On the road to professional me..

This has been probably the most exhausting, yet the most rewarding week of my life.

I worked as an interpreter for a group of businessman that came to my home town to do some investment projects. Who and what, I won't say in order to respect their privacy.

I always wondered if I was in school for something I truly didn't like. But seeing business and negotiations in action has been so amazing that I realize that the theory I learn in school doesn't do the reality any justice. To do business, you need to be quick on your feet and be incredibly clever.. and I really like what I saw. I can tell it's a dynamic job and that it constantly keeps you at the edge of your seat. And I know I cannot be content with not pushing myself from one challenge to the next one..

More important than that, I realized that I might actually be really good at this. They were happy and impressed with my job, and that meant a lot to me. I've never had any work experience what so ever, and seeing how these successful men were impressed with my job made me extremely happy on a personal level. I got this huuuuge boost of confidence in an area that I never had confidence before; the professional area.

I know that I am still young, and that I have tons of things to learn, but knowing that I not only can learn, but that there's people out there that see my potential and want to help me is incredibly encouraging. It just pushes me to keep going forward and to strip away of "what if"s and fears.

Hopefully, this experience is only the beginning. But as of today, I am really happy.

A warrior in the making..

"Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life"
~J.K. Rowling.

We hit rock bottom.
We learn.
We stand back up.
And we grow up.

Life took good care of me. It slapped me in the face every time I needed to learn a lesson about life and my life, and it put me right back on track, on the path of becoming a better version of myself.

"Warriors of the light are not perfect. Their beauty lies in accepting this fact and still desiring to grow and to learn"
~ Paulo Coelho quotes from The Warrior of the Light

Life has taught me is time to face the truth and see things just the way they are. Disguising what surrounds us only leads to more lies, isolating ourselves from what's truly essential. And gosh we need to strip away from the inessential!
This simple, yet painful task gives us the ability to face our issues clearly and justly, and help us find the right path again.

"Every Warrior of the Light has felt afraid of going into battle.
Every Warrior of the Light has, at some time in the past, lied or betrayed someone.
Every Warrior of the Light has trodden a path that was not his.
Every Warrior of the Light has suffered for the most trivial of reasons.
Every Warrior of the Light has, at least once, believed he was not a Warrior of the Light. Every Warrior of the Light has failed in his spiritual duties.
Every Warrior of the Light has said 'yes' when he wanted to say 'no.'
Every Warrior of the Light has hurt someone he loved. That is why he is a Warrior of the Light, because he has been through all this and yet has never lost hope of being better than he is"
~ Paulo Coelho quotes from Warrior of the Light

Wise words from an wise man, who has inspired my life through his words and work.

If I ever get the opportunity to meet Mr. Coelho, I would have no other words to tell him but thank you. Not everyone is a fan of his work, but the humanity and simplicity he writes with, along with mind blowing spirituality, have always hit close to my heart.

Being human means I am bound to make mistakes. Nobody wants to make them, myself included, but we all do. We all do.
But we learn from those mistakes. Honesty and forgiveness are two noble human qualities we have inside of us. We cannot lose, but win everything when we're honest with ourselves and with those surrounding us.

Lastly, I realize that not only I take life for granted, but that I often discredit it too. Looking around me, most of us do. "A miracle happened: another day of life.
I am a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. My Lord is wise. He knows that we don't learn the lesson unless we'd shed some tears in the process.

I post a picture that completely changed the way I view life, despite the bad quality of the shot. I share it only on special moments, and so far, only a few people have truly appreciated the beauty of it. It was taken at the very top of the Ali Mountain in Taiwan (阿里山), a truly beautiful and magical place. A Buddhist monk was playing with his dog, watching the most amazing sunset I have ever seen.

It was right there and right that second, staring at that man, that I understood what the meaning of life truly was. And how simple the answer is.









I could try and explain what this last picture means to me, but Mr. Coelho wrote it better than I could ever attempt to. I am sure, just like I received the blessing of witnessing this perfect moment, he was blessed with one (or several!) too.. just in a different place, in a different time. He understands.

"I learned the most important lesson of my life: that the extraordinary is not the birthright of a chosen and privileged few, but of all people, even the humblest. That is my one certainty: we are all the manifestation of the Divinity of God"

Time..

"Dejare que el tiempo cure todas las heridas, y aunque queme por dentro, se que voy a renacer"

A piece of a wonderful song by Alejandro Lerner that has inspired my tattoo, and my life. "I will let time heal all wounds, and although it burns inside, I will be born anew" (Rough translation, sorry Mr. Lerner!)

