Mary Yang | A Change From Within

Pleasing Papa

2010-07-29T18:05:00.000-07:00

Never in my twenty years of life have I ever experienced the harsh sting of disappointment as bad as when I changed my major to Psychology. I should start by explaining my new prospective in life which led up to the situation. Nowadays I feel like nothing is worth it in this world anymore. Nothing in this world makes sense. Why am I trying to get an education? To pursue a career that makes money. Where does this money go? It goes down the drain to things like bills and payments so that more money must be made to continue this endless cycle. So how else do you stop this cycle but by making more than you waste, or wasting less than you make. The sad part about the life that we have on this earth is that we die trying to earn money that has no value once we hit the grave. In the bible, the man that God blessed with the most wisdom was King Solomon, and one of my favorite quotes from Solomon was when he said, “There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow.”Solomon knew from experience that the things on this earth come in a pointless cycle, and even humans can only live for so long before they are dead and forgotten by the new ones that inhabit the earth. No matter what we do on this earth, none of it brings satisfaction. Nothing we do will ever satisfy us enough. There will always be a desire for more: more money, better friends, a better relationship, a better car, a better house, a better music player, more this…more that. It never ends. There is no point to this cycle. Jesus said, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” A philosophy that I live by today is the realization that even though chasing after things on this earth can be pointless, placing God in the center of all my actions give them meaning and purpose. Even when I am only dust in the ground, God stays with me no matter what. I want to be remembered by Him to enter His kingdom as one who served Him well on earth. This philosophy, or more like this walk of life, has allowed me to choose which path I decided to take in college. Things like money, a bigger house, or a better car are the very least on my mind.Ever since my point of view for what is most valuable in life changed, my desire to become a doctor did too.

When I was younger, I was the stereotypical perfect child every parent would want. I did not drink, I did not smoke, I hung out with the good kids, I was obedient, and I got straight A’s all through High School. I lived in the type of family that truly cared about church. Mama would always tell us to pray and read our bibles before going to sleep, and if we did not, she would take out the hanger. Sometimes if she woke up before us, she would force us to do it in the mornings too. This kind of thing can really turn a person away from God; but I stuck to it. I would say the one thing that most Christians have in common is the knowledge of the 10 commandments. The one I tried hardest to follow was honoring your father and mother. What they said is how it went. Papa was the reason I wanted to get straight A’s, the reason I wanted to be a good kid, and the reason I wanted so desperately to go into the medical field. It was not for me, it was not because I wanted to save lives (although I had myself thinking that was the reason for a while); it was because Papa told me I could make "good money" going into the medical field. So I told him ever since the 2^nd grade that I was going to grow up to be a doctor. He believed me of course. Who wouldn’t when their child was obedient and got the grades to prove themselves?

Finally when I received my High School diploma and was heading to Davis, my family was so proud. It was not because I got into the best school, because there are far better schools out there than those in the UC system; it was because they knew I was striving to make the grades in order to make it into Medical School. I was going to strive for that Doctor of Philosophy degree(PhD) after graduating from UC Davis with a bachelor in science degree, just like Papa wanted me to. Of course God had other plans.

When I got to Davis, I was finally out of the house and far away from family; and what else was on my mind at the time except, “It’s time to par-tay!” Once I was in college for the week before classes started, the first thing my new friends wanted to do was check out a college Fraternity party, so I tagged along. And let me tell you, college parties are not much better than the rest of them; alcoholic drinks are still the same whether in Davis or Visalia, the dancing is no different, and the music still sounds the same too. The only thing different is, you have a bunch of college aged students cluttered into one fraternity house: it's sweaty, it's humid, and there is no escape; like Florida in the summertime. I did not mind a college party so much, but something about it just was not as appealing as I assumed it would be.

The day after my first college party, I spent time with my friend Rebecca who told me she was going to a meeting hosted by InterVarsity, so since I had nothing better to do and classes had not yet started, I decided to go with her to keep her company. Little did I know, the club meeting I was attending was actually fully named the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship; it was like I was going to church except it was a Thursday and the event was held in a large lecture hall. After one sit in, I was completely disturbed. Let’s just say I was one of those people who felt completely uncomfortable with the idea of church and school intermingling. After my first meeting they gathered the freshmen (me, being one of them) into different groups based on which dormitories we lived in, with two to three upperclassmen leading each group. The gathering of groups actually served well as a separation between me and the friend I arrived with, making me feel as awkward as possible with about 150 strangers that I did not take the time to meet. Then when I tried to leave, Alicia, one of the upperclassmen, got me to swap numbers with her. I forget which reason she gave but it was a good enough reason for me to switch apparently, so I did it and left. The next week when classes were finally up and rolling, the two girls leading my group, Alicia and Catrina, all of a sudden popped up in front of my dorm door for a visit. It was such a surprise. I had no idea why they were there. But because no one can deny a visit from such beautiful people (I certainly couldn't), they stayed and talked with me for about an hour. It was the fastest hour of my life. I had so much fun talking to them I wished they stayed for longer. Little did I know they would stalk me for a few more weeks, inviting me to their bible study--a time where two or more people gather to study scripture--every week, until I finally decided to show up.

This was new to me too. Since my church did not have such things as bible studies, I just thought of it as a very Christian thing to do, being there and studying the bible. Soon, week after week I was refreshed about the character of Jesus, His greatness, His humility, and the death He faced for the forgiveness of all the evil of this world in order that each human being could have a chance to dwell with Him after becoming nothing but dust on this earth. The more I relearned about this high God who humbled Himself to become human and a servant to all, the more I wanted to change for Him, and the more I cared to change. Suddenly I realized that the pursuit of going into the medical field for the purpose of satisfying Papa and for the purpose of gaining money had no space in my heart. I no longer desired to gain for myself; I desired to serve others, just like Jesus did when He walked on the face of this earth. I knew that no amount of money could ever live to satisfy me as much as serving others for the glory of God would. So during the week of finals of winter quarter, freshmen year, I sent Papa an email expressing my excitement with capital letters saying “I AM CHANGING MY MAJOR TO PSYCHOLOGY!” I let him know about my lack of interest in becoming a science major and my dissatisfaction with trying to receive my PhD; I wanted to graduate with a bachelor in Psychology in hopes that someday I can become a counselor. I loved the idea of getting to know people and helping them in their situational issues, or maybe even becoming a Marriage and Family Therapist like Papa was. Never in my twenty years of life have I ever experienced the harsh sting of disappointment from Papa as bad as the day I told him.

