LIFE IS LIKE A CAMERA

LIFE IS LIKE A CAMERA.

By Leonardus Nana.

Life is like a camera. Just focus on what’s important, capture the good times, develop from the negatives, and if things don’t turn out – take another shot. Unknown

The above saying is an unknown marvel. It is very inspiring and contenting good teaching though, nobody knows who uttered the wonder at the first time.

I am sure whoever reads the above marvel will be inspired very much. I myself am inspired so I think it is smart enough to expand the old saying into “Life is like a camera. Just focus on what is important, capture the good times. If things lay dimly at a distance – zoom to make them closer. Develop from the negatives, but if things don’t turn out – take another shot.”

I believe many people are interested in learning about the above saying. Do you also have strong desire to know more about this unknown marvel? Well let us try to explore its wise teaching carefully to know more about by revealing its meaning through the following description. No matter how shallow it is before others’ point of view, at least it can give us certain life lesson.

“Life is like a camera. Just focus on what is important, capture the good times. If things lay dimly at a distance – zoom to make them closer. Develop from the negatives, but if things don’t turn out – take another shot.”

How and where should we begin to explore the above marvel? It must be a tough job, yet let us learn it through this very simplest way.

“Life is like a camera.

The first thing we have to do is we try to know what a Camera is and what the meaning of the Life.

According to Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary – third edition, A Camera is a device for taking photographs or making films or television programs.

How about the life? In the same dictionary, we can learn that Life is the period between birth and death; the experience or state of being alive. 

Is Camera an important device? In this modern era, camera is needed very much. We know that every person has been equipped with a quality that makes it possible for them to think, feel emotions and understand things. That quality can give a person ability to remember information, experiences, things and people.  However, human beings are earthly and this earthly matter makes human beings are not good enough to remember or to be able to bring back pieces of information about what they have experienced into their mind. People’s mind is limited so it cannot be able to keep piece of information about what they have experienced in the past. For example, you certainly would like to know what you looked like or to remember what happened to you in your childhood. However, it is impossible to remember what your face looked like or what you experienced when you were at about the age of two, three, five, or even six.

Therefore, a Camera is very useful in the modern era. By the camera one can record things that happened to someone during her/his lifetime. A camera could record some good times of yours like your first birthday, your baptism day, your engagement day and/or other interesting experiences. The camera also could put any sadness events in detail like an accident, death and funeral ceremony of your beloved one.

The difference and similarity of Camera and Life:

Camera is a device only, while Life is an experience or state of being alive. Base on these definitions we learn that Life is actually different from a Camera. You know what? A Camera is only a device or an abiotic object but Life is the quality which makes living things (people, animals and plants) different from objects, substances, and things which are dead.

Life is not a device but it is a value, it is a quality. When you are sure that you have quality of life, you will know and create the level of enjoyment, comfort and health in your life. But if there is no value in your life, then you will unconfidently think and believe that you are not as good, not as intelligent, and/or not as attractive, etc. as other people are.

The Story of life

A camera is used to capture good times or experience or special event or object and make them good photographs. The photographs that have been made can tell a story of a life, somehow, the life itself has its own story, either true or imagined one.

The Story of life is everything that has happened to someone during her/his lifetimes. And you know, base on that life story, we can know someone's way of living; the way of living is things that a person or particular group of people usually do in life. What things are expected to do by people in their lives? They should be behaving in a way that is socially correct, morally acceptable and shows understanding of and care for other people's feelings.

Life is like Camera, Just focus on what is important, capture the good times

A camera is not similar to the life by some means or a camera cannot replace a Life, yet, why have some people been trying to analogue the life with a camera? 

No one knows their reasons to analogue the life with a camera. However when you learn thoroughly of the usage of a camera and how you run your life, then you will consent that Life is really like a Camera.

A Camera is similar to Life in some ways. Camera is used to capture every interesting object and printed into a photograph. Camera is used to record the things that have been happened to you; the things that influence your life; and by the photograph made using Camera, one can learn about the way you think and behave.

There are lots of interesting objects before someone’s eyes; they are all eye-catching objects but a camera owner knows the most importance one. All objects can attract someone’s eyes but not all interesting objects the life experienced become the focus of Camera. Camera will focus on and captures what is important only in order to make a photograph.

Similar to Camera, there are lots of eye-catching objects attracting life. Life will be given opportunity to choose such things, situations and/or condition which offer happiness, comfort or calm; free from worry, or pain for its focus. Not all things which offer happiness, comfort or calm, and free from worry can become good focus for life to grow better. Life must have its own focus and cannot be busy to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand even it is the bad or painful one. The Life which has got its focus will strive to build itself by doing what is important only and ignoring such a thing which is easy come and easy go even it is the most comfort one. 

Why should Life build a FOCUS? When your Life has Focus, Life will be able to work out important thing that can give you the power of pleasing and attracting your inner heart to balance your intellect and emotion and also pleasing other people and making them like you.

Like a Camera, Life is used to record and show typical pattern of behavior and personal qualities such as the ability to build comfort life, happiness and to deal with difficult or dangerous situations. Therefore, when you love your life, then you will learn that the life really gives you qualities of character that make your life interesting and attractive to yourself as well as to other people. How to accomplish these? Steven Covey suggested, “Please find your life mission – you were born to do what you love to do!

How to FOCUS on what is important only

Camera is equipped with a curved piece of glass, plastic or other transparent material used in cameras, glasses and scientific equipment, which makes objects seem closer, larger, smaller, etc. The equipment is called Lens.

You can see an object and aiming at it through the lens and henceforth the leans can help you to focus on an object before capturing it. You know having a focus is not only for making the object being photographed appear nearer, but also for knowing if the image of objects which is being photographed has been in a particular position.

The work of a camera is not ended at capturing (recording or taking a picture of something) the image of an important object which is being photographed. The captured object should be sent to printer machine to produce into a photograph. Therefore, you will not know the quality of your focus until you print them into photographs and these photographs can tell someone a story of life that you have experienced.

