So I have been trying hard to do my chin up to 20, a goal I set in September. It's been over 2 weeks and I am still stuck with 11 and sometimes, I could not make it for 10. I felt a little rejected but I know I must persist.

Out of the blue, when I was doing my routine chin up yesterday, I mounted the bar and a quick flash came to me. I started counting 1, 2 , 3 and then I begin to count backwards from 12 and then 11, 10, 9............................eventually to 1. That way, I have completed 12, a breakthrough for me! Yeah !!!

Was this what Neville was trying to tell us that a series of events would compel us to cross the bridge and upon completion of the event, the wish would be fulfilled ? Now that 11 has passed, the new number 12 is fresh in my mind and I would go on to break it again and again. I am so thrilled that I had stick with it, no matter what!

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The reason that I had held for so long ? That was a good reminder.I want to attend both my children and their children weddings. That would put me to a nice age of 120. My diet plan is working fine and so is my exercise program. I am now working on my mental and spiritual strength and I like my daily prayer walk as well. Giving up is easy, it is also tempting as it draws the line of the sufferings we had thus far. Giving up will return us back to our comfort zone, where we used to belong and it feels safe. Giving up is a choice we had to make and so is sticking it in. No one can make this decision for us but ourselves. We make the choices and we have to bear with the consequences as well. Pain of discipline or pain of regrets, we gotta choose one.

I am reminded of the plants I had grown and it took certainly a long time to blossom, thank God I waited and get to witness the beauty that God has for me. It truly makes me happy, just like a mother giving birth to her first born. I felt as if I am part of the nature's contribution although deep down I know that is not the case. Watching them grow, day by day, each new shoot coming up, pruning the old ones and watering them, share similarities of how I take good care of my 2 kids as well. 

Without fail each morning ,I would prepare their breakfast, ensure they have sufficient to eat and they get to school on time. It is a wonderful feeling to be a father, an experience that one has to go through other than reading from books. That was what Neville wants us to experience as well, scriptures are not meant for reading only but we need to experience them individually. How beautiful  that is !

May you all have a beautiful day ahead ........

I foretold the former things long ago, my mouth announced them and I made them known; then suddenly I acted, and they came to pass. Isaiah 48.3
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I am back from my 4km run a moment ago and this verse rang in my mind. I had to write it down as I think it serves to remind me something important. I foretold or I declare the former things long ago (ie. what I want to quit - any bad habits, smoking, lack of money ,lack of health, relationship,etc) my mouth announced them - as in saying it aloud and I made them known (in my case it was the calendar to improve my chin ups for my physical goal), then suddenly I acted, - yes it was a spur of moment (that thought came to me while I saw my son cancelling the dates on the calendar he has) and they (what you think cannot be done, in my case the chin ups) came to pass. 

Like this picture above, many of us tend to be stranded in between with one leg stepping on each side ,the past pulling us back and the future pulling us away. We felt uneasy, uncomfortable, wanted to change, to act but somehow there is resistance, temptation to fall back,isn't it ?

It is as I said in my previous post (read here), change can seems like a tall order, an insurmountable mountain for some of us when we want to make a change/progress. 

This 2nd picture describe perfectly the situation that many of us are in when we seek to make changes in our lives, be in financial (more wealth), relationship or pursuing health. There is the familiar staircase or path that we need to step onto it, the steps by steps to reach the door where the heaven lies beyond. It wasn' the first step that is the hardest for some of us but maybe the 6th or 9th steps that we could not persevere and fail to see the door that makes us give up, reluctantly. And the cycle repeats after sometime. 

Of course, there is the frustration, the self belittle part on why he, she can do it and why not me, putting the blame on external circumstances - if only I knew that person who can connect me, if only I have more capital, if only ...........

Somehow, I feel we had all been shortchanged by the system out there (created by humans for humans) and naively believe we just have to keep on searching the right method, system ,etc to reach our goals. 

I wrote an article to the Press some 2 years back , (read here) that briefly describe how we can attain our goals by reversing the ways,methods we were all taught to do. It is fairly simple but require a lot of practice and focus (I am still learning and practising it) to achieve what you want in life. 

Motivation is often what we cite as lacking to pursue our goals. So, we spent time and money to others to motivate us, to get us pump up and it works , for a while. Then the effects drop and we slowly return to where we are. Feeling rejected and frustrated, we go out in search for the next workshop, course that promise to get us what we want. 

Please do not get me wrong. These workshops are good and helpful IF and only IF you are clear what you want in life and need a little push , guidance, perhaps a peer group to stay committed and motivate one another. Or else, if money is a constraint, try this method I recommend, it works for me on many occasions and I am working on applying it into other areas of my life. 

By standing at the step 1 and looking at the door, whether in our mind or putting it on paper is utilising our mind to think of what we want , the future. When we are thinking of something, there is a gap as it is shown on the picture above, step 1 to the door is separated by the many steps in between. These in-between steps act as obstacles , psychological ones that prevent you from coming closer to the door. That is its purpose - To stop you even if it is step 99 before the door. If they succeed, you fail. And the majority fail as we hear stories and stories of entrepreneurs and common people whining why they are in where they are today. 

If we could for a moment suspend ourselves , detach ourselves from our emotions of who we are and float into the mid air and allow ourselves to drift or fly gently over these steps and go through the door, wouldn't that be nice? It feels like a dream, isn't it? Can of unreal , airy fairy ? Now that you are inside and the door is behind you, what do you see? Was that the dream car that you been waiting? Go on, open the door, touch it , smell the leather and feel the texture on your hand. Grab the steering wheel and feel the power you have on this lean machine, the dream car that you always wanted.

Or the girl you always wanted to meet/date. Now you are at the park awaiting for her arrival and she is walking towards you. How do you feel? Nervous, excited, mixed emotions? What would you say to her? Would you hold her hands? How's the weather like for that day? Can you look up the sky and see it ?

By allowing us to immerse in this future and acting as if we are in it and pouring our feelings into it, the dream can feel like a reality and the more we enjoy the moments , the more we want from it. The challenge is to stay in it , in the scene. Think of it like shooting a Hollywood movie, it is the same. In real life , you are not the role you are acting in this movie, you know you are acting. Or do you? There are so many cases of actors and actresses that got themselves so deep and engrossed in the roles that they too act out the same when they are out of it.

In short, our own goals are like a movie and we are the actors and actresses within. We are also the director and producer and we have the right to change the scene - from a dull gloomy rainy day to a nice warm and lovely summer holiday at the beach. We can add vibrant colours, make the casts smile the way you want it , say the nice things to each other to be happy ,etc. WE ARE IN FULL CONTROL if we know the power that lies within us. 

Like Spiderman, greater ability comes with greater responsibilities, we may know we have the power but some of us choose to conceal it and lead a normal life while others thrive and make good use of it for the betterment of their lives and benefit of the society.

​The choice is clear. What's yours ?