Balance of Fun

The word fun is defined by the individual. What is considered fun for one person is not for another. However, all would agree that whenever we’re involved in a pleasantry that makes us happy, we want to repeat that action. Life is full of fun, but society’s inclination of more work and little play has caused us to take life a tad bit too serious.

Too Busy for Fun
Take the workaholic…they average 60-80 hours a week and when you ask what they do for fun, chances are that they will say nothing. This is because they don’t have the time. Why do so many of us use our jobs as an escape? Often times, people try to avoid their reality. It is easier to remain lost in a world of proposals, projects and numbers. It numbs the brain and the heart. It helps one ignore the issues that haunt them and provides a valid excuse not to address what’s bothering them, especially when others are involved. Work becomes their lifestyle and companion.

More and more, we see young adults forgo friendships and relationships for the sake of career. Fun seldom comes around or disappears altogether. One can argue that sometimes sacrifice is required but at what cost?

It’s been said time and again that life is not a dress rehearsal. You only get one chance at it. We often live with little thought of tomorrow. We assume it is owed to us and expect life to continue the next morning. We believe our relationships will remain the same even if we don’t take the time to nurture them. Isn’t it ironic how we invest so much time into our work because we know what the end result will be but act completely surprised when our relationships fail? It is so easy to blame work because of the hectic schedule, but we fail to see that we are at fault because we do not prioritize our lives correctly.

What about Fun?
Fun should not be an option in life. It should be a staple. Fun should be prioritized as one of the top items. It shouldn’t be something we fit in. It should be something we live. Some will say that work is fun and it should be. However, when the results of fun hurts those you love most, it is a sure indicator that you are spending too much time at it, or that whatever you’re doing is just plain wrong.

God clearly says that we should live a joyful life. If we live in misery, it’s time to stop and take inventory. Yes, life throws us some sadness from time to time, but we should be able to smile, even if it is only on the inside; an indicator of contentment. Fun is not limited to what you do but how you live. It is also a state of mind.




Spoiled Nation
We’re spoiled in the United States. We are by far one of the wealthiest and most pampered-nation. We complain about the silliest things and we forget about our brothers and sisters in third-world countries who would cry for joy if they had a quarter of what we owned. What we take for granted, they would probably consider fun. It would be fun for them to watch their children’s faces as they chose whatever clothes they wanted to buy and be able to afford it. It would be fun to watch these same kids go to school. It would be fun to watch their family eat until they were full. All these uneventful things would bring them happiness.

We would not view any of these things as fun or as a source of happiness. For us, these things will happen because they have, for as long as we can remember. Everyday, we miss the fun in life because we choose not to see or acknowledge it because we don’t prioritize or make a conscientious effort to notice.

Balance of Fun
We only get one chance at life, here on this earth. Life should be fun, no matter what we undertake each day. The balance of fun is a matter of choice. It is based on our views, attitudes and priorities. We tend to be quick to complain and resist change. A lot of folks miss out on the life that God intended for them. They choose to live miserably because they feel they have no choice, when in reality they did choose. They chose to remain in their misery and do nothing.

Don’t let life pass you by. Live fun, laugh in fun and love with fun. Learn to notice the small things, the big things…all things and let it bring a smile to your face and joy to your heart…every single day.

Glass and Your Heart

Glass is designed in different colors, different shapes and different sizes. However, for the most part, they are flawed. They have the weakness of breakage. 

A woman's heart is the same. No matter how strong she may appear on the outside, she is vulnerable. We all are. 

The bible says, guard your heart because it's the source of life. What that means is that whatever you harbor, will be reflected in your do. You can often tell a woman's condition by her posture, her dress and her words.

Balance of Food

There’s nothing like the sweet smell of a home-cooked meal as you walk in through the door of your mom’s house. All your senses come alive and your mouth begins to water with anticipation. No one can come close to mom, grandma, or Titi’s (aunt) cooking. They all have that knack for making anything yummy. In our case, all activities revolve around food with our family; still does today. We have two staples – God and food!

