Today's Weather, 4 A.M. | Sept. 17, 2023

1,143 views Sep 17, 2023 #TheManilaTimes #WeatherUpdateToday #WeatherForecast

Today's Weather, 4 A.M. | Sept. 17, 2023 Video Courtesy of DOST-PAGASA

Faith always works wonders

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

Chaplain

Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE)

Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com

INDEED! That gospel episode where a centurion begged Christ to cure his dying slave (cfr. Lk 7,1-10) simply shows us that with a strong faith like that of the centurion, miracles can happen.

“Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof,” was the response of the centurion when Christ said he was going to his house. “Therefore, I did not consider myself worthy to come to you; but say the word and let my servant be healed,” he continued. It was this manifestation of the centurion’s great faith that Christ immediately did what was requested. The slave got cured at that instant.

We need to understand that since our life is meant to be a life with God, a life in the Spirit which is a supernatural life more than just a natural life, our Christian faith has to be taken care of, nourished and developed to full maturity.

We need to be more aware of this duty and develop the appropriate attitude and skill to carry out this responsibility effectively. We have to go beyond mere good intentions or being merely theoretical in order to be truly practical and be vitally engaged with this obligation.

Faith is a tremendous gift from God who starts to share with us what he has, what he knows about himself and about ourselves. It gives us the global picture of reality, covering both the temporal and the eternal, the material and the spiritual, the natural and supernatural dimensions of our life.

It is what gives permanent value to our passing concerns, the ultimate, constant and unifying standard to all the variables of our life. The perishable things of life can attain an imperishable quality when infused with faith. What is merely earthly and mundane can have a sanctifying effect when done with faith.

By its very dynamics, it prepares us for a life of charity which is how our life ought to be. It is also nourished and is the effect of charity, indicating to us that faith is organically united to charity, the very essence of God in whose image and likeness we are.

Besides, given the character of journeying of our earthly life, faith is also what nourishes our hope, that principle that enables us to move on before all kinds of possible situations and predicaments we can encounter in our life. It gives us the reason, the basis, and the vital impulses of our hope.

Especially these days when many people are confused, if not lost, in the complex drama of life, faith is what would give us the proper light to guide us as we navigate the waters of life.

Faith contains the medicine and the remedy to all our spiritual inadequacies and illnesses. It is what is required for miracles to happen, as attested many times in the Gospel.

When one has faith, even if it is just little, we can see the marvels of God taking place all around everyday. That one perseveres in prayer, or decides to confess his sins after a long period of sinfulness, or a husband being faithful to his wife in spite of the strong temptations, etc., these are miracles too.

They are miracles because these situations often defy human logic and worldly wisdom. But then again, they can only be acknowledged if one has faith. Faith enables us to see beyond appearances and the reality painted only by human and worldly values. 

It is faith that lets us enter into the spiritual and supernatural world. It brings us to share in God’s wisdom and power. Remember those stirring words of Christ: “If you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you shall say to this mountain, Remove from there, and it shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible to you.” ((Mt 17,20)

'PARALYSIS' IN BUSINESS

 

Analysis paralysis occurs when a decision-maker overthinks or overanalyzes a situation, halting the ability to move forward with action. This inevitably slows down progress as they spend more time than they need trying to reach a decision. This paralysis causes delays that negatively affect business outcomes.

Sometimes referred to as “choice paralysis,” analysis paralysis causes you to have an intense, emotional reaction when faced with making a decision. While it's not a medical diagnosis, it's a symptom often tied to mental health conditions like anxiety and depression.

Analysis paralysis is a colloquial phrase used to describe the feeling of being unable to make a decision due to overthinking a problem. This often happens when you’re dealing with too many variables and continually researching solutions, instead of taking action and making a decision.

The root cause of analysis paralysis? Anxiety. Making a decision is hard—what if you make the wrong decision? This kind of thinking causes analysis paralysis. That’s because our brain’s goal is to make the right choice every time, even if there’s not actually a perfect solution. Indecisiveness can be a symptom of impostor syndrome—if you feel like you need to be a perfectionist at work, making a major decision can send you into analysis paralysis.

