"AMCI BMC 2006:Challenge Yourself"

CORE-RELATE!

I don't do push-ups and I am not a regular fitness buff. My lifestyle consists of basically a not-so-routine routine of 'anything goes, if I feel like it.' And I have a tendency to overindulge on rewarding myself one time-big time like there's no tomorrow. Time management is rather alien to me because when you seem to have all the time in your hands, need you manage it or "divide" it?

Well, Reality smacked me on the head just recently and told me, 'Anne, you don't own your time. It's Mine.' So He zoomed in on my weakest point: T-I-M-E and He, almost simultaneously, opened doors: True Love Waits-Phils., Wi-Max, AMCI/SanMigEnduro/RudyGirl,The Pillar. Funny, He challenged me to explore such doors on a limited (or make that "super tight") budget. Mm-hmm.

With a workshift that changes every week, it might be difficult for me to be able to 'comply' with the schedule of what I've put myself into. But I've also been thinking of that as being the whole point of everything, a major part of the challenge that I have to face and conquer. To improve my lifestyle, I have to set my priorities straight. I have to train myself to lead by observing how real leaders strut their thing and by mentally pointing out their strengths and weaknesses.

So this morning, even if the thought of backing out crossed my mind, I soldiered on.

I was practically on time for the 6am call time but we didn't start until around 7. Nobody was marked tardy because some of the leaders themselves were tardy. We started with warm-up stretches and jumping jacks then ran 4 rounds on the 400m-oval. We were subjected to push-ups, tiger push-ups, toe touches, lounges, single leg tiptoes, steps. Notably, no prayers were said for the batch, except for the one Group 8 had in our little brainstorming

A little group dynamics was also asked of us through a presentation. I think our group did fairly well with old-school chants "Go,go,go; fight, fight, fight. Group eight, fight!" and "Sa dagat, sa bundok, di kami matatakot; kami ang grupong 'di susuko..." culminating in a human pyramid (with me on top, by golly!) and a shout "Challenge yourself, AMCI 2006!"

It's about time I totally got out of my shell and not just take small peeks in what Reality has for me. There isn't much time and I have to straighten things out before my sands hit the bottom of the hourglass. An athlete needs a lot of self-discipline and rigid training.. and so does a leader. As Dr. John C. Maxwell puts it: "We must travel on the inside before we can travel on the outside, because the journey of growth and success is first an internal one. The first person you lead is you -- and you can't lead effectively without self-discipline." (The Maxwell Leadership Bible, 2003).

And a good leader must first learn how to be a good follower. That's what I signed up in the BMC for: to be trained how to be a better follower, to be able to take the lead.

There are no excuses for mediocrity and the only standard for excellence rests on Him: for His glory, I will endure; for His glory, I will excel; for His glory, I will share and above all, for His glory, I will be... 'magnanimous in victory; humble in defeat.' And I must remind myself that the only competitor I have here is me! So, I must enjoy!