The phoenix bird. What an admirable animal. It dies and it rises from its own ashes. Learns from its mistakes. Stands up after a fall. Is born again after the all the pain.

Someone once told me "Give time the time it needs"

Impatience. Damn flaw that came with me when I was born.
Tired of waiting. Tired of staring at my watch. Tired of giving my time away and waiting for an answer that never seems to come.

"Give time the time it needs"

Today, I understand that time is human and therefore, imperfect. Time has its moment. I used to believe time could make mistakes, but now I understand that God has a perfect time for everything; that nothing is rushed, and nothing is delayed. It arrives precisely when it has to, although sometimes we don't have the patience to understand it.

Time has acted perfectly in the past. It acts in my present and will continue to act in my future, only for the best. But at its own rhythm. At its own time. My Lord's time.

God (or time, if you don't believe) told me today "Patience, the sweetest things are worth waiting for"

Looking for His Word, I bumped into this passage:
"Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near."
James 5:7-8

Today, I understand it.

Time: I've had so much pain in my life, and I have always questioned when you'd bring happiness into my life. I cursed your name while I waited and I even decided to hate you and to not wait anymore.

I understand now that it was simply not the time yet, and that you act in the way the hand of destiny, my Creator, has programmed you to act.

My Lord is wise, and it knows the perfect moment to tell the time that waiting time is over and that it's time to act.

And when my Lord told the time "It's time to act", it made me taste the sweetness of what I once hoped for and thought would never come to pass. I understood that time only does its job, and I forgave it.

So thank you time and my sweet Lord, for all the blessings I have in my life. For starting to make my dreams come true, one by one, and for whispering in my hear that everything I have done was worth it and that it is now my time to enjoy what I have so long waited for.

I know that there are still hundreds of things I will have to wait for.
I know as I type this, I am waiting.
I know there are wounds that are still wide open; that I have yet to forgive and be forgiven. That I have to grow, and let others grow.
But today I understand that I simply have to be patient and wait. Sit next to my personal mountain and take a deep breath, waiting for You to come and admiring the beauty that surrounds me every day.

Today, I give You all the time you need. I know that no matter how long I wait, You will visit me again; that you will whisper into my hear again, while I smell that sweet aroma that you always bring with the fresh breeze.

My Lord, Your Will be made.

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(The painting is Salvador Dali's "The persistence of Memory", one of my favorite artworks, by one of my favorite painters)

Becoming a phoenix

Randy Pausch in his amazing book "The Last Lecture" (that I recommend to anyone who hasn't read it yet) wrote a quote that will forever remain close to my heart.

"It's not how hard you hit. It's how hard you get hit...and keep moving forward."

Living in Taiwan, I see dragons everywhere. The dragon, as you all might know, is the only animal in the Chinese Horoscope that isn't a real animal. Legend tells that Confucius was the only person on Earth to ever see a dragon, and this is why it is extremely important in the Chinese culture. All memorials and temples are decorated with countless dragons; strong and invincibles, full of wisdom, guardians of the Truth and a good luck charm. The dragon is so important for the Chinese that it became the symbol to identify the emperors of the ancient dynasties.

What a concept! Who wouldn't want to be a dragon?

Even though I was born in the year of the Dragon (that is considered one of the biggest blessings for a newborn), I choose and decide not to become a dragon.

In the temples, behind the hundreds of colorful and golden dragons, lies another mythical creature that is often overlooked due to the dragon's greatness and undeniable presence. Nevertheless, this creature also has a strong meaning for the Chinese culture, so important that it became the symbol for the Empress. Despite all that, that creature is hidden for those who don't take the time to look beyond the shocking dragons;

This creature is the phoenix.

Fragile and small in comparison to the great dragon, this creature possesses a quality that became a life lesson to me; near the end of its life, the phoenix ignites itself burning fiercely until only ashes remain. From the ashes, a new, young phoenix will arise, reborn anew to live again. To learn and be reborn from its own pain .

When I pray, I don't ask God to know the Truth, nor to be perfect, fierce or to always be right. I don't even ask Him to have a perfect life. I ask Him, above all things, to always let me be a phoenix in all the situations life has waiting for me; that no matter all the punches life has given me (and will continue to give me) He will grant me the wisdom to learn each lesson behind every painful moment I have yet to face, and the strength to be born anew; to start all over again, to rise with my head up high, humbled and with new knowledge to continue moving forward, with a life lesson learned. I ask Him to show me that the opportunities He gives us have no limit or number, and that it is never to late to start again. That everything has a solution if there is a will to solve what is not right. I pray for Him to humble me enough to learn to listen instead of talking, and to grant me the love to leave behind differences and focus on what is truly essential.

