The story on sacrifice

So, I just finished watching the finale of the Doctor Who and without giving away too many spoilers, there was a lot of discussion about sacrifice ahead of personal happiness.

It's a topic that always brings up a lot of people either side of the fence. 

The thing is though is that regardless of which camp you are in, there is a time when you will be faced with the choice to sacrifice something you want for something that perhaps is for a greater good.

When we get down to choices like this, lots of things can come into our minds. Things such as:

1. Is this going to mean losing a loved one?
2. Is this going to affect me financially?
3. Is this going to put me back on my path?
4. Is doing this going to help others grow in their journey?

And there are many, many more questions besides these. The point is, sacrifice is hard. It's why so many of us don't do it.

True heroes however, as a Bishop said yesterday, are those who are willing to sacrifice their own needs knowing that something greater needs to be done.

As Gandolf says in Lord of the Rings after Frodo complains about having to sacrifice his home to go destroy the ring - "So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us."

It is so easy for us to use our time to look at the things that matter to us and make sure they are happening, It's a lot harder for us to look outward and see that there is so much more to do and that sometimes means we need to give up our own wants for the good of others.

God calls us however to sacrifice. He sacrificed the greatest gift of all, his son so that we can be saved and in being called to follow his example, we almost must prepare as his children to sacrifice in our own lives.

Some of these sacrifices may only be small - like having a little less money to spend on coffee so that we can support those working to help people living on the streets. Others, will be much bigger.

The key to any sacrifice however is to always remember that in doing so, there will be a much greater outcome. We wouldn't do it otherwise.

Whether our sacrifice is calling us to give up money, power, control, comfort or even those things most valuable to us, it is important to remember that our personal want is sometimes not the best thing for the situation and no matter how much we want, we can't let that get in the way of what needs to happen for God's will to occur.

Sure sacrifice hurts- it's not meant to be easy, especially when it means giving up something you love for the sake of someone or something else, but it's crucial for our world to survive and for us to continue to grow in our faith journey.

There's too many people willing to take the easy road and stay comfortable, but we are called as Christians to take the long, narrow one- one in which sacrifice is a part of ensuring salvation.

And we do it knowing that in the end, the greatest reward will come.

Till next time...

The saints are coming - Part 2 - Be the best you can be!

Happy All Saints Day everyone!

I don't know what it is, but there's something about All Saints day that I always look forward to.

It's an opportunity to remember the incredible groups of people who have helped ensure our amazing faith remains strong. It also allows us to take a moment to appreciate the hard work these people did, the sacrifices they made and the way they love God.

If I'm honest though, as I've grown older, the real reason why I love All Saints Day and any time where I get a chance to read about the Saints is that these people are ordinary, normal, everyday people just like me, but they give me hope I can achieve great things by the way they lived out their lives.

As a video I watched on Saints says "most saints are ordinary anonymous men and women".

Earlier this year, I wrote about how we are all called to be saints and spoke about how we need to step out of the lives and be saints, following the great Saints example and growing in humility along the way.

It's easy however to say that we can all be saints. It's a lot harder to get started and actually live the life of one.

While being humble is part of it, the Saints were more than just humble, they also were people who changed the world for the better in all that they did.

The thing that we need to realise for our own lives as saints is that, they all did this task in very different ways.

St Paul for example, was a witness of being saved by God, where as St Nicholas of Myra was an example of believing in God in every circumstance and of generosity. St Joan of Arc went into battle with weapons where as Blessed Mother Teresa also went into battle, but in a very different way as she battled illness, cared for the dying and built a future for young women.

None of the Saints did something that was better than the other- they are all seen equally as being inspiring in the path of God. They were all different but they all had one goal- to do God's will for their lives to the best of their ability.

Every man and woman has a talent, gift or ability that is uniquely theirs. Sure there may be similarities, but the way a persons personality interacts with their skill makes it unique to them and them alone.

God put each one of us on this earth to use that unique ability to change the world for the better. He calls us  to sainthood by giving us the opportunity, as people of faith, to answer this call everyday of our lives. 

Now that might seem like a big task so if you're struggling for ideas, here's some hints as to how you can be a modern saint in the world today...

• If your talent is talking, then get out there and spend time with those who are lonely or don't fit into society. Your words of support and friendship could change a life.
• If your talent is helping out others, then start organising fundraisers and events that raise money or just go out and help by volunteering wherever needed.
• If you like making computer programs, then why not make programs that help make lives better, especially those most in need.

One of the main reasons I write these pieces is because I have realised that one of my talents from God is inspiring others and I can also write, so put these two together and this is what I came up with.

