Purify Your Thoughts About Money by Bo Sanchez

I receive tons of letters from readers, most of them happy, but some of them heart-rending.

       Just yesterday, one letter I read was from a man who was poor all his life.  He didn’t even know how he’d get food for his family the following week.  Sure, he had a job but it paid miserably and wasn’t even enough to keep his kids in school.

       I opened another letter the other day and read about a woman who had so much debts, her monthly payables are double her monthly income.  And according to her, she’s already living very, very, very simply.  She hasn’t bought a new dress for ages, never goes to movies unless it’s a freebee, and has sold most of her belongings already.

       You know that I recommend the simple life.  But not having enough money for your basic needs isn’t the simple life.  That’s poverty, and that complicates life.

       Read carefully.  Money isn’t everything and people are totally mistaken if they think that money will solve all their problems and make them happy.  But we do need money to live.  It’s because of letters like these that made me launch my financial crusade.  I want to help good people make money.

      And the first step to making money is to purify your thinking towards money.

      If somewhere in your brain, you think that money is evil, that it is unspiritual to earn money—then somehow, even subconsciously, you will find ways of AVOIDING money.  I’m serious…

     But the Bible doesn’t say that money is evil; the love of money is.  Money is a neutral thing that can be used to love or hate, to build or destroy, depending on how you use it.  In other words, it can make you holy or it can make you evil—much like anything else in life.  It all depends on whether you follow or violate the laws written in the fabric of the universe concerning its use.

     Purify your thinking towards money by embracing the truth that God wants you to have some material things to live a humane life, enough for your needs, and more than what you need, so that you can be generous.  In fact, the Bible says, If a man will not work, he shall not eat.  (2 Thessalonians 3:10)  and All hard work brings a profit…  (Proverbs 14:23)

     Right now, wherever you are, make a faith statement that your Creator wants to provide for your needs.  Make a faith statement that God wants you to work and earn for a living and be responsible towards your family.

     Also, it’s important to watch your attitude towards those who are earning well.  Do you resent them?  Do you feel that they are unspiritual?  Do you feel that they used deception to earn that kind of money?  If you continue to have these thoughts, you’re telling yourself that money indeed is bad and unspiritual and can only be taken by deception.  Banish these thoughts!

Purify Your Motives About Money

     Motives need to come from your highest values if we want to live freely.

     Ask yourself: Why do you want more money?

     To provide for the basic needs of your family?

     To fulfill your God-given responsibility as spouse and parent?

     To be more generous to those in need?

     To have more personal freedom to love?

     When you inwardly feel that your motives are in line with your highest values, then you’ll approach your moneymaking endeavors as a whole person.  You’ll move and walk and talk with integrity.  With peace and happiness!  The journey will be pleasurable.

     But if you inwardly feel that your motives are not in line with your highest values, then you will work towards earning money as a divided person.  If your innermost motive for earning more money is merely for selfish opulence, your highest values will rebel against that and you’ll experience a loss of integrity—a disintegration in your character.  You may reach your financial goals, but you will never be at peace.

     The solution?

     Follow your conscience and change your motives according to your highest values.

     Earn money with nobility.

     Make money without robbing your soul.

     Purify your motives towards making money.

       May your dreams come true,

       Bo Sanchez

PS. If you want me to help you build your wealth, I can guide you through my TrulyRichClub.  To change your financial life, log on at www.TrulyRichClub.com now.

PS2. Many people don’t only just lack financial information, they lack financial formation.  In the TrulyRichClub, I will form your mindset into a wealthy mindset.  To build your wealth, log on at www.TrulyRichclub.com now.

How To Enjoy Life More - By Bo Sanchez

Sharing a very good article by Bo Sanchez.

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How To Enjoy Life More

We have a problem.

We don’t know how to enjoy life anymore. 

Why?  We have so many hang-ups, so many issues, so many worries, so many fears, so many burdens…

We have lost the art of enjoying life, of playing with small children, of conversing with a friend, of holding hands with a loved one, of smelling the flowers, of gazing at the stars, of singing in the shower, of dancing in the rain, of sucking deeply the bone marrow of life!

Let me tell you why people have a hard time doing these…

The Bottomless Pit Of Worthlessness

Deep inside us is a bottomless pit of worthlessness.  (In the Philippines, the only time we hear the word bottomless is connected with Iced Tea.  You can drink 16 glasses and the waiter will still keep on pouring.  It’s endless.)  Deep down, we feel a nagging sense of inadequacy.  We feel there’s something lacking in us.  We feel that we’ve been measured and we’ve been found wanting.

You’ll see this everywhere you look.  People are walking around carrying this bottomless pit of worthlessness inside them, and they’re looking for ways to fill this pit.  And many people try to solve their worthlessness with three things: Work, Wealth, and Warmth. 

Work: To fill this bottomless pit of worthlessness, some people work endlessly.  They work in a frenzied pace.  They work and forget their families and health and spiritual life.

Wealth: Others try to solve their worthlessness with wealth, filling their lives with material things.  Cars.  Gizmos.  Houses.  Brands.

Warmth: Others try to solve their worthlessness with warmth, getting people to like them no matter what the cost, making them people-pleasers and approval-addicts.  They become co-dependents, trapped in enmeshed relationships.  They lose their identity and have no boundaries.

Please know that Work, Wealth, and Warmth are wonderful things.  They’re gifts from God.  But they can NEVER fill up your bottomless pit of worthlessness.

John Had Everything And Yet…

I read a true story about a student named John who never had a grade lower than A in his entire 4-years in college.   And John was about to graduate summa cum laude.  But before graduating, the unthinkable happened: John killed himself. 

This shocked the entire college.  How could he do that?

