Self Acceptance

And Beast? Never forget, mutant and proud!

This was one of the stand-out dialogues in the latest X-Men movie, a dialogue by Raven (Mystique) directed to Hank (Beast). What to Raven was initially an imperfection, something to get rid of or change, she has already learned to accept (with Magneto’s help), and she was trying to convince Hank to do the same. This was the point of freedom for her.

I love the way that dialogue is used in the movie, and the way it speaks to almost anyone of us – those who are struggling to accept their imperfections.

There are certain imperfections about ourselves that we can’t change, but many of us still insist on changing these things. In the process of failing to do so, we become locked up in a mindset that is focused on covering up or hiding or camouflaging such imperfections, and we lose the opportunity to shine and miss out on the opportunity to reach our maximum potential.

Our imperfections make us unique. They distinguish us from the rest. They are part of our beauty.

[Photo Credit]

Just Human

I’m not perfect
And I don’t pretend to be,
But there are certain values
That are non-negotiables for me.

There are Times...

When my own 
apathy 
and 
strong 
emotional detachment
scare me.

When God Taps Us on Our Shoulder

We all lead busy lives today. We try to accomplish as many tasks as we can, pursue as many goals as we can, and possess as many material things as we can. In the midst of all these, it’s so easy to get lost, to lose sight of our real purpose.

We’re all in the middle of distractions, and we often find ourselves unable to prioritize the things that really matter in our life – our family, our faith, our health, and all those things that stay with us to the very end.

It is during these times when God taps us on the shoulder, to remind us to slow down and take things easy in order for us to see what really matters. The only big question is this: do we pay attention to God’s tap? Or are we so busy with our lives and so engrossed with ourselves that we don’t pay attention to anything else? Sometimes, we don’t feel God’s touch because we are covered by the things we consider important. We fail to recognize the signs God sends us, or we simply ignore them, because we don’t want to stop, we’re all rushing toward wherever it is we think we need to go.

And when God sees that we’re heading toward the wrong direction, that we’re starting to be slaves to worldly things, He puts a little pressure on His tap to be sure that we feel it. Some people experience failure, some people get sick – we are given a little something that slows down the fast pace of our life, in order to give us time to think and to look at ourselves, evaluate the direction we’re taking and realize once again what things really matter.

God’s tap is filled with love. Sometimes, the pressure is necessary to awaken us from the worldly trance that we are in. Nevertheless, we are all assured that when God taps us on the shoulder, it is with love and concern for our welfare. If we experience failure in any way, if we’ve been sick or grieving, God has probably just tapped us on the shoulder to slow us down or to rescue us from the wrong path that we’re taking. And if we think we are lost, we can always ask God for a tap on our shoulder so that we’ll see the right direction we need to take.

[Also posted in my Facebook page]

On Letting Go

We let go not because we don’t care anymore. We let go because we care.

We let go because we need to free up some space in our life for those that we care about. We let go of certain people and things to allow other people and things that we consider more important to fill our life. We let go of things that drag us down, of people that keep us from being the best that we can be.

Letting go is healthy. Letting go is caring enough to give ourselves the chance to have the people and the things that we deserve.