Whether you are cleaning a floor or are balancing accounts for a major corporation, you matter and the gifts you possess will lead people closer to Christ if you're willing to live out his name in all that you do.

So what are you waiting for, get out there from this All Saints Day and go and become the saints that God called us all to be.

Till next time..

Stay positive- there's plenty of good happening in the world!

Hey everyone!

With all the horrible headlines and threats to life this week, I wouldn't blame you for thinking that things aren't as good as they were say a year ago, or five years ago.

Problem with thinking like this is, when we do it, we lose sight of the fact that while these incidents happening around the world are terrible, they only make a fraction of what the world is about and as renowned motivational guru Tony Robbins said in a video I watched this week, it's what we react to that shapes how we react.

Now if that last paragraph sounds a bit confusing, let me spell it out to you- In order to feel good about the world, you need to see the good in it first.

This isn't always easy to do, but this week I'm here to help. Rather than going on about tips and hints and ideas though, I'm instead going to show you three stories that will help you to see that the world is full of good stuff happening and it needs your help.

I hope that by doing this, I'll inspire you, no matter what you are feeling about the world at the moment, to take a fresh perspective and focus on making a difference for the better. We can't always stop people from doing terrible things, but we can go out there and bring happiness to the world instead.

So here it is... three signs of good in the world!

Number 1: Socktober- spreading love through donation of socks and other items to the homeless

Number 2: Check out these high school students inspiring an 8 year old with Down Syndrome to greatness!

http://www.qutnews.com/2014/10/10/mobile-laundry-helps-the-homeless/#.VEw2qfmSwrW

Number 3: Orange Sky Laundry- a great idea to ensure Brisbane's less fortunate have dignity and respect through washing of their clothes on a regular basis.

Why we need to be merciful and forgive

Ok, you might be asking, why am I writing a blog on the need to forgive and be merciful, isn't that like humanity 101? Why tell me something I already know?

The thing is though, we might know about forgiving and being merciful, but do we really understand the power it offers, not only to help others, but to help ourselves.

St Augustine once said something along the lines of forgiveness happening when we "surrender our natural desire for revenge".

What that means is that to forgive, which as I've written before is key to being able to move on with life, we must first be willing to offer mercy.

Being merciful means that we are willing to drop any anger or hurt we have against someone, and love them for who they are. We must accept that like us, they are flawed and will make mistakes sometimes. We don't always have to agree with them and we can fight for our rights and beliefs, but at the end of the day, we understand those around us are valued by God and so we should value them as well.

Our soon to be Blessed Paul VI said it well when he proclaimed "Anger is like throwing a stone into a wasp nest."

If you're angry at someone, something or even at yourself, you are more likely to experience negative effects from it, like you would if you threw a stone into a wasps nest and thousands of wasps tried to sting you.

We must realise as people that we don't need that kind of pain and we don't deserve it. God wants us all to live happy and fulfilled lives, but we won't be able to do that if we are angry and aren't willing to be merciful.

Here's five ways to stop increase your ability to show mercy in your life:

1. See others values, not their faults.
2. Be willing to accept when you make a mistake, it's ok, you are human and that's a part of this fact. The key is to learn from the mistakes and grow.
3. Start seeing things from others views, rather than just your own.
4. Be kind and supportive of others before your needs.
5. Read about those of greatness and humility. Their stories normally will help you see what's really important.

Once we are being merciful, then we are more likely to see reason to forgive for the mistakes we make. In my opinion no one can try to forgive before they experience mercy, that's like trying to walk through a glass door before you've opened it.

After mercy comes forgiveness. Now forgiveness is important because it's ok to be merciful but if we don't forgive as part of that, no matter how much we might want to say we are being merciful, it will be hard as there will be past hurts and pains to challenge our decisions when it comes to mercy.

We need to clear out those past pains and hurts and the only way we can do that is by forgiving those who hurt us. Doesn't have to be face to face (although that'd be great), just as long as you do it. Every step you take is one step closer to moving on and being able to live life on your terms, free of the past.

Here's five important things to remember when looking at forgiveness?

1. Have I been hurt by others or by something I did that didn't work out?
2. Am I willing to accept that tomorrow is a new day and I ain't letting this get me down?
3. Have I looked at the bible and seen the forgiveness Jesus has for us?
4. Do I want to forgive or am I still grieving over the issue?
5. If I do want to forgive, what am I doing about it?

Our own Lord's prayer- the Our Father has the line "as we forgive those who trespass against us", now if that's not a sign of the importance of forgiveness, then I don't know what is.

Furthermore however, forgiving yourself and others and showing mercy in all situations will lead to less stress, more social interaction and overall better health. 

Don't believe me, then check out this video...