A few hours after sending my email, I received a reply back with the end of the email that said in big bold letters “I am disappointed in you.” Suddenly I was in shock. A warm sensation began to fill my head, my eyes were starting to burn as if I left them open for too look, my chest was bumping fast as though I came back from running a marathon, my oxygen level felt as if it were decreasing by the second, and my eyes felt as though they were swelling up.With streams of salty water flowing down my face, I rushed for the door, leaving my best friend Ashley alone to study for our Statistics final, happening that next morning. After half an hour of walking around, my heart started to calm down and my voice showed no signs of choking. So, who else would I feel most comfortable to call but Alicia, who had been relentlessly pursuing my friendship since week 1. I explained to her the ways I could not understand how my father, who taught me to love God with all my heart, could be so disappointed when I made my decision to follow God more than ever by choosing a career path that would allow me to serve in a way that brought me true joy? The moment I finally decided to follow my heart was the same moment that caused Papa to stop supporting me in school, both in spirit and in finance.

Papa could not see me succeeding as a counselor since he himself had struggled with debt through following this same path. His idea of success had everything to do with making the big bucks, while my idea of success was and still is living a life that pursues a career that can make you happy.

Day after day, I would tear up knowing that I was taking classes that I didn’t know how I would completely pay for. I would be around the same happy enjoyable friends but find myself wandering in thoughts of sadness, knowing that Papa disapproved of me. Weeks passed and not a single call, text, or email was sent from him.

All of a sudden when Father’s day was rolling around the corner, my younger sister Sirena decided to call me and ask if I was coming down for the weekend. Of course I told her I would. I could not possibly miss Papa’s appreciation day. So when I came down, everything seemed normal, there was no mention of me switching majors and Papa gave me a hug and a kiss the moment I got home. I spent all of Saturday with my sisters planning in order to put on Papa’s fancy dinner at the “Yang Family Diner” at home. When Sunday night came about, I told Papa we were taking him out to a fancy restaurant. Mama, Papa, and my siblings all put on their most glamorous apparel. We tied a scarf around his eyes so he could not tell where we were taking him, and assigned my older sister Anna as his driver for the evening. While Anna was driving him around, she gave us the time we needed to put up bed sheet covers that hid the entrance to the living room and kitchen area so that only the dining room would show. We set up two white candles in the center with two roses beside them and petals around the centered decorations, allowing for a slightly dim and romantic appeal to the room. We put on musical pieces by Mozart to set the tone of the evening and then gave Anna a call to signal her to take Papa back home. When they arrived, I was dressed up in my server-outfit and my British accent kicked in. As the server and cook of the evening, I seated the whole family to the table, only removing the blindfold from Papa’s eyes when he was finally seated. The night went amazingly well. Usually when surprises are planned Mama always ruins them by saying, “I know we wanted to surprise you but I can’t help but tell you,” and then she spills the beans. Amazingly she only said as much as, “the food is going to be very delicious. Trust me, I know,” with a smile as big as a banana.

After dinner, we ended the evening by first singing Papa a song. We handed him a card as big as a poster board, with pictures and written words to show our appreciation towards him. We all took pictures after dinner and thanked him for being our dad. And when the evening had reached its peek of excitement, I said my goodbyes and headed back to Davis. The next morning I woke up with the satisfaction of knowing that even though Papa didn’t really give a thank you, his smile was enough to make me happy. A week later, Papa finally communicated with me through a text message asking me if I remembered to change the sticker on my car. I assured him that I changed the sticker when he sent it to me. Then he replied with the words, “If I am ever proud of any of you kids, it would be you. Thank you for what you did on Fathers Day.”

Word Count: 2,648

Pleasing Papa Draft 1; Pleasing papa Draft 2

What's Found in Joy and Satisfaction

2010-07-29T17:57:00.000-07:00

Some say that happiness is love. Others define happiness by the things they have, the food they eat, the house they live in and the clothes on their backs. Still, others will tell you that happiness is a choice. All are forms of happiness, containing differences in their own unique way. How are we to answer such a question as what is happiness? To put it simply, happiness is finding joy in what satisfies, and finding satisfaction in the little things. Without both, happiness will truly be hard to come by.

In Yes! Magazine, Jen Angel writes an article on the 10 things that researchers say will make you happy. To list a few, things like savoring everyday moments, putting money low on the list, having meaningful goals, and getting out and exercising all have to do with being satisfied with the little things. From those small moments, to seeking after things other than money, each goal reveals signs of finding joy in what is already available. The reason why money, high goals, or the desire to look a certain way does not satisfy is because they are goals that have no ending. When these goals are made, an inexperienced person may try their hardest to achieve what it is they are looking for; but they will surely be let down by their desires to want more. It is of human nature to want more for ourselves. This nature of ours also leads us to an endless cycle dissatisfaction with what we have, feeling the need to always try for the next best thing. It is no wonder that cars and ipods are never as great once you have them. This endless cycle is what burdens the heart and leads us to a life of dissatisfaction and unhappiness. As King Solomon, a man of wisdom in the book of Ecclesiastes, might say, “all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” What else does money or material goods bring but a desire for more?

For Solomon, he did everything he could to fulfill his desperation for happiness. He states, “I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure.” Because of his role as King, he was able to test the theory of getting everything he wanted in order to find what would make him happy. In the end he discovered that everything was meaningless, “a chasing after wind,” unless he found satisfaction in those things. After many years of searching, he came to one conclusion; “I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil--this is the gift of God.” Purposefully fulfilling every one of his desires allowed him to see that only through God’s gift of satisfaction in everything could man be happy.