John left a suicide note.  In that note, he wrote, “I just couldn’t measure up to the standards of this world, perhaps in the next world I can do better.”

Why?  This is the bottomless pit of worthlessness within him speaking. 

What’s The Song You Hear In Your Head?

Believe me, I’ve met a lot of people who are plagued by this pervasive feeling of inadequacy.  Inwardly, they hear the constant refrain, “There’s something wrong with you…” like a permanent LSS.  (If LSS to you means Life in the Spirit Seminar, then that means you’re my age.  LSS means Last-Song-Syndrome.)

Subconsciously, they feel they can never measure-up to these standards.  They’ll never be beautiful enough.  They’ll never be rich enough.  They’ll never be successful enough.  They’ll never be happy enough.  They’ll never be holy enough.

Some of these people feel that no matter what they do, they’ll never be a great husband, or a great wife, or a great father, or a great mother.

This nagging feeling of inadequacy is the air that they breathe.  It colors the way they look at themselves, the way they look at life, the way they look at the world.

I compare these people to a donkey…

1. Racing Donkey

Donkeys are stubborn.  To make a donkey walk, all you have to do is dangle a juice, crunchy, red-orange carrot one foot away from its nose.  The donkey sees it, smells it, seeks it, and off it goes, chasing after the carrot.

But he never can catch it.  The donkey moves forward but the carrot moves forward too.  Perplexed, he takes another step.  But the carrot takes another step too.  As the donkey moves faster, the carrot moves faster too. 

That is a perfect picture of many people today. 

I’ve been doing ministry for 30+ years.  I’ve talked to thousands of people all over the world.  Believe me, most people are like that donkey.  We’re looking for our “carrot”, something to fill our bottomless pit of worthlessness.

But we can never chase it.

If Work, Wealth, and Warmth can never fill your bottomless pit of worthlessness, let me tell you the only thing that can.

But first, let me tell you about the second donkey…

2. Relaxed Donkey

This second donkey is a relaxed donkey.

Why?  He has discovered that the carrot he was chasing was all the while with him.  He was carrying it along! 

Once he realized this, he relaxes.

So let me tell you now the only thing that can fill up your bottomless pit of worthlessness.

The only solution to worthlessness is Worth. 

I can hear your reaction: “Bo, you’re nuts.  Of course, worth is the solution to worthlessness.  But how do you get that worth?”

That’s my point.  You don’t get worth. 

You already have it.

By the mere fact that you exist.  By the fact that you’re alive.  By the fact that you were created by God, you’re somebody!  You’re special. You’re a treasure. You’re precious.  You’re His masterpiece.  You’re the crown of His creation.  You’re His child.  You’re His Prince and Princess.  You’re His the love of His life. 

You’re like the donkey chasing after a carrot that you’ve been carrying all along.

I repeat: You need some work to be happy.  You need a level of wealth to be happy.  You need a degree of warmth and relationships to be happy.  But here’s my point: Even before you work, or get wealth, or get warmth—you’re already a person of GREAT worth.

Here’s the truth.  There is no such thing as a bottomless pit of worthlessness.  It’s an illusion.  What you think is a bottomless pit of worthless is actually a bottomless pit of WORTH!  Because you already possess the intrinsic worth imputed by God to your soul.

Make This Discovery And You’ll Relax

This is true happiness: When you discover that what you’ve been looking for—searching in distant lands and faraway planets—was actually in your heart all along!

I repeat.  The bottomless pit of worthlessness is fake.  It’s not true.  Because you’re a human being, a child of God, created in His image, you are a bottomless pit of great worth.

This is an incredible discovery.  Unless you make this life-changing discovery, you’ll never enjoy true peace in your soul.  You’ll never have true rest, true contentment, true happiness in your life.  You’ll always be searching, seeking, looking, and longing for something.  You’ll always be trying to fill the emptiness of your heart with stuff: New clothes.  Jewelery.  Popularity.  Money.  Achievements.  Fans. 

Here’s the truth: Everything you want is already within you.

You might say, “Bo, that’s not true.  I don’t have what I want.  What I want right now is a new job,” or “a new house,” or “a new boyfriend” or “a new sexy body.”

But why do you want what you want?  Why do you want that new job, or new house, or new boyfriend, or new sexy body?

If you search deeply within your soul, you’ll realize you want that thing because you think that that thing will increase your worth.

But there’s only one thing that you increase your worth.

That one thing is love.

Bottomline, you want love.  Love is your biggest, deepest, greatest need.  And you have all the love you need.  God is within you.  And the Bible says that God is love.  So let me repeat—everything that you want is already within you.  

Because right now, you’re already loved.

Performance-Based Parenting

But where does this bottomless pit of worthlessness come from?

Simple Answer: From parents. 

Obviously, the answer is more complicated than that. There are many reasons. But for many people (not all), this is where our feelings of inadequacy come from.

How?  Parents raise their kids by “Performance-Based Parenting.” What in the world is that? 

Performance-Based Parenting is when the core message to their kids is, “I will love you only if you perform.  I will be proud of you only if you perform.  Your value and worth are based on your performance.  If you don’t perform, I will think less of you.  If you don’t perform, I will love you less.”

I’ve met a lot of parents who are like this.  They want their kids to solve math problems by 2, play the piano by 3, write computer programs by 5, and pass the medical school by 12.  They force their kids to enrol in painting class, swimming class, gymnastics class, Mandarin class, and violin class all at the same time.

These parents go ballistic when their kids fail an exam.  They go hyper when their kids have catsup on their shirt. 

Another sign that your parenting is Performance-Based?  If the most common line you say when you’re angry at your kids is, “You embarrass me!  What will others say if they see you fail? If you’re a bad child, they’ll say I’m a bad parent!”

