YOU ARE THE “NOW” OF GOD

As a great poet put it:

“If to regain what I regained,

I first had to lose what I lost;
If to achieve what I achieved,
I had to endure what I endured;
If to be in love now
First I had to be hurt,
I consider what I suffered well suffered,
I consider what I wept for as well wept for.
Because in the end I came to see
That we do not really enjoy what we enjoyed
Unless we have suffered for it.
For in the end I realized
That the blossoms on the tree
Draw life from what lies buried beneath”.

The best things in life do not happen overnight. Everything beautiful and worthwhile
is a result of hard work, patience, sacrifice, and perseverance. My mother taught me
that, if you want to accomplish or to be great of something, you need to work hard for
it, you need to earn it.

When I entered law school, I always doubt myself if I can do it because at the same
time I am also working. I worked 8 hours a day and after office hours, I attended
classes for 4-6 hours. After that, I need to study for another 3-4 hours which gave me
3 hours of sleep every day and another 3 hours left dedicated for self-reflection, to
prepare myself and to have some “me time”. Law school and being a Coast Guard
Officer at the same time was never easy. Sometimes, quitting becomes an option but
you never give up on things that you want just like that. If you have that dream, you
need to take extra effort whatever it takes and be passionate enough to achieve it.
Because as Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “The future belongs to those who believe
in the beauty of their dreams.”

Sometimes, what people see is just the tip of the iceberg. They see a person as
successful and great but what they don’t see is what the person went through before
achieving success.

As pointed out in the poem, a great or successful person is not without failure but
rather he is a person who knew what failures, disappointments, hurts, sufferings
persistence, sacrifice, discipline, hard work, and dedication are; because it is through
these experiences that a person is molded and prepared on how to become a better
person and best version of himself.

In addition, as stated in the book, “You can become what God your Creator knows
you are, if only you realize that you are called to something greater. Ask the help of
the Holy Spirit and confidently aim for great goal of holiness. In this way, you will not
be a photocopy. You will be fully yourself.”

In everything we do, always PRAY and ask God for guidance because we will never
be swayed or lost track if we have Him by our side. Being successful is God’s
blessing to us and in return we have to give it back or to pay it forward. When God
made me a public servant and a lawyer, I always remind myself that these are
blessings which I need to share, to help people who are deprived of justice and to
contribute to the society in my own uniqueness and originality.