God, the transcendent source of all existence in our universe, He is the ultimate reality beyond human comprehension yet in a way, we understand him, he is intimately involved in our affairs, we pray to him, we believe in him we ask mercy from him and somehow, we do not expect anything from him either. For us to better understand God we created words to describe what we ultimately cannot fathom.
In religious traditions whatever they may be, God is described as:
Omnipresent, God’s ability to be ever present everywhere, anywhere, anytime all at the same time without limits, boundaries or constraints.
Omnipotent, indicative of his unlimited and infinite power and command to achieve anything.
Omniscient, all-knowing beholding complete and perfect knowledge of all things including the past, present and future, as well as the deepest meaning in motives and intentions behind every thought and action.
Omnibenevolent, he is infinitely good, kind, loving merciful and just in every possible way we could ever imagine.
Knowing all this It is said that God’s greatest gift to humanity is the gift of free will, this enables humanity to express unique personalities, individuality and creativity while also providing opportunities for us to learn, grow and evolve towards our spiritual journey on earth, and then ultimately drawing us closer to God himself. Free will also presents a test of faith and enables us to make moral and ethical choices and take responsibility for our own actions allowing ourselves to align with God or rebel against him. Without the ability to choose right from wrong our agency for morality is meaningless which then hinders us from growing and evolving.
Is our will free?
God is Omniscient and all-knowing then he would already know our answers, if he knows how we act, how we think in advance then it looks like we do not really act in free will, for God is Omnibenevolent he would easily be able to create the best of all possible worlds, in this world, humans will act in free will but only for the good of all reasons.
If our lives are already written, why do we even try, on the other hand if our lives are really in our hands then is there really a higher power?
What’s funny though is that we pick and choose when to properly use free will, in the back of our heads some of us wanted fate to take us where we should be in life, a part of us want to drift through our lives not taking to account the choices we made but rather say it was destined.
Now the question is? Are we the authors or are we the editors of our life, if so, would it be better to write our story as we go through life, or would it be better to edit as we go through it.
I really don’t know which one would be better.
The idea of being the “Author” of our lives suggests that we have the power to create and shape our own destinies, control over the plot, characters involved and overall narrative of our lives. However, there are factors beyond our control like genetics, upbringing and sometimes socio-economic circumstances. So, while we may not have complete control over every aspect of our lives, we do have the ability to make choices and shape our paths to some extent. We can choose how we respond to challenges or which desires to pursue. If put this way in a sense, we are like authors, crafting our life stories through our decisions and actions. This perspective emphasizes personal agency and responsibility for our actions and decisions.
On the other hand, when we say we are the “Editors” of our lives, it suggests that we may not have complete control over the events that occur, we do however have the ability to revise and refine our experiences. We can review our past choices, learn and make necessary adjustments to improve our trajectory. This perspective acknowledges that while some elements of our lives may be beyond our control, we still have the power to shape our experiences through reflection and adaptation.
Fortunately, a metaphorical typewriter lies ever before us, and the brilliance of biography is that the number of pages assigned to each period in life isn’t correlated to number of years but richness of content. No matter how slender the manuscript is so far, the meatiest, very best chapters may still be to come. – Brett & Kate Mckay
Freddie Roach, the world-renowned boxing trainer has experienced many a low before encountering a very meaty page in his life.
Roach had a relatively modest boxing career, with a record of 40 wins, 13 losses, and 0 draws. While he achieved some victories, he never rose to the level of a world champion or reached the upper echelons of the sport.
He retired from professional boxing at the age of 26 due to deteriorating health and the lack of any more motivation, he mentioned in an interview where he quit boxing Infront of his father uttering the words “Fuck off” when confronted about not giving his best when he fought, those were his last words to his father. His decision to retire prematurely was a significant disappointment and marked the end of his aspirations as a boxer.
After retiring from boxing, Roach faced financial challenges as he struggled to find stable employment outside of the ring. He worked odd jobs and faced uncertainty about his future.
However, without all of these happening his calling as a trainer would not have come to materialize, as his prophetic words came about “You’ll never know when the next Muhammad Ali walks through the door”. His historic father and son partnership with Manny Pacquiao began after he gave up on being a champion himself but rather became a legendary boxing trainer, his own experiences in the ring, coupled with his determination and passion for the sport, uniquely positioned him to understand and guide the careers of other fighters ultimately creating multiple champions and now owning one of the most popular boxing gyms in the world.