Parents Pass On Their
Bottomless Pit Of Worthlessness

Fact: These parents want their kids to perform because they want to perform as parents.  Kids that are racing donkeys have parents who are also racing donkeys. Kids have a bottomless pit of worthlessness because their parents have one too.  In fact, they merely inherited it from them.  (And guess where these parents got their bottomless pit of worthlessness?  From their parents too.)

Hey, I’m not saying that parents shouldn’t encourage their kids to excel or to reach their full potential or to work hard.  We should!

But our core message to our kids should be, “I love you for being you.  I’m happy you’re you.  Before you do anything good, you’re already a fantastic person.  I’m already proud of you.  I encourage you to give your best NOT to win my love for you.  That’s a done deal.  You already have my love.  I want you to give your best as a way of loving yourself and being who you truly are.”

If you have a kid, let me give you a very important tip…

Say “I Love You” At Odd And Unexpected Times

I love telling my kids “I love you” all the time.  But I see to it that I don’t say those words after they “perform”.  (I say other words like “That’s a nice drawing,” or “You sang so well,” or “You did great…”)   But I say “I love you” to them in the most odd and unexpected times.  Sometimes, when we’re in bed, about to sleep, I tell them, “Do you know how much I love you?” Or when we’re taking our morning walk, I squeeze his little hand and say, “I’m so proud that you’re my son.”

The opposite of Performance-Based Parenting is Presence-Based Parenting.  My love for them isn’t connected to their Performance but to their Presence.  By the mere fact that they’re my kids, that they’re alive, that they exist, that they’re created by God, they’re worthy of my love.

Let me clarify.  Parents should teach their kids to love hard work.  But to work hard not out of fear of worthlessness but out of love for one’s intrinsic worth.

By the way, religious leaders are parents too.  Sadly, some religious leaders use “Performance-Based Parenting” too…

Skewed Religiosity

Religion can worsen this feeling of inadequacy.  Religion can worsen your bottomless pit of worthlessness.

I know.  I’ve been a religious leader for thirty plus years.  And I have a confession to make.  In the first decade of leading my little group, Light of Jesus, I had a very skewed spirituality.  I was uptight, rigid, legalistic, and judgmental.

I never realized that my image of God was also uptight, rigid, legalistic, and judgmental.  (Truth: We relate to others according to our image of God.  Because we become the God that we worship.)

My life revolved around trying to fulfil very high spiritual expectations to gain God’s approval.  Such as praying one hour a day, and reading the Bible one hour a day, and going to Mass everyday, and praying the Rosary everyday, etcetera…  The list was endless.

Years later, I realized I had a “Performance-Based” spirituality.  To feel worthy of God’s love, I had to do no sin, think only pure thoughts, be a good boy, and do my religious obligations…. 

If I failed any of these stringent requirements I set for myself, I felt God was shaking His head in disgust at me.

Learning To Relax In God’s Love 

But for years, the real God was gently knocking into my heart.  And He kept telling me, “No need to perform.  Just relax in my love.”  The radical idea was so foreign to me, I wondered if this was God at all.  How dare He tell me to relax?  How dare He say I was worthy of love even before I do anything good?

Slowly, I began to realize that God wasn’t uptight.  Or rigid.  Or legalistic.  Or judgmental.

After three decades, I’m still learning how to relax in His love.

I’m still learning to follow God when He said, Be still, and know that I am God.  (Psalms 46:10)

Here’s my unauthorized translation of this verse: God is saying, “Relax in my love you.  You don’t need to impress me with your performance.  I love you as you are.  I believe in you.  You’re a wonderful person.”

May your dreams come true,

Bo Sanchez

Victory Is An Inside Job - by Bo Sanchez

A nice read. Just want to share.
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Today, I’d like to start a powerful series entitled, The Fighter. In these next three to four weeks, I want to teach you how to fight temptation—and win. Man, I love this incredible series. (I’ll be speaking from my heart, because much of what I’ll share comes from my personal “war stories”.)

        This series has three myth-busting messages: (1) Focus on the Good; (2) Friend with the Good; and (3) Fight for the Good.

       Today, I’d like to talk about how to Focus on the Good.

       Let me warn you. What I’m going to tell you today is controversial. In this message, you’ll read stuff that you won’t hear very often…

Where’s The Fight Taking Place?

       Do you fall into sin?

       Have you ever fought temptation and lost?

       I’m asking this question because, uh, I can’t relate. Sin is very foreign to me. In fact, I always ask my friends, “Can you describe what it feels like to sin? Because, frankly, I’ve never experienced it.”

Well, okay, I do admit I have one little, tiny, itsy, bitsy weakness…

I lie. 

       Haha.

Okay, no more jokes. If you have sinned against God, then keep reading. Because your preacher is the greatest sinner.   Name a sin, and 99% of the time, I’ve done it.  (I haven’t killed anyone. At least, I don’t remember.)

       So today, I speak to you as one fellow-sinner to another fellow-sinner. I share with you today the lessons I’ve learned while I was stuck in the muck of sin.

Yes, your preacher is bruised, broken, and bandaged—but still blessed by the mercy of God.

Here’s the big thing I realized. When I find myself trapped in my habitual sins, it’s because I was fighting in the wrong arena.

I was fighting outside me when the battle was inside me.

       No wonder I was losing!

       We think temptation is as an external problem. It’s not.  It’s an internal problem.  Because all these external temptations are almost powerless if it didn’t have allies working within me.

       Here’s my big message for you today: Victory is an inside job. 

By the way, failure is an inside job too…

The Fight Is Within You

My mother lived during the Japanese war.

And she has all sorts of crazy stories to tell.