As we mature, okay grow older, we realize that we can no longer happily indulge when it comes to eating mom’s cooking as often as we’d like. Latinos love rice; any kind of rice and our moms find great joy in piling it on their children’s plate. Unfortunately, Latina women have a tendency to spread towards the bottom as time progresses. (Guess where the rice is going.) Oh and forget portions. They think you’re starving yourself if you’re getting a spoonful of anything.

It’s no longer a mystery that we must all watch what we eat including those that whose shape resemble that of a rod. As for those that are not blessed with thinness…we have made the disappointing discovery that metabolism grows older a lot faster than we do and moves painfully slow.

Food…Anyone?Of course when anyone says food, we automatically think about our stomachs. However food can also be used in the context of our minds. In either case, nourishment to both is important to provide a balanced life. Each in its own right, impacts the other.

Take a close look at your diet today. How much processed-food have you eaten so far? Chances are that quite a number of us have consumed some type of soft drink and have swung by a fast food place, without thought. We are accustomed to eating poorly and have gotten used to functioning without the right levels of energy. Those diminishing levels impact you in a subtle way when you’re younger, but as time progresses, there are changes that become quite evident.

Healthy habits, when it comes to food for the stomach, will promote positive changes in our bodies and that includes our minds. A sluggish body influences the mind and vice versa. When you feed both mind and body the right stuff, it provides incredible synergy. One without the other could never bring the high level of positive impact and balance needed for healthy living.Just like our stomach, our minds crave and wants to be fed everyday and with variety. Of course it’s up to us what we supply. If we decide to continually feed ourselves garbage, we’ll eventually get sick. It takes a conscientious effort to choose what’s nutritious. It takes discipline to stick with that choice day after day. It’s not easy, but in the long run, the reward is a healthy body and mind.

All of us want to live forever but our choices have the potential to alter our lives in a negative way. The food we provide or fail to provide, whether for stomach or thought, can influence or alter our physical or mental state. Some behaviors can lead to physical issues that can shorten our lives (IE: high cholesterol/blood pressure) or mental issues that impact those around us (IE: depression). In either case, there is a potential to hurt those we love or be unable to finish what we’ve been purposed for while on this earth.

We are God’s temple. Close your eyes and imagine that for a moment. The Holy Spirit dwells in you. Now look at the flip side. God has graced you with people who love you deeply. These two reasons alone should drive you to balance your food intake but it’s not enough.

Balance of Food
The driving force to balance food for your body and mind should be because you’ve learned to love you. God can love you and so can your family and closest friends, but if you have total disregard for your being, you will have no motivation. People feed their bodies and minds unhealthy stuff, for many reasons. Often times it’s because they’re unhappy. It is their way to escape reality. They’d rather run from their issues then face the hardship of fixing it or letting go. Of course one can argue that some do it for the pleasure, but what feels good or, in this case, is yummy to the palate and mind, may not necessarily be right for you.

The balance of food occurs when we have the right outlook of ourselves on the inside. This does not happen over night and never ends once we begin. It requires adjustment with every challenge and change. It’s not impossible. It just requires work and commitment as individuals.

Did you know we are in preparation for eternity? Today a friend listed some of the things she wants to hear God say about her when he says well done. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could accomplish all that we were supposed to because of our choice to balance, well, all the areas of our lives? It’s never too late. Balance your food today. Live, thrive…and eat!

Balance of Faith

Whenever we hear the word faith, we automatically think of the definition believing without seeing. In our minds, we make it a mystical mystery. Yet we fail to see that we operate in faith everyday without much thought. We dismiss the power behind faith and explain it to ourselves and others as expectation. We think this is what is going to happen because it is part of the norm, or because we’ve worked hard towards this or that. In our foolishness we forget that expectation is part of faith. Both go hand in hand.