Angel designed the article of “10 Things Science Says Will Make You Happy” to allow the everyday human being to find enjoyment and satisfaction with not just the things they own, but the life they live. She understands that true happiness in this life has to do more with finding joy in the things that make up this life, including our work environment, the people around us, and the different interactions we make. Things like taking initiative and helping others can give a “helpers high,” while interactions like smiling and saying thank you can lead to a more positive outlook in the day. When a person can find joy in what they see, including the face they stare at in the mirror, that is when they know that they truly understand happiness.

Personally, tangible things never live to complete satisfy me; it is the being who provides them that brings me true joy and true happiness. I am generally a happy person. In fact I can even say that all the things Angel mentions in her article usually take part in my week; all but working out. I am not a big fan. But I can definitely say with pride that I find joy in every bit of my life, including the new friends I made in class to the new work environment that sprung up on my life. But in these new environments with new friends, I trace my happiness and joy to one source; I trace it to God who provides every bit of the life that passes my way. God allowed me to feel a sense of satisfaction in the things He has provided for me and joy in this satisfaction. It is because of this sensation that I have learned through experience of what it truly means to be happy.

It has nothing to do with money, a new car, or a bigger house. Material goods such as these can lead to an endless pit of desires that are never satisfied, with expectations that are never met. They bring up cycles of dissatisfaction which can often cause more emptiness rather than joy and happiness. Even the search for true love can have no ending. It is only when a couple is satisfied with the person they are with can they find happiness in that relationship. And only when they find joy in being satisfied with that relationship can they truly be happy. Happiness is only defined by these two factors: satisfaction and the joy in feeling so. Once these factors are met, a smile is what results from it.

Word Count: 910

Happiness Draft 1; Happiness Draft 2

How To Answer a Question Yourself

2010-07-29T17:38:00.001-07:00

Often times there will be a day when you have a question but you do not know what the answer is. How do you answer them by yourself? There are two scenarios that could occur: you could be standing alone in a house, or you could be alone at some random place. If this is the case, I have solved your frustration with how to answer a question by yourself.

If you are alone in a house, the first thing you should do is head to your nearest computer. If you are in the middle of nowhere, go to someone with internet on their phone and ask to borrow it. Once you have access to the internet, the first step is complete.

The next step is going online. If you are in front of a computer, make sure you turn on the computer. You start by checking the On/Off button to make sure the computer really is on. Once the computer is on and you are logged in, click on to a web browser; this can be Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari (for Macs), or my personal favorite, Google Crome. Don’t forget to check your internet connection to make sure you are online.

If you are on a phone, click the button on the phone that allows you to be online. This will directly have its own internet service. There will be no need to look for Firefox, Internet Explorer, etc.

Once you are online, click the URL bar that shows whichever web link you are on at the moment. Press the backspace button to erase the current web link and type in www.google.com. After typing it in, press the enter button. This will lead you to the Google home page. When the home page loads, click in the empty box under the Google name and type in whatever you are questioning about. The things you type in can be as simple as one word to a whole question. Google will find results to your question and the only thing you have to do in order to get the answer after looking it up on Google is find a site that might have the best information on what you need to know. I would suggest looking up more than one answer, that way you can compare answers and find what may sound true in comparison to what may sound false. While things like .com have some good information, sometimes their sources are not as reliable. Information that come from sites that end in .org or .edu tend to come from people who have done research on the topic and are more reliable than other sites.

This process of course is one that teaches you how to answer questions by using the Google search engine. There are many other search engines that can also be used. There are also many other ways in which you can answer a question. This one in particular however allows you to take advantage of our vast resources made available to us through the world wide web. My short response to how to answer a question by yourself is of course nice and short, "Google it!"

Word Count: 525

I Believe God Will Bless My Day

2010-07-29T17:11:00.000-07:00

I believe God will bless my day. I will wake up early in the morning in order to leave with my friend Esteban on a long drive in order to see my closest friend Alicia, who I haven’t seen in ages. On the way there I will have an awesome conversation with Esteban in the car for an hour and a half because that is how long it will take us to get there. We will talk about funny yet random things, laughing and joking around because it will be the first time we will actually spend time together alone.

When we arrive at Alicia’s church I will finally see Alicia. My stomach will buzz with excitement and I will not be able to settle myself because I know that it will be the first time in a while that I will have seen her. I will not know how to contain my excitement and I will continue to have an extremely huge smile on my face due to this excitement. I will meet Alicia’s friends and family with an eager heart. I will get to talk to some friends who went with her to her Arizona trip. Then I will recognize how much love is expressed through her interactions with her friends and family at the church. Seeing this will create in my heart the wow-factor of understanding just how much love a person can have for friends and family. After listening to some testimonials about the church trip to Arizona, we will bump into our friend John Cheng and immediately convince him to join us for the trip to Mt. Hermon.

After church, Esteban and I will head over to Alicia’s house where we will wait for her to pack for the camping trip. While we wait, we will spend some time playing the guitar and singing together in a time that we call Worship Time. While running around trying to put her things together, Alicia will be singing across the hall as we wait and continue to sing as well. Once she finishes, we will start driving and meet up with John Cheng on a random pit stop before heading to the camp site. Before we leave the pit stop we will pull a prank on John Cheng by taking away his car and leaving him at the parking lot for about five minutes. It will be hilarious because any prank on John Cheng is hilarious.

At the camp site we will walk around and get a tour of the different types of entertainment there. We will make it a point to go on an adventure hike by hiking to the river, only to find that river is nothing but large puddles and muddy sand. We will laugh and enjoy our time together making jokes and sharing our favorite memories. After a day of walking around, we will head back to our cabin for some pizza and soda. John Cheng will absolutely adore the pizza and soda for the reason that he loves the stereotypical American food. We will make fun of him for being a stereotypical man who loves pizza and soda. Alicia, Esteban, and I will poke fun at John Cheng with laughter and smiles while John smirks back at us with his witty comments and smart alec come backs. We will have so much fun laughing that our stomachs will hurt and our cheeks will reveal that there really are such things as muscles in your face.