The produced photograph can be used as a reminder which makes you remember a particular person, event or situation. It can be used as conviction which gives you feeling of being certain about what you have done or the advancement you have obtained in your lifetime. It is also used as a clue which gives a sign or information which helps you to find the answer to a problem, question or mystery. A Photograph is also used as an encouragement that gives you confidence to do something and also used as warning that makes you understand there is a possible danger or problem, especially one in the future. 

The Focus of Life

Similar to Camera, the eye of a person also has Lens; that is a part of the eye behind the pupil (= the black hole at the front of the eye) that helps you to see clearly by focusing (= collecting) light onto the retina. Retina is the area at the back of the eye that receives light and sends pictures of what the eye sees to the brain. The brain then gives you ability to describe what the eye sees.

You have known that if you focus your camera and you move a device on the lens, then you can see a clear picture. On the same way if you focus your eyes, or if your eyes focus, you try to look directly at an object so that you can see it more clearly.

The focus of Camera is an object that is going to capture and make it a photograph. The focus of the eye is also an object that we can see not only more clearly but also to learn and understand something from it. Then what is the focus of your LIFE?

The focus of your life is your GOAL. Your goal is something lie deeply in your heart as series of events or images which you plan to do or achieve. Your goal might be dreams only but you should identify them and after that you have to make them clear by finding out the most interesting one and believe in its beauty. When you believe in the beauty of your dream, you will be attracted to have more strives to achieve or reach it. Indeed, the beauty of your dream can give you power to focus and only by focus you can give a lot of your time, effort, attention or resources to a particular activity or purpose because you think it is important and more important than other things around.

The goal of life is also like a Journey and the journey will never complete if it does not have a clear destination and so when we stop walk on the journey, there will be no arrival; Pope Francis said Life is a journey. When we stop, things don't go right. It means when we stop to walk on our journey, there will be no more efforts, methods or means which can facilitate to reach the destination.

In addition, here you can learn when you have got a dream; you will strive to focus your capability on it so that you can perceive it more clearly and make it your goal. The object that you can see more clearly here is the good times the life experienced or is going to experience. So once good times are put into your focus, you will be convinced that the good times you had in the past are really wonderful and amazing. Or the bad times you had in the past are really unpleasant and causing unhappiness. But the good times you are going to experience is full of wonder and you love to walk on it. Therefore, when you focus on your goal; you are giving chance to the mind to understand and make judgments or decision. Because the experience that life is going to have is based on practical facts that you have experienced or plan to experience. Then you will see what is going to happen for every accomplishment starts from a decision to try.

The life that we run now is also having good times to capture and make them fate of surprise or admiration the life is going to experience. How to make every good time is surprise or admiration? Life has qualities to put every good time into its memory. Life can be able not only to remember but also to gain information, knowledge, experiences and skill. So that what you have stored in your memory and focus on it, then it will become information which makes you remember a particular thing, event or situation you have experienced. It will become as conviction which gives you feeling of being certain about what you have done in your lifetime. Moreover, it is also used as a clue which gives a sign or some information which helps you to find the answer to a problem, question or mystery.

The focus of life is an objective or goal to achieve or destination to reach. The goal or destination is only reached firstly, by a little stride, then the stride turn into a leap through hard strive and focus which gives a lot of attention on the goal but not on an unimportant thing.

How to build the focus of Life

The focus of Life can be built on the stored memory that the mind has. The memory of mind is really important for life for it can be used as an encouragement that gives you confidence to do something. It is also used as warning that makes you understand there is a possible danger or problem, especially one in the future. The encouragement and the warning can empower you with the ability to make good judgments, based on a deep understanding and experience of life even if it is difficult or unpleasant. “The hilltop hour would not be half so wonderful if there were no dark valleys to traverse," wrote Helen Keller.

But please learn that the more important function of the stored memory is as an exposure which helps you to experience your work or to help you become affected by it because of their particular situation, character or place. And you know that base on this exposure; you are learning from the mistakes that you made and you will become skillful in solving your problem by trying a number of different methods and or you will become skillful in how to achieve your aim.

The focus of life helps you to understand that the good time of every person is different from one to another. The good times can be a knowledge or skill that is acquired by process (learning), from doing, seeing or feeling things. The good times you have in life have an influence on you, on someone or something, and so they can cause you to change or become different. It means that what you do and what you see or what you feel will affect you in some ways.

The focus of life also creates dream for a change which brings hopeful and confident; the change that makes you certain that what you do and what you see or what you feel will help you to move without any doubt. The focus of life helps everyone not to expect a change in life which brings no hopeful, or a change that is likely to consider only the bad side of a situation in life. The focus of life gives you power to keep or continue to run your life (achieved goal).

Curiosity helps life to focus

Everyone of us curious to know something: to know what has been done or what are going to do. This spirit of curiosity encourages you to always eager to learn and to know. This eagerness to learn and to know can make you actively exploring the environment, asking questions, investigating possibilities, and possessing a sense of wonder.

The curiosity will make you full of enthusiasm. According to Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) an American industrialist, founder of the Ford Motor Company and developer of the assembly line technique of mass production, Enthusiasm is the yeast that makes your hopes shine to the stars. Enthusiasm is the sparkle in your eyes, the swing in your gait. The grip of your hand, the irresistible surge of will and energy to execute your ideas.

However, you have to learn that enthusiasm without knowledge is not good. Therefore, the first thing to focus is to equip yourself with knowledge for it will give you understanding of or information about a subject which is more important in your life. Because without knowledge you are not capable enough to focus, to make plan and to do your work properly as impatient will get you into trouble (Proverb 20:5). When you have knowledge, you will learn that all important things are commenced from mind as it was written all things in this world begin in Mind (Sirach 37:18b).

Knowledge helps life to focus 

Before we go further, we should know first about what knowledge is. According to Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary – third edition, Knowledge is understanding of or information about a subject which a person gets by experience or study, and which is either in a person's mind or known by people generally.

The above definition lets us learn that Knowledge is either in a person's mind or known by people generally but who put the knowledge into human’s mind so that it will be known by him or known by people generally? It is God and God himself sent it as it was written “God sends knowledge and understanding like the rain to the dry riverbeds and whoever receives it will prosper.”

