The Art of Being Well

It was posted on my office's notice board since the early days when the office first started. And I think it is worth sharing :) with a little notes from me *in orange*... to show relationship between physical, emotional, and spiritual realms of human being.

The Art of Being Well

Dr. Dráuzio Varella


If you don’t want to be ill...
...Speak your feelings.

Emotions and feelings that are hidden, repressed, end in illnesses as: gastritis, ulcer, lumbar pains, spinal. With time, the repression of the feelings degenerates to the cancer. Then, we go to a confidante, to share our intimacy, ours "secret", our errors! The dialogue, the speech, the word, is a powerful remedy and an excellent therapy!

*I usually let my thoughts, feelings, opinion, sin, my everything, be known by GOD through prayers along the day. He is my confidante!

If you don’t want to be ill...
...Make Decisions.

The undecided person remains in doubt, in anxiety, in anguish. Indecision accumulates problems, worries and aggressions. Human history is made of decisions. To decide is precisely to know to renounce, to know to lose advantages and values to win others. The undecided people are victims of gastric ailments, nervous pains and problems of the skin.

*Some questions I usually ask to make it easier to make decision:
- Is it necessary? If no, no need. If yes, go the next question.
- Is it good? If yes, go to the next one.
- Is it right/true? If yes, then yes. If no, then no.

If you don’t want to be ill...
...Find Solutions.

Negative people do not find solutions and they enlarge problems. They prefer lamentation, gossip, pessimism. It is better to light a match that to regret the darkness. A bee is small, but produces one of the sweetest things that exist. We are what we think. The negative thought generates negative energy that is transformed into illness.

*Be positive! My high school friend nickname me "NT". It stands for negative thinker... Since then I evaluated myself and train my self to think and to be positive. Try to bring positive impacts towards others.
"Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." Phil 4:8

If you don’t want to be ill...
...Don’t Live By Appearances.

Who hides reality, pretends , poses and always wants to give the impression of being well. He wants to be seen as perfect, easy-going, etc. but is accumulating tons of weight. A bronze statue with feet of clay. There is nothing worse for the health than to live on appearances and facades. These are people with a lot of varnish and little root. Their destiny is the pharmacy, the hospital and pain.

*Still have to learn a lot about this because sometimes I just try to appear strong in front of people when actually I am weak.
"I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind..." Jeremiah 17:10

If you don’t want to be ill...
...Accept.

The refusal of acceptance and the absence of self-esteem, make us alienate ourselves. Being at one with ourselves is the core of a healthy life. They who do not accept this, become envious, jealous, imitators, ultra-competitive, destructive. Be accepted, accept that you are accepted, accept the criticisms. It is wisdom, good sense and therapy.

*When I was a kid & teenage, I was obese. My weight once reached 75 kg. Other kids said hurtful things to me. Plus, I could not pronounce 'r' correctly *I pronounce it as 'l' or no sound* People made fun of me. It really crushed my self-esteem. I was a very shy & introvert girl then. But since I accepted Jesus as my Savior and Lord, it was all changed. Christ, the King of kings, accepted me as who I was... a sinful and "ugly" person. It would be a foolish thing not to accept myself. And to realize that I was accepted means better ability to accepts my self... and eventually to accept others. Now, I'm a much more confident person. I can even stand in front of people and teach :)
"Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God." Rome 15:7

If you don’t want to be ill...
...Trust.

Who does not trust, does not communicate, is not opened, is not related, does not create deep and stable relations, does not know to do true friendships. Without confidence, there is not relationship. Distrust is a lack of faith in you and in faith itself.

*"Trust in the Lord with all your heart..." Proverbs 3:5a

If you don’t want to be ill...
...Do Not Live Life Sad.

Good humor. Laughter. Rest. Happiness. These replenish health and bring long life. The happy person has the gift to improve the environment wherever they live. “Good humor saves us from the hands of the doctor". Happiness is health and therapy.