Finally after an extremely long day, the guys and girls will split into different rooms where Alicia and I will get time to catch up. I will ask her personal questions like why she decided to stay in the Bay after finishing college instead of moving to Arizona like she mentioned prior to seeing her. God will bless me with being able to hear her thoughts about why she is staying in the bay and I will find out how everything I experienced and noticed that day is connected to this decision, from the love I will have seen to the fun we will have ended the evening with. She will include in her explanations her newly acquired realizations, occurring after her previous trip to Arizona, explaining how everything is finally starting to fit together. I will understand, especially after spending time with her church family, noticing the love that I will have seen with all of them. I will then share about the things that have happened in my own life. We will reflect back about the ways things used to be two years ago before I met her and realize how things are different now; things are better. We will be comforted by the things that have happened in our lives so far and realize a great sense of joy that God has given us in our friendship. We will have an understanding that even when we finally split ways and can no longer see each other as often, our friendship will still remain strong. And we will then end the night sleeping with joy and happiness in our hearts, thanking God for the amazing day that He will have blessed us with.

Word Count: 868

One Dollar Saves a Life

2010-07-27T18:33:00.000-07:00

Death is a natural occurrence of old age. It happens all the time whether we like it or not. There are times, however, when deaths occur due to a simple lack of good health. These types of deaths are ones that are preventable and should be helped. In fact 2.5 billion people in the world lack access to adequate sanitation alone; roughly 1 billion of them are children. (unwater.org) As a result, we have 2.2 billion people dying due to water related diseases. “This amounts to around 6000 deaths a day, 4000 of those who are children under the age of 5, or one death every 14 seconds, making water related diseases the second biggest killer of children worldwide, after acute respiratory infections like tuberculosis.” (davis1000wells.org)

Most of these deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa due to their inability to keep up a healthy immune system. As a result, they live trying to fight for their lives, but can only do so much until the disease enriched water they drink gets a hold of them. One would think that they could just get cleaner water, but the problem is that the water they drink is the only source that is readily available to them. I bring this issue to attention because our ability to change a person’s life is as simple as providing them with clean water. It breaks down to an even more solvable problem, where the population of California alone can stop the cause of these deaths for up to 20 years through the donation one dollar per person.

When the band Jars of Clay heard about these facts and how little it takes to save lives, they started a project called the Blood:Water Missions Project. Their goal was to work with groups who have established a friendship with sub-Saharan African communities in order to bring them clean water. The way this works is, they help the community build a clean water well system. They not only go there to provide this service but they also teach the community how to sustain the well. They saw a problem and they took action. With the careful consideration of the cost of a well, the amount of people in a community, and the consumption of water, they found that the cost to provide clean water for one person in sub-Saharan Africa for one year comes down to only a dollar.

We Americans can help to provide a person, either child or adult, with clean water for a year at the simple donation of one measly dollar. We can help to save a life by providing clean water for one person with the same cost it takes to buy 2 apple pies at McDonalds. With the price it takes to buy a CD, we can save 12 lives. This list can go on.

Over time, a problem as large as death by bad sanitation and water related diseases can become a small one. The Davis 1000 Wells Project has supported Blood:Water Missions for 6 years now and they were able to see the results of their aid through the change in facts over time. Instead of one death every 8 seconds (the statistic in 2008), deaths are now prolonged by almost twice as long. As minor as this change sounds, that is actually approximately 1.7 million lives that were saved yearly due to the actions that they took, along with many others. Imagine if every person in California provided a dollar to supporting this cause for only one year. All those people who could have died would be able to cheat death and have clean water for almost 20 years. It is amazing what one dollar can do to save a life.

Word Count: 610

The Consuming Vortex of Greed

2010-07-25T03:17:00.000-07:00

Money creates one of the world’s worst enemies. I say one of because it loses in the fight against evil itself and the devil. And what else would it create but greed, a consuming whirlwind that sucks in the purest of hearts. The only way to stop it from consuming yourself is to fight back the urges that come from greed, or to give away the money that often builds up to become more than we necessarily need.

After taking quite a substantial amount of time thinking about the idea of happiness, thoughts of happiness led me to the contrasting view of evil and its roots. Many will argue that money it itself is not evil. My understanding is that money is simply a name given to describe a small green piece of paper with a given value. But without the value in itself, what harm can that one small piece of paper possibly do? Nothing of course; it’s the price value that attracts human nature to desire this one measly piece of paper, not the object itself.

I have come to realize that even for someone as thrifty as myself, I too can fall into this temptation of wanting more and spending more. In my attempts to save as much money as possible in order to pay the rent, I (the poor college student) have tried everything from walking more for the purpose of saving gas, to buying items from the Dollar Tree. I only buy what I need and hold back on what I don’t.

Recently after getting a job, however, I have felt the sudden urge that I am on top of the world with plenty of money in my bank account. So instead of sticking to the food I needed, my greed got the best of me and I spent when I didn't have to. I looked towards the clothes isle and grabbed a pair of black socks. Instead of slapping my wrist when my hand reached out for the set of blank CD’s, I allowed myself the pleasure of buying those three CD’s. I even bought a snack before I left the store.

As ridiculous as it sounds, learning to truly be thrifty has allowed me to keep in account just how much a few dollars can really provide. Those three extra dollars I spent on the items I really did not need actually cost me a week’s worth of sandwiches that could have been quite filling. While noticing my sudden change of heart to buy things I don’t need, I realized I was slowly but surely becoming the greedy self I did not want to become. My situation of course is a rare case. In fact, I find that the spending situation is worse for people. In order to make this situation a bit more understandable, imagine a case scenario where objects and prices are exaggerated. Imagine, if you will, a person who has some extra cash and decides to buy new $100 headphones, a new flat screen TV, and a $200 to $300 Stereo set just because they had the money to do so, instead of a 10 dollar set of headphones, a 50 dollar stereo set and a smaller television set. Does this sound familiar to you?

