Like bull riding?

"it's not if you get hurt, it's when." -- this is a quote that bull riders say very often.

Life has been described as a roller coaster amongst many other adventurous rides, but today as I walked back from work the only thing I can think of is "bull riding". Now, I know that like me, many of us have just seen this sport but have no idea what are the rules to the game or how can this even be a game. I did some research on this sport and from what I read the only rule to this sport is, well stay on the ride for more than 8 seconds. I am not going to focus on how the game is scored but on how it is important to stay on this bull ride for 8 seconds.

Now what do you need to to bull ride: Here are some basics, bull riding vest, bull rope, bull riding glove, rosin, boots and helmet. The vest helps protect against punctures during the pulls done in this bull ride, the glove protects your hands, the rosin is an interesting tool that is used to make the rope stickier for a better grip, (it is a rock form that is rubbed on the rope), and well the rest are all protective armors. That being said, every rough ride requires a special armor, --- Ephesians 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. We won't be able to stay on this bull ride if we are not properly equipped. And like every rider we need to make sure that in our path we are equipped to face whatever is thrown our way.

Sometimes we want to become champions and overcome, become the best but fail to acknowledge on how to do so. If we want to beat those 8 seconds that are required we must make sure we have the proper tools. How equipped are you for this bull ride?


What bull ride you ask? That life of ours that can sometimes be described like a bull ride. When having a strong grip on those horns is all you have left. When holding on to dear life, in hopes of not falling, is all that matters. This is a life bull life ride. A verse that comes to mind as I write this is: "We rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." Romans 5:3-4 So yes, this bull ride will leave some scars, it will have some moments of pain but at the end of it all we know that it will just build a positive traits in our life. So although, this path is a great one, and everyday I face life I appreciate every moment i can of it, I can't help to feel as if sometimes I am almost bouncing all over the place with this ride. So don't think that life is supposed to be all dandy and pretty all the time, because NO we will have our rough days.

You see on this ride, the good part of it all is that even though it will toss you around we have to remember to get back on the ride even when we do fall. Psalms 37:24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand. I know that we put effort into living each day and trying to stay on the ride or on track with life, we do feel weak sometimes but just keep in mind always our reward that lies ahead. "Be strong. therefore, and let not your hands be weak and slack, for your work shall be rewarded." 2 Chronicles 15:7

So are you on a eight second ride, right now? Do you feel like you are being tossed around? What will you do? Are you ready to grab the bull by those horns, grip that rope and stay on no matter what?


http://rodeo.about.com/cs/bullriding/a/bullbasics.htm

Running towards love.

As runners we set ourselves to run towards our fitness goals, some of which we have yet to see. Yet we continue to run knowing that it is through perseverance that we will see the results. Live a life like a runner, eating healthy, making commitments to running certain distances. Point is we live our life as runners. How can I live my life in love and impact others so that they know I am a runner/lover. Don't get me wrong, not a lover as we may know it, but a love that imparts love through the mere act of living. Like our faith, love has undergone it's own personal turmoils. I want to believe that I have been able to display love in the past? But how true can I be to my own heart. This leads me to my other question. Is love something you believe in only when you see it? Or is love something you start to believe within your heart without even meeting a "person" or a "moment" that will change it all? For a while I have analyzed my own feeling towards love and I guess all these dating shows have helped develop what seems to be a bit of an interest into the depth of love. I was watching something today, yes another dating show "Millionaire Matchmaker" and one thing the host of the show said was "she would give up everything for 'true love'. So I went ahead and asked myself the same question, what would I give up, and do I have to really give up something in response to love? To be honest at this point in my life, I find myself one moment saying, YES I will, I will give it up all to find love but what is "all" that I have to give up? Like running I have had to give up laziness and unhealthy eating habits but what will I have to give up to walk in constant love? Not always I follow through my plan for running and find myself putting excuses in order to walk a life fully satisfied and filled with love. I have faced moments of frustration when things haven't worked out in my running routine and take me off course for a while, and in my "love walk" I have also found moments that seem to take me off course. Things that make me question will I ever really live a life of a runner/lover?

I have to say that deep in my heart I do believe in love, or at least I try. But can I truly believe in it without being a champion of love? How can I face adversity and still claim a life of love? For a long time I have continuously tried to remain optimistic about love, and can say that a good part of me does believe in it. Love is such a strong word. Because of love many have overcome hardships in their lives. Love conquers all things; let us too surrender to love.- Virgil Can we say that we believe this? In my own experience, I have learned that LOVE is so strong that at the end it does allow us to feel a sense of hope even in the most helpless situations in life. How else can we face the world? How else can we live our lives with our heads up high when the world seems to be collapsing all around us? I know that we will all have our good and bad days, we will have days when life will not be a rainbow with unicorns but do what we do with that day will determine how will you approach the next big moment in our life.

There are many things I don't know, and there are other things I have learned. Bottom line is we never fail to learn as long as we keep things in perspective. Love cannot guarantee that things will work out the way we want them but it will give us a reason to keep going. Perhaps my "love" life in all spectrums of it is not at it's best right now but I stick to believing that if I continue to believe in this love that has saved me from an eternity of fire it will keep me from my daily fires. I seek to find not only the agape, eros but all the loves, philia and storge. So aim to never give up on love, whether it is in your friendships, love life, family or just loving yourself remember that at the end of the day we will conquer all as long as we continue to believe in LOVE and it's ability. Like you live your life striving to improve and work towards your fitness goals, life your life striving to live a life of LOVE. Knowing that putting the work will only promise you a guarantee that you it will come to you.

End of the day, while finding my walk in true love, I will continue to believe in true love. Don't live your life so much searching for it, just believe in it, knowing that at its due time it will come to you. You will be a pro-lover/runner. =)

Love concedes in a moment what we can hardly attain by effort after years of toil.
- Johann Wolfgang von Goeth

Love 2011 <3

I continue to believe.

I know there are some situations in our lives that we think perhaps, just perhaps hope and love will not be enough. I know for one that it is in my nature to always be hopeful about certain situations in my life. Don't get me wrong, I have my off days where I will be certain that I won't make it. Those thoughts come to each and one of us, there is not escaping however it is our duty to move forward and not let those thought empower our lives. Recently I have been reading and hearing alot about the power of the tongue and how it can impact our lives, positively or negatively. I know that I along with you have had had our moments where we wondered if hope would be enough to get us through certain situations in life. We I chose to not wonder but believe. That is the gift of hope, we have choices in our lives. We can chose to wonder, or believe that it will happen.

Yes, let's face it some situations are not going to happen but remember the essence of hope. A friend shared with us yesterday a truth to hope. Why hope on something we already have? The amazingness of this hope we hold on to so tight is that we are somehow giving a guarantee that because of our continious belief that GOD will take care of our problems, we are at peace. That brings me to this, what is peace? Is it knowing that things will be okay? Or seeing a problem resolved? I know that i tend to lose sight of the true meaning of peace, because I get caught up in the problem. I am learning as we all are, that because I have peace I trust that all is going to be okay and things will change. You see in order for us to see the wonderful results of hope we must believe. So don't just assume that because you are hopefull things will magically happen. Every change, every event, every situation in life requires some belief in our part. Remember faith without works is dead. So whether or not you see the change in your life, you have to believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that it shall happen. When left with nothing to say, in those moments of dispair don't let the situation control the outcome of the moment. Take a moment to shut down and just listen and pray. It is only then that peace will come to us, because we continue to believe despite what we see.

From my heart.