Making the Most of Mistakes

When was the last time you celebrated a mistake? If you're like me, you probably never have. The funny thing is I'm starting to realize that just as important as celebrating success, mistakes ought to be celebrated as well. This is specially true in the corporate world. People in organizations need to start developing a fascination with what doesn't or didn't work.

It's really a matter of perspective. A forward-thinking company will view and celebrate mistakes as opportunities for learning. This doesn't mean that they are enjoying the mistakes they made, but merely realizing that they have something to learn from it. Once that learning is discovered then it's time to celebrate the mistake.

Just to nail down the point: there's a story about IBM's Tom Watson being asked if he was going to fire an employee who made a mistake that cost IBM $600,000. To this he replied, " No! I just spent $600,000 training the guy. Why on earth would I want someone else to benefit from his training and experience?" This is where the learning starts.

The nugget I get from this is that while most leaders/managers are tempted to take the easy way out and let a member of his/her team go after making a mistake or a failure-we should not. Unless the mistake was immoral, or completely against what the company stands for then we would do well to look at it from another angle and consider it an investment that will inevitably pay off in the future. Most likely in the form of no mistakes of the same nature being made.

Learn to Say No to the Good So You Can Say Yes to the Best

This is the battlefield where I often find myself fighting the longest. Distinguishing between good and bad is easy enough and comes naturally for us. Yet I often find that because of my nature and disposition (also born out of a culture of "instant" everything) which wants to do everything, accomplish everything, and have everything NOW, I end up saying "YES" to everything.

The lesson I've learned is that I need to set up a system of accountability that will help me choose not between good and bad, but more importantly between Good and Best! This is why I thank God for my family and the company of true friends. They're the "hatchet committee" that guides me in saying no to the "good" things I find along the way and they're also the people who support and stand by me until I can finally say "YES" to the best!

We Are Not Human Beings Having a Spiritual Experience

Suppose that we accepted the fact that we have the unconditional love of God our Father-that we can never achieve enough, sell enough, build enough, or own enough to merit more of His love-we have all the love there is to have. Would knowing this truth make us better cheerleaders, supporters and encourages of our people? I think so. When you begin to discover that you are not a human being having a spiritual experience but rather a spiritual being having a human experience, you realize that everyone else is too! :)

Have a productive week ahead everyone!

-taken from "Leadership Smarts" by Ken Blanchard

Another One of Those Old Emails

Hi. everyone. As I was cleaning up my email tonight, I came across a really old email that I sent to a church yahoogroup before. Coming across this email encouraged me by reminding me again of a time not so long ago when showed me His faithfulness by blessing me with one of the great jobs that I've had the chance to get. More than that it reminded me of how deeply intimate and close I was with my Father in heaven and encouraged me to once again seek Him and restore the kind of relationship that I had back then. I hope it encourages you as well...God bless


[CCF-Singles] May you be encouraged...
Wednesday, June 23, 2004 8:54 AM
From:
"Ralph Tupaz"
Add sender to Contacts
To:
CCF-Singles@yahoogroups.com

To my beloved brothers / sisters in Christ:

Part of my early morning routine has always been to listen to praise songs and sing along with them before I spend my quiet time. I have found that doing this helps to put me in a better frame of mind to read and study God’s word before I head off to face new day that God has given me. However, this morning it was a little different. I had to rush to leave the house because I had to run an early errand and had to avoid rush hour traffic. As such, I didn’t have time for my morning devotional.

They say bad habits are hard to break, but be encouraged because “good habits are even harder to break”. I found this to be true this morning. As fate would have it, I ran into traffic in a company car with no radio to listen to praise songs which I was in the habit of doing. Something in me wanted to sing out and praise God yet without a radio I could not think of what to sing. Then all of a sudden an old song we used to sing in worship came to my mind. The reason I am writing this is in the hope that my reflections as I was singing that song would encourage you as much as it did me. The song’s title is “Hearts Courageous” and here are the lyrics:

Hearts Courageous

Give us ears to hear that still small voice,

give us lips forever willing to rejoice

And may our eyes be lit with wisdom

May we know the path that’s true

And we’ll march with heart’s courageous after You


We’re marching on with heart’s courageous

We’ll follow anywhere You want us to

And should you lead us where the battle rages’

Lord we’ll march with heart’s courageous after you


And when sorrow dims the light along our way,

help us to see each time of darkness through eyes of faith

A time for hope, a time for courage

knowing You will lead us through

and we’ll march with hearts courageous after You


We’re marching on with heart’s courageous

We’ll follow anywhere You want us to

And should you lead us where the battle rages’

Lord we’ll march with heart’s courageous after you


As I was singing the song, it became my morning prayer. I prayed for God to give me ears to always hear Him calling to me to spend time with Him and in his word amidst the hustle and bustle of the day, the noise of traffic, the pressures of work, the distractions of this world. I prayed that by His grace, my lips would always be willing to rejoice in the midst of difficult situations, surrounded by difficult circumstances, persecuted, ridiculed yet still rejoicing because I am redeemed, saved bought by the precious blood of the Lamb and looking forward to the promise of eternity with my Father in heaven.