One of them was that before the war began, she said there were Japanese vendors selling their stuff on the streets of Manila. But when the Japanese army attacked the Philippines, these Japanese vendors—who were dressed very simply—turned out to be high-ranking officers of the Japanese army.

It’s like the story of the Trojan horse.

For 10 years, the Greeks were trying to conquer the city of Troy, but with very little success. The city of Troy was impregnable, with high thick walls and a massive gate that the Greek soldiers couldn’t destroy, no matter how hard they tried.

But one day, the Trojans (the people who live in Troy) saw the Greek soldiers sail away. And saw that the Greeks left behind a giant wooden horse.

The Trojans brought the horse into their city as a trophy of war. They didn’t know that the Greeks just pretended to sail away. And that inside the wooden horse were Greek soldiers hiding.

That night, when the Trojans were asleep, the Greek soldiers came out of hiding and opened the gates of the city–welcoming the returning Greek soldiers. They marched in and destroyed the city of Troy.

       Read carefully: You fall not because of the strong temptation outside you but because of the weak situation inside you.

The temptation shouldn’t have been powerful.

But someone opened the gate.

Who is that someone? 

Your Trojan Horse.

This Trojan Horse is the greatest, most powerful, most potent, most deadly weapon of the devil.

The Greatest Weapon Of The Devil

       One day in Hell, there was an Annual Infernal Conference attended by the all devils in the world. The Theme of the Conference was, “Our Greatest Weapon Against God’s People”.

       The first Speaker—a high-ranking devil—stood on stage and announced, “There is no debate about this. Our greatest weapon against God’s people is lust!” All his listeners applauded. He explained, “Even Presidents, Priests, and Preachers are totally defenseless against lust!”  And the entire crowd roared in agreement.

       The second Speaker came up. Wearing a black tuxedo with a thick gold ring on every finger, he declared, “The first speaker is stupid. Don’t listen to him. Because our greatest weapon is greed!” The audience drank his every word. He said, “Imagine the billions of people who are suffering today because of our assistants on planet earth—greedy politicians!”  And the whole assembly screamed, “Yeheey!”

       The third Speaker climbed up on the platform amidst the sound of blasting trumpets. He wore a royal red robe and a golden crown. With extreme arrogance, he shouted, “The first two speakers told you a bunch of crap. Don’t listen to those ignoramuses. Because our greatest weapon is…” and he clenched his fist in the air, “…Pride!”  The entire hall thundered with applause. He screamed, “Every war in the history of mankind was caused by pride!”

Finally, the last Speaker of the Conference stood up. And when they saw him, the room became deathly quiet. Because everyone knew who he was. He was the devil that brought the most number of souls away from God.

He wore a simple black robe. He spoke quietly. He said, “There is something more powerful than lust and greed and pride. In fact, I compare lust, greed, and pride to wooden toy slingshots. And I compare our greatest weapon to a nuclear bomb. Because with our greatest weapon, you can multiply the power of lust, greed, and pride by a million times…”

By this time, all the devils in the hall were shouting to the top of their lungs, “What is it? What is our greatest weapon?”

He waved his hand to quiet the crowd.

And he whispered, “Our greatest weapon is… self-rejection.”

When External Spiritual Activity Isn’t Enough

       Self-rejection is the Trojan Horse of temptation. It opens the gate of your soul to temptation. That’s why you lose the battle.

       I speak with authority because this was my experience.

Decades ago, I couldn’t kick the habit of pornography. For years, no matter how I tried, I couldn’t get out of its deathly grip. All my energies and time were being consumed by this addiction.

At that time, I asked my religious leaders, “How can I fight temptation? It’s so overwhelming.” And these spiritual people would give me pat, canned answers.

They’d say, “You need to pray more,” or “You need to memorize the Bible more,” or “You need to attend more prayer meetings,” or “You need to avoid the situations that lead you to sin”

       All these advices are great stuff.  (In fact, I’ll give you the same advice in the third part of this series, but from a different angle.)

But at that time, I was shocked when they didn’t work on me.

I still fell into sin. Repeatedly. I still was trapped as ever. I told myself, “Hey, I doubled my prayer time. Why did I fall? Gosh, there must be really something wrong with me!”

Here’s why these activities failed: Because all these good advices was telling me to focus on the fight “outside” me.  “Add spiritual activities, like adding ammunition, and you’ll win.”

Soon, their advices added to my frustration—which made me sin even more.

How?  

First of all, I already hated myself for falling into sin again and again. And now, I had a brand new reason to hate myself. Because I promised to pray more and memorize the Bible more—and I failed to do them too!

This vicious cycle of self-rejection led to more sin.

The Anatomy of Habitual Sin

       Let me tell you something that very few people will tell you…

       Behind every sin is a cry for love.

       Your greatest and deepest need is to be loved. Mother Teresa said, “the greatest poverty is the poverty of being unloved.” When you don’t fill this great hunger for love, you scramble and grab anything that will quiet this hunger.

       So you look for a replacement. A painkiller. An anesthetic.

       That narcotic is sin. 

Because the pleasure of sin is the pirated version of the pleasure of being loved.

The problem with the fake version is that it’ll never truly satisfy your deepest hunger. Instead, it will increase your need. What used to satisfy no longer satisfies. Over time, you’ll need to increase the dose of the narcotic.

 A porn addict starts looking for unnatural sex. A gambler starts gambling with higher amounts of money. An adulterer starts searching for more partners.

Drugs. Alcohol. Sex. Gambling. Materialism. Food addiction.  Approval addiction. At the core of all addictions, they’re all the same: It’s a desperate need for love.

