Although it was after office hours, I was able to complete some projects and tasks which brought a lot of satisfaction. And more importantly, I was able to go back to reading a devotional in my Bible app, aside from the video devotional that I’ve been following and listening to. Making this sacrifice allowed me to make time for more important things to be done and gave some space in my overall being for inspiration to come in, specifically divine inspiration.

Of course, I know that there is nothing wrong with watching these shows. They are a good way to relax after a tiring day. But what I truly learned in this experience is that, when we think that we don’t have time for everything, maybe it just means we have to look at all the things that we’re spending time on and try to let go of something that’s less important, whether temporarily or permanently, in order to make room for the more important things to happen.

Ultimately, sacrifice is just a temporary suffering for the greater good. Just like when Jesus sacrificed His life for us, even when He knew it was going to be difficult and painful, He knew it had to be done and the effect would be everlasting – our salvation.

Crown of thorns.

It’s Easter Time! :)

The latter part of the Lent season was a much needed time for me to self-reflect and stay silent and so after a month of not posting anything here on my blog, and just like how Jesus rose from the dead on Easter, I am baaaaaacckkkk!!!!! 😀

From the small sacrifices, meaningful conversations, new discoveries, and simply going back to basics, indeed, I have learned so much more about myself, my relationship with others, and my relationship with God. Easter is a joyful season, and with a renewed faith and perspective, it is also a very good time for me to come back to blogging, hoping that my posts in the coming days will allow you and anybody else reading them to experience the same joy and renewed spirit that I found during my Lent journey.

We still have the next couple of weeks for this Easter season so I would like to greet you a Happy Easter! And looking forward to seeing you again here on my page. 🙂

Reflections: 16/40

I have just been going about my usual day today when I realized that we are now in the month of March, which means my birthday is coming up soon! 🙂

Of course, with the pandemic still in our midst, I haven’t really thought about having any kind of celebration but having a nice meal would be enough to make it special. I also figured that being pre-occupied with all the work stuff and going ahead with the preparations for the wedding, I’d have enough to keep me busy in both during the weekdays and in the weekend.

But then I realized that maybe God has so much more in store for me. Without immediately noticing, I have said yes to serving in the different events of the community, something that hasn’t happened in a very long time. I must have missed it so much that I immediately said yes, and I am just realizing now that they all happen to fall within this month of March. Instead of panicking though and thinking about the many things that I will have to do, I actually felt excited.

I wonder what God is trying to tell me with these events. Has he got a wonderful surprise for me? A gift? A message? Whatever it may be, I sure feel giddy because of this unexpected but most wonderful surprise. Serving in itself is already a gift. And being able to do so during this season of Lent and in my birth month is even more special. I can only pray that I keep my eyes, mind, and heart wide open so that I may be able to receive fully His grace and love during one of the most special moments in my life.

Reflections: 11/40

After a long work week of working overtime to catch up on task and project backlogs, I finally got a Saturday where I was able to spend most of my time not having to think about work. At first, there was a bit of a struggle in the morning. I’ve been so used to working every Saturday that I grew a bit anxious. I kept asking myself if I was sure I didn’t miss anything. I knew I still had a lot to catch up on but could I really afford to relax this weekend and leave things off until Monday? I wondered if it’s the workaholic in me talking or if there was a reason I really needed to worry.

After being glued to my laptop for several hours this week, I told myself that my eyes needed rest and it was time to get up and walk around instead of sitting in front of a monitor all day and typing away. It was a much needed break. As I walked around the mall with my fiancé because of wedding preps, I began to feel tired because my body was no longer used to these long walks. I had no regular or daily exercise and physical activity since the pandemic happened and these long walks definitely made me feel it.

When I got home, I was tired but happy. Happy that I was physically tired instead of being emotionally restless. Happy that this experience gave me the motivation to really get serious in taking care of my health and to look for ways to have a more regular physical activity. Happy that I was able to spend time in something personal instead of spending another weekend for work. Thank you, Lord for this day. 🙂