I’ve been going through Proverbs in my Life Application Study Bible, and I’ve found myself gaining nuggets of wisdom. My spiritual gift isn’t wisdom, and I often have had to pray for wisdom to come from the Lord. Having wisdom is essential in making the right choices in our day to day. Abiding by God’s truth helps ensure we live our lives according to our plans as well as His plans for us.

Do you ever feel stuck? Like your mind is running a mile a minute and you’re just stuck, lying in bed and ruminating, holding onto grudges and bitterness, envying others while scrolling through social media, and you can’t help your negative thinking patterns, which are paralyzing you? And you have a million things to do — working on an academic paper for a cardiology journal, preparing your lesson plan for a student, studying for the classes you’re taking, going into the hospital or research lab to volunteer, work on job applications, do some coding for the infant start up idea you’ve been feasting on for forever, and working out to get the body of your dreams. And you know these things have to be done, they’re on your to do list, you wrote them down on sticky notes, you even taped them to the bathroom mirror. But you’re still rotting on your bed, looking at TikTok videos and Instagram reels instead of doing the work you need to do to get the life you want and the success you know you’re meant for.

I recently finished reading The Power of Self Discipline, and it’s been enlightening. It talks about managing the discomfort that comes from doing things you have to do and how exercising your self control muscle will alleviate the discomfort day by day. While it didn’t offer tips on creating the ideal productivity system, it helped me formulate and refine my current productivity system.

Discipline is about doing things in the present that your future self will thank you for later on. For example, running 30 minutes outside will help your future self be more fit. Learning how to play several chords on the guitar will help your future self be better at guitar. Spending some time cleaning your apartment will give your future self a more organized and clean space to work in. Instead of giving into instant gratification as many are wont to do, discipline yourself to eat the frog and do the thing that your future self will be grateful for. Delay your gratification for your future success.

When you’re six years old, you don’t have much in life to worry about besides listening to your parents and having fun with friends and figuring out your future out.

Several things I know I want to be in my future – rich, married with a family, and a doctor. Not necessarily in that order.

Besides figuring my future out, I’ve gotten into the habit of trying to figure myself out. Whether it’s journaling or taking personality tests.

I’ve gotten knee deep into personality tests. There’s not much I can do on the computer without adult supervision and parental controls, so I just look up personality tests on the Internet.

I think I’ve belonged to 10 churches over the course of my life. 10 is a nice number, and I’m not exaggerating. All right, if you want to know all the churches I’ve been to, here’s the list. Minus some names, that I’ve forgotten.

1. Church of Baptism - the Catholic church where I was baptized in NYC. I come back here after returning to New York in first grade.

2. Church of London - the Catholic church that I went to with my guardians where I was baptized again and was Confirmed. I started a fundraising initiative, was in charge of refreshments including lemonade and desserts and cakes, and started a Christian rock band.

“So I’m going to die in two months.”

I look up from my notebook to see Mike grimly set his mouth in a straight line. I’m drawing infinity symbols again, something I do from time to time. I have an obsession with infinity. I love the idea of forever, and how infinity just stretches on and on and on.

Mike doesn’t get it. He doesn’t believe in forever or eternity or infinity. He thinks everything has an expiration date.

He’s so cynical sometimes. But that’s one thing I like about Mike. I don’t like the trait in others, but in Mike, it feels complementary to me.

I finished studying the book of Hebrews, and I wanted to share what I learned in my study. Hebrews is aimed at Jewish Christians to encourage believers to remain steadfast in their faith by illustrating the superiority of Jesus Christ to Old Testament heroes and figures. Jesus’s sacrifice is final and sufficient for salvation, rather than Old Testament practices of sacrificing animals. Through Jesus Christ, our sins are forgiven and we can accept his sacrifice for us, being cleansed and made whole through taking Communion.

“Fix your thoughts on Jesus.” - Hebrews 3:1

Putting God first and foremost means trusting him over any person in this world. God is the ultimate parent, therapist, doctor, pastor. Go first to God for advice on your troubles, and others are secondary to him. Talk to God through prayer and listen to him speak to you so he can sustain you in times of stress and pain. God can be relied on in times of suffering and pain, he is the one who is unchanging for all of Eternity.