As of today, after countless punches and painful moments, I have a phoenix tattooed on my foot. Every time a storm hits hard and life becomes unbearable, I look down and see my own little phoenix sleeping quietly on my right foot, reminding me of my own inner strength.



Life can be tough and painful, but as I look at my phoenix I always remember that you can never defeat those who refuse to give up.

Prologue

From the Ancient Greek Φοῖνιξ (phoínix), the phoenix is a beautiful scarlet and golden mythological bird that is mentioned in several ancient mythologies, often associated with Rebirth. It is said that near the end of the phoenix’s life-cycle, both the bird and its nest burst into flames, burning fiercely until only the ashes remain. Rising from its own ashes, a new young phoenix will arise, ready to live again.
The Ancient Egyptians associated the legend of the phoenix with their longings for immortality. For the Egyptians, the Bennu bird served as correspondence to the mythological phoenix; it is said that this bird was the soul of Ra, the God of Sun. The word Bennu is probably related to the word wabāna, meaning ‘to shine’ or ‘to rise brilliantly’, which explains why this bird was the sacred bird of the Heliopolis or Sun-City. The myth tells us that the Bennu created itself from a fire that burned on a holy tree in one of the sacred precincts of the temple of Ra; others say that it burst from the very heart of Osiris, the God of the Afterlife. Contrary to the traditional idea of a phoenix we now have, the Bennu was often portrayed as a grey heron with a two-feathered crest and a long beak, often crowned with a white crown with two ostrich feathers plumes on the sides, known as the Atef crown of Osiris.
Probably the most well-known version of the phoenix would be the Arabian phoenix; said to be as large as and similar to an eagle, with brilliant scarlet and golden feathers and a melancholic, yet soothing cry. Legend says that the phoenix would appear at dawn every morning, when the golden sun was just starting to rise and the sky was still scarlet, and sing a chant so beautiful that even the Gods would stop to listen.
It is believed that a phoenix could live for a long period of time, estimated between 500 and 1000 years. As the phoenix approached the end of its life, it would build itself a nest of myrrh twigs that would later ignite and be consumed by wild, powerful flames. Both the nest and the bird would be reduced to ashes, from which the new phoenix will arise; other sources say that the new phoenix arises from the midst of the flames.
In China, the Feng Huang (鳳凰) were mythological birds, similar to the phoenix, that reigned above all other birds. The Feng Huang is the second most-respected legendary creature in the Chinese culture, following the almighty and powerful Dragon. At the beginning, the term Feng referred to the masculine birds and the term Huang to the feminine birds, but this distinction is no longer made and the Feng Huang has been given purely female connotations; the Dragon, which has male connotations, was used to represent the Emperor, while the Feng Huang was used to represent the Empress. The Feng Huang was the symbol for power and prosperity, as well has high-virtue and grace. The phoenix was used to represent the power the Empress received from the heavens and only she could wear the phoenix symbol. The Feng Huang also symbolizes the union of the yin and yang.
According to the Erya (爾雅 - the oldest Chinese Encyclopedia), the Feng Huang was thought to be made up of the beak of a rooster, the face of a swallow, the neck of a snake, the breast of a goose, the back of the tortoise, the hindquarters of a stag and the tail of a fish. It is said that each part of the Feng Huang symbolizes a word; the head represents virtue, the wings represent duty, the back represents propriety, the abdomen represents belief and the chest represents mercy. It is also said that the Feng Huang’s body represents the six celestial bodies; the head is the sky, the eyes are the sun, the back is the moon, the wings are the wind, the feet are the earth and the tail is the planets.
During the Han Dynasty, two phoenixes were shown facing each other; one being male (Feng) and the other being female (Huang). The two terms merged together during the Yuan Dynasty and came to symbolize the Empress. If a phoenix was used to decorate a house, it symbolized that loyalty and honestly lied in the hearts of the people that lived inside it.
The phoenix is not absent in Hindu and Buddhist mythology either; the Garuda (गरुड) is a large mythological bird-like creature and it’s considered to be an Indian version of the phoenix.

Why is a bird that does not even exist so important for so many different cultures? Why is the phoenix still used in popular culture these days? Is there some knowledge or secret hidden inside the legend of this mythological bird?
And more importantly, what does the phoenix means to me? How does it help me in the quest for my dreams?