The person I described is actually my older brother. He is the opposite of me. He spends just because he can, and he never holds back. As a Navy Seal, he is stationed in Hawaii and only comes home during vacation time. He would rather buy a new set of anything to replace what he forgets to bring back home with him from Hawaii. He remains the perfect example of describing the natural human instinct of getting sucked in to the habit of desiring more money to buy greater things.

Whenever we have money, we just have to spend it. Soon when we run out of money, we need more money in order to buy a larger, grander object than the previous ones. For my brother, he throws cash away as if money is no big deal; as if it isn't a deciding factor between someone who might have a home and someone who does not. For me, I could only hold back my desire for useless things until I had the money to waste. I too got sucked into this vortex of greed. There is no running away from it. There is only fighting it in order to stop the greed from completely taking over.

Word Count: 720

Happiness is...

2010-07-17T02:30:00.000-07:00

Some say that happiness is love. Others define happiness by the things they have, the food they eat, the house they live in and the clothes on their backs. Still, others will tell you that happiness is a choice. All are forms of happiness, containing differences in their own unique way. How are we to answer such a question as what is happiness? To put it simply, Happiness is finding joy in what satisfies, and finding satisfaction in the little things.Without both, happiness will truly be hard to come by.

In Yes! Magazine, Jen Angel writes an article on the 10 things that researchers say will make you happy. To list a few, things like savoring everyday moments, putting money low on the list, having meaningful goals, and getting out and exercising all have to do with being satisfied with the little things. From those small moments, to seeking after things other than money; each goal reveals signs of finding joy in what is already available. The reason why money, high goals, or the desire to look a certain way doesn’t satisfy is because they are goals that have no ending.When these goals are made, an inexperienced person may try their hardest to achieve what it is they are looking for.But they will surely be let down by their desires to want more. It is of human nature to want more for ourselves. This nature of ours also leads us to an endless cycle of never feeling satisfied with what we have and always trying to get the next best thing. It is this endless cycle that burdens the heart and leads to a life of dissatisfaction and unhappiness. As King Solomon, a man of wisdom in the Holy Bible, might say, “all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” What else does money or material goods bring but a desire for more?

Angel designed the article of “10 Things Science Says Will Make You Happy” to allow the everyday human being to find enjoyment and satisfaction with not just the things they own, but the life they live. She understands that true happiness in this life has to do more with finding joy in the things that make up this life, including our work environment, the people around us, and the different interactions we make. Things like taking initiative and helping others can give a “helpers high,” while interactions like smiling and saying thank you can lead to a more positive outlook in the day. When a person can look around them and be satisfied with what they see, and the person they are looking at in the mirror, that is when they can truly say, “this is happiness.”

Personally, it’s not the what that satisfies me; it’s the who that provides the what which brings true joy and true happiness. I am generally a happy person. In fact I can even say that all the things Angel mentions in her article usually take part in my week; all but working out. I’m not a big fan. But I can definitely say with pride that I find joy in every bit of my life, including the new friends I made in class to the new work environment that sprung up on my life.But in these things and these people, I trace my happiness and joy to one source. I trace it to God who provides every bit of the life that passes my way. However my point still stands that happiness is finding joy in what satisfies, and finding satisfaction in the little things. God allowed me to feel a sense of satisfaction in the things He has provided for me and joy in this satisfaction. It is because of this sensation that I learned through experience of what it truly means to be happy.

It has nothing to do with money, a new car, or a bigger house. Things such as these can lead to an endless pit of desires that are never satisfied and satisfaction that is never met. They bring up cycles of dissatisfaction which can often cause more emptiness rather than joy and happiness. Even the search for true love can have no ending. It’s only when a couple is satisfied with the person they are with can they find happiness in that relationship. And only when they find joy in being satisfied with that relationship can they truly be happy. Happiness is only defined by these two factors. Once these factors are met, a smile is what results from it.

Pleasing Papa

2010-07-08T14:00:00.000-07:00

Never in my twenty years of life have I ever experienced the harsh sting of disappointment as bad as when I changed my major to Psychology. Some days I feel like nothing is worth it in this world anymore. Nothing in this world makes sense. Why am I trying to get an education? To get a career that makes money. Where does this money go? It goes down the drain to things like bills and payments so that more money must be made to continue this endless cycle. So how else do you stop this cycle but by making more than you waste, or wasting less than you make. The sad part about the life that we have on this earth is that we die trying to earn money that has no value once we hit the grave. In the bible, the man that God blessed with the most wisdom was King Solomon, and one of my favorite quotes from Solomon was when he said, “There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow.” Solomon knew from experience that the things on this earth come in a pointless cycle, and even humans can only live for so long before they are dead and forgotten by the new ones that inhabit the earth. No matter what we do on this earth, none of it brings satisfaction. Nothing we do will ever satisfy us enough. There will always be a desire for more: more money, better friends, a better relationship, a better car, a better house, a better music player, more this…more that. It never ends. There is no point to this cycle. Jesus said, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” A philosophy that I live by today is the realization that even though chasing after things on this earth can be pointless, placing God in the center of all my actions give them meaning and purpose. Even when I am only dust in the ground, God stays with me no matter what. I want to be remembered by Him to enter His kingdom as one who served Him well on earth. This philosophy, or more like this walk of life, has allowed me to choose which path I decided to take in college. Things like money, a bigger house, or a better car are the very least on my mind. Ever since my point of view for what is most valuable in life changed, my desire to become a doctor did too.

When I was younger, I was the stereotypical perfect child every parent would want. I did not drink, I did not smoke, I hung out with the good kids, I was obedient, and I got straight A’s all through High School. I lived in the type of family that truly cared about church. Mama would always tell us to pray and read our bibles before going to sleep, and if we didn’t, she would take out the hanger. Sometimes if she woke up before us, she would force us to do it in the mornings too. This kind of thing can really turn a person away from God; but I stuck to it. I would say the one thing that most Christians have in common is the knowledge of the 10 commandments. The one I tried hardest to follow was honoring your father and mother. What they said is how it went. Papa was the reason I wanted to get straight A’s, the reason I wanted to be a good kid, and the reason I wanted so desperately to be a doctor. It was not for me, it was not because I wanted to save lives (although I had myself thinking that was the reason for a while); it was because Papa told me I could make "good money" being a doctor. So I told him ever since the 2^nd grade that I was going to grow up to be a doctor. He believed me of course. Who wouldn’t when their child was obedient and got the grades to prove themselves?

