"Bisyo"
I responded in part, "Yung mga bisyo na meron ang tao ay sintomas lang, di pa sya yung sakit."
The underlying, hidden roots that fuel vices are essentially psychological and spiritual. That's where lies the key to new life ... true, lasting change.
Isn't this one truth we often miss amid inevitable challenges we face in life?
In my own life, I've traveled through several deserts. Family and marital trauma. Financial challenges. Abandonment and betrayal.
Each time, I got broken. Torn apart. My heart was such a wilderness.
Needless to say, I could easily had become an alcoholic, a womanizer, or some sort of addict. Like what multitudes of wounded people have become or done.
Yet something left me sane and resilient those desert times. Unaddicted. Not grasping "false medicine." Devoid of life-damaging vices.
So what prods me on? What sustains me, through weeks and months and years of searing pain, in my own deserts?
It's what's underneath my deepest part and being: the pearl of great price. It's the Star of Bethlehem.
To develop our best selves, we have two guides: internal and external.
Internal, of course, refers to renewal of the mind. Cleansing of the soul. At times, a need for appropriate therapy. And Scripture is the best, ultimate guide that lays the task for us very well.
External refers to how we fashion our life outside ourselves. Family relationships. Work. Choice of friends. Recreational activity.
Are your internal and external flowing well interdependently to lead you to a healthy lifestyle?
And so, as you start this new year, be ready to travel even through the desert (or deserts) of life.
Choose to live free of vices or "bisyo" with your best self - your body, mind, and soul - following the Star.
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