The above holy verse makes us learn that knowledge is divine and belongs to God. Knowledge is a holy gift that God sent and stored in human’s mind. The purpose is to make the people prosper because by which, one can enrich himself with information, skill and understanding. When one has information, skill and understanding, she/he will become empower and expertise. But how? Firstly human’s mind is like dry riverbeds or likewise an area of a farm land which cannot be cultivated and nursed. But it is by the water, the land which is only full of dust and dry grain of sands will become a fertilized land. Because, when the rain falls, the dry riverbed becomes a running brook and a pond is formed. Then, fresh water can be obtained and the living can exist.

Knowledge is like the rain, functions to water human’s heart and helps to find out human’s thought which contains capability and capacity. By the knowledge, the capability is empowered and the capacity is enlarged to work out an important thing and make it a focus.

Knowledge helps to make a focus because knowledge can sharpen one’s mind and you know  the Holy Bible wrote “A Person’s thoughts are like water in the deep well, but someone with insight can draw them out (Proverb 20:5)”.

Why should people strive to draw the thoughts out? The thought is a power or process of thinking that enables someone’s mind to think about something; to think about life, humanity and universe. While thinking is the use and exercise of mind in order to form opinions and/or to conclude something.

Base on the above description, we find if the thought and the knowledge are like an inseparable side of a coin. Knowledge can help to find and sharpen the thought and at the same time the thought will make use of the knowledge to train the brain to plan something, solve a problem, understand a situation, etc. However, why do we find some people clever and wise to build and reach their focus (goal) but the others are stupid and foolish (cf. Proverb 14:8)?  Not all people recognize their thoughts well and are able to train and use them properly but only someone with insight can draw them out (cf.Proverb 20:5).

FOCUS is the is the standard of God

It is true that everyone has been given a natural ability to be good at something, especially without being taught. But this natural ability will fade away if it is not empowered with knowledge. Therefore, when you don’t learn, you don’t have knowledge and you will be lack of thought, good sense or judgment, then you will slow to learn or understand things. In another word, if we are not good at learning, understanding and thinking about things, we will not have good ability in doing or understanding a subject which can be obtained by experience or study, and which is either in our mind or known by people generally.

Therefore, the first thing you have got to do is accepting the knowledge that sent by God as by which, you will learn the standard that God set for your focus. What is the standard that God has set? It is a life that always humble, gentle and patient. This standard of life helps us to show love by tolerant with one another (Ephesians 4:1b-2).

How to make the standard of God our FOCUS? Thomas Watson, the founder of IBM has given us the following formula:

1.     GOAL (focus): Think of one thing only in your mind that it is the greatest thing you are going to achieve. For example, your goal/focus is about becoming a scholar of a certain science that you love. Focus on your Goal and not on the other things as it was said by Thomas Carlyle that our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.

2.     PLANNING: What is Plan? Plan is an organized set of decisions about how to do something in the future. What you are going to do in the future is your Goal, therefore, activate your mind to formulate and decide the method, the way, or strategy of how to complete your goal. For example, your goal is becoming a good person so before going to become a good person, you should enrich yourself with knowledge and skill by learning at home, in school and from society and nature.

The target of becoming good person we set may be simple and easy, but method is needed to help how to execute the target and to make us sure if we have capability as it was written, “don’t be too sure of yourself, even when they way looks easy – Sirach 32:21. It means before we touch everything with our hand (action), we should touch it first with our thought as it was written, “Never do everything without thinking it through” Sirach 32:19a.

“Never do everything without thinking it through” means that we may do something if we have put it in the quality of being well planned and well organized or we have put it in method and by the method, a formula or strategy is made to recognize if there is easiness or difficulties, advantages or disadvantages, and if we are capable enough or not to execute the target. Method is useful to organize what we should do, how we should do and whom we should work with.

The benefits of a method are as the follows:

1.     Method helps to make a planning first and then an action will follow to execute target base on what has been planned as it was written “Planning and thought lie behind everything that is done” (Sirach 37:16)

2.     Method makes us think to empower the potencies, capabilities and capacities that God gave.

3.     Method activates our mind to acquire knowledge, competences and experiences that enhance our capability to be more proficient. Therefore, we will become a sensible person who will see trouble coming and avoid it. We will never walk right into trouble and regret it later like unthinking person (Proverb 22:3)

4.     Method sets up a way to walk on step by step in order to get closer to our target as it was written, “whatever you do, be careful –Sirach 32:23.

Now we understand that Planning is the first but not an Action as it was written Planning and thought lie behind everything that is done” – Sirach 37:16). And by Planning one can develop life in a successful way as it was written Plan carefully and you will have plenty; if you act too quickly, you will never have enough (Proverb 21:5).

3.     ACTION: we know that every person has been given a great deal of work to do (Sirach 40:1a).” In order to execute the given great deal of work successfully, a plan should be put in a good settlement. The reason is, after the plan is well-resettled, one would work at it with a particular purpose of reaching the target. Therefore, he would give a lot of his time, effort, attention or resources to work with all his hearts as though he was working for the Lord and not for men (Colossians 3: 23).

Action is the key to live the life. Without action we cannot achieve our goal/focus base on the settled plan. Therefore, whatever the matter, the life must run as it was said by Sai Baba Life is a song - sing it. Life is a game - play it. Life is a challenge - meet it. Life is a dream - realize it. Life is a sacrifice - offer it. Life is love - enjoy it. This marvel teaches us that the life is a series of different actions that demands your time, effort, resources, care and love, or even yourself to execute no matter if you have been ready or not to act. This means we must be ready and do not have to delay but execute our goal base on the plan we have set.

Base on the above description, we learn that it is by planning you will be certain about your Goal and certain about your capability to achieve it. It is impossible to achieve the goal by a great spontaneous action but by a series of steps like ones that highlighted by Mr. Ralph Ransom that Life is a series of steps. Things are done gradually. Once in a while there is a giant step, but most of the time we are taking small, seemingly insignificant steps on the stairway of life.