My biography looks a little different, it’s all over the place actually, I only recently realized that I have been provided with different chances at life multiple times.
A speeding motorcycle scratching the top of my head, an inch difference would have meant my head being totally sliced.
My shoe getting caught by a motorcycle’s front wheel while I ran across the street, a second difference meant me getting run over.
2 motorcycle accidents, 1 as the driver and the other as a passenger
A stupid car collision at the age of 12 when I stole my dad’s car.
2 Dengue infections
I have had a lot of close calls, but only the last time I realized and felt really mortal.
While on vacation I contracted my second bout with Dengue. Dengue is a viral infection transmitted by mosquitoes prevalent in tropical countries or regions. My Father’s best friend died of this virus.
I have spent many nights in the hospital and required multiple blood transfusions during this time.
Evry time I sleep I only wish not to wake up anymore because of the pain. As I talked to the light, I only mentioned one statement towards it “I want to inspire more people” that’s it, I then remember nothing. This promise was the foundational beginning of all the reasons why I write and share my reflections on things that matter to me and what I think would matter to help other individuals.
Similarly, I have been a lot of things for the past 30 years.
A seminarian, who was on the cusp of becoming a priest
A registered nurse
A cook
An Iron worker
Security personnel
Government employee
Writer…author…as I would like to think.
Just because it’s taking time does not mean it’s not going to happen
As my life unfolded I was there trying to author it but I must say, editing as I go made more sense, I do not have a lot of money to customize my life as I want to but I have a lot of reasons to do the things that I love and to work for the things important to me.
To be honest with you, my real-life goal is to be able to create a business that involves teaching, inspiring and mentoring, I really don’t know how to get there yet, but I am doing a lot of things that is helping me acquire different kinds of knowledge, which I am happy to share even now.
I am figuring out a way to build a facility where people learn, train and share about fitness, martial arts and one that fosters a lot of camaraderie and brotherhood in a sense, I want to be surrounded by like-minded people and in return I want to surround them with people that will help each other become the best versions of themselves.
Whether this be here, overseas or abroad, I’m trying hard to achieve this goal. For now, I do not have a lot of support but that is evocative of a lot of things in life, it will be hard and lonely at first, but I am willing to go through that.
I always fantasize about a place where everybody shares knowledge and experiences with each other, because everyone can learn from anyone, regardless of status in life.
I am now a better grappler than my first coaches ever were, I am currently a blue belt, both of them I believe stopped grappling and pursued other forms of martial art, I train more than them nowadays but there are reasons why I mentioned my white belt coaches here, it’s because everyone can learn from anyone, regardless of status in life.
I remember my first jiu jitsu instructors were white belts, in a weird way they taught me most of the things that I still utilize to this day. I rationalized some of the reasons why and found out:
That 1: they are as stupid as me, what I mean by this is; because my movements are not yet refined they relate to me more than a black belt does, a black belt will perform a technique with effortless ease and a complete newbie will not be able to perform the way he does, while my white belt teacher is much closer to my stupid ass, he knows what I am currently going through, so he helps me take in the little nuances that come with the move because he knows exactly what I am talking about.
2: we are getting better together, my white belt coaches really only knew about 3 or 4 submissions, but with that, comes the effectiveness of basics and fundamentals, they were more simplistic with words and jargons used compared to some of the black belts I encountered, black belts might use terms that are foreign to me which in turn I could not even digest leading to a more confused state.
3: Jadedness, a black belt instructor may or may not be jaded by a certain technique, which he does not even use anymore, while the white belts I was with focused on a lot of the techniques that they knew effectively. I can also tell that my white belt guys were much more enthusiastic at teaching someone like me compared to some black belts, maybe because some of them are tired of teaching newbies or just thinks highly of themselves not wanting to stoop down and teach beginners class anymore.
A person much closer to my level might know the difficulties I’m experiencing compared to an elite grappler, because they have been so good for so long that they forgot how to suck already, so when they are performing or teaching certain moves, they expect students to do as they did or do as they think it.
XERGIUS 