       Let me give you another analogy…

Love Is Expensive

       In many streets of Metro Manila, you’ll see rugby boys. It’s a heart-wrenching sight. I cry whenever I see them. Little boys—as young as six years old—sniffing rugby on the sidewalk, looking at the world with glazed eyes.

These kids are hungry for food. But because food is expensive and rugby is cheap, they go for the drug. To forget their hunger, they sniff the brain-shrinking, neuron-burning chemical adhesive.

But people who have habitual sins are in the exact same boat.

We’re hungry for love. But love is expensive and sin is cheap. So we go for our habitual sin to deaden the inner pain of our hunger for love.

I repeat: Love is expensive.

Believe me. It’s not easy to love yourself. To value yourself. To forgive yourself. To accept yourself. It’s easier to sin than to do the hard work of loving yourself the way God loves you.

How Will You Know If You’ve Got A Trojan Horse?

There are 3 signs to know if there’s a Trojan Horse in you…

First, you don’t love yourself. You reject you.  You hate you. You don’t accept who you are. You don’t celebrate you.

       Second, your most important relationships are dysfunctional. You don’t receive love from your closest relationships. Even if there are people around you who truly love you, you can’t see this nor receive this love.

       Third, you worship a “rejecting” God. A legalistic, cruel, judgmental God. So you don’t receive love from God as well.

       Unless you heal this inner wound and start learning to love yourself the way God loves you, you’ll never be able to win over temptation.

       Next week, I’ll talk about how to do this.

       But let me give you the first step that you need to do to fight the battle within…

Receive God’s Unconditional Love Now

       Let me repeat: The pleasure of sin is the pirated version of the pleasure of being loved. 

Do you want to experience the pleasure of being loved? 

       Receive God’s unconditional love today!

       And take your cue from God.

Don’t focus on your badness; Focus on your goodness.

       Don’t hate yourself. Don’t reject yourself. Or this self-rejection will cause you to sin even more.

       He loves you more than you can ever imagine.

Have you sinned? Have you fallen?

       God doesn’t look at what you did wrong.

       God looks at what you did right.

       God doesn’t focus on your failures.

       God focuses on your future.

       In your eyes, you’re bruised, bandaged, and broken. In God’s eyes, you’re beautiful, beloved, and blessed.

The Bible says, But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. (Romans 8:5, 11)

What is God saying here? He says, “Don’t focus on your sinful nature. Focus instead on your spiritual nature. Can you imagine? My own Spirit is in you!”

In other words, focus on the good.

This is a mind-blowing truth.  That the same awesome power that created every atom, molecule, pebble, leaf, tree, valley, ocean, mountain, planet, sun, star, and galaxy… yes, the most powerful force in the universe… is in you.

And that most powerful force—the Holy Spirit—is love.

Next week, I’ll teach you how to heal the Trojan Horse of Self-Rejection.

       May your dreams come true,

       Bo Sanchez

Are you enjoying your life? by Bo Sanchez

I just want to share this wonderful article by Bo Sanchez.
If you want to receive similar article every month, or if you want to have spiritual and financial abundance, click here.


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Are You Enjoying Your Life?
Once upon a time,I didn’t believe in enjoying life.

Suffering, yes. Enjoying, no.

       I almost felt it was a sin to enjoy.

       Why? I believed that the mark of the holy person was suffering, and that the mark of a sinner was pleasure.

       Thanks be to God, my thinking has changed.

       Today, I believe that one very important way of thanking God for His blessings is enjoying those blessings. (The other important way of thanking God is by sharing them to others.) The Bible says that God richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. (1 Timothy 6:18)

       Here’s my question: Do you enjoy His blessings?

       Don’t apologize for your blessings.

       Don’t be ashamed for your blessings.

       Instead of being ashamed and apologizing for your blessings, proclaim the Blesser! Isaiah 63:7 says, I will tell of the kindnesses of the LORD, the deeds for which he is to be praised…

       Has God been kind to you?

If you have a family, if you have a home, if you have food on your table, then tell of the kindnesses of God…

God Isn’t Fair

Once upon a time, I used to feel guilty for being so blessed.

Here’s what I realized. God isn’t fair.

       For example, growing up, I enjoyed the love of my parents and my five sisters. My family is far from perfect, but they were always there for me.

No doubt about it, God pampers me.

       When my father was 77 years old, he had a major accident. He spent 5 months in the ICU. We thought that was it for him. Yet my father was healed and he lived for another 11 years.

God pampered me.

       My mother is 86 years old today, and I still enjoy my weekly dates with her. But last week, she was rushed to the hospital because of pneumonia. She’s much better now. I thank God for each day that I can be with her.

       God is pampering me.

       My marriage is blessed. My wife is God’s gift to me. I love my wife more today than I have ever loved her before.

God is pampering me.

       My spiritual life is growing. My ministry is growing. My small businesses are growing. Physically, I feel healthier than ever before.

God is pampering me.

       In both my ministries and businesses, I work with the very best, most talented, the most incredible team on planet earth.

God is pampering me.

Friend, here’s what I believe.

God isn’t fair. God doesn’t play fair. God plays favorites.

You’re His favorite. He pampers you. He favors you. God is biased towards you. God skews life towards your advantage. God bends life so that He can bless you more.

But let me warn you, some people won’t like it when you’re too blessed…

Don’t Be A Crab

One day, there was a fisherman selling three pails of live crabs: American crabs, German crabs, and Filipino crabs.

       A buyer comes along and notices that two pails were covered and one wasn’t.

       “Why are only two pails covered and the other not covered?” he asked.

       The fisherman said, “I don’t have to cover the third pail. Because those are the Filipino crabs. If a crab tries to go up, the other crabs will pull him down.”

Look For Real Friends

       Let’s face it: There are people who won’t be happy when you get too blessed. There are people who feel threatened by your success. There are people who, out of envy, will just not like you anymore.

