Reflections
Choices and God
God’s love sustains us in our every choice we make in our life. Jesus asks us to act in response to the good recognized alternatives, to choose to know the truth, the truth about our strength and power. Along with happy memories, there are bound to be some unpleasant experiences and feelings and those who are sensitive suffer even more. People’s response to these unlikable events vary according to what they believe in is right and I can’t blame them. I have this high school friend, whose life is very comfortable until everything ends up not being okay because of the fault of one member in the family. She started to smoke and take drugs and she even change her religion. I can’t do something for her situation because she is the one deciding for her life. What I can do now is to stay away from her, I will still be her friend forever but I do not have the courage to see her reliving the occasion that eats her up over and over again in all its intensity and anguish. I will never forget what my religion teacher in first year told me, she said that life is always beautiful with its joy and sorrows. Our load will be lighter and more pleasant to bear if we offer everything to God.
I cannot think of any significant or remarkable decision I have made that create fabulous change in the lives of my loved ones. When everything always goes our way, like being popular and our life travels over placid waters, it is very difficult to walk the way of the cross but Jesus’ s crucifixion does not only provide an example of suffering, it also calls for great humiliation in sharing the sufferings of others. Jesus immediately responded with forgiveness and a promised salvation to the thief hanging beside him. We, too must share in the suffering of Christ not by burdening oneself but by sharing in the distress and pain of our friends in order to move closer to God.
All of us have dreams not only for ourselves but also for our loved ones. Sometimes we are not aware of the means we use to achieve our goals in life. We are sometimes confronted with dilemmas like sacrificing what is morally right from what is legally helpful and advantageous to majority. Our heavenly father asked us to remember him during these times of predicament. Whenever I am in this tight spot, I always cry out to God to grant me wisdom and discernment to make a good choice, to make my wishes known, and in order for me to stand firm on an unfamiliar ground.
Who am I?
According to my psychologist teacher, one of the most important aspects of personal development is the way in which we see ourselves. As a child grows he becomes aware, through his experiences, initially within the family, and later also outside in his society, of who and what he is. This reality does not only represents his present situation but also acts as a stepping-stone towards his future development. I believe that all of us have the possibility of reflecting on the nature of our self. When I was faced with the question, “Who am I?” I retort basing on the qualities I have or my accomplishments and achievements but I find it superficial. I agree that we have a sense of not being known. Often times, people know me as someone who is strong but several times I have cried inside and think of giving up. People know me as someone who is intelligent but I proven that to myself, there are more people better and smarter than me. The same goes to those people I judge as weak, strong, pathetic etc. they do not know what’s going on in my mind. When I want to share my self to someone, I usually starts with what I believe in and my principles in life. It is hard to estimate the age or the year I started to become me, I mean to say that this is me, this is myself. I have this intense feeling of protecting my ego from any unacceptable truths such as failing in an exam, betrayal of a friend, hurtful words from someone and most of all the pain of letting go the things that you have just learned to love.
How does an individual live without being a self? For me, I consider
failure to take responsibility for one’s life is most real in my life.
Sometimes I feel that I live by default. I always respond accordingly to
what the circumstance requires me to do. Often times, I choose to do the
things that I know will bring me inconvenience at the end. Maybe it is
due to the reason that I am afraid. I am afraid that I will disappoint
my family or hurt others but I am still thankful because I can confront
my anxiety and make a decision on how I will face it. Another way of not
living a full self is always tolerating the longing of the self that is
giving in always to what one wants even if it will cause harm to others
as well as to one self. I prefer to watch movies than studying. Giving
in always to this desire will make my life miserable in the future.
Moreover, I will not learn the value of discipline and sacrifice.
Discovering ourselves is considering the person as image. Basically, it
is inevitable to answer the question, “Who am I?” with the qualities I
have, potentials, and beliefs. I can also transform myself into someone
which I think is me. I can see myself as someone who is a great actress
and so every path I take, I see to it that I have done my part or my
role in making the movie (life) successful ( to the fullest). I can also
create an image as the antagonist of every person’s life. I can wreck
their living and make everything a crap. This is not what I want to do
of course, I want to be remembered as someone who have accomplished a
great role.
It is often astonishing how little time we take to consider such an
important theme as the meaning of our own lives. How easily we simply
take over preconceived notions without questioning them. Or how seldom
we thoroughly examine the consequences of our decisions in advance and
creates a negative self image. We can achieve constant harmony and inner
peace by taking the responsibility. The right choice and deliberate
pursuing of our own, self-selected goals take on a key role in this so
that we can achieve our own goals and not let ourselves be manipulated
by others.