It is impossible that a goal is happening or done in a natural, often sudden way, without any planning or without being forced. It is by plan for the plan can guide the action not to force to take sudden or giant steps, but most of the time we are taking small, seemingly insignificant steps on the stairway of life. If you can act base on your plan, then you will find that the small and insignificant action can lead to pass a set of steps that leads from one lower level to another one until you reach your peak.  Therefore, you must not wait and see and be satisfied with what you have achieved at one level of action, instead you have to take further actions that encourage you with a way or strategy that helps you work more effective and optimal (Peter Marshall).

The GPA (Goal-Plan-Act) formula of Thomas Watson above gives you knowledge that the thought is the beginning of everything. The first thing to do is you must think of an important thing in your mind as your focus or goal. The second, formulate a plan and after that you must execute what have in your mind base on the plan you have formulated as it was written Planning and thought lie behind everything that is done” – Sirach 37:16). It means that the focus on Goal, Planning and Action are the formulas that help us not to do something in haste or to act too quickly. The Formula will facilitates us to determine how big the goal we set, to analyze its difficulties and to measure how big our belief and confidence are in our own ability and to assess how big of passion we have to endure the pain when completing our goal - then you will see what is going to happen as it was written Plan carefully and you will have plenty; if you act too quickly, you will never have enough (Proverb 21:5).

Base on the three steps of concept above, we can conclude that first, we should make a decision; decision to accept our goal as a great deal of work to do from God, after that we must fall in love with the work (goal), and then formulate a plan of how to work at it. The last, we should work at our goal with all our hearts as though we were working for the Lord and not for men base on what we have planned. Finally, a success will be granted for our goal as it was said every accomplishment starts with a decision to try.

The granted success we will have through our goal (focus/target), method and action are known as a good achievement, a complete fulfillment and a real joy.

You would have a good achievement if you succeeded in doing a very good and difficult thing, you could get a complete fulfillment if you got what you want in life and a real joy would come if you got pleasure from what you have done.

Live a life that fits the standard of God        

Does your life have a level of quality that suits the standard of God? It is impossible to live a life that meets the standard of God. But according to the Bible, the life that suits the standard of God is the life that is always humble, gentle and patience; the life which shows love by tolerant with one another.

It seems that the standard of God is simple but not all people could live a life that meets that standard. Only those who are blessed with good mind or thoughts do. The mind or thoughts are like Gold and Diamond and you know these kind of minerals require good expertise and high skill in the process of searching, discovering and excavating (Job. 28:1-11). The process can be firstly done through simple way, then applying scientific touch until the using of modern and sophisticated method and advanced technology as well.

Yes it is true that a tough work is done for finding and mining out the treasure of Earth from hard rocks - deep down under the base of Mountains. On the same way, a hard effort is needed in order to explore and to find out the power of mind as it was written in the scripture “a person’s thoughts are like water in deep well, but someone with insight can draw them out – Proverb 20:5.”

Who deserves right to explore and discover the power of mind? They are those who learn to live in simple way, humble, gentle and patience. They are the persons who are eager to learn, be educated, and to understand something even if it is difficult or unpleasant.

You know the people who are eager to learn, be educated, and to understand will be given opportunity to enrich their capability and enlarge their capacity as well so that they can be capable of doing their works without complaining or arguing (Phil 2:4), they can dedicate their life totally to work out their work as if it is a service for God and not for people. They will do the work of servicing God continuously in a sincere of heart through the rest of their lives.

Therefore, human should work hard and learn hard to discover their mind so that they can be able to enlarge their capacity of intelligences of intellect, emotion, social and the intelligence of spiritual for doing not only difficult things but also impossible things in the life. The work of servicing God is absolutely completed through the service to others.

Developing from Negative

Helen Keller wrote this wonders... "The marvelous richness of human experience would lose something of rewarding joy if there were no limitations to overcome. The hilltop hour would not be half so wonderful if there were no dark valleys to traverse."

A good photograph is usually made of a negative film or a digital image only, but it can become as it is now since it has been put through a series of process and actions taken in order to achieve a result. However, sometimes a negative or digital image failed to be made into a good photograph. Why? You did not have a good focus at a right ankle. The condition of when you are taking picture can influence the result. Therefore, please be well prepared and never think that you are capable enough to put everything you do in complete and correct in every way, or of the best possible type or without fault.

You may be right that sometimes you can find few things are happened to appear and work properly on their best possible type or without fault. But you also have to know if most of the things are absolutely not. There must be one or two distractions which prevent you from concentrating on what you are doing. Therefore, you will possibly find any difficulties or mistakes to complete your work. The distraction and lack of concentration will make things are not happened to appear and work properly on their best possible type.

The things which cannot work properly are the things that need attention and need to be dealt with or solved. Do you know how to deal with them? You should learn to recognize why they failed to work properly. There are some reasons such as you haven’t known the characteristic of what you are going to do, you haven’t made them your focus, and you fail to learn that what you are doing deserves your dedication, passion and love.

Have you known the characteristic of your work, have you made them your focus and have you given your dedication, passion and love? Thomas Watson, Sr. said “To be successful, you have to have your heart in your business, and your business in your heart.”

How to have your heart in your business, and your business in your heart? Steven Covey suggested this “You need to do just one thing – open your heart to love: love what you have; love what you do, and love other people.” He added, the best thing you should do is Falling in love with what you do, and success will fall in love with you.

In addition, Oprah Winfrey commented “Failure is another steppingstone to greatness - Do the one thing you think you cannot do. Fail at it. Try again. Do better the second time. The only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire. This is your moment. Own it.”

Here we also can learn that your moment is not only a good result but also a bad result (mistake). Mistake gives you chance to learn about the failure or success you have achieved. The result of your work can give you chance to learn about something that you have been aiming for. The aim is that if a plan or piece of work succeeds, it has the results that you wanted as shown by what you attained.  At the same time, you can learn that the negative result of your work also can show you a lesson of an unsuccessful result in what you are trying to achieve or things are expected to do. The lesson is that by the unsuccessful result you will find such methods or solutions which have not worked properly and they are the things which have not turned out-so you have to take another shot or trying a number of different methods. 

A photograph can also be used to show you about something which does not work or stops working as well as it should. Henceforth it is normal that the perfect is obtained not only by one attempt or try only. Therefore, when things don’t turn out – take another shot means when you try to make something succeed, usually you should do it by working hard again and again.