Ever since I started teaching about financial literacy, I’ve received very spicy criticisms. I’ve been criticized for becoming rich. I’ve been criticized for teaching others to become rich.

One day, a woman came up to me and said, “Bo, I used to be your fan. But not anymore. Ever since you became rich.”

I wanted to tell her (but I didn’t), “I’m happy that you’ve chosen poverty and that you’re happy with your choice.  I’m happy for you.  But don’t force me or others to choose poverty. I’ve decided to enjoy my blessings!”

       I remember my driver’s experience with his neighbors. I’ve taught him how to pay his debts, organize his finances, and invest in the Stock Market too. He now has P30,000 in his investments. That’s tiny for you but humongous for him. He’s so happy. He feels he now has a future.

       But he has a problem with a few neighbors. When he comes home with his new motorcycle, some tell him, “Parang Others ka na”. That’s very difficult to translate to English. It’s as if they’re saying, “You’re acting differently. You don’t belong to us anymore.”

       I asked him, “Have you told them about your investments?”

       He said, “No. But I think they can smell it.”

I told him, and I’m telling you now, “Don’t be afraid if some people will no longer be your friends. Because you deserve better friends. Because if a friend isn’t happy when you’re blessed, he isn’t a real friend. You need to change your friends!”

I don’t know about you, but I want my friends to be happy when I’m blessed!

If I have a new car, I want my friends to say, “Wow, God has blessed you.” Not, “Perhaps you’re becoming materialistic!” When I wear a new pair of shoes, or a new shirt, I want my friends to say, “Wow, God has blessed you.” Not, “Why are you so worldly?” When actually, behind all those negative comments is envy.

Five Ways Of Enjoying Your Harvest

Many people don’t know how to enjoy their blessings.

Today, I’d like to share with you five practical ways of doing just that:

1.         Savor Life

Today, I’m trying to perfect the art of savoring life.  Of tasting. Of relishing. Of appreciating. Of delighting.  Of slowing down. Of smelling the flowers.

More and more, I’m realizing that slow is better than fast.

I’m realizing that single-tasking is better than multi-tasking. By focusing on one thing, I do a better job and I enjoy it more!

Friend, you’re a human being, not a human doing.

So “Be”.

Be here, now. Live in the present moment. Feel the beauty and grandeur of this slice in history and enjoy it. Linger. Luxuriate.

Live In Kairos, Not Just In Chronos

Greeks have two words for “time”. One word wasn’t enough.

First was Chronos. And that’s what we’re familiar with. Chronos is measurable time. It’s the time told by a clock on the wall or a watch on your wrist. Chronos is 8:00am and 5:30pm and 3:25am.

Second was Kairos. We’re not familiar with Kairos. Kairos cannot be measured. Because Kairos is now. It’s indivisible. Kairos isn’t the past or the future. Kairos is the “Now”—that special “Now”—that is right in front of you.

I believe that though you can’t control Chronos, you can expand Kairos by practicing to be more present in your “Now”.

The Bible says, This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it (Psalm 118:24). The Bible didn’t say, “Yesterday was the day” or “Tomorrow will be the day” but “This is the day.” Now!

I’ve noticed that some people in rural areas still live in Kairos.

One day, I took a trip to a smallish town down south. I noticed that people there have all the time in the world. I was walking on the street, and total strangers would chitchat with me. They were not in a hurry.

One woman, who gave me the most beautiful toothless smile, asked me where I came from and what I was doing there. And when I said, “And how’s your life?” she told me stories about her husband, her 5 kids, her in-law, even her grandfather’s ingrown toenail problem.

And I noticed that the toothless woman was happy.

A Little Tip

Let me give you a very practical tip on savoring life.

Are you ready? Here it is: Don’t rush your eating.

Don’t merely swallow your food. Or gulp your bite. Or down your drink.   Or gobble up your meal.

Savor your food instead. Every bite. Every morsel. Every taste.

And because I chew slowly, my meals become sacred. While chewing slowly, I enjoy tranquility. Peace. Happiness. I feel God is my dinner guest and He’s eating with me.

In the same way, don’t rush your living. Taste all of life!

2.         Simplify Pleasures

There’s a big difference between being rich and feeling rich.

One day, I visited one very wealthy guy—let’s call him Bill for Billionaire. He owned large tracks of lands. So large that if you put them together, I bet it will be a small province.

But when I talked to Bill, I really felt he was very poor. He described to me how his family was a mess. How his marriage was a one big joke. They hardly talk to each other, much less love each other. His kids, now all grown up, don’t talk to him or even to each other.

Bill was very miserable.

After talking to him, I felt so much pity for him.

Friend, there’s a difference between being rich and feeling rich. You don’t have to be a billionaire to enjoy the billionaire’s life.

Billionaires drive very expensive cars worth P8 Million.

But I just bought a second-hand car worth P600T, and I feel like I’m a Billionaire.   I enjoy my car so much, I feel very rich.

Billionaires live in mansions. But I live in a house that is so small, it can all fit one of Bill’s bedrooms—but I feel like I’m a Billionaire. I told my wife I have no plans of making it bigger. Because one day, my kids will grow up and have their own families.   And who will be left at home? My bride and I. By that time, my small house will be perfect for us.

God invented pleasure. Bliss. Fun. Joy. Happiness.

In my life, I’ve discovered that simple pleasures are the best pleasures in the world. Because they’re simple, you can experience these pleasures again and again.

I take pleasure taking a quiet walk around the village. How much is that? Except for a pair of rubber shoes, not much.

I take pleasure reading a good book in a quaint coffee shop. How much is that? A book and a cup of coffee. Many times, I don’t drink the coffee. I just smell it. The feeling is wonderful.