Life on this earth operates on faith. Even if our views are warped, it doesn’t change this power-principle that makes all things what they are. Everything around you that is in existence today is as a result of faith. Whether the outcome was good or bad, it required that a person move within a series of steps that purposed them to believe in their cause. We often wonder why our world is so off kilter and are inclined to blame politics, terrorism, war and anything else that is blatantly evil or wrong with our world. However, none of us stop to think that we contribute to the chaos because of our actions or lack thereof.

Ripple Effect
Each one of us generates a ripple effect in the vast ocean of life. Our lives are intertwined. We may never meet or speak to a person across the ocean, but our actions always affect others, be it good or bad. What does this have to do with faith, you may ask yourself. Faith thrust us into action. Faith has the potential to cause change, it also creates. It brings into existence things that were never there before. Think about it. The level of technology we have today is because of faith. Someone thought about it, believed they could make it a reality and stuck with it until it came to pass.

Perhaps you are thinking that you just don’t fit into that category of the adventurer who forged the path of advanced technology, but you do. Faith begins with small steps and grows each time you see what you waited for materialize. All of us possess it. However, many still struggle with the acceptance of the power behind it. We dismiss the validity, deny it because of past disappointments, or dismiss it altogether because it is not tangible.

Blind Faith
People do not have faith in God because they believe He is not real, stopped believing because something bad happened to them or a loved one, or refuse to believe because they cannot see Him (although some will acknowledge that there is some higher power out there). Yet they’ll readily place their faith on people they don’t know or have never seen.

How many of us have boarded a plane to fly half way around the world because we believe that the pilot has the right credentials? We’ve seen countless air crashes but continue to fly. We don’t know the pilot, we’re not even sure the guy we see when we enter the craft is the one behind the controls, yet in our minds we have ushered in feelings of belief and security.

Balanced Faith
Contrary to popular belief, God is love, tells us constantly how incredible we are in the bible and encourages us to live life to the fullest and in peace. When your first faith is in God, it balances out all other aspects of faith in your life. You understand who you are, you believe things will get better (even when it ‘looks’ like it is getting worst, and that outlook spills over to anyone who comes in contact with you…at least that is how it is supposed to be.

Perhaps you have not experienced balanced faith although you believe in God. Maybe you don’t believe in God and are skeptical. In either case, you cannot dispute the truth of balanced faith unless you’ve experienced it. Unbelief is so detrimental. It happens when we listen to different sources without questioning or experiencing for ourselves, or because we get hung up on a past mistake – often due to poor choices, our own, someone else’s or because of something we’ve witnessed.

Affirmation and Faith
Faith in God is a personal experience. It is a personal choice. He continues to affirm us no matter what stance we decide to take. Affirmation is so important throughout our lives. It motivates us to do the impossible, to love without limits, and to create in the realm of endless beauty. None of us can accept or embrace affirmation unless there is faith. Someone can tell you over and over again that ‘you can’, ‘you’re so talented’, etc, but if you don’t believe, it’ll slip right through the ears.

Perhaps you’re doing pretty well because you are an achiever and have a trail of blazing success…but, when all is said and done and you’re alone at night, does all of that grandeur cradle your soul, or do you find that you have a hollow-ache inside? It’s not enough to believe in yourself. It’s not enough to depend on others to empower you. Tangible as both may seem, we all know that time makes us all waiver and change.

Power of Relationship

When faith comes from within your spirit and its source begins with God, then you become a force to contend with. In order to get to that place, though, you have to throw unbelief out the window. One thing that blew my mind was when I understood what Jesus meant when he prayed, “Father I ‘know’ that you hear me.” He said those words with such certainty.

Most people don’t know - or let’s just say it - don’t believe that they are being heard. When you say you don’t know, what you’re really mean is that you don’t believe (because you don’t feel it). It finally hit me when I caught myself saying the same thing one day. I was able to say it with certainty because I had built a strong relationship.

