Enjoy the ride!

Sometimes we complain of our difficulty in keeping life together. You are actually not surprised by this comment, are you?

Most of us struggle to deal with all the things we have on our plate on a daily basis. So whether it’s the daily onslaught of world news, the endless to do list, or wondering how we could have misplaced the hot cup of tea we just poured, sometimes so many things are going on at once, that it can be overwhelming.

My parent’s piece of advice when I am feeling a little swamped is the idea that a state of chaos often precedes a new order of things. It’s sort of like the calm after the storm: the rainstorm with the whipping winds and thunder, followed by a period of a calm blue skies with birds chirping and nature looking clean and refreshed. It’s only when we actually come out on the other side of the chaos that we can gain insight, understanding, or a new perspective.

Chores and tasks can seem too hard if we think about them all at once. We could look at small pieces of the job and doing them with a smile . Mental tasks can be pleasant when shared with others who are interested in doing a good job. Why not put our head together with a creative friend who knows our style?

But there is no doubt that the actual process of living the chaos can be difficult. That said, there are things that can help to move us through the confusion or conflict faster and easier. First, it’s important to accept when are we feeling overwhelmed. Being confused or conflicted happens to almost everyone countless times throughout life. By accepting our negative emotions or anxiety, we can actually liberate ourselves so that we can begin to change whatever it is that is making us uncomfortable.

Once we can accept conflict or confusion in things or events, we can begin to let go of them. Hanging on to old baggage, just because it feels familiar or because we are afraid to let it go keeps us in a state of discomfort. If we are having trouble letting go of things that aren’t good for us, we may need to consider seeking some help – by simply talking to a trusted family member or a friend. Sharing and asking for assistance is not a sign of weakness, but rather a step in a positive direction, and it is surprising how helpful it can be.

Feelings of chaos and confusion will come and go like the tides. It is realizing this that actually allows us to move through the ups and downs more easily and to go with the flow.

Roll With It..!!

“So what do you hope to be doing 5 years from now?“

That’s a common question asked by hiring managers in many job interviews, and certainly a question that I have been asked both as a candidate and as a hiring manager in interviews. Ambitious candidates often have a plan as to where they “hope” to be professionally in their chosen field.

But what if the same question was asked for your life?

Let’s face it, we all have some idea of how we would like life to turn out. But the reality is that life usually doesn’t end up looking like the picture we had in our head. We tend to get a little (or a lot) out of sorts when things don’t go as we plan.

We as humans like to make plans for our lives. I think most of us go through life expecting everything to go just as we planned it. To get that great job, find that perfect companion and get married, buy a great house and raise our 2 kids, and retire somewhere to gracefully live out our days watching our children and grandchildren. But realistically, that isn’t always how it happens. We are yet to find that perfect mate, or maybe they walked out on you because they didn’t want to be married anymore. That great job you always wanted didn’t roll the final offer to you. In an instant, all those things you have planned for go up in flames. We go through our own seasons of great difficulty – the ones we didn’t ask for and above all we didn’t expect. I, too, wondered about the answers, explanations, solutions…

But what if we didn’t need answers? What if there was something better than getting easy answers and quick fixes?

Have you ever had a plan blow up in your face? I surely have a few to count… If you know me at all, you know I am a planner. There are have been times when my plans had to be changed. So what do you do when life hands you a plan-B situation instead of a plan-A situation? In my own life recently, life has dealt me a Plan B situation. Honestly, I am still walking through a Plan B.

We can’t smooth over the wrinkles and life can be really tough and we may not understand why certain situations are occurring in our lives. There often aren’t easy answers to the Plan Bs we experience.

For everyone, situations are a little different, and no one has all the answers. Sometimes, things do not turn out as we would have hoped. And circumstances don’t turn out as we would like. All of us have Plan A. What happens when Plan A is failure? God is testing us with these catastrophes. This is where the “Plan B” comes into our life. God uses our Plan B in our lives. God will always take these situations in our lives where we have pain and struggle, and will never fail at the opportunity to show us how much he loves us. God never destroys our lives, but he does allow us to make our own decisions, even when those decisions take us farther away from God.