Take the Trial

The life photograph is the achievement you obtained in the process of learning through your lifetime. During the process of learning, you will find that most of interesting things are developed from the simplest ones. They could become important through process and process of growing or changing into larger or stronger form and more advanced. On the same way, when you are doing something, you will do it through a series of actions that you take in order to achieve a result. During this process, you will possibly face trial or a test. You sometimes did not aware of it because it usually comes over a limited period of time, but it is effective to discover how effective or suitable your work is or even to know how capable you are in doing such a work.

Trial always comes up in learning and so when you do the learning; you are accepting the trial not as a chance of test only but also as an exposure. The trial will help you to know how capable you are and exposure assists you to experience your work or be affected by it due to their particular situation, character or place. Therefore, base on this trial and exposure, you will become skillful in how to achieve your aim or solving your problem by trying a number of different methods and learning from the mistakes that you made.

Take the Mistake

You know that sometimes you find if what you do produces an unwanted or unintentional result and it is considered as mistake which makes you give up anyway.  But the mistakes you might experience are actually retention which brings number of different methods and learning which have not worked properly. Through the different methods and learning which have not worked properly, you have more chances to learn and work in another way out. According to Richard Bach, "There are no mistakes. The events we bring upon ourselves, no matter how unpleasant, are necessary in order to learn what we need to learn; whatever steps we take, they're necessary to reach the places we've chosen to go."

Here Richard wanted us to learn that by the mistake we understand that we were wrong to work in a particular way the work requires and so we should start to work differently or in the new suggested procedures. It means mistakes are the necessary steps that we could walk on to reach or achieve the goal or to reach the destination we've chosen to go. The mistakes are also good lesson to learn that we cannot manage to complete our work because there is no focus we made before doing the work.

Learning about “Developing from Negative,” Ralph Ransom wrote this marvel: Life is a series of steps. Things are done gradually. Once in a while there is a giant step, but most of the time we are taking small, seemingly insignificant steps on the stairway of life.

Life is a series of things that are done in order to achieve a particular result; a series of things that happen, especially ones that result in natural changes. Life starts from small things, from little and insignificant step and then turning into small stride. This small stride leads the strider to make a leap; leap to leave the comfort zone through the fences (obstacles) though.

Life is built on a series of steps; the steps are smaller or bigger is not the matter, what makes the life grow is the willingness and consistence to run the life itself. Therefore, likewise a photograph, life is actually a piece of image only but it is through life, the character or reputation is developed, and in which positive side and negative side of life appear the opposite way round to the way in which they appear in the daily life that run.

Most of the people on earth expect a life that is free from fault and problem. They think that problem can make them live a life out of prosperity and happiness. However, they don’t think that the problem or difficult that come to life has purpose to find out whether the life has a natural ability to overcome a particular type of test or situation.

Base on the above description, we could learn that Developing from Negative means that Life is not something perfect or free from fault but life can become perfect if it is run through a series of things that happen, especially ones that result in natural changes. Those series of things are the things bring success, failure, problem, difficulties and also test. Anais Nin wrote Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Therefore, never leave the life especially when it turns bad and never disregard life by pretending not to notice when some bad things happened on it, so that you do not have to do anything about it. No, take another shot when things don’t turn out! The bad thing or even the worst one is a kind of test which brings lesson to learn and find the way out.

Life must go on or take another shot when things don’t turn out, but you must know if the life has run on a proper track. In order to run on its proper track, the life usually got series of test. The purpose is to find out whether the life has a natural ability for a particular type of test or situation. The test the life experiences is normal as it has been written: For God is good, he keeps his promises and he will not allow us to be tested beyond our power to remain firm; at the time we are put to the test, he will give us strength to endure it, and so provide us with the way out (1Cor 10:13).

God gives us strength to endure and provide us with the way out.

God gives us strength to endure and so provide us with way out means in the Obstacle or Test, God gives us a power to focus on or to think of solution instead of problems. For when we think of a good solution, we will attract more solutions and opportunities. But when we think of problems, we will attract more problems.

Problem is common. It is impossible to have zero problems perhaps, so kindly approach the problem with the expectant attitude that there is an innovative practical solution just waiting to be found; finding the answer to every problem. Therefore, never give up when you have problems since there are learning opportunities in every solution and problem and they will spur every strive we have. Steven Covey said “The two greatest learning opportunities are success and failure. If you get what you want, it's success; if you don't get what you want, it's a learning opportunity.” Therefore, be patient, relaxed, confident and clear in your mind to learn and then you will have the way out through the following riches:

1.     Knowledge:
Knowledge is the cognitive capabilities measured by the capacity of acquiring intelligences such as Linguistic, Math, Logic and Reasoning. Knowledge is acquired by studying, practice, or being taught. Knowledge gives you internal motivation to work in a well organized manner, applying superior systems, procedures and detailed job descriptions, so that you will get easy to accomplish your jobs. However, your internal motivation must be complemented with enthusiasm and passion so that you may give to your work a touch of feeling, hearth and love; you then will be protected and prevented from doing everything that is too mechanical, too formal, and too protective.

We know some people think that Knowledge is not necessary to begin something if there is enthusiasm. But enthusiasm must be complemented by knowledge as it was written: “Enthusiasm without knowledge is not good; impatient will get you into trouble (Proverb 19:2).

Enthusiasm without knowledge can lead to failure because the lack of knowledge can make you unable to wait, or continue doing something difficult. In addition, you will be always complaining or becoming annoyed when facing problems because there is no balance between your intelligence intellect and your emotion. Therefore, in order to protect you from impatient, God sends knowledge and understanding like the rain, and increase the honor of those who receive her (Sirach 1:19). Additionally, “God gives knowledge to human being so that we would praise him for the miracles he performs (Sirach 38:6).

This means your enthusiasm is useless if you do not have knowledge and your knowledge contributes nothing if you are impatient; for impatient makes you unable to make up your minds and undecided in all you do; so you never think that you will receive anything from the Lord. (James 1:6b,7-8). When you are impatient, you are spending all your time for looking for nothing; you will feel very poor.

