Notice-

*Edited in case of misunderstanding

I understood many things from Asia Conference recently.

Choosing one path means abandoning others. If you try to follow every possible path, you'll end up following none. I hope this would shed light on why I chose to do certain things last week...

Set off along your path with courage but do not fear the criticism of others. Above all, do not allow yourself to be paralyzed by self-criticism.

I went to the AQ and EQ electives, and I learned something -
A man has to choose. Therein lies his strength in the power of his decision. It is one of the most powerful thing that God has given men.
Never let doubt paralyze your actions. Always make the decisions you need to make, even if you are not sure you are making the right decisions because ALL things (BOTH good and bad) work towards good to those who love God...
Like what Pastor Tan taught during the 'Self-image' elective, the shortest and easiest way out that is too good to be true would be the way you want to avoid, because narrow and difficult is the road to life.

But of course wisdom is this - that you don't chop a tree with a blunt axe.

In order for things to improve, you must know what you want... So what do you want?
Our dreams are dead when our life is stagnant and life becomes one long afternoon... (I hope no students on holiday can relate to this...)
If we do not ask great things of ourselves, and do not demand more of ourselves than we can give, we are, in short, refusing to fight for our dreams...

So what do you want?

Everyday God gives us opportunity to change anything that is causing us unhappiness.
Use your power of choice, and choose life and bring life to others!

Times are changing: It matters not how long you have known God, how much you've been through, how senior and how experience you are. From what I know, God judges a tree more by its fruits than its roots. (Of course you still have to strive to grow your roots, and not be like the seed that fell on the rocky grounds or those with shallow roots that is easy to be pulled out)
The younger ones need to stop rebelling and seek the older ones for their wealth of knowledge and experience while the older ones need to learn to humble themselves to the level of the ones below them, and work their experience together with the creativity that comes from the adventurous and flexibility below.

And you know what? When we set out in search of the treasure at the end of the path, we'll realize that the path itself is the treasure.
God is more interested in the process than the results. (I'm saying this within the realm of POSITIVE results, not that someone does well throughout, but only to fail at the end, thus the fruits one begets are important too.)
Yes there are problems, plenty of them between the generations, but there is the harvest, waiting for us.
When we put off the harvest, the fruit rots, but when we put off our problems, they keep on growing!
Lift up your eyes and see! The fields are white for harvest! Seek ye first the kingdom, and all these things shall be added unto us...

I don't want to be afraid to try, even if it means people would get angry with me and disappointments will come, because I know making mistakes is a way of taking action, and new appointments would arise out of the disappointments, just like what've been happening if you had open your eyes to see and understand. It's hard to make any decision without feeling fear.
If we wait for perfect conditions, we'll achieve nothing at all...

I miss Asia Conference terribly...
Sometimes we only have 10 minutes to be with the love of our life, and thousands of hours to spend thinking about them... And by 'them' I do mean God and my beloved friends...

Asia Conference - A time whereby i offered up to God not only the pain of what I'm going through, but also my joys as well as I celebrated Him for who He is!
Through it, I realized that the simplest things are the most extraordinary!

Sometimes we insist on seeing the speck in others' eyes and quick to condemn, that we forgot to count them as our blessing, of how blessed we are to have each friend in our lives, along with the sun, in the day, and the beautiful stars at night. There are things that are simple, and greater. Many people get caught up in the detail and forgot what they're looking for.

We criticize and bad-mouth others and expect them to change even the smallest aspect of all sin, yet we failed to just simply love and enjoy them for who they are... That's what I mean.
For us, love cannot exist in peace; it will always come accompanied by agonies, ecstasies, intense joys and profound sadness...
Happiness is a blessing, but generally, it is a conquest. You fight for it.

That's the beauty of our life...
Without hatred, how would we begin to understand what is love?
Without war, we will never be able to comprehend and treasure peace.
A principal - We cherish our health only when it is gone.

Love is not to be found in someone else, but in ourselves; but in order to do that, we need the other person. No man is an island. To fight the good fight, we need help.
I can't do it alone... and I'm not afraid to proclaim it, because the strongest love is one that can demonstrate its fragility. Mine is not perfect, but still, handle mine with care I tell ya!

We only have 1 life, so live to to the fullest!

"The secret is here in the present. If you pay attention to the present, you can improve upon it. And, if you improve on the present, what comes later will also be better. Live each day according to the teachings, confident that God loves his children. Each day, in itself brings with it an eternity. "

- Based on the book 'Journeys' by Paul Coelho

Samuel Leon