*I'm grateful to be born in a family that appreciate humors. My dad and youngest bro is the best! :)
"Laughter is not an escape from reality, it is an evidence that we understand reality and can cope with it... The ability to laugh at the right time and for the right reason is a gift from God that will do you more good than piles of pills and tons of therapy." -Warren Wiersbe. On Being a Servant of God.-
"A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." Proverbs 17:22

Join us! :)

I myself benefited a lot from BOOT CAMP and especially from every PLAY and THINK session that I attended. Some of them:
- I've been made aware of the utmost importance of reflection. It is vital to reflect. And we could actually reflect on ANYTHING. To reflect means to use our senses to observe. From the observation we generate learning points that we could apply next time. By applying the learning points we will improve our life each day.
Since I started to join TMA last August, I have forced myself to reflect at the very end of everyday.
-I've been made aware of the importance to find my vision in life, AND the ability to articulate it (not just in my mind only). And to based my vision by the right values. Pastor Glenn (my mentor) has a stack of folder on his vision, mission, life purpose statement, short-term and long-term planning, etc. Complete, man! Amazing! I'm still a long way to go on this...
-I also learnt some practical skills like facilitating games & small groups, how to do a presentation a framework, how to empower people through socrastic questions instead of didactic questions.
-And a lot more :)
So... what are you waiting for? Join us! :)

Souvenirs from Bandung

After more than one year, I finally went back my lovely hometown, Bandung, from 1-8 Nov :)

Now, let me unpack my bag and check whether I had souvenirs from Bandung...
Hmm... yup, I had quite a lot :)

Souvenir 1
Lord, thank you for the Revival Meeting I attended that once again reminded me about death. I was asked two questions about death:
The first question was "Are you afraid of death?"
To answer this question, I would say, "No, I'm not, because even if I die, I know for sure that I will be with the Lord in the best place."
The second question was "If you have to die now, are you ready?"
Logically speaking, if I'm not afraid of death, I should have answered "Yes" for this question. But somehow I couldn't feel confidence to answer "Yes", because in my mind and in my heart I believe that I haven't lived my life to the fullest. I haven't done well what God has called me to be and to do.
The second question has been a small wake-up call for me to start to take action of what I'm going to do in my future... I keep on praying that everything will go well according to HIS plan.

Went home from Revival Meeting to find a shocking news that one of my dogs has gone blind! Both eyes!T.T

Souvenir 2
Had a rare chance to gather with the complete set of my extended family from my Mom's side! :) Many of them intentionally came to Bandung. All of us went to photo studio and took pictures! That was the first studio photo I had since I moved to Sg 3 years ago.
I still believe that family members are the best people for me to be with. I felt safe... I felt love... I felt protection... and I felt that I didn't need to put a lot of efforts to bond with them again eventhough we haven't met for so long... it just happened naturally...

Souvenir 3
Went to doctor to consult on my blocked and runny nose that had been going on for 1 month. He gave me two kinds of medicine and gave me 2 advise to improve my immune system (the lack of it has resulted to the prolonged blocked nose):
First, not to sleep very late (which I always did in Sg). I usually went to sleep between 2-2.30am.
First, not to go on a diet. Well, I wasn't not really on a diet, but I think the problem is I have not eaten enough healthy food. I eat a lot, but not much nutrition on the food I consumed in Sg.
What the doctor said to me has made me thinking whether I had been taken good care of my health when I was in Sg. Well, I didn't think so. It seemed that I had difficulties take care of my health if I'm far away from my parents. Last year when I went back to Bandung, I got quite bad uric acid (asam urat) and high cholesterol >.<
Since I came back to Sg on 8 Nov, I have been trying to sleep early. About food, it's still quite difficult for me to get healthy food here... On the process to live a healthy lifestyle...

Souvenir 4
When nobody couldn't drive me to where I wanted to go, I would take taxi, therefore I had a chance to chat with some taxi drivers.
There was one common theme on what they would talk about: They would "complain" that nowadays it is very difficult to earn for a living. Two main factors that contributed to it are competition with other taxi provider and traffic jams.
Along the way, I would ask them about their family. It somehow make them realized that things haven't gone so bad as their family still afford basic needs as foods, house, and clothes. They even still be able to afford the school tuition fee! Well, not that bad, rite? Maybe we should reflect on what we have before we start to complain :)
I hope in the future I could meet people like them and help them realize to be thankful of the things they have instead of complaining because of the great things that they did not have...

Souvenir 5
My friend's wedding! One of the happiest moment in my life :)
It gave me a chance to welcome some friends to come to Bandung.
Well... I'm very very very proud of Bandung! Nice weather... reasonable price... friendly people... good food... :D

Well... there are some of the souvenirs I took from Bandung...

After the refreshing and recharging moment in Bandung, I went back to Sg to find myself loving my job more. Just luv it and enjoy it. And I also learn to spend time with GOD more. I slept earlier, woke up earlier, and double up my quiet times. Just nice!

What a worth getaway :D