Therefore, all you gain in life is the knowledge that you are rich, Ecclesiastes 5: 11b for knowledge makes you full in desire (aspiration), belief (principle, trust, confidence) and acceptance (recognition, approval) and all these will increase the honor of yours. It is by the knowledge; you will never say the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak when you would like to do something, but you do not have the time, skills or energy necessary to do it. But when you have knowledge, you will have capability to manage your time, to sharpen your skill and to dedicate your energy to do your work. Believe that when you have knowledge you will be able to fall in love with your work. Remember Steven Covey said your life mission is you were born to do what you love to do!

2.     Wisdom:
We often meet something that blocks our life so that movement, going forward or action are prevented or made more difficult. This makes our heart cannot be able to produce justice, courage, patience, self-control, insight, passion and gratitude. The blocks are obstacles that lead to great failure but do not worry for we have been equipped with wisdom.

Wisdom is capabilities measured by the heart’s capacity of producing justice, courage, patience, self-control, insight, passion and gratitude (wisdom of Solomon 8:7b) and the other things that are good. Wisdom is the capacity to recognize your own feelings and those of others, for motivating yourself and for managing emotions well in yourself and in your relationship.

How wisdom helps to overcome obstacles of life? At first wisdom will lead you along difficult path. She will make you so afraid that you will think you cannot go on (Sirach 4:17).

You are so afraid that you will think you cannot go on means when you face your goal; you are not going to do it immediately without thinking it first. But you will take a chance to judge how big the goal you have set, to analyze its difficulties and to measure how big your belief and confidence are in our own ability and how big of passion you have to endure the pain when completing your goal.

Therefore, when wisdom is in you, you will succeed in your work for it will give you patient and the capability of controlling yourself when applying the power you got in knowledge as it was written: “It is better to be patient than powerful; it is better to win control over yourself than over the whole country.” (Proverb 16:32).

Therefore, please find wisdom for your life because nothing will stand in your way if you walk wisely, and you will not stumble when you run (Proverb 4:12). You know what? Wisdom gives you belief, confidence and patient to have success. Benjamin Franklyn, the former USA president said: “A professional is genius in his field for he has a distinct talent that called the talent of patient. His talent of patient gives him endurance to face trials that come to his learning, patient to deal with problems calmly and patient to wait for the result without haste.

Wisdom gives you qualities of doing the right things (effectiveness), but not doing the things right (efficiency) only because she provides you with insight and understanding to protect and prevent you from doing wrong things (Proverb 2:11-12). Therefore, please get up early and find her for she will give you the following benefits:

a)     Wisdom takes care of those who look for her; she raises them to greatness-Sirach 4:11 and anyone who obtains wisdom will be greatly honored – Sirach 4:13

b)     Wisdom can make your life pleasant and lead you safely through it – Proverb 3:17

c)     Wisdom offers you long life, as well as wealth and honor – Proverb 3:16

d)     So do not worry about tomorrow, it will have enough worries of its own. There is no need to add to the troubles each day brings”.– Mathew 6: 34

When Things do not turn out – Take another Shot (Achieve the Target)

W have got knowledge and wisdom and they are very useful to bring our Focus, target or goal to life but sometimes we fail to make them come true.  The failure to bring the target comes true at once is not a very big problem. The first thing you have to know is what you truly want to achieve and what you truly want to become. Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Computer advised: The most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to achieve and to become. Therefore, do not waste your time living someone else’s life. Do not be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Do not let the noise of other opinions down out your inner voice. Prepare yourself and stride forward on to achieve your target “to have something and/or to become someone at some point in the future.”

This means, never give up and feel unhappy when you find your target were not completed as good as you hoped or expected. But what you should do is take another shot – take more strive and do it again and again in another way.

You might be thinking why it is impossible to achieve a target at the first try only? Concerning to the matter of achieving Target, Saint Paul advised, “Don’t think of yourself more highly than you should. Instead be modest in your thinking and judge yourself according to the amount of faith that God gave you.” (Rome 12:3b&3c). This means you sometimes have a feeling that you are better and more important than other people without looking back into yourself. “This makes you think more than you do and forget to learn the limits of your abilities.

Judge yourself according to the amount of faith that God gave you, means recognize the limit of your abilities.  and stretch to enlarge the capability and capacity that God gave you because they are the powers that enable you to do greater things or achieving bigger target. "The marvelous richness of human experience would lose something of rewarding joy if there were no limitations to overcome," wrote Helen Keller.

Therefore, you should learn to enlarge them by keeping on building yourselves up on your most sacred faith (Jude 1:20a). This means, although we only have simple target, we should stretch it for stretching targets energize and push us to work harder at meeting more difficulties targets. The result is we can achieve more than, if we had set an easier objective as it was written, “Hard worker will get everything he wants and will have more.” (proverb 13:4b&11c). Hard worker will get everything he wants and will have more because he has tried very hard to do something or to make his goal happen, especially for a long time or against difficulties.

The tough way and difficult situation are the golden bridge for hard workers to carry their works out successfully as “the hilltop hour would not be half so wonderful if there were no dark valleys to traverse," wrote Helen Keller.  

Take another Shot to Achieving Riches:

What is it the thing that human being wish to achieve for his life? As human, we certainly would love to achieve Riches. Jesus, our Lord said, “Man can not live on bread alone, but needs every word that God speaks.” (Mathew 4:4b). The words that God speaks are “Faith, Hope and Love”

1.     Faith produces: Belief, Trust, integrity and confidence

2.     Hope produces: Vision, Passion, Optimism, self-control, Patient and Endurance

3.     Love Produces: Responsibility, Forgiveness, Respect for others, Happiness, generosity and Gratitude.

Zoom to make things closer.

Zoom is a verb which means to move very quickly but Zoom to make things closer is Zoom in/out, a phrasal verb which means to cause a camera or computer to make the image of something or someone appear much larger and nearer, or much smaller and further away.

A camera usually has Zoom Lens or a device in a camera, or which can be connected to a camera, that can make the thing being photographed appear nearer. By this device one can zoom in to make the image of something or someone appear much larger and nearer so he can take picture easily.

