FREEDOM OF SIMPLICITY
BY BO SANCHEZ
Happiness is not found outside of you. It doesn't come from cars, clothes, cash, or Caribbean cruises. Happiness is found within. But how can you find it if you don't have thesimplicity of time and space to discover the most important things in your life?
>>How can you search the depths of your soul if you are too busy impressing
>others, acquiring wealth, protecting your properties, and paying your debts?>>
Simplicity is not about the external either: living in a doghouse, eating
>in Hepatitis joints, wearing rags.
>>Let me define what it is: Simplicity is living from the core of your being.
>>A TREASURE MAP OF HAPPINESS
>>Simplicity will point to you where and what and who the gold is in your>life.
Let me share with you the seven powerful lessons I've learned on simple living:
>>LIVE ON LESS, AND DELIGHT IN THEM MORE
>>Some take their pleasure dining in classy restaurants, trips to Europe, and
>owning the latest home theatre-equipment.
>>I've chosen the simple path: If I can simply be with my wife, or take a
>quiet stroll under a canopy of stars, or play with a child, or read a good
>book in my home, or laugh with friends over a pizza, I consider myself>richly blessed.
>>Focus on what you have and not on what you don't have.
>>STOP RUNNING AND WALK INSTEAD
>>Here's the truth: The person who has covered the greatest distance does
>NOT win, but the one who has most enjoyed the journey does. Stop running>around chasing your own tail!
>>Get off your hurried pace and learn to breathe. Replace doing with being.
>Learn to say no to invitations, appointments, and commitments, activities>and events that will rob you of your focus. Learn to say "yes "to rest, to
>tranquillity, to quietness.
>>YOU ARE MORE THAN YOUR WEALTH
>>I own very few things today. Because I am more than the brand of my watch,
>the logo of my shoes, the name of my car.
>>I believe that if in my soul I deeply respect and value myself, people
>around me will sense that, and they too, will value and respect me-whether
>I'm wearing Armani or not.
>>You are more than your wealth.
>>AVOID BUYING ON CREDIT
>>I don't believe in borrowing from credit cards. (For convenience, I use
>one card but I pay the whole amount at the end of each month.) If I need
>something really bad, I save up for it.
>>Sometimes, at midpoint, I realize I don't really need the darn thing and
>give up the whole idea. The only exception I feel we should enter into a
>credit is when buying a non-depreciating item, such as housing or land.
>>I believe we should always live within our earning capacity.
>>Proverbs 22:7 says, "Those who borrow are slaves of moneylenders."
>>GIVE AS MUCH AS YOU CAN
>>If I content myself with P250 shirt instead of P4,000 Lacoste, I can help
>others more. Trust me, there is immense pleasure!
>>You will find that the empty thrill of owning a diamond ring on your finger
>pales in comparison to the joy of handling a piece of bread to an orphan child.
>>"And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at
>all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work."
>(2Corinthians 9:8)
>>The Old Testament of tithing, or giving 10% of your income is a good
>guideline to follow. The New Testament challenges us to give with a
>cheerful heart. (When you're cheerful, you may give more than 10%!) Make it
>a habit.
>>SAVE AS MUCH AS YOU CAN
>>Saving is essential to being good stewards of the money that God "lends"
>to us. Saving is an important way of providing for our future-both for our
>needs and to be generous to others. I recommend that you save at least 10%
>of your income. I can almost hear you now:
>>"Bo, that's impossible!" Oh yeah? Well, how did you live three years back
>when your salary was one-half its present amount?"
>>Sacrifice. Many of our needs are actually wants.
>>Is cable TV a need? Will you suddenly die if you can't watch CNN or HBO?
>Are those new golf clubs essential to your existence?
>>Invest in time deposits, long-term stocks and housing.
>>BUDGET, BUDGET, BUDGET
>>Make a list of all your monthly expenses, according to categories.
Make>also a list of irregular expenses-those that don't come monthly. Set up
>another savings account for these expenses and put in a little money each
>month. To differentiate this from the savings account, we call ours
>"freedom account" because it frees us from worrying about them when they
>suddenly attack.
>>And stick to your budget!
>>ONE LAST WORD BEFORE WE CLOSE
>>Balance.
>>Don't take living simply to the extremes! Living simply doesn't mean living
>in deprivation. There are special days when my wife and I eat in a fancy
>restaurant. Or when we splurge into a vacation.
>>Very rare, yes, but my point is that you take living simply NOT as a rigid
>goal-but as a happy process towards the goals of generosity, inner peace
>and holiness.
=============================================================
YOU CREATE YOUR OWN DESTINY
By: Bo Sanchez
Let me tell you a story. Three construction workers
> > were on top of their half-finished skyscraper.
> > Rrrrring!" the lunch bell sounded, and the three men
> > sat on a steel beam jutting out of the 56th floor
> > with their lunch boxes in hand.
> >> > The first guy opens his and groans in exasperation,
> > "Tuyo!" There is not a day that I don't get tuyo for
> > lunch!" He turns to his buddies and announces, "Mark
> > my words. If I still get tuyo tomorrow, I'm going to
> > throw myself from this building."
> >> > The second guy opens his lunch box and moans,
> > "Tinapa". Everyday, I get tinapa!" He looks at his
> > friends and declares, "Believe me when I say this.
> > If I get tinapa tomorrow, I'm going to jump and kill
> > myself."
> >> > The third guy opens his lunch box and it was his
> > turn to despair. "Galunggong". All I get is
> > galunggong!" I'm telling you, if I still get
> > galunggong tomorrow, I'm going to jump from this
> > building and die."
> >> > The next day, the lunch bell rings and all three men
> > are again seated on the 56th floor. The first guy
> > opens his lunch box and starts crying, "Tuyoooooo!"
> > And so he jumps and crashes on the ground.
> >> > The second guy opens his lunch box and wails loudly,
> > "Tinapaaaa!" And he also hurls himself off the
> > building and dies.
> >> > The third guy opens his lunch box and screams,
> > "Galunggonggggg!" And so he too jumps off the
> > building and splatters on the ground.
> >> > Days later, during the funeral of the three men! ,
> > their three wives embrace and weep together. The
> > first wife cries out, "I didn't know my husband
> > didn't like tuyo anymore! Why didn't he tell me? If
> > only he told me, I would have prepared something
> > else."
> >> > The second wife echoes her statement, "Yes! If only
> > I knew, I would have cooked something else, not
> > tinapa!"
> >> > The third wife, between sobs, speaks up, "I don't
> > know why my husband killed himself." The two wives
> > look at her curiously.
> >> > "Why?"
> >> > She went on, "Because ... my husband prepares his
> > own lunch everyday..."
> >> > I love this crazy story because it presents a very
> > important truth: all of us prepare our own lunch. If
> > we don't like our jobs, if we don't like the state
> > of our relationships, if! we don't like what's
> > happening to our spiritual lives - we have no one to
> > blame but ourselves. Because God has given us free
> > will. He has given us the power to prepare our own
> > lunch.
> >> > If you want to earn more and be free from debt, if
> > you're sick and tired of your bad habits, if we want
> > to put more joy in our marriages, if we want to grow
> > in our relationship with God - then go back to your
> > kitchen and prepare yourself another dish. Because
> > you design your own future. You create your own
> > destiny. Ask yourself what kind of future do you
> > want to have? What kind of life? What kind of
> > eternity?
> >> > You decide.
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