We often wonder where God is, why are things going so badly, and why do I continue to struggle through this pain for years and years. Too often, we want that pain to be over as quickly as possible, and we scream at God when it doesn’t happen in our timing. The fact remains that God’s timing is nothing like ours, and His timing isn’t ready for us to be out of this season in life. A tough thing to swallow, that’s for sure, but true.

 

…

The reality is that each one of us, with our carefully thought out plans, will be forced to throw the plan away and divert to a plan we never considered-Plan B. Plan B’s come in many forms, but they will come. It’s a good plan with success and happiness in the picture.

Plan B is not about rearranging your summer schedule, or not having enough time to read. It’s about dealing with changes, disappointments and heartbreaks. It’s about losses; lost jobs, lost marriage, and lost lives. It’s about lost visions and lost dreams. It’s about questioning if God is any where in our circumstances. It’s about how do we handle those times that come when life knocks us off our feet and it seems as if God isn’t right there to pick us up and make everything fine again. What do we do when things happen that we never thought would, and we are totally powerless to change those outcomes. Plan B is an honest, no frills assessment of how we react when these situations come.

The question is are our plans and God’s the same? Two answers to that question: Yes, and ofcourse, No. I ponder the question for which there is no simple answer and yet reassuring myself that it’s ok not to have an answer. I agree that it’s difficult to understand when life takes a different direction. It’s about giving up the life you think you should have versus the one that God wants for you.

I am wondering how different life would be for each one of us if we chose to view our circumstances and our relationships as the gifts they are. Change in our present situation is not needed to be at peace. Change in perception is what transforms our life.

Someone once said that life is what happens when we are planning for it. Ain’t it?? So let’s roll with it..

“Mommy” Katie Davis

If you live a comfortable life and don’t want anything or anyone messing up your comfort zone then you will want to re-examine your core beliefs and values after knowing Katie Davis whose missionary act will shake some moments…you will feel a gentle nudge from God that you have something beyond yourself to accomplish in this world – had me longing in confusion and asking, “well God, what do you want me to do now?”.

Why would she forego college, leave her parents and brother, lose friends, and break up with her boyfriend? Basically she wanted to do God’s will for her life. After reading her journey, struggles and plan on her blog, http://kissesfromkatie.blogspot.in/, you will get your answer that she had a great desire to change children’s lives one by one. You will have a song in your heart and a tear in your eye. Katie makes it all “seem so easy.” Well, yes and no. She does amaze me when she continues to say “maybe just one more.”

“Mommy”

In a world full of materialism, this young woman has exchanged a life of wealth in the U.S. to serve the needs of children in Africa. Her love and call to the mission field is obvious. No one could accomplish what she has without God’s influence. This young woman read the commands of Jesus and had the nerve to actually do as He said, “If you love Me, feed my sheep.”Katie, a high school homecoming queen and student body president and honor student and girlfriend to a handsome, committed, spiritual, star athlete – had every reason to “come home.” But her heart was back in Uganda with the motherless children she had fallen in love with. Katie abandoned her Mid southern upbringing – exchanged the North American suburban dream for a life of service, poverty and sacrifice, just after graduation from high school to travel across the world and become a modern-day American Mother Theresa.

She has no formal training or experience in theology, childcare or fundraising and receives little guidance or support from others. However, she is giving all she has. She spends her days ministering to the sick, feeding the poor and changing the family tree of almost everyone she comes in contact with. At the tender age of 22, she has adopted 14 young girls and has created a loving home in the face of adversity that most of us cannot even begin to grasp. And what a heart that girl has! The founder and director of a non-profit organization called Amazima (which means truth) is a ministry which helps several children in Uganda.

We don’t know how lucky we are. Most of us can take a bath or shower whenever we want, we have a roof over our heads, we have a bed to sleep in, and we have food at the table. These are just the basics but most of the children in Uganda don’t have these luxuries. It is really something to think about.

