My, how fast time flies

I wake up each morning, slug it out and do what I need to do – do my quiet time, make a living, meet new friends, make sure I have materials for my radio broadcast, prepare for this column, write another book, speak in one or two occasions, do another training... And then it hits me: so much time has already passed, so many things have already been accomplished, and yet much remains to be done.

There is no finish line when it comes to doing good work, but that shouldn’t wear me out. I love what I do so much, I never felt like I was working.

I gave a public seminar one time for about 1,600 participants. During the break, a young lady working for the HR Department of a multi-national company smilingly approached me and remarked, “Sir Francis, this is actually not my first time to get to know you.”

“Oh is that right?” I said.

“Yes, Sir, because the first time I got to know you was when my mom gave me your first book.”

I smiled. “Oh, really? And when was that?”

She replied, “When I was 10 years old.”

“Shut up!” I said.

People say I look young for my age. What they mean is, I’m not young anymore. But aging has its own reward. A reporter interviewing a 104-year-old woman asked, “And what do you think is the best thing about being 104?” The Centenarian simply replied, “No peer pressure.”

When I was young, I was foolish. As is true with most young people, there was always an air of invincibility and immortality about and around me. As the years went by, I noticed there were more hospital visits to make and more funerals to attend. And then I realized there is finality to life after all.

Still, I keep myself young. Apart from eating the right food and exercising regularly, I exercise the mind and am extremely serious about personal development. But these do not come naturally; these come intentionally.

You deal with bad habits and replace them with good ones. You read books, attend seminars, learn from other people’s advice and their mistakes, correct your own mistakes, and make sure to move on. It takes skills to live life correctly and successfully.

The world continues to change. Circumstances constantly change. How about people, do people change?

On the onset, it looks like the answer is obvious – of course people change. The more critical question is, do people change for the better, or do they change for the worse? (Or worse, for the worst?)

I have met what I thought were the best of people who turned out to be the worst today. And I have met people whom I thought were hopeless who actually turned out to be successful.

You and I change. We grow and mature. We learn new skills. We meet new friends. We encounter new experiences. We develop our perspective and change our lifestyle over time.

But it’s no walk in the park.Old habits die hard. New skills may be difficult to master. New friends carry value system opposed to yours. You can get a new job assignment or lose what you used to have. You can invest in a project which could turn belly up. And we don’t have to go far with illustrations – you can build your dream house one day, only to have the floods wash it away the next.

There must be something we can do as we face the uncertainties of life.

Here is my suggestion: embark on a journey of personal growth. We may not be able to control our circumstances, but we sure can be equipped with the necessary skills to deal with them. And we can trust in our Maker. Our lives, our country, may be beset with troubles, some minor some big time. But God is still in control.

It’s not magic. It’s not escapism. God has given us a vivid mind and an able body to achieve great things for His sake. We just need to grow and develop ourselves to enable us to achieve it.

Make sure you embark on a personal growth and development program. And make sure it’s not only for the New Year. Make sure it’s for the rest of your life.

(You can now receive daily inspirational quotes and thoughts from me. Text “Inspire” to 288 for Smart or Sun subscribers, and 2889 for Globe subscribers. Or visit facebook.com/franciskong 2 for more details.)