Being Aware ...

I'm Chris and
I'm a Sailfish.

Ha ha! A really close friend of mine sent me this fun link that also happens to be an educational site about marine life preservation. And TA DA! I am a SAIILFISH! Here's what I learned about Sailfishes today!

"You are an athlete of the sea, swimming at speeds clocked at up to 68 mph. You are also recognized for jumping to incredible heights. You are known for your pointy bill and large sail, the dorsal fin that can stretch the entire length of your back. Your sail is often folded over to the side while swimming for aerodynamics, and is raised to look make you look twice your size when threatened or excited. Growing quickly, by age one you often reach 4 to 5 feet in length and can reach 10ft as an adult. You enjoy eating squid and small fish, and may use your fin to catch dinner by herding schools of small fish with your fellow sailfish.

But as a highly prized game fish your populations have declined from overfishing. Anglers are now encouraged to catch and release you. Typically you will only live between 4 to 5 years, as this is the average life expectancy of a sailfish."

What are we doing to the world we live in? I'm not a big conservationist but I really do feel concerned that a lot of nature is being destroyed every day. I'm gonna do a little bit on my part to help protect our environment. I was at Jusco recently with my granny & aunt and it was a nice surprise when the person at the check out counter asked if we had our own tote bags for groceries. I was like ... WOW ... score one for Jusco. It's great to be reminded to use less plastic bags. I'm gonna start making it a habit to carry my own bags for groceries and to not take plastic bags if I can afford it.

I'm also pretty excited that my PS3 is able to help out in cancer research. In case some of you don't know, the PS3 has an app called Folding@HOME that you can leave on when the machine is idle to run protein simulations that hopefully lead to a cure for cancer. I've lost extended family members from cancer and one of my aunts now is fighting it. The best part of it is that I usually download large files like demos, etc sometimes just so I can leave Folding @HOME running. He he ... I'm glad that my expensive toy can do some good rather than just be a video game console.

Anyways, I'm gonna take a break today I guess. It's been a gruelling week and I have quite a few things to do this weekend. I've got a XML file to populate for a site revamp, a information architecture design (i.e. sitemap) to do, a website to upload (for that freelance project that I committed to before I started work) and 3 scripts to write for trailers for our upcoming big production in church. Having said that I also have a lot of stuff that's piling up for Four Forty Records. It's crazy. That's a lot of stuff to do and one day off would mean one less day to work but I'm human and a break would be very welcome.

I should at least upload the files for the freelance job and run through the site. Which reminds me ... I have not done my quiet time yet! Better stop blogging and better start spending some time with God before I start off a beautiful Saturday.

Meeting The Robinsons Again: Lessons on Moving Forward

"Keep Moving Forward"
Cornelius Robinson

I just can't get the simple motto that drives Disney's "Meet The Robinsons" out of my head. "Keep Moving Forward". It makes so much sense. I don't know if it's biblical or not but it makes a lot of sense to me today to not be trapped by the past.

I know it's not easy to forget the past. Painful experiences. Mistakes. These things make us the people we are today in a lot of ways. Both good & bad shapes us - there's no denying that. The biggest mistake really; would be to dwell on these things and allow them to dictate who we are today. We can change. It's hard work but we can do it with effort and a lot of divine grace. It's not easy but the results at the end of the day are worth it.

In the past year or so I've been learning to leave the past behind and to glean wisdom from my mistakes. It's so easy to slip back into a negative state of mind and wonder why things have not gone my way but in doing so I risk losing sight of all the good things that ARE already in my life. Living in the present is hard-work though cos' more often than not we find ourselves trapped in 2 modes of thought:

• Living in the past, trapped by our past successes & failures
• Living in the future, never satisfied & always wanting more

Meeting the Robinsons again on DVD has helped me a lot these past three days and reminded me to be content with what I have now and to live each day out as it comes. I know that GOD is in control but I really do have a part to play in shaping my own life. The future is not cast in stone and there's still a lot to do to live out life and make it good. It's comforting to know that He can take all the bad that's happened in my life and turn it into something beautiful in His time.

Living in the present means forgiving the past (and people too ya?) & learning from it, to have hope for the future but still focus on the now. And that my friend is what it means to "keep moving forward".

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."
Hebrews 11:1