You Reap What You Sow

There is this guy who runs laps around our school and he always passes by my window. When he first started running like a year ago he was really fat. I'd say 5' 7" 250lbs. But I saw him the other day and he has really trimmed down. I'd say he lost about 90 pounds. He looked like a different person.

In a strange way I was really proud of this guy. I've watched him run diligently by my office for over a year now. And when I first saw him run I was thinking in my head, "That's not gonna help you bro." But he kept trodding along, his pace getting quicker, and now he has accomplished what he set out to do.

Then all of a sudden I kept thinking you reap what you sow. Or you get out of things what you put in. Like time in the gym. I see people go to the gym day after day, month after month, year after year, and they don't get stronger or bigger. Then you see other people who go in the gym and get down to business and after some time they start to look different. It's all about what you put in during the time you are there. If you go in there and just half ass it and waste time talking, your body won't change much. But if you go in there focused and lift with a lot of intensity, even a short 30 minute workout, couple days a week will change the way your body looks.

I think you can apply this philosophy to pretty much everything. Why do relationships seem so passionate at the beginning? Because the two people involved put so much time and effort into it. And because they put so much into it, they get a lot out of it. But overtime, the passion starts to fizzle, because neither are trying or putting much effort into their relationship anymore.

I've been thinking a lot about our church and why it doesn't grow. And I think it is for this same reason, because people aren't putting a lot into it. I think all of us are guilty of just doing the bare minimum. I know that in my own life, I've always done just the bare minimum. In high school, I did the bare minimum to get good grades. Usually putting everything off till the last moment and cramming tons of information into my head just to take a test, then quickly losing all the information right after. I did the same in college, and into my adult life. That's why I really haven't succeeded in much of anything.

In my spiritual life as well, I feel like I just barely get by. Doing the bare minimum QT, short prayers, Sunday ritual, and that's why I'm not growing. I admit that I'm being hard on myself, because I'm closer to God then I was 5 years ago, and maybe even a year ago. But it's pretty slow going.

It's funny it took this fat guy running around my office to wake me up and realize this. I really want to live life more focused and determined. I want to put more into all my relationships, I want to put more into church, more into my spiritual life, and more into just bettering myself. My life motto throughout my life was to just chill. But life is too short to just chill all the time. Don't get me wrong, I love chilling, and I 'm an extremely lazy person (just ask my wife) and this is not something that is going to change overnight. It's something that's ingrained deep into my personality. But I want to start living with more intensity and purpose. I want to take my mentality for working out into other facets of my life.

Thank you fat guy.

No Reply

Is e-mail not a good method of communication. Every time I send out a mass e-mail and ask for a reply, nobody does. Then when I send out a second one saying I haven't heard back from anyone please reply, then a couple replies trickle in, but majority still no answer.

Is it that in today's callous too many mass e-mails culture, that it gets too easy to just read an e-mail real quick and delete it? Do people feel that they don't really need to respond? Or are people too lame to commit to something so they wait till the last minute and just show up? Or am I to come to the conclusion that people just don't care?

I really hope it's not the last one, because that would just be sad.

I know people check their e-mails because whenever the topic is about something stupid and frivolous like a movie or something funny on Youtube, the threads get ridiculously long. Maybe that's our culture these days. Let's talk about stupid frivolous things, but if it gets too serious then I'm going to get back behind my little wall.

Maybe I don't understand this generation's culture. Generation gaps really do exist. I think that you get along with people your age for a reason, because you were influenced by the same youth culture. Listened to the same music, watched the same shows, heard the same social messages, grew up with the same technology. Maybe it's just a generational thing, expecting a response. Maybe people don't do that anymore. Maybe they want you to hound them and make them feel wanted. Maybe they are afraid to be the first one to respond lest they be the only ones to show up. They want to know who else is going first so they can make a decision as to whether or not it's worth going. Far be it for someone to just take a stand and do something because they want to do it, instead of waiting around to see who else signs up.

I don't know I'm just saying. What the hell do I know?

What the Heck!

Just when I post my car for sale it breaks down. On my way back from lunch my clutch broke. I was stuck in the middle of a pretty busy road. I had to drive with the car in 2nd gear to make it to a safe place. It's funny because since I couldn't stop, I was running through all these stop signs. Thankfully it wasn't that busy.

Car had to be towed to my mechanic friend Herbert's garage. Oh well, I guess it's better that it happened to me then the person I sell it to.

I'm going to modify my ad and include new clutch!

Selling My Car On Craigslist

2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder (suped up) - $13000 (albany / el cerrito)

Reply to: mailto:sale-326187322@craigslist.org?subject=2001%20Mitsubishi%20Eclipse%20Spyder%20(suped%20up)%20-%20$13000%20(albany%20/%20el%20cerrito)

Date: 2007-05-07, Black 2001 Mitsubishi Eclipse convertible (clean). Performance exhaust system, air intake, performance spark plugs, Alpine 12" subwoofer, and monster cable included. Original owner.

Ruth Chris

So on our date night on Friday, Mary and I went to Ruth Chris Steak house for the first time. I was pretty excited as I have heard good stuff about their steaks. Although the steak was delicious, (I had the Filet Mignon rare and Mary ordered the veal cutlet) I thought that Ruth Chris was way overrated. But I think I need to go back another time just to be sure. However for the price and what you get, I think Claim Jumpers is a better deal and I believe their filet mignon is probably just as good as Ruth's.

