You and I are familiar with terms like IOS and Android. These are the internal operating systems of our mobile phones and other gadgets. When a “virus” enters it and when the internal operating system is affected by it, then the entire device does not work with full efficiency. In some other cases, the contents of the device just get decimated.
Have you ever experienced a big “win” whether in business or in other things? You worked hard for it, you prepared for it and you practically invested a major part of your time, attention, talent, energy and even your life into it and once you get the expected outcome, the expected ecstasy of joy and celebration was just not there.
Perhaps, this is why we have a phrase for it that says: “The hunt is better than the kill.”
Like finding gold in a mine, I discovered Dr. Dallas Willard addressing this issue and then, it all makes sense.
Dallas Willard is a philosophy professor who passed away just a few years ago but was considered as one of the most influential thinkers in America. Allow me to share some of his thoughts and interject with a few side comments of mine.
Willard asks a question:
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“What makes you smile and what claims your energy?” These are the things that claim your soul. When Jesus says: “What profits a man even if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?”
Dallas Willard said, “Jesus is not talking about a destination but a diagnosis.”
Without taking care of the soul, we would no longer have a healthy center that helps us guide our lives, like a car without a steering wheel. It doesn’t matter how fast I can go. I shall be simply a crash waiting to happen.
The more we focus on ourselves, the more we lose our souls.
Sociologists say that for every next generation, they are three times more depressed than the previous one.
The more obsessed we are with ourselves, the more we neglect our souls. All of our language reflects this:
1. If you are healthy, you need to fulfill yourself.
2. If you are stressed, you need to take care of yourself.
3. If you are on a job interview, you have to believe in yourself.
4. If you are in a tattoo parlor, you must learn to express yourself.
5. If someone dares to criticize you, you have to love yourself.
6. If you are not getting your own way, you have to stand up for yourself.
7. What should you do on a date? You ought to be yourself.
What if your-self is a train wreck?
“Believe in yourself!” These three words line the commencement speeches of TV personalities and Hollywood celebrities and the words sound as nice as it appeals to the ego or the self. But a deeper thinking and an honest approach to this lies with these two questions:
• Are you happy and satisfied with yourself?
• Is “yourself” a good standard and would that last you for the rest of your life?
If this is the case, then there is no need for personal improvement, does it? Instead, Professor Herminia Ibarra says, “When you say, ‘Believe in yourself,’ you need to seriously challenge yourself with these questions: Which self is this? Is this the self of the past, the present or the future?”
Willard says, “Self is a stand-alone, do-it-yourself unit. The soul reminds us we are not made for ourselves. The self is not the soul. Can you imagine: “It is well with my ‘self.’”
What matters are not the accomplishments you have achieved. Whether you are a tycoon, taipan, what matters is the kind of person you are becoming because of what you have been doing. What matters is the soul.
Character building is always slow, tedious, boring and hard. Yet it is the most important part of the soul. It is what we bring with us when we are gone. The soul integrates the mind, the will, and the body. It is sin that disintegrates the soul. Some people did not intentionally seek out to defy God, they just drifted away until they become far apart.
This simply means the internal operating system has been compromised. Taking care of the soul is part of the being. Do not focus on the self, but focus on improving the character and being a blessing and help to others.
Don’t trust yourself. Trust me. Your “self” will let you down. Trust instead on the process of the creation of a healthy soul that would lead you to a life of fulfillment, and meaning, and then and only then would you say, “It is well…with my soul.”
(“Will To Win” is a conference that will be held on Oct. 1, 1-6 p.m. at Crowne Plaza Hotel. Be inspired and learn from speakers Francis Kong, Randell Tiongson, Gretchen Ho and Carlo Ople as they share principles and experiences on how to win in business, finance, career and social media. For further inquiries contact Michael at +63916-187-1506 or call Trisha at +63928-559-1798 for details)
