Don't RUN.. Just WALK. =)

“Ely, you’re a workaholic!”

Everytime I heard that line, I swelled with pride within, hid it beneath a shy smile, and muttered, “Aw shucks, maybe just a little. But thank you anyway…”

I loved being workaholic ! And I loved it when others told me I was one!

At a time when the word “multi-tasking” wasn’t invented yet, I was already an avid practitioner. I became an Officer in different reasons (I lost count somewhere along the way), Officer of an aggressive organization. Add to that my passion as a script writer and director- volunteer student here and even out of town- and you’ll get an idea of the kind of insane lifestyle I lived.

But I was proud of that busy, albeit harassed, schedule.

I didn’t (and couldn’t) walk or run from meeting to meeting. I had to rush, and zoom, and dash, and wisk, and jet, and zip, and race, and torpedo my way!

In other words, I didn’t have time to live.

Well one day, I just realized I was doing it all wrong.

Because no matter how hard or how fast I worked, I didn’t feel that I was going anywhere. My relationships weren’t growing. I felt I wasn’ t genuinely loving people anymore. Nor was I enjoying life. Even God seemed so far away.

I woke up and realized that workaholism was a disease. (For me, it was an addiction of trying to win the love of people. I was running away from who I was, which deep within, I didn’t like very much.)

So finally, one glorious day, I made a crucial choice.

I decided to semi-retire.

And I decided to really live.

Because I realized I got the rules all wrong.

The fastest guy didn’t win the race (I remember that).

But the guy who had the most love – and joy and peace- when he got to the finish line

Winners were those who had the relaxed time of smelling beautiful flowers along the way. Winners had the ability to stop whatever they were doing to encourage other wounded runners. And winners had the power to sing most of the way.

One day, I simply gave up 80% of my responsibilities to friends who could do better job.

Now, I have time to smell the flowers.

To taste food.

To breathe fresh air.

To enjoy majestic scenery.

To listen to the music of the wind.

To gaze at my crush and see how lovely he is.

To laugh with friends and thank God for each of them.

And to love.

(To really, really, really love.)