I prayed for wisdom for me to make the right decisions in all that I would do and how I would act and react to things, situations and people throughout the whole day. For I know that I was called to be a light for this dark world and the way I act would determine whether that light would lead others to Christ or lead them away.
I prayed that God would show me his Will, that I may always follow the true path and not my own misleading, selfish desires that lead to sin. I prayed specially for those of us who were currently in the midst of suffering and trials, that we would see these times of trial and suffering through eyes of faith, faith in the promises of our Heavenly Father.
I prayed that each of us would see these times as a time for hope, a time for courage, a time to exercise our muscles of faith. Faith that He is would never leave us nor forsake us, faith that He would provide for all of my needs according to His glorious riches, faith that even if we feel we are walking in the valleys, He will lead us “THROUGH”.
I prayed for His strength to come alive in me so that even during times when I feel I am inadequate or weak I will still be able to march on with a courageous heart and carry out His will. I prayed that in the midst of the raging battle we wage against the rulers, powers and principalities of this dark and dying world, that we would march on with hearts courageous following Him.

SO, MY BELOVED BROTHER / SISTER IN CHRIST IF RIGHT NOW YOU FIND YOURSELF IN THE MIDST OF A RAGING BATTLE AGAINST SICKNESS, DISCOURAGEMENT, PERSECUTION, IF YOU SHOULD FIND YOURSELF STRUGGLING TO DO HIS WILL BECAUSE OF TEMPTATIONS, FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES, PRESSURES FROM THIS WORLD… TAKE HEART!!! FOR OUR LORD HAS GONE BEFORE US…HE HAS OVERCOME THE WORLD...FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH…MARCH ON BROTHER!…MARCH ON SISTER!…MARCH ON CHILD OF GOD!...LET US ALL MARCH ON WITH HEARTS COURAGEOUS…FOR EVEN IF THE BATTLE RAGES AROUND US, OUR LORD HAS ALREADY WON THE VICTORY…AND OUR REDEMPTION DRAWS EVER NEARER WITH EACH PASSING DAY!!!

Yours in Christ,

Ralph Tupaz

A Blast of Encouragement From The Past

From: Ralph Tupaz
Subject: [CCF-Singles] new every morning... :D
To: CCF-Singles@yahoogroups.com
Cc: ralphtupaz@mdci.com.ph
Date: Friday, June 25, 2004, 9:13 AM

New Every Morning…

Hi, guys!

How are you this morning? Is your day starting out right? For all of us, I hope it is. But have you ever had mornings that start out bad and ends up ruining your whole day? Mornings when the cares of yesterday, the problems…the heartache…pain and loneliness that you thought you managed to escape when you slept suddenly creep up and hit you smack in the face as you sip your morning cup of coffee?? I’m sure that most, if not all of us have experienced this and still do. I know I have and I still do form time to time but God is faithful and He has shown me a way to deal with this and I would like to share this with you. It works for me, I pray it works for you too.

Mornings are very important to me. It has always been a time for reflection, a time to plan out the day ahead. A sacred part of the day that belongs to me and my Father alone. I believe this is true for most of us. But what if your morning starts out exactly the way I mentioned it above? Sometimes, this happens long before we even get to our first cup of coffee…long before we even get out of bed. It’s as if suddenly the scrambled eggs you used to love every morning have become too oily…the fried rice too salty…the “tapa” too tough…the coffee too bitter… and no matter how brightly the sun is shining above us…we feel as if there’s a big black cloud hovering "EXCLUSIVELY" over our head. When this happens, chances are the rest of the day will turn out bad as well…maybe even worse! We become more irritable, impatient and tense like a mousetrap ready to spring at the slightest touch. I pity the person who makes the mistake of touching a Christian like me when I'm in my"moustrap mode". We lose the ability to deal with people around us in a Christian manner and worst of all, we lose the desire to spend time with our Father and focus instead on facing the problems set before us head on.

Don’t get me mistaken, I find nothing wrong with facing problems and challenges head on. But one precious lesson I’ve learned over the years is that I am better equipped to respond to them if I focus on God first and rejoice in His faithfulness. Rejoice?? Faithfulness?? If He is faithful then why…why am I about to lose my job?...why did my girlfriend / boyfriend leave me?...why does this person or that person have cancer?...why am I being cast out by my friends and family because of Jesus? How do I rejoice in all of these? Has God run out of grace for me? Tough questions...I've asked them myself... lots of times...I'm sure some of you have too...and maybe still are...