Similar to Camera, the eye of a person also has Lens; that is a part of the eye behind the pupil (= the black hole at the front of the eye) that helps you to see clearly by focusing (= collecting) light onto the retina. Retina is the area at the back of the eye that receives light and sends pictures of what the eye sees to the brain. The brain then makes you to become conscious of what is around you by using your eyes.

Here you know that if you focus your camera and you move a device on the lens, then you can see a clear picture. On the same way if you focus your eyes, or if your eyes focus, you try to look directly at an object so that you can see it not only more clearly but also you can understand, know or realize about it.

Similar to the lens of camera and the lens of an eye, human’s Mind also has lens which functions to zoom in on something or to notice and give special attention to something. The Lens of Mind is called power of Imagination and power of Visualization. These powers give you the ability to form pictures in the mind and to make you notice something and feel interested.

Base on the above illustration, we can learn that sometimes we find our goal is not clear and difficult to see or understand, but the power of imagination and visualization give us the ability to notice our GOAL and feel interested in it. Therefore, before we translated our Goal, method and action into written form that makes concrete our view of the direction and purpose, we should take a few minutes to achieve our targets in our mind.

We imagine a goal (life) that is exactly as we want it, imagine what we would do, with whom we would do and how we should do it. All imagined goal/targets put us in a state of excitement and enthusiasm and we are excited and enthusiast to make them come true for their beauty can lead to a future. Anna Eleanor Roosevelt said “Future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

The next step is, visualizing the imagined targets and bringing them to life. Make them a reality; if we can see ourselves having such benefits like happiness, successful, healthy and loving life from our targets, then we can make them happen.

However, we should realize that imagination and visualizing only help to imagine our goal that we would like to happen. It is by the knowledge, we could build our goal and we would like to bring them to life. You know what? In our goal is some particular strength or beauty that empowers us to achieve future.

Zoom to make the Goal comes Closer - How to bring our Goal come to life? Henry Ford wrote “There is no man living who cannot do more than he thinks he can. As we advance in life we learn the limits of our abilities.”

The idea of Henry Ford above is similar to let us learn that we cannot achieve a goal beyond our capacity, but when we have found the limits of our abilities, we will overcome it by learning, so if we cannot manage to achieve our goal easily because of the limits of our abilities, we should build it base on the strategy of SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time scale). This means we should make simple, reasonable and realistic dreams as our goals. Because “when dream is real, it doesn’t matter that turns the road takes. When dream is real, the joys and possibilities are endless (cf. Nicholas Sparks in The Note Book-Warner Books.” Yes, when the dream is real, it will enable you to do stretching your goals for they will energize and push you to work harder at meeting more difficult targets. The result is you can achieve more than, if you had set an easier goal as it was written, “Hard worker will get everything he wants and will have more.”(Proverb 13:4b&11c)

Zoom to make your GOAL is closer has the meaning that as believers, challenging yourself by stretching those goals for they can broad your capacity. When you set a stretch goal for yourself, you know that you may not meet it 100%, but by coming closer, you will give more notice and special attentions then you are likely to achieve an extra ordinary result. Say if you set the goal to 125, essentially asking an extra 25% of yourself. When you achieve 120 means, you have managed 20% more than you had set an easier goal, as it was written, “Hard work will give you power (proverb 12:24a ) to get what you are after or to give you a fortune (proverb 12:27b) and that power gives you strength to face all conditions.” (Phil 4:13a).

This means someone can stretch her goal because her belief and confidence are strong enough to achieve something that is very difficult. You know those who have strong belief and confidence are considered having got higher intellectual achievement. Higher intellectual achievement, as the goal of learning will be fully completed when learners are confidence enough to give their notice, thought or interest (attention), energy, time, etc. completely to practice what they have learnt.

At this step, the learners must be encouraged if there is no stupid student or clever student but only the learners who have confidence and love. That if you are certain of the ability within you, you are certain to sharpen it through hard studying, and then, you love what you have (your ability) and love what you do (hard studying), means you are having a very strong desire to success. Loving what you do mean you have passion for your learning. Passion is the fastest way to spur you to massive success. It is something you love. You love the beauty of your dream. It is something you are excited about. You are excited about the goal you have defined.

Therefore, when you have faith and love, you cannot worry to zoom (stretch) your goal although it looks impossible for others. Jack Welch, the former legendary CEO of General Electric, urged everybody to stretch. Stretch target energize. Here he wrote, “We have found that by reaching for what appears to be the impossible, we often actually do the impossible; and even when we don not quite make it, we inevitably wind up doing much better than we would have done.”

How to zoom or stretch the Goal? The principle of stretching the goal is simple as simple as the below principles:

1.     Create a dream that is so big that it will keep you excited

2.     Define the dream in minute detail

3.     Live in the dream so that it becomes real to you on the inside, and then…..

4.     Hold on it so tightly that no one can take it way from you

The above 4 principles are strong enough to motivate you as student to wake up early to study, study and study or stay up late to accomplish all the given assignments.

LowBat

Life is like a camera – life has lens to see things clearly and make focus, zoom functions to make things come closer. Life also can develop itself from negative and take another shot when things do not turn out.

Camera sometimes cannot work properly or cannot be used due to the condition of battery. The battery should be recharged when it runs low. Similar to camera, Life sometimes becomes weaker or stops working completely; it cannot do all its functions properly when it is low in battery or LowBat. Therefore, like a camera, Life should be recharged so that it can work again.

The LowBat of life means a feeling that we have no hope and cannot be ready to do anything to change the bad situation we are in. This feeling makes us suppose we do not have good capability and capacity to make our goal comes true. Therefore, we fell disinclined or do not want to do something.

We know that we are often in low battery because we live a life that measure up to the worldly standard, which should be a reflection of world greed instead of a vote of confidence from us as believers that our lives is under God’s care.

