'the unexamined life is not worth living' - Socrates

indeed growing old is inevitable. days flew too swiftly, that the next thing we know, a year had already passed. this friday (nov 16), i'll add another year to my age, just in time to make me an official adult! by law, 18 is considered as an adult, in casinos, it's 21... but in the century when an 11 yr old gets pregnant, a 12 yr old committed suicide, and divorce is becoming a way of life, i think 22 is the new 18... at this point, there can be no more excuses and alibis like 'im too young for this, too old for that'.

having said that means only one thing, being responsible and accountable to every decision made and every truth told.

there was a survey conducted for people 90 yrs and above, and was asked, if they have the opportunity to live their lives again, what are they going to do? top two answers were
- reflect more
- risk more

with this, i cant help not to ask myself why those two?

Reflect More
Being young in this 'politically-correct' era is a no easy job. with uberly excited and raging hormones, boom of infotainment, and where everything is literally within your reach, you cant help but to join the band wagon as well, not really thinking about its consequences. we tell ourselves 'bata pa naman ako e', 'everybody's doing it anyway', 'if i dont try it, im missing a lot of things', 'i have to try it to tell whether it's good or bad for me', 'la lang, trip lang' and all other crap... we're just there for the heck of it, not wanting to be labeled as 'kj' or 'walang pakisama' or 'anti-social'. little we know that it does something to us; what we usually do affects the way we define and justify things.

i know i wont have the opportunity to live my life all over again, and with this i realize that me being young doesnt give me any right to do anything i want. that its BS to think that i am allowed to do so. and that if i continue to do things out of my own will, nobody will reap the consequences but me. i must admit of doing and trying things i shouldnt have and im not proud of them, and i guess, im learning things the hard way... that bad habits doesnt happen overnight, and so is quitting them.

Risk More.
We(I) tend to live under our comfort zones most of the time. Afraid that we're not enough to do something, or that we're too proud not to go out of our ways. And so we're just contented to where we are. then, almost always, time comes when we defeat ourselves on opportunities we didnt grab and doors we didnt walk in.

i'm blessed to be reading a book that somehow summarizes for me the effect of our decisions and responses in life. (the title is pretty catchy 'how to ruin your life by forty?', i suggest you read it)... we dont just arrive at the age of forty. we first encountered the age of 16, 22 then 28 then 30 so on until 40. so it's very logical to say that what we do today, surely we will reap its fruits 5-10 years from now.

then i again asked myself, do i really want to be 90yrs old to realize these things? what if i'm not bound to live more than 60 yrs?

I think to reflect more is to base every decision and action on God's will. His will is not a mystery so we have to pray for it, seek it until we hear it. He may have given us free will and good judgement but it can only be as good as it gets without the real wisdom coming from Him. And when the going gets rough, we should know how to properly respond to it by starting with prayer... I think reflection is a discipline one needs to master, for without it, lives would just fall right before our eyes without knowing where we went wrong.

To risk more is to do something out of the ordinary living. A Christian life is not meant to be unchallenged and so we must take courage on blazing new paths for Him. To risk more is to do more than the minimum requirements of a believer's living...more than going to church sunday after sunday, more than being good for the sake of goodness, more than reading bible, for we cant live a minimum life. 'Attempt great things for God, for He is a great God'. To risk more, is to risk worldy affairs for the works we're suppose to do... It is in learning not to compromise what we believe in just to avoid arguments and disagreements.

'maturity is enduring pain and delaying pleasures'.
growing old is not by free will, but growing up is.It doesnt happen by chance but by choice. So as i add another year, i'd like to add another piece of wisdom. 'He who chooses the start of the road chooses its destination.' By observing lives around me and hearing stories of people, I've come to know that good life, healthy marriages, and great leaders doesn't just happen to people... they MAKE it happen by investing in their decisions and responses in their younger years.

God has been faithful to me since i was kid. I know of Him, but didn't really know Him, not until when my dad died that I understood how to seek Him and knew what it feels like to be comforted by a Might Hand. Day by day, i was trying to figure out what am i supposed to do with my life. And now as I turn another year, with new work, new number,new blog, new lifestyle and a whole new perspective, I know what is it... It is doing His will, founding my life on His word, knowing the absolutes of life, and walking the walk until my faith becomes my way of living.

... Cause I’m lost and alone I’ve been wandering long enough to know Humbly I search for you And I’m not gonna rest till you Choose me, use me Sometimes I feel so all alone I’m am on my way back home
So why don’t you Direct me, bless me Wash me whiter than the snow
I am on my way back home...