Finally when I received my High School diploma and was heading to Davis, my family was so proud. It was not because I got into the best school, because there are far better schools out there than those in the UC system, it was because they knew I was striving to get that Doctor of Philosophy degree(PhD), just like Papa wanted me to. Sadly for Papa, God had other plans.

This was new to me too. Since my church did not have such things as bible studies, I just thought of it as a very Christian thing to do, being there and studying the bible. Soon, week after week I was refreshed about the character of Jesus, His greatness, His humility, and the death He faced for the forgiveness of all the evil of this world in order that each human being could have a chance to dwell with Him after becoming nothing but dust on this earth. The more I relearned about this high God who humbled Himself to become human and a servant to all, the more I wanted to change for Him, and the more I cared to change. Suddenly I realized that the pursuit of becoming a doctor for the purpose of satisfying Papa and for the purpose of gaining money had no space in my heart. I no longer desired to gain for myself; I desired to serve others, just like Jesus did when He walked on the face of this earth. I knew that no amount of money could ever live to satisfy me as much as serving others for the glory of God would. So during the week of finals of winter quarter, freshmen year, I sent Papa an email expressing my excitement with capital letters saying “I AM CHANGING MY MAJOR TO PSYCHOLOGY!” I let him know about my lack of interest in becoming a Biomedical Engineer major and my dissatisfaction with trying to receive my PhD; I wanted to graduate with a bachelor in Psychology in hopes that someday I can become a counselor. I loved the idea of getting to know people and helping them in their situational issues, or maybe even becoming a Marriage and Family Therapist like Papa was.

Never in my twenty years of life have I ever experienced the harsh sting of disappointment from Papa as bad as the day I told him. A few hours after sending my email, I received a reply back with the end of the email that said in big bold letters “I am disappointed in you.” Suddenly I was in shock. A warm sensation began to fill my head, my eyes were starting to burn as if I left them open for too look, my chest was bumping fast as though I came back from running a marathon, my oxygen level felt as if it were decreasing by the second, and my eyes felt as though they were swelling up. With streams of salty water flowing down my face, I rushed for the door, leaving my best friend Ashley alone to study for our Statistics final, happening that next morning. After half an hour of walking around, my heart started to calm down and my voice showed no signs of choking. So, who else would I feel most comfortable to call but Alicia, who had been relentlessly pursuing my friendship since week 1. I explained to her the ways I could not understand how my father, who taught me to love God with all my heart, could be so disappointed when I made my decision to follow God more than ever by choosing a career path that would allow me to serve in a way that brought me true joy? The moment I finally decided to follow my heart was the same moment that caused Papa to stop supporting me in school, both in spirit and in finance. Day after day, I would tear up knowing that I was taking classes that I didn’t know how I would completely pay for. I would be around the same happy enjoyable friends but find myself wandering in thoughts of sadness, knowing that Papa disapproved of me. Weeks passed and not a single call, text, or email was sent from him.

All of a sudden when Father’s day was rolling around the corner, my younger sister Sirena decided to call me and ask if I was coming down for the weekend. Of course I told her I would. I couldn’t possibly miss Papa’s appreciation day. So when I came down, everything seemed normal, there was no mention of me switching majors and Papa gave me a hug and a kiss the moment I got home. I spent all of Saturday with my sisters planning in order to put on Papa’s fancy dinner at the “Yang Family Diner” at home. When Sunday night came about, I told Papa we were taking him out to a fancy restaurant. Mama, Papa, and my siblings all put on their most glamorous apparel. We tied a scarf around his eyes so he could not tell where we were taking him, and assigned my older sister Anna as his driver for the evening. While Anna was driving him around, she gave us enough time to put up covers that hid the entrance to the living room and kitchen area so that only the dining room would show. We set up two white candles in the center with two roses beside them and petals around the centered decorations, allowing for a slightly dim and romantic appeal to the room. We put on musical pieces by Mozart to set the tone of the evening and then gave Anna a call to signal her to take Papa back home. When they arrived, I was dressed up in my server-outfit and my British accent kicked in. As the server and cook of the evening, I seated the whole family to the table, only removing the blindfold from Papa’s eyes when he was finally seated. The night went amazingly well. Usually when surprises are planned Mama always ruins them by saying, “I know we wanted to surprise you but I can’t help but tell you,” and then she spills the beans. Amazingly she only said as much as, “the food is going to be very delicious. Trust me, I know,” with a smile as big as a banana.

Each dish came out delightfully elegant and satisfying, just as planned. I started the evening with the garlic bread appetizers and our exquisite wine selection of Sparkling Apple Cider. Since my family loves to go straight into the main course, I came out with five plates of Stuffed Chicken Marsala with stuffed chicken breast over perfectly golden rice with a creamy mushroom marsala sauce, topped with cilantro to garnish the dish. After our first main dish I brought out a delightfully decorated Seafood Alfredo, ending the evening with our special dessert of brownie topped with ice cream, drizzled in a homemade chocolate sauce, garnished with a thin chocolate wafer stick and mint to top it off. We ended the evening by singing Papa a song and handing him a card as big as a poster board, with pictures and written words to show our appreciation towards him. We took pictures after dinner and all thanked him for being our dad. I went home to Davis the next morning as happy as ever knowing that even though Papa didn’t really give a thank you, his smile was enough to make me happy. A week later, Papa finally communicated with me through a text message asking me if I remembered to change the sticker on my car. I assured him that I did it when he sent it to me. Then he replied with the words, “If I am ever proud of any of you kids, it would be you. Thank you for what you did on Fathers Day.”