Is there really still something worth rejoicing for when we are faced with problems/questions like the ones i just mentioned? I found the secret to dealing with this in Lamentations 3:19-23 (NASB) it says in v.19 “Remember my affliction and my wandering, the wormwood and the bitterness. V.20 Surely my soul remembers and is bowed down within me.” When I remember my life before I came to know Christ as Lord and Savior and all realize just how much I’ve been forgiven and what I have to look forward to in eternity I begin to sober up a little. Suddenly my problems start to grow a little smaller and my eyes of faith begin to open up as I look heavenward. The passage continues to say in v.21 “This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope.” Why do I have hope? Because it says in v.22 “The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For his compassions never fail.” It is interesting to note that the verse said lovingkindnesses and compassions (NASB) and not just lovingkindness and compassion. They are both plural, the implication for me is that there is more to come. The lovingkindness and compassion did not stop the moment I received Christ as my Lord and Saviour. It's not a one-time thing. My Father in heaven has more lovingkindness and compassion to shower on me and on you..we just have to ask for it. How do we ask for it? Yep, you guessed it...you don't need to fill out any forms...or wait in long lines...just close your eyes wherever you are...and in the silence of your heart come to your Father in heaven and ask him...it's as simple as that! Isn’t that amazing? The passage goes on to describe this inexhaustible supply of lovingkindness and compassion in v.23, it describes them by saying “They are new every morning; Great is your faithfulness.” My Father will never give me second hand blessings...there's no such thing! Even if we received all the blessings that were assigned for us yesterday. He has a new set of blessings prepared for me TODAY. What an amazing truth!

It’s as if our Father in heaven is telling us “My son / daughter, why do you fret and why are you troubled? Do you not remember how I saved you from your sins and your downhill ride to destruction? Do you not remember the other times when I came and pulled you through? If I can save you from the fires of hell can I not also give you another job? Provide you with the best companion for the rest of your life?...put food on your table?.. cure your cancer or any other sickness you might have? Give you a set of new friends? Bring your family to salvation as well?” Think about it for a minute…The God who saved you and was faithful to you in the past is still the same. He is unchanging. He will continue to be faithful to you for that is His nature. He keeps His promises.

SO THIS MORNING, AND I PRAY THAT EVERY MORNING INSTEAD OF LOOKING DOWN AND FEELING BAD ALL DAY BECAUSE OF THE CARES OF THIS WORLD…LOOK UP MY BROTHER / SISTER!! LOOK UP CHILD OF GOD FOR YOUR FATHER IS JUST WAITING TO SHOWER YOU WITH HIS LOVINGKINDNESSES AND COMPASSIONS THAT ARE “NEW EVERY MORNING”. GREAT IS HIS FAITHFULNESS!! HE IS UNCHANGING…HAVE A BLESSED DAY AHEAD!!!

Yours in Christ,

Ralph

Feeling Like a Kid with A Teenage Crush on A Schoolday

Who'd have thought that after 36 years of walking this earth and several failed attempts at what normal people refer to as love, it would happen to me. YES, me. Of the 7 billion people on this planet it happened to me, AGAIN! For the past 3 months I was happy with just stealing glances, the occasional nod and smile, but yesterday I just had to do it. I had to get her number. So I did. Now that I had it I found myself with a bigger problem. Do I text or call? Finally, I got the courage to send a clumsily composed text message. WHEW!! Found myself with an even bigger problem! This time I couldn't sleep. I was waiting for her to reply..SHE DIDN'T!! Hahaha! So two eyebags, a couple of cups of coffee and a few hours later I find myself staring into her smiling face as we walk towards each other in the hallway..Thought in my head: "She'll probably say "Hi, sorry wasn't able to text back, fell asleep and just read your message this morning!"..getting closer..a few more steps...NOTHING! Aaarrgh! If anyone has a cure for this, please post back.

A Taxing Tax Encounter

I guess its true what they say about the two things we can't escape in life-death and taxes. I've never been one to make a fuss about taxes. In my 13 year career in the corporate world my stand has always been "give to Caesar what is due to Caesar". In other words, I've spent my corporate life among the ranks of the rare few who have avoided the temptation of "tax shields". That was up until last week. I got the shock of my life when I was informed that I would have "zero" net pay at the end of the month and would still have to pay the company a 5-figure amount to make up for my year-end tax deficiency. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Unfortunately, I had little choice but to accept it. The experience was surreal to say the least. I was caught between the anger and shock. Luckily, shock prevailed. Then came acceptance. I've always kept silent about the huge taxes that get taken from my income every month inspite of the fact that much of what is being taken from me just goes into the pockets of politicians, fixers, crooked contractors, and all the other hoodlums that make up what we in the Philippines call government. Enough is enough, finally I know why they call tax shields a shield and beginning this year I'm getting me a big one.