And most of all, I take pleasure in my relationships…

3.         Strengthen Relationships

Yesterday, I read my son’s Dinosaur book for him.

Francis is 6-years old and he loves dinosaurs. He can tell you the difference between a Brontosaurus and a Brachiasaurus, between a Tyranosaurus and an Allosaurus.

Out of habit, I read the lines quickly. Sometimes, I skipped a few lines. So I could get it over with and do more important things—like my work.

But in the middle of my reading, I suddenly had a flash of insight. It was as though God spoke to me in a very clear way. He said, “Bo, is there anything greater than what you’re doing now?  This is one of the most magical things you’ll ever do in your entire life. Because this moment will never be repeated. You’re not just reading a book to your 6-year old boy. You’re loving him. You’re giving yourself to him. You’re telling him that he’s the most important person in your life. Right this moment, you’re shaping the way he sees himself. You’re shaping the way he sees Me. You’re shaping the way he sees life.”

So I read slowly. I forgot chronos time. I started living in kairos time. We had so much fun. After I read the book, my 6-year old put his arm around me and said, “Thanks Daddy!”

Believe me, those two words were worth a billion pesos.

If I look at my life, my greatest joys are the people God has given to me.

I take pleasure hanging out with my kids.

I take pleasure being with my wife on a window shopping trip, praying earnestly to God that it’s really just window shopping.

I take pleasure listening to my mother’s Japanese war stories.

I take pleasure laughing with my friends.  (I’m blessed to have friends who have the 10th gift of the Holy Spirit—to make people laugh!)

This is the reason why I’m rich. Because I enjoy rich relationships. My loved ones are my greatest wealth.

4.         Show Gratitude

Enjoying your blessings has nothing to do with how much are your blessings but how much you appreciate your blessings.

If you want to increase your enjoyment, increase your gratitude.

A few months ago, I met a woman who had everything—a good husband, three wonderful kids, a lovely house—yet she’s rarely happy.

After listening to her, I learned why.  She rarely thanks God for her blessings. Instead of looking for what’s there, she’s always looking for what’s not there.

One day, a woman woke up and discovered she only has three strands of hairs on her head. “Lord, thank you that I can braid my hair today!”

The next morning, she woke up and discovered she only had two hairs on her head. “Lord, thank you that I can part my hair down the middle—one of the right and one on the left!”

The next morning, she woke up and discovered she only had one hair on her head. She said, “Lord, thank you I can wear my hair in a ponytail today!”

The next morning, she woke up and discovered she had no hair. She said, “Lord, thank you I don’t have to fix my hair today!”

Always remember: Wealth isn’t measured by how much money you have. Wealth isn’t measured by how much land, stocks, jewels, homes, or cars you have. Wealth is measured by how grateful you are.

5.         Share Generosity

There are two reasons why God blesses you.

First, because He wants you to enjoy them. Second, because He wants you to make others enjoy them too.

In the Old Testament, there was a Law called the Law of Gleaning (Leviticus 19). This Law states that when you harvest your blessings, you shouldn’t harvest everything that’s rightfully yours. You should leave leftovers for the poor.

This is the reason when I’m buying from a poor vendor, I don’t bargain. I even give a large tip.

Let me give you an example. The parents of my wife gave us their old piano. It was 40 years old and wasn’t working well. So we called for a piano tuner to come. After looking at our piano, he wrote how much he’ll charge me on a piece of paper.

I said, “Okay.”

He looked shocked. “Okay?”

“Yes, okay.”

He said, “Sir, you don’t have to pay the whole amount. I’ll give you ten percent discount.”

I laughed. “Thanks! You don’t have to do it. I want to bless you.”

“No sir, I insist. Please remove ten percent off my price.”

I was haggling that he charge more and he was haggling that I pay less. Isn’t that fun?

4 Ways Of Living

Let me end with one last message.

In a DVD player, there are four buttons. “Eject”, “Rewind”, Fast Forward”, and “Play”. These 4 buttons represents the 4 ways people live their lives.

First are those who live by the “Eject” mode. They just want to escape. And they escape through their vices and addictions. They’re running away from life.

Second are those who watch their life using the “Rewind” mode. They can’t move forward. They can’t forget the pain of the past. They’re stuck in their traumas. They’re always miserable.

Third are those who live in the “Fast Forward” mode. They are so busy. They are always in a rush. They go here and there, doing this and doing that, and they have no time to understand or appreciate the “movie” of their lives.

Fourth are those who live in the “Play” mode. These are the people who savor life. These are the people who enjoy life to the full. These are the people who are the happiest of them all.

Friend, Play!

Savor life. Simplify pleasures. Strengthen relationships. Show gratitude. And share generosity.

Enjoy God’s blessings today!

May your dreams come true,

Bo Sanchez

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Again, click here for spiritual and financial abundance.

It's Joke Time!

Most of the people who know me describe me as a funny guy. They are not surprised when I crack a joke, give witty remarks or make funny comments. In fact, I think that they expect me to do those things.

Basically, I can say that I have a good sense of humor. My friends say that when it comes to teasing or doing or saying something funny, my mind works really fast. This characteristic of mine may be attributed to genes (inherited from my father, who is also known to give witty remarks, especially to my mother, haha) . But I think this was also developed.

When I was a child, I started small, haha. I was exposed to funny situations and also different jokes. And these jokes from my childhood are  what I wanted to share. I think that most of these are already known by many. Here they are.

Note: These jokes are usually in Tagalog. I'll translate it to English if it can be translated without loosing its humor.