A doctor would explain the term paralysis as "loss of power of movement or sensation". Are you doing business? Do you feel paralyzed sometimes?

People-pleasing involves a desire to make people happy at any cost, at times even at the cost of our own happiness.

When we are expected to make a decision that might impact others, especially those we love or care about, the weight of our choice can feel particularly heavy.

Follow-ups seem to become the new national character. Indifferent people in our surroundings let us feel like that daily. Indifference seems to become one of the vagaries in today's society. Of course, the exception proves the rule!

We try to get an appointment, but -let me call it- "the other side" seems to be very busy sending text messages and letting me wait. We really don't want to encroach on other people's time, but we mostly get the same answer: Please try again tomorrow.

Many times I just try to hold my breath while observing certain employees, who should be in the service of the people, instead of reading a magazine, doing private talks over the phone, (again) doing (important?) text messages, and getting down-right cheeky, if we start another follow-up. Suddenly we learn, "that the boss is out of town"... . GRABE!

How many good ideas and highly appreciated business deals had gone with the wind because of uncomprehending, unsympathetic and unappreciated everyday deals between my fellow creatures and me? Honestly, sometimes I also experienced a "terrible loss of power of movement or sensation" while observing lost chances.

If you notice yourself overanalyzing important decisions or spending a substantial amount of time worrying about making the wrong choice, these strategies can help you move forward, take action, and make better decisions.

Set yourself a deadline to make a decision. If you have no timeline for when a decision needs to be made, you can spend a large amount of time waffling back and forth between different options, and ultimately never making a decision. The best course of action? Set yourself a deadline or a specific time frame for when the decision needs to be made.

Narrow down your options early. If you have an overwhelming amount of options, get rid of some right away. Figure out what you want your expected outcome of this decision to be, and then eliminate any options that don’t fit the qualifications of that outcome.

Practice making decisions quickly. Impulsivity isn’t always a bad thing. If you are constantly plagued by analysis paralysis, practice making small decisions fast. The inconsequential things like deciding where to eat dinner or what path you take to get to work will help you be more decisive when you’re making bigger decisions.

Use a framework for your decision making process: Believe it or not, there is a whole framework for the decision making process. Following a step-by-step guide can help take away some of the cognitive heavy work that’s required to make a big decision.

If you find yourself in a state of analysis paralysis, it is important to understand that there are steps you can take to slow that process down or stop it altogether. The ruminating thoughts, confusion and worry might make it feel nearly impossible but we can have a sense of agency in these moments.

Allow yourself to become an observer of your thoughts and be honest if it feels like you are ruminating on the same thoughts over and over.

Rigid thinking, people-pleasing, and fear can lead to our inability to make a clear decision. Remind yourself that it is OK to be flexible and imperfect.

Oftentimes, our fear of a poor outcome can feel heavy and permanent and it is often not the case.

When we are fearful of a potential outcome it is usually because we are afraid we won't be able to recover, that we won't be able to navigate the path well if things become painful.

What feels dangerous to us is often simply uncomfortable. Remind yourself of times when you have handled moments of challenge, stress and discomfort and bring that into your view of self as you navigate the decision ahead of you.

Much of what can lead to analysis paralysis is reaching for information, perspective, and the opinion of others.

Make an intentional choice to stop asking people what they think or what they might do. It is likely that you have the information you need, along with life experience and insight, to know what the next best choice would be.

Analysis paralysis often involves looking out into the future to anticipate the outcomes of our choices.

In doing this, we are trying to avoid or minimize experiencing pain but the reality is we often can't predict outcomes. Allow yourself to be present and take the next best step.

Making smaller, more immediate choices at the moment can allow us to pivot and adjust as necessary without the pressure to have all of the answers.

+++

Email: doringklaus@gmail.com or follow me on Facebook, LinkedIn  or X (former Twitter) or visit www.germanexpatinthephilippines.blogspot.com or www.klausdoringsclassicalmusic.blogspot.com .