Backing off

And so, I'm back at my blog even though I've got tons of assignments and tutorials to finish. And so far, I've been doing all these at a shockingly leisurely pace. Haha. Can't seem to kick out the holiday mood when this is not a holiday but a recess week - a week to rest and catch up!

Have been home the past 3 days thus far and just doing my assignments - MATLAB programming -.- And since I didn't leave home the past 3 days, I didn't shave. LOL! And this is the manly result :D HAHA!

Manly facial hair. LOL.

So yeah, gonna mug like mad today (I hope) and clear a few tutorials before I go back school to face more of such engineering rubbish which I needa memorize.

Anyway, while doing my daily readings today I was really impacted by this passage and thus I had to blog this out to crystallize, internalize and regurgitate the truths my eyes just grazed on.

Reading this devotional book called "Come Before Winter and share my hope" by Charles R. Swindoll or Chuck Swindoll. He is an A.M.A.Z.I.N.G author. His diction, stories and vast show of descriptive vocabulary never fails to amaze me. His words simply paint a picture in your head and instead of reading a book, you're actually very much watching a short play in your mind's TV screen.

Today's topic is called "Backing Off" which talks about patience, distance and letting people and situations have space and time to breathe.

Here's a few excerpts from the passage which really spoke to me:

"Backing off, says Solomon (in Ecclesiastes 3), provides opportunity for healing to occur, opportunity for perspective to break through the storm clouds of emotion and illuminate a difficult situation with a fresh understanding."

"When the time is right, things flow very naturally, very freely. To rush or force creates friction-scars that take years to erase. Intensity leads to futility."

"Like the little boy who plants the seed and then nervously digs it up every day to see if it is growing. Waiting is as necessary as planting and fertilizing."

Here comes the best part - where he illustrates his principles and pointers with real life examples which you can identify with:

"What a difficult pill for uptight parents to swallow! Kept edgy by impatience, rigidity and unbending determination, they foolishly rush in where angels loathe to tread. The result? Exasperated kids. Rooms choked with threats and irritating pressure."

"We can do this with people we have offended. They need time to reason, freedom to forgive without being hurried. To push for a quick closure is like a hard-sell salesman pressing you to buy when you are trying to decide what's best. The faster he talks and the harder he pushes, the less interested you become in buying - even if it's something you need."

"Nobody is able to eat while they're weeping. Serving more food isn't the answer. The appetite will return when the agony subsides...and not until. That takes time."

We see this issue of impatience and not backing-off in every facet of relationships - parenting, friendships, boy-girl relationships, marriage, office get-things-done setting, etc...

And I for one am famous for my pushing intensity. Because I debate a lot with myself, reason and logic-fy things very fast and I see the end result and I PUSH REAL HARD to get my point across which...sometimes, just doesn't work.

Like Chuck Swindoll has said "To rush or force creates friction-scars that take years to erase. Intensity leads to futility."

So yeah, I'm learning this one fact. And I am currently exercising it now. Giving people space to breathe, think and formulate whatever principles and conclusions they need to.

I'm backing off and exercising restraint and the concept of "distance" where you stay away and let them find and figure out the answer.

Yeah, a hard truth and scarcely practiced principle has been beautifully expounded on in today's passage by Chuck Swindoll and I hope I will digest and internalize his experienced discourse well.

So, BACK OFF! LOL :D