Go Ahead and Catch My Attention

2010-07-07T13:00:00.000-07:00

A few seconds is all it takes to lose the interest of the reader. The first sentence is crucial when engaging the audience. Then you are given a bit longer to explain your main point, allowing for a taste of what you are trying to say. A good blogger will not only set the pace from the beginning; they will make you laugh, cry, and think hard about what is written to set a mood that allows a reader to feel like they actually enjoy what it is they are reading.

In the blog world, it is often hard trying to find a piece that catches your attention. Blogs are known for both short and long contact with the audience. But whether you are looking for a written article or a post with pictures, it is the blogger’s duty to fully enlighten their reader. In a post by the blogger Words Into Actions, the author grabs her audience by introducing them to each key point, giving it to them short and quick. “Truth. Community. Vulnerability. Healing. Freedom. These are values that most people within the Christian community (and beyond) would most likely agree with and try to live out. (Words Into Actions)” From the beginning she explains herself well. She purposefully targets a specific audience and leaves them thirsting for more. She doesn’t stop there. In the same paragraph she challenges her readers in thought and causes them to question their own personal lives, engaging and creating a hunger for what lies ahead. She says, “We are privileged to be able to experience the joy of these values because of Jesus. Even though the ability to experience these are ours to access, something called SHAME or FEAR can hold us back.” Words Into Actions is a natural at creating a mood that allows her audience to think about their own lives and their interactions with people and things around them. Most importantly, she expresses a knowledgeable approach to her posts, referencing outside sources.

In a similar approach, the blogger By His Grace. For His Glory begins his post, “Save Yourself,” with a reference to the book of Luke in the Holy Bible. Just this reference alone is enough to stir interest in his target audience. Yet he continues to lure them in with five brief descriptions, enough to leave anyone thinking. “Three distinct movements. Three different sets of people. Three different mocking accusations. One angry command. One gracious response. (By His Grace. For His Glory)” This particular blogger does not completely follow the normal rules of writing. The reason I give him credit for his posts is because he takes syntax and uses it to his advantage to stir the hearts of his audience. He uses three phrases to title each category, summing up his main points and leaving his audience in question. “He was who they said he was…We try to save ourselves, but can't…He could have saved himself, but didn't try. (By His Grace. For His Glory)” And after each point he makes, his quotes are just as short and to the point, revealing a quick yet steady pace the whole way through. By His Grace. For His Glory is a writer who gets his point across quickly, but does it in a way that truly motivates his audience through the passion he exuberates.

In both a short or long post, a good blogger will express a passion for their values in a way that gives understanding to the reader. The blogger Live.Love.Laugh does it in a way that reveals her points in art form. Now I don’t mean she posted up pieces of art. Anyone can do that. I mean in a particular post, she structures the points of her paragraph in a way that shows the importance of each individual phrase, ending with an artistic paragraph of beauty on the topic of beauty itself. She takes credit as a blogger who is excellent at explaining each of her thoughts in detail. It makes for long blog posts but allows for the reader to truly understand how she herself feels. She expresses her passion through detailed descriptions of her thoughts and ideas. Need I say more?

Of course A blogger cannot only have passion in order to write an eye catching post. A true necessity in the realm of all types of writing is organization. Jenna Groom organizes her point on love first by explaining what it is, its connection to God, and ending with scripture from the Holy Bible to make her point. Once a reader can follow your point with ease, the final piece must catch and lure the reader's interest. That is where appealing to the audience comes in handy. Zach Litawa appeals to his readers by crediting himself as one who understands the idea of loneliness, stating his point of why friends can count on him in times of need. Zach’s appeal to the reader is expressed in his connection with the audience when revealing that he comes from a place of understanding. In this way he places his audience in a feeling of comfort.

It is obvious by now that there is more than one reason why a blog post can be labeled "good writing". It has nothing to do with the amount that is written and everything to do with hitting key emotions, appealing to the target audience, and describing main points with passion and detail. Hooking the audience from the start is important, while setting the mood and pace kicks it off quite nicely. In this way, a reader is drawn to the written piece from the beginning. This is what separates a good blogger from a great blogger.

A True Story Teller

2010-07-07T12:00:00.000-07:00

Detailed characteristics, a plot to go with it, and energy like none other; these are the works of storytelling. An author or storyteller can have the most amazing plot in mind, but if he lacks the ability to give details, he has no good story. In the same sense a story with a plot of non-sense can be made into an excellent story as long as there are enough details and energy to support it. Sounds crazy right? But when someone comes out of a doorway talking about an alien invasion, waving his arms around and trying to explain why that is, you are definitely going to be interested; granted you might think he’s crazy, he will still have your full attention. Whether you believe him or not is your own choice of course.

Stories are meant to be attention grabbers. Like the beginning of an essay when you say something to grab the reader’s attention from the start, stories must do the same, except they do it with the first paragraph or so. In the storytelling of the “Pink Bicycle,” James Brawly begins nowhere near talking about the pink bike. Instead he catches the attention of the listeners by talking first about how his father was a “man’s man,” which encouraged him to be a father that was accepting of his children no matter what the case. In his case, his son Oliver loved the color pink. The thing I love about Brawly’s story is that he has his listeners laughing from the very beginning. Every bit of his story has reason for being there and he makes each part just as funny as the next. In the sense of key descriptions, he goes crazy with them. He doesn’t start with describing his father’s character; he starts by describing a militant scene where everyone was screaming but his father. He shows what type of person his father was by the words his father says in the situation and what he was doing instead of screaming, “solving the problem.” There’s nothing wrong about a story that describes the characters right from the beginning, but a story that grabs your attention is one that throws out the easy list of details and allows the situational events to do most of the talking.

Unlike a grocery check list or a parking ticket, stories have meaning, whether good or bad. They don’t just list off key points like a student taking notes. There is always a reason why they are told, even if the reason only seems relevant to the author or speaker. With this relevancy comes a need for passion in every good story. In “The Horizontal Life,” Debra Marquart tells a story of meeting her man. The way Marquart tells the story beginning with “She would never have lost her virginity, this girl that I was, if the grain elevator had not burned down,” grabs her readers, including myself, from the beginning and just keeps going. It wasn’t because the topic of losing her virginity sounds interesting, it was because of the passion she had in telling her story and the way she detailed it. Even her details had their own set of details. This story was by no means a check off list of “this is this and that is that.” Marquart uses the third person point of view to describe how it all began from middle school, to losing her virginity, to gaining confidence in her type of men, explaining details about relevant events that led to finally meeting her man of interest. She does it in a way that allows you to really understand the character and types of thoughts she had when she was at that age. Her readers could almost put themselves in her shoes. This is the way a story should be told.

