02 - How's Your Heart

"Follow your heart, because you can never go wrong with it" is a common thing people say. After all, it's with our hearts that we feel joy, sadness, fear, and anger. A wise king once said to "guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life."But what if your heart is sick? What if it's unwell? Will it make the right decisions? How do you protect it?

First of all, what is the heart? With our hearts we feel joy, sympathy, frustration, melancholy, passion, fear, and love. Our hearts is where we store our dreams, wishes, hopes, and desires. Our heart is our core, our innermost being, it is the wellspring of life. With it, we make decisions on what we want, how we love, what we feel passionate about, and how to act.

So how can we tell if our heart is healthy or not? I have no way for me to tell the condition of your heart right now, but surely we know we're are all broken people. So slow down and spend time to know what your heart is feeling. Just like the shepherd boy from Paulo Coelho's The Aclhemist, Santiago made time to talk to his heart. Here, he got to know how it feels, why it was so anxious, what made it so scared, and understood what his heart really needed.

Now, I'm not a heart doctor but I know that a wounded heart can be healed. But it can't be fixed instantly. It will take a journey to heal a heart. It may sound intimidating, but won't that be exciting? Going on, day by day, in search of ways tlo heal your heart. It sounds like an epic waiting to be told. Many may not see or hear it, but it's one that you should always treasure in your heart.

You can ask people you know who has experience from their journey to help you. They can offer you very helpful advice, but it's up for you to decide whether to do it or not, whether it works for you or not.

Maybe your heart feels too far to be fixed, maybe it keeps telling yu the wrong things to understand it. Maybe now you can consult the Master Craftsman understand how your heart was tailored to fit you. If needed, He will also replace your broken heart with a brand new one. A heart fully functioning designed to fulfill its purpose.

Once you have fulfilled your journey, you will be completely happy and satisfied along with all your heart. So guard your heart, spread THE love, and fight the good fight.

01 - Gratitude

As the first month of 2017 is nearing to end, a lot of things have happened in the past year and in the past few weeks. Most of us tend to focus on the pain that has happened. A lot of times we remember the incompetence and even failures we have done. And, in effect, not focus on the good, the achievements, and the milestones we got that helped got through the year.

We all heard this before, “just don’t think about the bad stuff”. But it still is important for our spirit, our soul, to be healthy. We have to focus on the good things and not ponder too long on the things that make us feel down.

I’m not saying to not tackle your bills or deadlines, what I’m saying is that dwelling too long on these things will create unnecessary stress and make us feel down. There is a time and place for handling these things. This unnecessary stress leads to crushed spirit, a broken heart, and an unhealthy lifestyle.

Even with all this pressure, it’s a battle to choose to be grateful in times of pressure. Just as a great warrior was fleeing from his pursuer, out to kill him, it was easy for him to give in to unnecessary stress and be woeful of his own life; he still chose to be grateful to the One he served, he made the tough decision, the hard call, he chose to be grateful.

And as the year has just started, remind yourself of being thankful of past achievements you’ve received in the past year. Maybe it was passing a difficult subject you’ve previously failed, perhaps it was graduating from college, or getting a job, maybe it was getting a job, or a friend recently got married, or has gotten their third child, with a matching pupper. Breathe.

Spread THE Love, fight the good fight.