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I had a breakfast meeting with an older gentleman yesterday, and as it is when spending time with people who know more than you, I walked away with more than a few nuggets of wisdom. One of the things we talked about was how simple living actually makes for healthier living. We talked about how different the world has become. These days we have so many options that it has become hard, even stressful, to choose. Worse, we jump from option to option, fad to fad, diet to diet, breakthrough workout to breakthrough workout, supplement to supplement, sport to sport, and sometimes, gym to gym. The main problem here is that we don’t stick to anything long enough to get really excellent results.

Don’t get me wrong. I love doing a lot of things. I play quite a few different sports, paint, play the piano, write, have a few businesses, teach a business workshop and have since taken up programming among other things. But I’ve arranged them all in an orderly sequence of daily events and alter as necessary. As much as possible I stick to a predetermined schedule set way ahead and plan around anchor activities. With all my different activities, a relatively rigid schedule allows me to enjoy my different interests and spend enough time on them to grow. As for health, I try keep my diet simple, use natural products when I can, take at least 6 capsules of squalene everyday, oil-pull with virgin coconut oil, run regularly, and workout at home. I don’t spend a lot and I feel good. Two other things that are very very integral to me are deliberate gratefulness and earnest prayer. I try my best to live right but, to be very honest, I know how incapable I am because of my many physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual weaknesses. I’m glad to have found a Father who is more than able to make up for what I lack.

This is what works for me.

While it may work for others, it may not work for a lot of people. We all have different needs, interests and contexts. You need to find what system works for you. But just to be clear, you still need a system, a disciplined way of operating in the different areas of your life. Why? Because without ordering ourselves, our lives will naturally slip into disorder.

I thought your promote Natural Health+?
Yes, it is. We promote natural AND health. But what has become natural to us, the fastfood, stressful work, pollution in the environment and media, were never intended for us. That’s why they make us unhealthy. Food was meant to be enjoyed. Work was meant to be fulfilling. The environment was meant to be sustain us. And media, which are simply ways of storing and transmitting information, was meant to document our development and pass on a legacy of knowledge and wisdom. Our lives have become very un-natural. That is why shifting to a simple life is so difficult.

So find what works for you. By that, I don’t mean do whatever you want. What I mean is, find that consistent, disciplined, and effective system by which you can achieve your purpose, enjoy life, and stay healthy. And when you do, COMMIT.

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A Native American grandfather talking to his young grandson tells the boy he has two wolves inside of him struggling with each other. The first is the wolf of peace, love and kindness. The other wolf is fear, greed and hatred. “Which wolf will win, grandfather?” asks the young boy. “Whichever one I feed”, is the reply.
- Native American Proverb

Success doesn’t come easy. It comes with sacrifice, hard work, lesson after painful and embarrassing lesson, and it comes with perseverance and faith. Earlier, we discussed commitments and choices in our Issho Genki staff meeting. Commitment is a scary word for me, simply because responsibility is always attached to it. Everyone has different commitments and everyone is free to choose as they please provided that it is within confines of the law. But just because we’re free to make our decisions, doesn’t mean that all our decisions will lead to profitable conclusions. So whatever your you select here are some reminders:

1. Commit Wholeheartedly to that which you choose – commitment means you’re responsible to see things through.
- Commit to your vision, to that picture of something greater.
- Commit to your values, the things that are most important to you.
- Commit to your goals, to the “win” targets you’re aiming for.

2.Choose Daily to forward your commitments.
- Choose daily to picture your success. Remind yourself of your vision every day.
- Choose to embrace what’s important. This includes not holding on to non-essentials.
- Choose to win daily in every task. Be excellent in everything, including small and redundant tasks. Understand that success is incremental and our efforts compounding.

What you choose to pursue is up to you. Don’t let someone else make that decision for you. Seek God and seek counsel, but you make the choice. Whatever you do select, commit to it and choose daily to take the steps that bring your closer to what you value.

“A single grateful heart can withstand a thousand trials.”

“And the river bank talks of the waters of March
It’s the promise of life, it’s the joy in your heart”
- Waters of March by Antonio Carlos Jobim

Today was beautiful. Come to think of it, every day can be depending on what we choose to highlight. I think for the most part I’ve been able to emulate my mom’s uncanny ability to see beautiful things in anything and everything, but I have to admit that it clashes head on with my critical harshness. It’s just another example of how the pride in my life is very capable of depriving me of beautiful blessings just waiting to be appreciated.

My parents taught my brothers and I, that if you want to correct an attitude, you have to operate in the opposite spirit. So if you want to correct greed, be generous. If you want to correct being mean, show kindness. If you’re grumbling and ungrateful, list down your blessings. If you feel lonely, comfort someone. If you’re scared, be a source of courage. It’s similar to what I was saying in the post Propositions. In other words, do what’s uncomfortably right. This isn’t easy at all. Like anyone, it’s more natural to me to defend my greed, grumbling, fear, and self-pity, than it is to be humble and subordinate my feelings. Being humble is not natural to me. Not even a little. Not at all actually.

I have a long way to go…

Anyway, today, I took time out to do nothing but sit still and pray, and when I couldn’t do that, because sitting still is very very difficult for me when I’m not working on something, I decided to go for a walk and continue praying. I can’t begin to tell you how important Jesus is to me, not because I’m this holy guy, nothing can be further from reality, but because my poverty is too deep not to realize. But as I walked through the relatively empty streets of Fort Bonifacio, I remembered the song Waters of March by Antonio Carlos Jobim.

A stick.
A stone.
It’s the end of the road.

You might know the song. It’s very famous. But not a lot know that the inspiration behind the song, the actual “waters” of March, are the storms and heavy rains that fall on Rio de Janiero, in March, that cause serious flooding throughout the city. It’s another example of the power perspective and highlighting. Here’s a song about storms, but what we remember, what is highlighted is “the promise of life” and “the joy in your heart”.

How many unrealized blessings have gone wasted in my blindness?
How many waiting fortunes missed?
How many daily gifts stay unopened, because it didn’t come wrapped as expected?
How much has my pride, and fear, and hurt deprived me?
How little has my faith unlocked?

Probably a lot. I’m just grateful that I realized my blessings today, even more, I’m grateful that there’s tomorrow, because His mercies are new every morning. A single grateful heart can withstand a thousand trials.