A story is essentially one main plot with miniature stories in between to lead up to that plot. The most boring plots can become great stories as long as they are told with enthusiasm and enough energy to make every bit of it exciting. The story teller has a duty to their audience to catch them, to make them engaged with each occurring event, and to intrigue them with the finishing punch line; with Marquart it was, “So confident is she that he will find a way to get them wherever this girl that I was wants to go,” and with Brawly it was, “he had shown me the beauty and power of being yourself and letting other people be themselves.” They are two beautifully told stories with reasoning to each one and an ending that resonates with the hearts of their listeners. These are the marks of an excellent storyteller.

Lord of All Nations

2010-07-05T17:55:00.000-07:00

A new topic I wanted to hit on was the greatness of God. I realized that the one thing we so often forget is just how great our God really is. He is almighty, all powerful, and all knowing. But do we really see that in prospective?

Imagine all the people on this world, anyone from babies to super tall people, as less than ants. In fact we are like dust-mites; hardly even noticeable. Then we have God–this great gigantic being who holds the entire universe in the palm of his hands. Greater than any human king, he can shove us around with the tip of his finger nail. He can alter the course of our lives with one flick. He needs none of us to make a decision; if everyone on the entire universe got together and disagreed with God, His decision is the only one that matters. So how much does the King of all the universe really care about us if he needs none of us in the first place?

Now imagine this. This mighty king who is so great and so powerful, who makes us look like a speck on a globe, humbles Himself and sends His son to be a servant to these specks. He allows us to spit at Him, yell at Him, curse at Him, and look down upon Him just so that we specks on a tiny planet can be with Him. God, this all powerful, huge being turns Himself into nothing to serve the nothings on a planet that deserves none of His mercy. He not only humbles Himself to become nothing, but He becomes servant of all the nothings on this planet (us) and dies on the cross so that we can be with Him in heaven. Now isn’t that the work of someone who truly loves us?

Time. The Consumer of Life

2010-07-03T01:00:00.000-07:00

One time when I went home, I kept hearing my sister say, “Hurry up! The longer we take the more time we waste. Time is everything.” I was sick to my stomach when I realized she had become a time-Nazi. The only thing I was thinking was that I hoped she herself had time to relax, time to chill, and time to be human again. I hoped that the feeling of a need to always keep going, always keep moving and never stopping had not consumed her soul. In a similar sense she was almost like a car stuck in traffic: always on the go and always on the move; shifting back and forth and cutting people off trying to reach the goal, being inconsiderate of what the other person might be feeling; getting angry and fussy over things when others seem to get in the way; keeping a steady distance between herself and the other person; and only getting so personal so that she can move on past those in her way when necessary.

Of course this doesn’t make her a terrible person. In fact many Americans become this person. We are known for it: never having a break and always on the move; not knowing when to sit and relax; not knowing when to truly get to know the community around us. Something that I always admired about the French is that during lunch time, they are known to take 2 hour breaks because during that specific meal, they literally sit and relax with the people around them or their families at home, taking their time during lunch. Even God loves to relax. On the 7^th day of creating the heavens and the earth and all that was in it, He rested, calling it the Sabbath day, making a commandment for the Jews to follow before Jesus came. And even when Jesus came, after every great miracle such as the feeding of the 5,000, He would have His disciples rest while He himself went up to the mountain to spend time with His Father (God) alone.

With Jesus as my example, I feel He explains it all in His actions when He took the time to rest and truly honor God His Father for the miracles that were done. I don’t want to be like every average American, always in competition, always being controlled by time, and never taking a step back to relax. And of course the most important of them all; I want to learn to relax, stop and truly praise God for the things that He has done for me. I hope that I can continue to allow God to be my motivation instead of allowing time to consume me.

A Similar Post: Fighting The Way Through

Starting with the Heart

2010-06-30T21:34:00.000-07:00

I started the title of this blog because I realized that day by day I don’t want to stay the same. I feel like ever single day we as humans learn something new about this world. Daily we are getting more information on how this planet is changing, how one thing is effecting other things, how people need clean water or sanitation, or maybe even how you yourself may be discovering more amazing things about God. Today I woke up realizing that even though I don’t have much, I still have the world.

I woke up this morning with little time on my hands and a few too many things to do: shower, eat breakfast, study a menu for work, wait until a friend picks up his dog, talk to that friend because it is impolite to do so, take the dog outside before he does his business in the house, etc. I felt like there were so many things I wanted to accomplish and so little time to do it.

But then when I took a step back, I realized, “oh my goodness, look at the things I am able to do.” I have clean water that I can wash with. I am able to stress out about showering. I can shower, every day in fact. I can drink this water without it killing me. There are so many things that God has already provided for me.

Then when I went to eat breakfast I realized, “wow! Even though I only have eggs and rice at the moment, I am able to eat such a large portion.” It’s not that I ONLY have eggs and rice; it’s that I DO have an abundance of eggs and rice. There are so many people across the country that don’t have the provisions that I have and yet I’m stressing about not having enough to eat. I felt like God pretty much smacked me with the reality that I am truly blessed by the things He has provided for me. By the end of my morning when I was ready to go, God had blown me away with how much He has blessed me with throughout my life and even today. I know this sounds corny but this is one of the reasons I want to continue a life of change.

I don’t want to keep stressing about food when I know I have more than plenty. I don’t want to ignore the fact that I am completely provided for. I want to continue thanking God for the many things He has given me. I hate the idea of taking advantage of the things I have and having complaints when I know that I have way more than enough. This is my idea of change. It starts from the heart; It starts from MY heart.