Courageous

Thoughts for now.

2012 started on a good note. The 17 days that followed however felt a little far from it.

Work was hectic, enjoyable (tho' brief) dinner catch-ups with friends filled up most work nights, leaving me with the weekends for church, family ad getting ready for the new week. Amidst all the busy-ness, I just found myself wishing for things to just slow down. You know the saying 'Take the time to smell the roses.' I did not have time to spot the roses, let alone smell them.

So feeling like rather crappy, I headed to church for our first meeting of 2012. It was wonderful seeing each other again (since our last advent for kids session) and my heart was just uplifted as I quietly listened to everyone's heartfelt sharing on what we were thankful for in the Year 2011. Towards the end of the meeting, Peta asked us to choose a bookmark, each with a different picture and a bible verse. I selected this one as it reminded me much of the old fort on St Paul's Hill in Melaka and I love old buildings like these. And God's message to me came clearly to me as I read the verse printed on the bookmark:

May the Lord continue to guide us in our daily lives, send down his Holy Spirit upon us and give us the strength and energy to do His will here on earth.

Perfecting Perfection

Came across an article in the Catholic News (Jan 29, 2012) written by Karen Osborne titled:"Forget about wanting things perfect in 2012 - That ain't gonna happen..." The title in bold printed letters caught my attention and I read on. You may refer to the online version here. I guess the 'perfectionist' in me reacted to the title with, "what do you mean?? nooo.. things have to be PERFECT!" After reading the article, it had pointed out alot of things which you and I already know, but often tend to forget easily.

"We have to remember that every single human being ever born on this earth has character flaws. Maybe you know someone who has shoplifted. You definitely know people who have lied. You know people who have cheated. Every single human being has passed on gossip... When our friends fail us, we can sometimes get so caught up in how awful we feel that we forget we’re just like them — that that we are not perfect either, and that we’ve all disappointed someone else..."

So how do we move on and make the best of things when we are faced with disappointments by people and events? The only real way?

"The only real way to strive for a perfection that lasts is to forgive others - and to forgive ourselves...Forgiveness paves the way for both you and the person who wronged you, to make something beautiful and new out of your relationship."

And my favourite liner of the article is, "This, ultimately, is the "perfect" solution."