Katie is a perfect example of someone who truly believes and lives that “her life is not her own.” Is it any wonder that the name she has been given by the people of her village is “Mommy.”

Related articles

• Doing Good: Amazima (austingilly.wordpress.com)
• Young Missionary Finalist for Magazine’s ‘Women of the Year’. (greatriversofhope.wordpress.com)

If not now, when??

We often think about time…how it passes, how we are making use of it and how we can be even more happier and others around us. We also presume that you have got your life pretty much the way you want it, you just need to tweak it a bit. I always want my life to be the best it can be and to enjoy happiness along the way despite knowing all the jerks and grouches out there who might pounce twist my ideas.

I enjoy the moment I am in, living life as it happens. Meditation for me is out of question but I simply pause and immerse myself in both momentous and trivial events as they occur. I sometimes struggle with “acting the way I want to feel”, getting irritated with repeated distractions and getting annoyed with happiness leeches that seem to be in plentiful supply. Things that make others happy won’t necessarily make me happy, and that sometimes, I just have to let go of a notion that I “should” be doing something in order to be happy. I can’t make someone else happy, but I can change my own attitude and make myself happy.

The world I live in is beautiful – because I chose to notice its beauty, and because I chose to create much of that loveliness. Anytime is a perfect time to turn over a new leaf, start a new plan, and approach family life with a new perspective…’cos “If not now, when?”

**Wink** ;)

Think about a plan you made, then a coincidence steered you into a new direction. Coincidence? or God’s rudder steering you?

I can recall few times when things happened to me and I thought “I can’t believe this happened to me!”. Many times I have thought about things that happened to me and wondered, how could that be? Why did this happen at this particular time in my life? Then there have been times in my life where I said “Wow what a Coincidence?”.

Often, I have taken things for granted. I know I simply did not appreciate what I had or what came my way, Good or Bad. Now I simply wink to show a sense of appreciation for the little things in my everyday life. I replace my anger at missing a light or misplacing my keys with a patience. I see how amusing life is and all that surrounds us constantly!

These are not just random occurances…they happen constantly. I just open my eyes and WHAM!…There they are. You might find this idea far-fetched. Uhmmm, maybe…but that’s the whole point! It proves that while I may think that out of six billion people on the planet, I will never meet “the one”…in fact, I am on someone’s GPS system all the time. In dreams and in love there are no impossibilities. I keep the hope and faith alive and watch for the signs

Everyone takes their own experiences the way they see fit. It’s called interpretation. When you start looking at life as a succession of little winks you can actually begin to look forward to the day!! Being an agnostic, I feel that things all lined up for us if we pay attention and when we don’t, situations perk our attention.

Want to make God laugh? Tell him your plans.

Find your way to Happiness or Unhappiness…

If the rhetorical question of my previous post made you nod your head in confusion, here is something to help you find an answer.

Or if you are finding ways to be unhappy…here are the 10 golden rules to ease your journey!! Have a safe trip…

Unfold the napkin!!

If we can set aside our expectations suddenly everything good that enters our life becomes a blessing. Hang on to our expectations and we can expect to be dissatisfied when they aren’t met, and unappreciative when they do come true – after all, we expected to get it and felt that we deserved it, so why should we appreciate it?

Most of our problems stem from dissatisfaction with situations that are perfectly acceptable, even though they fall short of our preferences. However, sometimes…our problems are simple, clear and to the point. But we are caught in a web of advices, solutions, empathy provided by people around us instead of dispensing common-sense advice or no advice at all.

The problem of course as with most ‘advice’ even when it’s the best in the world, is that it is far easier to give, than to take. When we look to others, or other “things,” we’re not solving our problems but only creating additional problems for ourselves. If what you’re looking for are solutions, then you’ve just found them.

One of the secrets to solve the problem is recognizing that everything has a price. And we must determine if we are willing to pay the price or let it go. Even a relationship has a price…so does not being in a relationship. Is there a place in our life where we are bemoaning the price we have had to pay?

