What Makes A Dad

God took the strength of a mountain,
The majesty of a tree,
The warmth of a summer sun,
The calm of a quiet sea,
The generous soul of nature,
The comforting arm of night,
The wisdom of the ages,
The power of the eagle's flight,
The faith of a mustard seed,
The patience of eternity,
The depth of a family need,
Then God combined these qualities,
When there was nothing more to add,
He knew His masterpiece was complete,
And so, He called it ... Dad

(Author is unknown)

Beginning With The End (The Next 40 Years)

This is my first BLOG to post, and borrowing from the 7 Habits of Stephen R. Covey's fame, I will begin this BLOGGING adventure with "the end in mind."

The ultimate end of all our earthly existence is death. For the past week, I have heard the news of two "untimely" demise of people I know. However, I believe that there is no such thing as an untimely death, since all of us are just "enjoying" or perhaps "suffering" this privilege called life ...very much aware of our borrowed existence.

On July 2007, I will be celebrating middle life ... the age of 40. God willing, my privilege to exist on this planet will be for another generation. Hopefully, my tombstone will bore the inscriptions "1967 - 2047." Of course, there will be lot of surprises along the way, and the 2047 "deadline" is just an estimate... shall we say for "project management" purposes! The project objective: To maximize the next 40 years of life, having 40million US dollars worth of assets, learning or discovering 40 new skills or fields of knowledge, visiting 40 other countries in the world, and helping 40 million people in one way or the other... all for the greater glory of God (Ad Maiorem Die Gloriam) ... to borrow a phrase from the Jesuits.

Next step in the project management process will be the setting of milestones and time lines, to wit;

1. Detailed Planning / Write a Book / Set-up a micro-enterprise (2007 -2008)
2. Go to business school / Set-up a small business enterprise (2008 - 2012)
3. Extensive business growth and build-up / Building a top 50 enterprise (2012 -2017)
4. Set-up a charitable Foundation (2017 - 2027)
5. Semi-retired/Vacation / Visit grandchildren (2027 -2037)
6. Retired / Write another book / More grandchildren (2037 - 2047)
7. End this BLOG (sometime around 2047 or beyond ... God willing)
   

Unless I'll have a clear objective and plan such as mentioned above ... the next 40 years might become a"wandering" in the wilderness so to speak ... without reaching and tasting the "milk and honey" of the promised land. Of course, while mere mortals such as us can make some grand plans ... the final outcome will still be and always will be dependent on the Lord.

40 years seems to be a long time, but ALAS! time flies fast .... very fast! 40 years = 480 months = 2,080 weeks = 14,600 days.

Let's live our lives one day at a time. CARPE DIEM!