Personal Trainer

When I arrived back to Rome from Haiti this summer I had a lot to do. Originally I thought I would have some time to study and work on my thesis (on human freedom), but with the work load, study became the last item on my to-do list. 

After a couple of days, I really thought I was maxed out. Then, a friend of mine called me. He is a friend, but I consider him also my personal trainer. He is not a work out trainer, he is more of a life trainer. So I told him how life was going and how busy I have been and he asked: are you studying? We had already talked about this before the summer: I needed to study this summer and make progress on my thesis, because this year was going to be intense.

During our conversation he challenged me to make time in the midst of my busy schedule to study. He pushed me and challenged me to sacrifice a few things in order to make time.

I felt I was maxed out and he pushed me a step further. After taking some time to think about what we talked about, I decided to push myself a little farther – and I made time to study. My summer has been brighter and my future will be brighter thanks to him.

Do you have a friend that you can ask to be your life trainer? A friend that will challenge you to be a better you?

Do you remember the last time you had rice?

Do you remember the last time you had rice? When you finished your meal, what did you do with the little grains of rice left on your plate? Just a few days ago I was in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. I, along with twenty-eight other missionaries, helped run a summer camp for some one hundred and seventy little girls from some of the poorest parts of Haiti (of the Western Hemisphere for that matter).

During one of the lunch breaks I walked into the classroom. The little girls, around five years old, were dumping the rice they had received into plastic bags. I looked at one and she looked up at me with her big eyes and said, "Mama!" She was bringing the food back to her mother -- they all were! I helped them scrape the rice off the plate into the bag and their little black hands reached in to help out at the end making sure even little individual grains of rice made it home to their family.

Mayweather vs. Pacquiao

Tomorrow in Las Vegas will be the "fight of the century". Mayweather will earn $200 million if he wins and Pacquiao $130 million. Each one deep down has his motivation. They are willing to enter the ring in order to achieve their goal. What are you willing to fight for?