What is your attitude when things don't seem to go your way? Do you cast bitterness, anger, frustration or hopelessness? It is really not easy losing something that we've worked hard for. It is hard accepting defeat especially if we think highly of ourselves. We also think of what the people around us would say thus leave us with feeling of shame and embarrassment.
I came to this realization after I watched Manny (Pacman) Pacquiao's very recent fight against Timothy Bradley. Our very own Manny lost the boxing fight surprisingly. Some people thought that victory should have gone to Pacman. I've seen Fb statuses of all his fans raging with disappointments and frustrations. I myself couldn't believe of his defeat. Was this yet another scripted, business propaganda match? I am not really sure.
Amazingly, Manny didn't show signs of hatred, injustice nor bitterness after the judges have shown their scores and after Bradley was declared the new title holder. Although maybe he knew at the back of his head that there was something wrong, he respected their decision. He still kept a smile on his face and congratulated Bradley. He even told everybody on his after fight interview, "I did my best, but I guess my best wasn't good enough", a line from his favorite song that he always sing in his tv appearances. That cracked me up a bit. In Proverbs 17:22, it says that "a cheerful heart is good medicine". Turning frustrations to a funny and humorous event is a good cure. And Pacman's sense of humor is maybe one of his secrets in overcoming downfall.
According to Rick Warren, in Romans 8:28, "In all things, God works for the good of those who love Him". There are many bad things in the world, but all things work together. God can even take the negative and turn it to a positive if we let Him. Use irritation as an opportunity to become more like Christ. We know that Pacman is known for having an active and strong spiritual life. He is not only a congressman(this I'm not happy about) but He uses his power to evangelize the word of God. And we know that the closer we are to God, the closer too is the devil's grip on us. This defeat I think is a big challenge to Manny on how he is going to walk the talk. And for me, he did a good job. Pacman's gracious acceptance of defeat is a great example of becoming like Christ. Christ might have been wrongly judged or persecuted by the people but for him, only God the Father knows the truth and for him, that's the only thing that matters.
It's amazing how we can learn something out of what we think is nothing. Even though sometimes we lose our battles, let's turn the negative into positive. Always think that, "you will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in You". -Isaiah 26:3
xoxo,
Joselle
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