So why not give a little bit of thought to being merciful and working to forgive yourself and others this week for the mistakes in life, not only will it free them and help them to move on, but more importantly, it will do the same for you.

Life isn't meant to be lived in the mistakes of the past, it's lived in the greatness of the now!

Till next time..

Why it's sometimes better not to have it all...

It's the message we get bombarded with every day- to be happy, you need to have it all. If you don't have the latest in phone technology, you should probably upgrade. If you're not happy with your current relationship status, then there's a solution (or several hundred). If you want to get that car but don't have the money, well there's a loan company ready to give you a hand.

It is so easy to get caught up in this society that says that when you see something you want, you should get it. I know I do on a regular basis. Oh and don't even get me started about what society says must happen when you don't get what you want.

Which is why, it was quite refreshing to be read the words of St John XXIII today that say...

"Feelings of my smallness and nothingness always kept me good company."

Now I have to admit, I do have a soft spot for John XXIII as the patron saint of my Parish. It is also his Saint day today but putting all that aside, these are some true words of wisdom we should all take note of in our lives.

While feeling in adequate or being treated badly is not right and should not be tolerated, I personally think that is not what John XXIII is talking about here. What he is talking about, is the fact that he comes from a poor family and like our current Pope Francis, lived a very humble life without much money or possessions, yet he didn't see that as a burden, but rather a blessing.

You see, sometimes it is good not to have everything. Just take a moment to think about what would happen if you did have everything you wanted.

Ok so not sure about you, but I'm pretty sure that if I had everything I wanted right now I would be relying solely on myself to make things happen, I'd be pretty unapproachable as others would see me as elitist over them even if they were my 'friends' and I know I wouldn't value things as much as I do know.

For me, having it all would mean the loss of who I am- I wouldn't be as strong in my faith, I wouldn't care about others as I wouldn't know what it means to not have and I wouldn't be grateful as I'd have so much I would just think it's normal, not special.

Feeling like you aren't the best at something or that you are missing something isn't the worst thing in the world. It can actually be a massive advantage if you think about it. 

Humility in yourself can lead you to:

• Better relate to others
• Have greater gratitude in what you have
• See the important things in life as important
• Trust in God rather than yourself

The key is to never see yourself as less than another. If you read one of my earlier pieces on this topic, it says that you should never see yourself as less or greater than anyone, but rather see them as your equal- as we each have unique gifts and talents to offer.

So let's all work today to live a life of humility instead of a life of wanting it all. If there's anytime today when you see something and you feel like I want that or why is that happening to that person but not me, then I strongly encourage you to step away and ask

1. Is this something I want rather than need?
2. Is this a chance to be humble?
3. Is there something in my life I can be grateful for ahead of this?

If the answer is yes to any of these three questions, then remind yourself about the words of St John XXIII listed above and move on. Doing so I can assure you will bring a lot more contentment long term than the object of desire ever will.

Till next time...

Think before you act...

I've recently discovered that I do something that's is really not that great.. something that I'm sure I'm not alone in doing, something that I until recently did without even knowing I did it, but that drastically affects everything that I do.

I've recently discovered that I base how I feel at a particular time on the attitudes of those around me.

I can be in the happiest mood in the world, but if I am surrounded by people who are less than happy, I will quickly go from being happy, to being miserable in a very short space of time. Same thing goes with me losing confidence around those who aren't confident in themselves and being less caring when I'm around those who perhaps don't see caring for others as high on their priority list.

Now I know the simple answer to this new found problem would be to just hang around really positive, happy, caring people all day. To be honest though, number one- I want to be around real people who do have ups and downs and number two- even happy people have bad days, so this isn't really the best solution.

The other option is I could just give into the change in attitude and accept it as a part of life. The thing is, I'm starting to realise that when I do that, I am no longer me. I don't feel like I can laugh as much, dance as much or just be a bundle of fun as much, which to be honest, is not what  I want.

So what's the solution? How can I spend time with real people, without losing who I am?

Well as I've found out, the answer is as simple as making sure I think before I act.

Whenever we are in a situation and something changes the situation, we get one of two options. The first is we can go with the situation and let the journey take its course, or number two, we can go back to what we know is real and true, compare it to the situation and then if it doesn't, go back to the path we know best.

The key here is not so much which option we take, but more that we realise there are options in the first place. 

For example, the other day, I was in a really happy mood, when someone came up to me who was in a tired mood while I had a task to do. Very quickly, because I didn't realise what was going on, I was sucked into that person's tiredness and lack of energy for the task at hand and I too became like this, while at the same time getting frustrated as the person had led me to this feeling. It was only after I had left that task and gone to do something else that I realised that I wasn't tired, but rather the person I was with was making me feel like that through observing their tiredness.

