The Greatest Joy in our Sufferings

An old man is silently dying to his hospital bed, but the weird thing about him is he smiles whenever he feels the pain. his attending nurse noticed it and asked him; “why are you so silent in your suffering? Are you not afraid of dying?” The old man answered with a smile on his face; “when I was a child, whenever I fall down and my knees get wounded, I groan and cry a lot. When I was a teenager, whenever I experienced failures in exams, broken-relationships, being reprimanded, bullying, and unfair decisions for my life, I complain. When I reached adulthood, whenever I feel like a loser, inferior and worthless I rebel, grumble, and hid grudges. Now I am old and dying does I still need to complain? Absolutely not! From all those experiences I realized the value of suffering in silence. It is in silence that I feel the presence of God, and that’s the greatest joy that I found in my sufferings. Thus, God is with me and through this pain I feel his love for me despite the many shortcomings and failures that I have in my life. So, I am prepared to die because God is with me and I am happy about it. Hence, suffering is inevitable, but the love of God in the midst of our agony will always be the same forever and ever.”

The Farthest Journey in Life

A great traveler was asked by a curious young man who also aspires to travel the world, “Sir, you’re such an inspiration for me. You’ve been traveling the different wonderful parts of the world, and I am really amaze every time I read your post on your blog and articles, or watch your documentaries on TV”. “Oh thanks! Nice to hear that. ”, the accomplished man retorted. The curious young man continued, “But is there a place that you haven’t been to?” “Oh a tough question”, the traveler responded with a smile on his face. “You know in my entire escapades, there are two places that is difficult to visit” “What is that sir”, the young man replied. “Its heart and the mind”, the traveler said with a smile. The young man responded, “What do you mean, sir?” The experienced man explained “For almost a decade of travelling around the world, lately I realized that the farthest journey in life is the travel between the heart and the mind. When we look upon our physical build-up the distance between the heart and the mind is just near, right? But when we speak about life and love and when we engage ourselves on its incredible journey it’s really challenging and demanding. I have been to the places people called ‘paradise’, but it never satisfy my soul to see the ‘paradise’ that is intended and planned for my life. However, when I started to engage myself traveling towards my heart and mind, I realized that there’s more to life which it can give than my journey to the beautiful places. From that experience, I saw and become in touch with the greatest fulfillment in my life which I never encounter from seeing the world. Yes, it’s really hard to engage yourself in the travel within the heart and mind because it’s too far, tiring, arduous, tough, and difficult. But that travel satisfies my deepest longings in life, such as LOVE, UNDERSTANDING, HEALING, and ACCEPTANCE about myself.”

Failures on the Wall

A well-known public attorney was fond of framing his failures during his elementary days, high school days, and even when he took up law in college, like failed test papers, low-grades, low quizzes, and his failed 1st attempt to bar exam, and posting it on the wall of his office. Suddenly, a client noticed them all and asked him; “Sir, why do you need to display your failures from the past? It’s absurd and ridiculous! Are you belittling yourself sir? “No, I am proud of it”, the attorney responded that made his client puzzled. The attorney noticed his reaction so he added, “Actually, these failures posted on my wall reminds me of three words; NEVER GIVE UP! I have so many failures in life as you can see on the wall but it is just a representation of the whole picture of my failures in life. But, those failures did not hinder me to move on. Failures are inescapable realities in life. However, I believe they serve as bridges and ladders for success. Now, I am successful because of my failures. But, do you know one of the lessons that I have learned from these failures and the many failures that I encountered and experienced in life?” What’s that? His client responded. “Its humility my dear! The more I experience failures in life, the more it reminds me to humble myself, and the more it helps me to go on towards success. So, never disregard your failures in life. Never remorse your failures, but make it as your means to embrace fulfilment and success in life.” His client was inspired and amazed on what the attorney have said to him about the failures on the wall.