We are actually obligated to be happy because it makes us better people…but this is not as easy as it sounds, in that it requires a continuing process of counting our blessings and giving up expectations that life is supposed to be wonderful…it will only happen when we take responsibility for our life rather than spend time blaming others.

There are so many problems that come up in life and few for the first time in my life. I had answers to things I should have done in the past but most importantly, things to do in the future. I know for a fact that through prayer and waiting, all things work out for good according to God’s plans. I have had times when I wondered why God would let this or that happen but in the end found out it has made me a much better, stronger, and prayerful person. I now put problems or questions in God’s hands and wait for answers while trying to find the solutions myself. HE never fails. I am not saying “dump all your problems on God”.  You may feel overburdened, but don’t throw in the towel just yet, my friend.

We are always too focused on our problems to remember what do we appreciate more, the gift we have demanded or the one we didn’t expect? Learn to unfold the napkin…

G-Spot

I must confess my G-spot wavers. Yes, I do believe in miracles – not to believe requires a leap of faith.

Sometimes when events in my life take me with surprises/ shocks, I find myself asking ‘WHYs?’ - What do I believe about my life? Why am I here? Where am I going? Is life just a mindless fumbling through a maze or does it have purpose and meaning? What does the future hold, a depressing existence and then the promise of hope and a future? What is HE up to? These questions and many more. Answering these questions requires spending a whole lot of time digging into the issues — and debating both sides for greater clarity. I didn’t know whether or not to pray scriptures, get on my knees each time I pray each day, get counseling, rebuke Almighty, start fasting, or give more money to charity. As my parents always say, ‘HE took it away so that HE could give you something better than what you think is best. HE thinks at a much higher level than we can possibly fathom.’

I am in the process of learning that my feeble attempts to manipulate and control Almighty by my prayers and whining will not work. I have learnt to speak to my heart and allow myself to see that I had only been managing my circumstances. It is my reactions to the incidents and events in my life that makes me happy or sad. I have grown up believing that certain events of our life are pre-destined by Almighty. I sometimes wonder if it was pre-destined, why did it have to happen? However, as we grow, we need to learn lessons – for deeds which we might have intentionally or unintentionally done to cause hurt or pain to someone.

Having found the God-Spot within myself, my response to my problems has slowly changed as my trust has grown. This may have alleviated some anxiety (true!). That’s not really my focus anymore, so it’s hard to measure. But I am happy. From being a lunatic who could not go an hour without thinking obsessively about my crisis to someone who has learnt to truly let go. I am actually living again! And the WHYs are pretty much gone.

Alright! Everything’s gonna be so bright…

Do you happen to like a song not because of its music but its lyrics touch the right chords within you due to your state of mind, overwhelming emotions or simply blame it on that part of day when you are over-thinking? . Here is one which I simply have been humming since I heard it on the radio today morning!

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Life is a song meant to be sung

And dreams are the words that tickle your tongue

No time to lose, singin’ the blues, stuck in a memory

You get what you give, so let yourself live

And be what you’re meant to be

Alright! Everything’s gonna be so bright

Welcome to your destiny

Believe in yourself the answers will come

Alright! Everything’s gonna be so bright

Life is but a melody

Heaven knows, Heaven knows you’ve waited so long

And soon you’ll be singing your song

Don’t be afraid, just jump right in

Sometimes you lose, sometimes you win

You make your mistakes,  That’s what it takes for you to find your way

Trust in yourself, nobody else

Knows what you want to say

Alright! Everything’s gonna be so bright

Welcome to your destiny

Believe in yourself the answers will come

Alright! Everything’s gonna be so bright

Life is but a melody

Heaven knows, Heaven knows you’ve waited so long

(And soon you’ll be singing your song)

Oh- This is your destiny

Oh- Be what you’re meant to be

Woh- Keep your convictions strong

Oh- This is your song

Alright! Everything’s gonna be so bright

Welcome to your destiny

Believe in yourself the answers will come

Alright! Everything’s gonna be so bright

Life is but a melody

Heaven knows, Heaven knows you’ve waited so long

And soon you’ll be singing your song

~Shiloh (Hear the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tS3oC1d-2os)