If that didn't make sense, here's a simple explanation:

If I yawn, then the person watching me is likely to yawn too in the minutes following. That person however if they catch that I've yawned early enough, can make the choice not to yawn.

It's important to realise that when we start feeling a certain way, very quickly, without us noticing it, it is normally due to an external influence around us. Realising this allows you to then take steps to work on it or keep focus on positive things in life to get you out of that space.

As Winston Churchill said, "Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference". Don't let someone else's bad day make yours a bad one,

I encourage everyone this week to think before they act. If you're feeling angry at someone or been around someone whose had a bad day, before continuing in your task, go for a walk outside, clear your mind and then come back. Doing so will help clear the anger in your head and allow you to make more rational and appropriate responses.

In addition to this, if you're in a good mood, don't let anyone stop that, let alone someone in a bad mood. It's OK to help a person if they need it or share their hurt, but it doesn't mean that your lose your good mood because of it.

It's up to you as to how you feel, so think before you act on anything that you maybe feeling and stay true to yourself always, I know I will be from now on.

Till next time...

Why we need to be aware of the environment we live in

Have you ever heard the saying 'You are what you eat'? 

I'm sure you have and for most of us, it makes a fair bit of sense. If you eat junk food, you're more likely to be unfit and at risk of illness compared to if you eat healthy food. It's a pretty simple concept to understand.

But what about the idea that 'You are where you live', Does this statement have any truth to it?

The answer is in a lot of ways, yes and yes. 

Now before I go any further, I want to make clear that every person can change their circumstance no matter where they are. If you really want to make something different, you can do it.

Why I'm saying yes though is because for the most part, unless you really make a conscientious effort to avoid them, the influences around you will play a large role in who you are.

When I was on the road the last few years, one of the things we use to tell young people at the end of the day was that if they wanted to keep their faith growing strong, they needed to surround themselves with friends who were on that same faith journey. It's like when you want to get good at football, you don't go and hang out with table tennis players, you go hang out with footballers.

The thing that I'm starting to realise though is that it's not just the things we want to become or the goals that we aim for that are affected by where we spend the moments of our day. Even our thoughts on just the simplest of things or our choice of reactions to particular situations are affected by our environment.

For me, one of my weaknesses is that I am highly competitive and I don't just mean in sports. I will aim to win on all fronts of my life and it's only in the last few years that I've started to realise that it is one of the main reasons for me being discontent in life. Just yesterday something happened where I had a reaction and then minutes later realised that was just my competitive side kicking in.

While it is easy for me to say that the solution to this would be to just stop being competitive and to get out of situations that are competitive, the truth is that it just wouldn't work and I wouldn't be me if I wasn't in this environment.

I know that might sound like a cop out, but hear me out because it is true. You see, It might not help my life to be highly competitive when it comes to say relationships, but it is important to me when it comes to keeping me striving to do the things I do to the best of my ability, and in having the passion to keep doing what God's called me to do. 

I get lazy if I'm not being challenged and a lot of the time, my challenges come from wanting to be better. Along with this, if I was to pull out from situations that are competitive, I'd have to lose doing things that are my passion, like watching sports and that would never happen, especially not on AFL Grand Final Day!

We all have weaknesses in our environment, whether they be our love of food, our passion for reading or our need to lead. But then again, these are also our greatest strengths. As a person once said, our strengths are our greatest weaknesses.

The key to ensuring that we keep on striving towards success and don't fall into the pit is that we make sure we are always aware of the environment we are in, so that when we see that there's a hazard ahead, we can take the steps to go around it.

Let me explain. Say for example one of the key elements of your environment is a passion for food. You aren't ever going to not be around food, but if you are aware of your environment, you'll know when you are eating too much, when you're eating way too much unhealthy food or when you might need to stay away from an food event and detox.

Awareness of your environment allows you to know when things within it are either business as usual or when there's an alarm that needs to be addressed.

In the coming weeks, I will be giving some of the tools that will help you to make the right decisions when you discover hazards in your environment but for now, the key is to become aware of the way you are living and start focusing on the areas of your life where perhaps things aren't going to plan, and then see what it is in our life that may be causing it.

By doing this, you will be able to start taking greater control of where your life is headed and you will also be able to start to see what it is that really matters in life and what is just a distraction.

No matter where you are in your life at the moment, you can always be more aware of the environment you live in, and trust me, once you start being more aware, the doors will open and you will discover things about your life that you never thought you would.

The things is though, awareness doesn't just happen, we have to take the step to focus and get in the zone. Now is the time to stop just living life and start living it with purpose so that you can be the person you and God knows you can be.

Till next time...