We are in low battery means we always worry to be run out of our needs; therefore, we would not only fail to reach the peak but also we do whatever we can to become rich with sinfully chasing after worldly riches (money) because:

1.     We are content with weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions and difficulties (2Cor 12:10a).

2.     We live a life that full of arguing and complaining (cfr. Phil 2:4) and conflict (cfr. Rome 7:15)

3.     We live a life that full of impatient and doubt (cfr. James 1:6b & 1:7-8)

The above three points that contain weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions and difficulties, arguing, complaining and conflict, impatient and doubt are known as the fullness of life. They make us low in battery because our potencies, capabilities and capacities are demanded for their fulfillments. They robed all things found in our hearts that deserve praise; the things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely and honorable. Therefore, we must be very weak and when we are weak, we  will easily leave the life especially when it turns bad and disregard life by pretending not to notice when some bad things happened on it, so that we do not have to do anything about it.

However, here we learn that in the weakness, we have chance to recharge our battery. The weakness we have is only a test for a great encouragement as it was written For God is good, he keeps his promises and he will not allow us to be tested beyond our power to remain firm; at the time we are put to the test, he will give us strength to endure it, and so provide us with the way out (1Cor 10:13).

Recharging our weakness or LowBat?

We are in LowBat because we are lazy to learn. When we are lazy to learn, we will not get enough knowledge to know why or how something happens or works and this make us depend on other people for knowledge. People who depend on other people for knowledge are considered stupid. A stupid person is foolish because he does not know what he thinks but he only thinks what he knows (Proverb 14:8). Therefore, we should recharge ourselves by learning because learning can give the ability to learn and understand things quickly and easily. When we have the ability to learn and understand things quickly and easily, we are freeing our dependency on others for knowledge.

 How to recharge our life? When you open the Holy Bible, you will understand we can recharge our life not only by learning from ourselves but also learning from other people. King Solomon wrote “People learn from one another just an iron sharpens iron, Proverb 27:17. We can sharpen our life by asking the meaning of the life itself from other people as it is in the story of The Little Boy Asks the Meaning of Life. The story has been modified as follows:

Life should be recharged to sharpen or regain its power. Life is recharged to improve our behaviour or performance but what to recharge? The first is recharging Mind to think. When the mind is weak, it should be recharged to think. Thinking about the values you wish to live your life by.

The second is recharging Heart to believe. Believing in yourself based on the thinking you've done about the values you're going to live your life by. When the heart is weak it will not have enough capacity to produce the values you're going to live your life by like justice, courage, patient, self-control, insight, passion and gratitude (cf. wisdom of Solomon 8:7b) and the other things that are good and that deserve praise: things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely and honorable. (Philippians 4:8).

The third is after you have got enough believe, you should recharge again your mind to dream. Dreaming about the things that can be, based on your belief in yourself and the values you're going to live by. Dream is important because in your dreams are some particular strengths or beauty that empowers people to achieve future as Anna Eleanor Roosevelt said “Future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

The last is recharging your brawn to dare. Dare to make your dreams become reality, based on your belief in yourselves and your values. The thinking, belief and dream will become nothing if there is no dare to act. So the last important thing to do is dare to act. We should dare to take a proper action in a proper time base on the proper formulated method.

You can take a proper action in a proper time because you dare to have a decision to try and an accomplishment will be regarded as it was said every accomplishment starts with a decision to try. Why? When you dare to act you will never let the fear of losing be greater than the excitement of winning – Robert Kiyosaki. In addition, when you dare to act you also must dare to fail because Robert Kennedy wrote “Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.” The winner will never dare to fail because he knows Failure is another steppingstone to greatness, wrote Oprah Winfrey.

Finally, please learn we sometimes fail to recharge our LowBat because we do not know our charger station. My dear brothers when we are weak or LowBat, kindly come to Christ and pray. Please appeal to his mighty love and believe that we will have this answer: “My grace is all you need, for my power is greatest when you are weak” (2Cor 12:9a)

All we need about is Christ grace! When we are weak; we are in heavy load, Christ will invite us to come to him for he will give us rest. Christ will replace our burden with his own load (encouragement) so that we will be joyful always and pray at all times and we should be thankful in all circumstances. This is what God wants from us in our lives in union with Jesus Christ (1Thessalonians 5:16-18).

Now we know that what God wants from us in our lives is be joyful, pray at all times and be thankful in all circumstances. When we succeed in doing this, we will receive Christ’s power that called power of Gratitude.

Concerning the power of gratitude, Melody Beattie found that the power of gratitude functions to unlock the fullness of life because:

1.     Gratitude turns what we have into enough and more.

2.     Gratitude turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order and confusion into clarity

3.     Gratitude turns a meal into a feast, a house into a home and a stranger into a friend

4.     Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and create a vision for tomorrow

Then you will find that we will live a life that full of happiness for Spirit that God put in our heart produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self control. There is no law against such things as these – Galatians 5:22-23

Before ending your reading, kindly have a deep look at the wonder of Gilda Radner... "I always wanted a happy ending... Now I've learned, the hard way, that some poems don't rhyme, and some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it without knowing what's going to happen next. Delicious ambiguity!"

Bibliography

1.     Philippine Bible Society 1982 – Good News Bible

2.     Robert Alberti & Michael Emmons 2002 – Your Perfect Right Elex Media Komputindo

3.     Thomas J Stevenin, PhD 2000 – Win Win Solution, Mengatasi Konflik di Lingkungan Kerja, Metanoia

4.     AN Ubaedy & Imam Ratrioso, PSi 2005 – Refleksi Kehidupan, Elex Media Komputindo

5.     Joel Osteen 2007 – Starting Your Best Life Now, Immanuel

6.     Alan Lakein 2007 – Management Waktu, Mata Katulistiwa

7.     Richard Carlson 2001 – Don’t Sweat Small Staff At Work, Gramedia

8.     Lilian Too 2001 – Inner Fengsui, Elex Media Komputindo

9.     Robert Bruce Shaw 1997 – Trust in the Balance, Jossey Bass Inc

10.  Fritz Ridenour 2002 – How to be Christian without Religious, Gloria Graffa

11.  Jose Luis Gonzales 2009 – Mother Teresa, In My Own Words, Kanisius

12.  Stephen R Covey - “Seven Habits Of Highly Effective People” – June 2008 Penekanan dan terjemahan bebas oleh Sumargi Rahardjo

13.  http://inspirationalstories.com/life-5.html

14.  www.brainyqoute.com

15.  http://www.metaphysics-for-life.com/heart-intelligence.html:

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