Faith grows in accordance with your relationship with God. If your relationship is strong, your faith will be strong. If your relationship is weak, your faith will be weak. If your relationship is non-existent, your faith will always be lacking. Faith will never be balanced in your life unless you invest yourself into your primary, spiritual relationship. Your choice determines the type of life you’ll live. You can continue to limp in certain areas of your life, or you can begin to walk tall and confident in body, soul and spirit.

To hear truth and do nothing is just as bad as unbelief without experience. No matter what choice you make today or what you decide to believe, remember…truth always confirms itself with time. Balance your faith today and become the ripple effect that causes the tidal waves of change.

Balancing the 4 F's!

Ever watched a twirler of plates? Sometimes they can have up to 12 plates on sticks rotating in the air. They control the plates by certain movements and by the balance they provide with their entire body. Often time we resemble a twirler on days when our schedule is jammed packed with activities. Each day we begin with a spin and continue to add plates throughout the day.

These plates represent certain items within the four main areas of our lives. If we live on overload, we soon learn that it is impossible to balance all of them. In today’s world, doing more is better and rest is a luxury of the past. If we are not doing something to fill the time, we consider ourselves idle and ineffective. We have programmed our minds to be busy at all times. We stimulate it with music, television, the internet, and any other means of media and communication.

Our children and teenagers, the future generation, are deprived of the use of their imagination. Information is handed to them in huge chunks. Enrichment of the mind is a wonderful thing, however, the increase and ease of technology has taken away the simplicity of life.

None of us have to write a note with a pen, or have to stick it into an envelope, seal it or stamp it, when email can do the same job in a fraction of the time. Why walk over, drive, hop a train or bus to visit family or friends everyday when they’re just a phone call away?

Sit with any elderly person and they will keep you intrigued with stories about their past for hours. They have those wonderful stories because life back then was simpler. Family, friends and community were strong and deep-rooted. They mastered the secret of balancing the 4Fs.


When you speak to an elderly person, one of the things that stand out in conversation is their strong belief system or Faith. Their conviction was not limited to their religious beliefs, but spilled over into every aspect of their lives. They believed in their abilities and were able to make things come to pass because of it.

Healthy eating wasn’t a choice back then. It was part of life. Food was home grown in most back yards. We often hear the stories of the rot and the rats and assume it is much better today. However, if you turn any box around and read the content label, most are filled with preservatives. They’ve extended the life span of our cuisines, but at what expense?
Fun was an integral part of any family and community. Imagination created all sorts of games, dances, and adventure. Folks would come over, bring their instruments and treats in anticipated-hours of enjoyment. A lot of us put two or three hour caps to this type of merriment with others. Some of us don’t know how to enjoy the company of ourselves. We’re either too far, too busy, become bored too fast, or are too tired to enjoy life.



Family time was an every-day thing. Everyone sat at the table for meals, and everyone pitched in to help. Mom and dad were available to their children daily (for more than an hour), and taught them the importance of kinship. It was not limited to their immediate circle, but included an extension of people today considered distant relatives or friends.

The balance of these 4Fs eludes us. In today’s world, we have little faith, lots of food, a warp sense of fun, and little to no family time. We wonder why our world is so chaotic, and rather sit back and wish it would get better. The reality of it is that it won’t until we all change and balance these areas in our lives.

The following weeks will cover how to balance the 4Fs of your life: Faith, Food, Fun and Family. If you really want to make a difference, I encourage you to continue reading. Perhaps you may feel that your contribution will only be a ripple effect. Imagine if we could create many ripple effects?

It’s time to bring back the simplicity and balance of life. Will you join me?

You are Beautiful!

It is the beauty that no one talks about as definition. It comes from within. The beauty that overflows and attracts. It uncovers and encourages others to see the true you.

It is the kindness, compassion and honesty that can be seen in the eyes of those who understand what this life is all about.

It has nothing to do about self. It's not selfish. It is not self self-serving.

It's knowing that that you are here to do for others. That's what makes a person beautiful.