###Translation to Tagalog###Pagsasalin sa Tagalog###

Maraming nagsasabi na ako daw ay palabirong tao. Di na sila nagugulat kapag nagjo-joke ako, namimilosopo at nagpapatawa. Sa katotohanan nga eh tingin ko ay inaasahan na nilang gawen ko yun.

Sa madaling salita, meron daw akong good sense of humor. Sabi ng mga kaibigan ko, pagdating sa mga nakakatawang hirit o pang-aasar, mabilis daw ako mag-isip. Pagdating sa asaran, madalas eh ako yung may pinakahuling hirit. Siguro eh pwedeng sabihin na namana ko to (sa tatay ko na namimilosopo ren, lalo na sa nanay ko, haha!). Pero sa tingin ko eh na-develop ren ito.

Nung bata pa ako, maliit pa ako nun, haha. Na-expose na ako sa mga nakakatawang sitwasyon at sa mga iba't-ibang jokes. At yung mga jokes na ito mula sa aking pagkabata ang gusto kong ibahagi sa inyo. Siguro marami na rin ang naka-alam nito. Heto na sila.

Note: Sa Tagalog yung joke na ito. Isasalin ko sa English kung maaring masalin ng hindi nawawala yung joke.

###End of Translation###Katapusan ng pagsasalin###

Joke 1.
"Knock knock!"
"Who's there?"
"Ako maba"
"Ako maba who?" (Read: Ako mabaho)

Joke 1, version 2
"Knock knock!"
"Who's there?"
"Ako kune"
"Ako kune who?" (Read: Ako kuneho)

Joke 2
Sinong superhero ang tanga?
(Who is the stupid superhero?)
Si Superman, kase nag pantalon saka nag-brief.
(Superman, because he put on his pants first, then his brief)

Joke 2, continuation
Tanong: Sinong superhero ang mas tanga?
(Who is the more stupid superhero?)
Sagot: Si Batman, kase nag pantalon saka nag-brief, nag belt pa!
(Batman, because he put on his pants first, then his brief, then put on a belt too!)

Joke 3
Tanong: May isang puno, ano ang bunga?
Sagot: Mais
Explanation: Dapat basahin yung tanong na "Mais-ang puno, ano ang bunga?"

Joke 4
May sampung butiki sa kisame, nag-tumbling ang isa, ilan ang natira?
Wala.
Kase nagpalakpakan lahat kaya nahulog sila.
(There are ten lizards in the ceiling, one perform a hand flip, how many were left?
None.
Because the remaining clapped that is why they fell)

Joke 5
May sampung baboy sa kulungan, namatay ang isa, ilan ang natira?
Wala.
Kase nakipaglibing yung iba.
(There are ten pigs in the pen, one died, how many were left?
None.
Because the remaining went to the funeral)

Joke 6
May mag-asawa, si Sigerepit saka si Sigerepat.
Namatay si Sigerepat, sinong natira?
Sigerepit.
May mag-asawa, si Sigerepit saka si Sigerepat.
Namatay si Sigerepat, sinong natira?
Sigerepit.
May mag-asawa, si Sigerepit saka si Sigerepat.
Namatay si Sigerepat, sinong natira?
Sigerepit.
May mag-asawa, si Sigerepit saka si Sigerepat.
Namatay si Sigerepat, sinong natira?
Sigerepit.
Explanation. Tuwing sasabihin ang Sigerepit, iisipin ito na "Sige, repeat". Kaya paulit-ulit ang kwento.
(There was a couple, Sigerepit and Sigerepat.
Sigerepat died, who was left?
Sigerepit.
There was a couple, Sigerepit and Sigerepat.
Sigerepat died, who was left?
Sigerepit.
There was a couple, Sigerepit and Sigerepat.
Sigerepat died, who was left?
Sigerepit.
There was a couple, Sigerepit and Sigerepat.
Sigerepat died, who was left?
Sigerepit.
Explanation: Whenever Sigerepit is mentioned, it is interpreted as "Sige, repeat" or "OK, please repeat)


These jokes may be perceived as corny. But I don't care if these are not funny. I think that these should not be forgotten and should still be known by future generation. Care to share some jokes? Put it in the comment section.

###Translation to Tagalog###Pagsasalin sa Tagalog###

Ang mga jokes na ito eh maaaring sabihing corny. Pero wala akong paki-alam. Tingin ko eh ito yung mga jokes na hindi dapat makalimutan at dapat malaman pa ng mga darating na henerasyon. Ikaw, may mababahagi ka bang jokes? Palagay na lang sa comment.

###End of Translation###Katapusan ng pagsasalin###
-eneng

Welcome!

Welcome to Enengpedia-Life!

Hi! My name is Ednel. Some call me Ednel while others call me Ednel. Most of my friends call me eneng.

Enengpedia-Life is a collection of knowledge, thoughts, memories, information and experiences of eneng with this thing called life.

The posts that I'll put here will be in English but have a Tagalog translation. You may ask why. And I may answer why. Or not.

I hope that you will find the posts here amusing and useful.

Read on!

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

Tuloy po kayo sa Enengpedia-Life!

Mabuhay! Ang pangalan ko ay Ednel. Tinatawag akong madalas na Ednel samantalang tinatawag naman ako ng iba ng Ednel. Karamihan sa mga kaibigan ko ay tinatawag akong eneng.

Ang Enengpedia-Life ay koleksyon ng mga kaalaman, iniisip, ala-ala, impormasyon at karanasan ni eneng sa buhay.

Ang mga post na ilalagay ko dito ay naka-English ngunit sinalin din sa Tagalog. Maaari nyong itanong kung bakit. Maaari ko ring sabihin kung bakit. O pwede ring hindi.

Sana matuwa kayo at magamit nyo ang mga post ko dito.

Basa na!