In search of significance ... continued ...

Last night, I asked these questions after a series of disappointments in life:

Why does one even bother to get up each day and continue with life? Where does one muster the energy to wake up every morning and live on when the people around all seem to only be interested in getting their own agendas accomplished?

I come back from the usual Sunday outing and was pleasantly surprised to receive an email from fellow sojourners whom I met at a leadership training in Hawaii almost two years ago. During our convocation in early 2005 among an international audience, we all sang this song "Find us faithful" while I danced ... it was a very meaningful and powerful call upon our lives ... today, I recognize it as the impartation of a calling for each of us to live a life of significance.

May you also find this empowering as we journey towards becoming good stewards of all that we have been entrusted with in life ...

Artist: Steve Green on "Find us faithful"

FIND US FAITHFUL

We’re pilgrims on the journey of a narrow road
And those who’ve gone before us light the way
Cheering on the faithful, encouraging the weary
Their lives a stirring testament
To God’s sustaining grace

Surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses
Let us run the race, not only for the prize
But as those who’ve gone before us
Let us leave to those behind us
The heritage of faithfulness passed on through Godly lives

Oh, may all who come behind us find us faithful
May the fire of our devotion light their way
May the footprints that we leave, lead them to believe
And the lives we live inspire them to obey
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful

After all our hopes and dreams have come and gone
And our children sift through all we’ve left behind
May the clues that they discover
And the memories they uncover
Become the light that leads them to the road we each must find

Oh, may all who come behind us find us faithful
May the fire of our devotion light their way
May the footprints that we leave, lead them to believe
And the lives we live inspire them to obey
Oh may all who come behind us find us faithful.

In search of significance ...

Source: Legacy of Ice Images

Oftentimes, a period of dullness and bitterness is required in order for one to appreciate the nice suprises in life. We recognize and appreciate the goodness and perhaps, the purposes of God, when we have experienced the dull and dreary bits of life, of disappointments, and more disappointments.

The truth is, life hasn't been great ... or has it been that my wild heart cries out for more than the current life has to offer? ... "there's got to be more to life than this!"

It began with a whirlwind of activities and success ... and then, the downward spiral ... fighting against current and seeing nothing while diving in Bali, doing much (and tiring myself in the process) with seemingly few results ... seeking to go for the dream dive of the year only to have to pull out because of work ... seeking to be friends with people who couldn't care less whether you were there or not ...

So, after much disappointment and rejection, why does one even bother to get up each day and continue with life? Where does one muster the energy to wake up every morning and live on when the people around all seem to only be interested in getting their own agendas accomplished?

Silence ...

If life was about the tangible things we acquire or the success we achieve, then why does life seem so empty after all the hustle and bustle? Some may argue that perhaps, much remains to be achieved ...

Well, I have observed the cycles in life ... with each heart break comes greater success than before but at the end of the day, the heart cries ... "there's got to be more to life than this!"

Perhaps, I continue to wake up each morning simply because God loves me and has a plan for my life ... because He loves me for who I am and not what I do or don't do ...

I think he has been trying to get my attention all this while ...

Quoting from Larry Julian's God is my CEO, "When we feel stuck or slowed down by pain, obstacles, or circumstances, we can remember that God has a bigger plan than what we are seeing in front of us. We can take a step back and sense the bigger picture and the whole of life. Then we can see our situation from a different perspective."

"How we define success is important in shaping our lives. So, how do we define success? Success is generally defined in terms of achievement, fame, recognition, material possession, and wealth. In a word: outcome.

"Significance is importance, meaning, essence, relevance, and value. Sucess drives us by a desire for tangible things; significance guides us by a desire for something greater than just what is tangible."

The search for significance is like ... "The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light of day ... " Proverbs 4:18

Life is short and precious, and I should prioritize what is important ... people and relationships are important.

May I live life driven by a calling to be significant by making a difference in other people's lives. Now, that's a tall order ...

Climbing ROCKS!

Bouldering

Source: Camp5

In the moments of seeming nothingness, I have developed an insatiable appetite to conquer new heights of sorts. Another sport that seems to have captured my attention is indoor climbing. Not only is this a new experience for me, but it also allows me to literally scale new heights.

There were a few reasons for my visiting Camp5 recently:

1. Mar-xha told me about it last year and I said I would go ... unfortunately, it took me so long to step foot in Asia's largest indoor climbing venue

... but in the quest of being authentic and practising integrity, one ultimately does need to do what they said they would do!

2. Scuba diving is not a sport that I can do every week! Knowingly suffering deprivation of the sport you enjoy most just cannot be tolerated. There's nothing heroic about abstaining from activities that help one de-stress unless if does harm to oneself or others.

3. Richard recently embarked on rock climbing to develop a new skill while staying fit ... he told Ling Ling about it; I tagged along for a trial session.

Before I knew it, my friend and I were scheduled to take our Basic Wall Course (BWC) two weeks later. We arrived about 20 minutes before the class was to begin. We inquired about gym membership and was pleasantly surprised that there was a promotion provided us with free BWC, a RM100 Proshop voucher for equipment purchase, and a one-year membership ... all for RM998. The promotion would help us save from paying the extra RM100 for the BWC. And as all typical modern Malaysian would, we went for the "freebie" in the promotion.

No regrets though ...

I signed up because I really need to keep active. One of the things I realize was that work these days can be extremely all-consuming and if one didn't find other outlets for releasing pent-up stress or physical energy, one just might start having undesirable physical symptoms from lethargy to moodiness to unwanted lumps and bumps!

Well, it was early for a Saturday morning to be going a four-hour course. Instructor Jeremy spent the first two hours giving us some background about rock climbing, the equipment. Soon enough we were putting on the harnesses, tying figure eight knots on dynamic ropes and learning to belay.

The second part of the course involved the practical sessions of actual climbing with your partner belaying or vice versa (left - climbing & belaying. Source: Camp5). I am thankful Richard invited me the first time, as I was a little less fearful of climbing almost vertical walls spanning 8 meters in height.

There was also the experience of bouldering - climbing a boulder without any ropes whatsoever. Well, I had taken quite a fall the first time I was at Camp5 so it was not as intimidating this time round and surprisingly, I didn't fall!

With all learning experiences, I found this one rather lighthearted ... I was nearly reaching the top of the eight-meter wall. I decided that it was time to descend, so I called out to the petite belayer Ling Ling, "Tighten ... (rope)". And within seconds she calls back, "Tight."

In order to get back down to the bottom, a climber needs to completely trust his/her belayer and the ropes by letting go off the wall and leaning back with legs stretched perpendicularly against the wall. When I did that, Ling Ling apparently lurged slightly forward ... surprised by the weight that the rope had to take!

I couldn't help but laugh when she later relayed the incident to me ... and as I read a facebook note that Richard had written about settling down in Melbourne, he mentions a book that he was reading - The Best Life ... and that having the best life meant eating healthily but not being obsessed with the scales.

Cartoon from http://www.camp5.com/newsletter.html and
http://www.climbing.com/print/techtips/ttsport227/

Needless to say, I was reminded of my indoor climbing incident and the fact that I must have been having the best life ever and not weighed myself in ages ... enough to cause my buddy belayer to almost get smacked on the wall like in this cartoon!

I can't wait to go back and continue on this journey of discovery ... and eventually do rock climbing at an outdoor venue.