The steak comes out on this hot plate as they cook all their steaks in this 1800 degree oven. But the presentation is pretty bare. As you can see it's just the steak and nothing else. I guess it's for the purists like Pastor Joe. As you can see I'm not a purist as I like mine with A1 steak sauce.

Appetizer - Calamari. It was fried in chinese sweet and sour sauce. I did not enjoy. Mary liked it.

I'm all about the sides so I was disappointed that you had to pay additional for sides (creamed spinach). At least their free bread was good.

There service was also excellent. Our waitress was really nice except that she spilled water all over Mary.

Overall I would recommend it but I wouldn't be upset if I never went back there again. I would much rather go to Claim Jumpers.

Here is the free dessert (crème bulee) we got because Mary lied and told the waitress it was our anniversary. Haha. Actually she didn't lie. The waitress asked if this was a special occasion and I said no. But Mary asked if we got something special if it was, and the waitress said we get free dessert. So then Mary said it's our anniversary.

David's Mighty Men

I was just reading through the end of 2 Samuel about these 3 fierce warriors that David kept in his company. These guys were some bad dudes. Like Samson these 3 would wipe out hundreds of Philistines in battle by themselves.

Josheb-Basshebeth, a Tahkemonite, was chief of the Three; he raised his spear against eight hundred men, whom he killed in one encounter.

Just reading through the Old Testament I believe that God loves a good battle. The descriptions of some of the battles and fights are pretty gruesome. It would put Braveheart to shame.

Then Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him. 10 Amasa was not on his guard against the dagger in Joab's hand, and Joab plunged it into his belly, and his intestines spilled out on the ground. Without being stabbed again, Amasa died.

That’s not even the worst of it. There are head getting tossed around, people being cut open and diplayed in front of everyone in shame. War is not pretty. Even David, God's chosen shepherd boy King was a great warrior (and a great poet/musician too). I believe God instills this warrior spirit in the heart of every man.

God also cares about size. The Bible always mentions how tall someone was or how strong they were. For instance it mentions that Saul was a head taller than all of the men. The Bible mentions that many of the Philistine warriors were over 9 feet tall, yet they were always defeated by average size godly men.

You know it kind of inspires me a little to get even stronger. I know it sounds silly, but I think that my desire to get strong and big may come from an underlying insecurity, but I believe that part of it is just who God made me. I care about strength and height, and I love watching great warriors in action like Mike Tyson, Fedor Emelianenko, and Chuck Lidell. Where did I get all of this? You know what, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say from God. Maybe not all of it, but some part of it. Yeah go ahead and argue that society has tarnished my image of what a man should be blah, blah, blah. I stick by what I said.

Am I a Positive Person?

I was listening to Sarah and No Name in the morning on my way to work, like I do everyday. And on the show they were interviewing John Lassiter. For those who don't know, he is the guy behind all the Pixar movies. And I mean all of them. He actually put Sarah and No Name in the movie Cars. I digress.

So they were all talking about him after the interview about what a positive person he was and what a joy he is to be around. How he always brings positivity into the room. Then I started to think about myself which is what I normally do. Am I a positive person? And the answer is assuredly NO! Am I a fun person to be around? Do I bring positivity to a room? Those are arguable, but I would say it is hit or miss. Most people either love me or hate me.

My sister told me once that when I enter a room you can tell right away, but it was not a positive energy. And I tend to agree with her. I kind of have that menacing look. Kind of like a villain in a movie. When he enters the bar, you know trouble is brewing. Many of friends have validated this. My old roommate once told me that every time I came home from work he was afraid to talk to me because he thought I looked pissed.

My childhood wasn't so great, always having to move around from family to family. And I started to take on a defeatist attitude. Psychologists call the ability to bounce back from a setback or trauma, resiliency. Some children start to shutdown or turn off when life keeps throwing them curve balls. Because they realize no matter how much they try, life just keeps beating them down. I think that I kind of started to take on a negative outlook on life early on. It even changed my appearance. Pictures of me when I was younger were so cheerful and bright. Then you see later pictures and they all look like mug shots. I remember when people started to talk about how I always walked around with a mean scowl on my face. Older kids thought I was always stepping up to them.

It's a curse I have to live with I guess. I was thinking of wearing glasses to soften my image or maybe tweezing my eyebrows so it doesn't look so devilish. I remember wanting to get sang kal pul, the double eyelid surgery so my eyes would be bigger and friendlier (only for a split second). But I've come to the conclusion that I’m not gay (no offense George) and that I can only do so much. I do try to make more of a conscious effort to be positive. And fun sometimes comes naturally depending on who I'm hanging around. I tend to run off other people's energy. If someone is a downer, I tend to be a downer, and vice versa. It's kind of hard to generate my own energy. And fun does eventually come as more liquor is poured. =)

Studies show that you will advance faster in the workplace if you promote positivity at work. For instance at a meeting instead of focusing on the negative, always focus on the positives. Say what is working, not what isn't working. I tried doing this in our ST meetings for awhile but it's really hard. It's so much easier to focus on the negative.

Are you a positive person? Do people like hanging around you? When you enter a room or situation do you add or take away? Why or why not?