I’ve been learning more about the sanctification process through my church Church of the City (NY). They have an awesome series called Formed, which talks about the steps to salvation — justification, sanctification, and glorification. Sanctification is the process of becoming more like the likeness of Jesus Christ with the help of the Holy Spirit. Three actions that catalyze the process of sanctification are affliction, mortification, and vivification. Affliction is the process of suffering all Christians go through the same way Jesus suffered, mortification is the process of putting to death sin, and vivification is the renewal of the soul by the Holy Spirit.

Proverbs 31 describes a woman who is able to do many things. Women need to take care of themselves, put God first through Bible study and prayer and worship, work and engage in hobbies, organize their time well and plan daily, and manage their relationships. Here are 20 habits that women should be doing to prioritize their well being and their life.

“On the other side of greatness is love.”

Reading through all of Psalms, I learned more about King David and King Solomon as I traversed through the verses. I could imagine the pain King David was going through, the limitations he was pushed to that he started writing Psalms to appeal to the Lord. I too was pushed to my limitations, so I went through Psalms in order to exalt the Lord and submit to Him.

(1) He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
(2) I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
(3) Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
(4) He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
(5) Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
(6) Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

In the Bible, 40 is a significant number. Jesus fasted in the desert for 40 days, which is the maximum you can fast before dying. Jesus spent 40 days after his resurrection teaching his disciples. Moses spent 40 years in the desert and 40 days in Mount Sinai. The number 40 symbolizes trial and tribulation, endurance and perseverance, and completion and accomplishment.

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” – Romans 12:2

I haven’t been able to watch TV as of late. Series that once interested me fall flat, and I’m more interested in watching Bible documentaries and The Bible Project and The Chosen series than watching secular TV. A devotional that I read about the renewing of the mind lit a fire inside me, causing me to be more aware of the thinking patterns that have been unfruitful for me.

Choosing God’s path is the way to find healing. When you read the Word and develop a relationship with Him, He will guide you through life. Choose God to receive the Holy Spirit and the promise of eternal life.

Meditating on the Word means spending time reading, thinking, marking, and reviewing what we have read. It means changing and growing so we live in accordance to what God wants. Getting a study Bible was the best decision I could have made for my faith. Meditating on and understanding God’s word are the first steps to applying it to your every day life.

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” - Psalms 34:18

I’ve had complex PTSD for a long time. It started 2 years ago, when several acts of sin followed me and caused me to lose my job, my apartment, my dog, and my savings. The enemy attacked me, and it wasn’t until recently, that I’ve managed to defeat him.

The war with Satan lasted for more than 20 years. Incident after incident, attack after attack, Satan tried to take me from my Father. I was baptized when I was a baby and was cemented in my faith for years, having gone to Catholic church. But after high school, I fell from my faith and departed from God. It took me more than 10 years to go back to my faith.

Ok, so recently I decided to cave into (or RE-cave) my coffee addiction. It started in high school when I started using my mom’s prized coffee maker for sleepless all-nighters spent doing calc homework and studying for the SAT’s. I didn’t spend a dime on Starbuck’s frappuchinos unlike the school newspaper nerds or my favorite student council president. But my favorite coffee back then was Starbuck’s ground coffee, and I never looked back since.

I’ve been meditating since I was a kid. Forced to live in a Buddhist monastery by my Spartan father, I had to meditate for hours. Meditation helped me gain focus, concentration, and discipline. Without it, I would have still been the hyperactive, restless kid with the attention span of a goldfish.

I got my first pair of ballet shoes when I was five years old. I started taking ballet classes in the UK because “all the other girls were taking it” and I liked all things pretty. I was the only paradox in my ballet class, sporting a bowl shaped haircut and a pink tutu with leotards as the other girls had their hair in buns.

I remember in 2017, sitting at my desk during work at break time and reading through Exodus on my iMac. I had embarked on a year-long plan to finish the Bible in chronological order. During this time, I didn't have a physical Bible but relied heavily on apps and websites, using my iPad to pore through devotionals. I had forgotten about the importance of having a physical Bible, having forgotten a lot what I knew about Christianity from my youth and younger days.

I’ve been doing yoga since 2019. There are a ton of benefits to yoga, and I’ve recently started signing up for yoga classes again. Previously I was doing it off of Youtube and constructing my own yoga routine that I do every day. Yoga’s really calming and keeps me grounded in my body and well as tones the body and stretches the muscles. I highly recommend yoga to anyone wanting to relieve stress and be more grounded in their bodies. It helps with anxiety as well as reduces stress and increases breathwork.