4 Days Left.

last word: a love that the world may be united as 1.

that's the love I have to run this marathon. 42.175 km. the distance from my house to union station.

nervous? somewhat
anxious? a little
fearful? no

love wipes away all fear.
fear is silenced through courage.
courage is made perfect through faith.

today's training: 4miles easy jog

feeling: courage

5 Days Left.

where there's LOVE,

 life is an eternal bliss

I truly mean that from every fiber of my being- mind, heart and soul that perfect happiness is not a destination or goal but the journey...

journey of life.

but without love, there's no life.

I don't know about you, but life is surely not made of the temporary success, material wealth, or rather worldly acknowledgement as it appears to be.

perfect happiness. profound joy. 

is the sure belief of knowing that you are loved.

for me, being loved is certainly why I know love is forgiving.

if only I could express to the world without end how much I have the

  unfailing desire to show His love. 

a love that the world...

may be united as 

1.

6 Days Left.

last word: let go of your EGO.
that's our greatest limitation: our EGO.

that's why often we hear that our greatest limitation is our own self,
and without that, limitations seem meaningless
because we are no longer contained in our weakness,
but rather experience a feeling of freedom- sure bliss.


bliss: perfect happiness. profound joy.

where there's LOVE, life is an eternal bliss.

today's training: 5 km quick run

feeling: bliss

6 more days until marathon!

12 Days Left.

last word: love is for-GIVING because that's where it starts: in forgiveness.


it was not until I started writing this phrase that I realized what my friend actually meant when he said those words.

  Forgiveness is the essence of Love.

but then it really only occurred to me when I tried to live it because just imagine trying to learn how to play basketball by reading all the books, manuals, instructions, rules, etc, but not actually picking up a ball to play. You would never ACTUALLY understand and learn how to play.

So I've been speaking with an OLDER friend of mine for several weeks, who will be the cook at an Italian Fundraising Dinner for this coming weekend. We've had endless conversations because of many problems we've faced in preparation. So one time, my patience with him was slowly disappearing as he called me in the midst of exams and I couldn't help but finish our conversation in an abrupt manner. So the next time I spoke with him, same thing, I was in a hurry to return back to Toronto, and he was there speaking to me without end. He must have sensed my impatience from last time and spoke to me a little differently. However, I tried to place myself in his shoes and tried to understand his point of view. No longer did I think of my own tasks ahead, but tried to be patient for those particular moments. In the end, I told him in an act of humility for forgiveness and immediately a smile came his face. All of a sudden, he lightened up and ended the conversation by saying, "We can do this together.
As hard as it is to lEt GO of our EGO, the easier it can be 2LOVE.

as  love is forgiving because love is for-GIVING.

today's training:  6.5 km

feeling: SNOWY XD

 

18 Days Left.

last word: love costs to who gives, but is free to whom given.
I hold copyrights to that haha,
I think if I were ever to get a tattoo, I would have that written (just kidding!).

it's it true that in our society, love can be so conditional?
conditioned, attached to one's own self, or limited to those who love back.
but I'm here to share that real love isn't just that.
It is without conditions, detached from yourself, and not limited to those who love back...

the real essence of LOVE is in forgiveness, but when someone told me, I had to think about that for a moment...
for-GIVE. It starts when there's nothing to be forgiven, that we can have  love

..."for-Giving" freely, detached 

and without limitations. 

if you wonder why at times it is easier to love someone you barely know
than to love someone close like your family.
for me, hardest is my brother


and the thought of HIM came to my mind [as he's all the way in Italy like me (last year)] because I heard that my friend from Vietnam was arriving home after a 2000 km journey to be with her family because she had received the shocking news of her brother- his passing due to a work accident. When I was able to reach her by phone, I was relieved to hear her calm and peaceful voice.

So in the end, we don't want to live with the regret of not having loved enough.

Today's training: 10 km run

feeling: perseverant 

19 Days Left.

last word: love calls us to be selfLESS.


anyone who has had a child can tell you that love becomes selfLESS, not that I would know fully about that but I've heard from many others. We are born as the most selfish little beings, where the whole world revolves around us. When we are hungry, we cry, when we don't like something, we scream and when we feel tired, we yell. You get the point, but as we grow up we start to realize that the world isn't all about us. We must learn through the examples of others how to think about OTHERS rather than ourselves. So our lives start from being the most selfish to becoming and learning how to be selfLESS.

How to put others before ourself,
                            how to think and care for others,
                                                        how to place the needs of others before that of ourselves.

We start as receiving all the love we want
and need to learn how to share and give this love to others.

it starts with the smallest things,
love can be just a simple smile when we feel down,
love can be giving half of your sandwich to someone,
love can be introducing yourself to someone alone,
love can be listening to someone with a heavy heart,
love can be lending a shoulder to someone hurt,
love can be saying sorry after a disagreement,
love can be thinking of others before yourself...

love costs  to who gives, but is free to whom given.

anyone that knows me knows that I'm extremely cheap, when I went shopping as a kid, I did pack my lunch when everyone ate at the food court. A few days ago, I was debating whether to attend all 3 events for the bachelorette party this weekend because I knew it would come up to a lot of money. I was thinking of just attending one of the events because I wanted to be there of course. But the more I thought about it and thought about it in her shoes, the more I realized I wanted to just attend one because I wasn't going for HER, but rather for myself. Because it would costs less. But then, I realized if I were to really love...

I'm going to go to the whole thing because it would costs MORE...

Love costs to who gives, but is free to whom given. 

and that's LOVE 4 you. 

20 Days left.

been writing at the end of the day which isn't really great when I wait patiently in bed to fall asleep because my brain is still wired from blogging

yesterday I was left with a bittersweet feeling as my encounter with my Protestant and Muslim friend about the Truth ended in a peaceful discussion, however I realized that words and explanations really don't go far if
words aren't put into action.
if our actions aren't manifestations of our words, then SO WHAT? if we have the most complex understanding and knowledge about this and that...it means nothing.

last word: love isn't just in saying, rather somewhat in doing, but more so in BEING.
this morning I thought to call up a friend and see how she was doing since I knew she had been crazy busy and has had a lot on her plate. I guess we are all BUSY, busy with things, people, etc, but we have to try and go against our THINGS to take the FIRST step. So when I called her, I tried to listen with my whole heart and put aside everything else so I could live that present moment. At times, I catch myself trying to multi-task when I talk to people on the phone, but that's only be selfish.

Love calls us to be selfLESS.