Non Standard Issue: Single? Then I Love Life!

Yes, because I celebrated this "couple's occasion" with other singles who joined the I Love Life Singles’ Retreat organized by the Light of Jesus Family – Feast Ortigas in CCT Tagaytay.

It was my first time to join a retreat, and I was blessed to be able to join such a life changing activity. My heart and soul had become lighter. My determination to pursue my dreams had been strengthened. My desire to be a better person had been fueled.

Most importantly, I was reminded that I may make mistakes and may falter along the way, but God will always be cheering for me and encouraging me get up whenever I stumble on life’s cracks. Instead of pompoms, God will hold a GPS receiver and help me navigate the route whenever I get lost in my journey. Even though I sometimes stubbornly refuse to follow His guidance and go my own way, He will always enthusiastically welcome me back, offer me his bottomless ice tea labeled “Love”, and root for me once again. Also…

Ooops, my imagination may have wandered a teeny little bit. This blog was supposed to solemnly (and weepingly) share about my experiences last February 16 and 17 during our I Love Life Retreat, but the image of God ala coach cum stage father with the GPS and iced tea makes me smile. For the rest of this blog, I promise to be less corny, and I hope you will read my story with an open and reflective heart.

With Ortigas Feast Builder Bro. Vic Español and some of my new found friends.

My two days retreat = inspiring talks + powerful worship + heart-opening sharing and reflection + inner healing + mass (+ cool climate + beautiful scenery + friendship and companionship + delicious food)

We listened and were touched by the speakers who talked about Loving Yourself, Loving Others, Loving God, and Service. We worshipped day in and day out. We cleansed our souls of fear, hate, regret, insecurity, and self-loathing. We breathed in and filled the vacated space with love, self-respect and freedom. We emerged cleaner, victorious, and more ready to live and love life.

The day is bright and sunny but Tagaytay is still cool.

For those two days, we shared a part of ourselves to each other and let the tears and emotions freely. We cleansed ourselves of excess baggage and in turn, made room for the more positive aspects of life. Not everything is soap opera material though, because we also had activities which brought out our creativity and made us laugh until our tummies ached. Yes, we may have cried like children, but we also played like children.

So, did the retreat solve all of our problems?

But, it gave us the chance to reflect on the broken pieces of our lives, and visualize the bigger picture of our existence. It allowed us to discover the weary and unloved parts of our selves, and learned to nourish and fill it up with love. It showed us the importance of loving ourselves first so that we can love others, because we cannot share love to others if our own love tank is empty. In the end, our goal is not to make others love us, but for us to love others, and we can only fulfill that mission if we have happy self-love.

Changing for the better does not happen in a snap of a finger. As one of the speakers had said, “With God, it is a process.” The process can be difficult and hurtful because we need to reach into the inner parts of our being and bring into light our hidden scars and wounds, along with our forsaken dreams and goals. It could take days, months, and even years, but in that long and tedious process of letting the poisons and toxic out, we would also slowly rediscover who we really are.

But what if your life is such a tangled, directionless mess you do not even know where you are let alone where to begin repairing yourself?

That is where the 50% rule of Bro. Bo Sanchez comes in…and please read this carefully because it is very important… the 50% rule states that “once you have accepted your sins and mistakes, you are 50 percent done.”

One awesome reminder is whatever percentage you are in, whether it is 50%, or 0%, or even starting at negative, someone up there has your back. No matter how empty your love tank is, you are confident that the source of love will always be ready to fill it up to brim because “Nothing you can do can make God love you less.” The Grace of God is guaranteed, bottomless, "unexpirable", fireproof, waterproof, and yes, humanproof.

Reflecting on it, I had now secured my 50%, and because of the blessings and inspiration I had from the retreat, I am recharged to continue working on the remainder. At the same time, I am also aware that while I am still alive, 100% will always be an imaginative figure, because I will always be a work-in-progress.

Like a great actress with life as my stage, I will bravely and constantly reinvent myself so I that will be able to do my best in the roles given to me. My secret weapon is I will let God be my manager and be the co-scripwriter of my life story as well.

P.S. For the other readers, if you are not a Feast attendee and you are curious, you can visit the Light of Jesus website and also be part of the online Kerygma Family. Other Feasts hold their retreats too, but if you want to know more about the Ortigas Feast I Love Life Retreat, here is the Facebook page.