The Champ's "Little" Secret

"Just trust me,

I will not leave you,
I will not abandon you."

A news article in the front page of the Philippine Daily Inquirer caught my eye today. It surely made me smile and warmed my heart.

Everyone knows who Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao is. He is the WORLD's pound-for-pound boxing king and has been recently named as "Boxer of the Decade" by Reuters News Agency (easily easing out Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s name from the title).

For the first time, he revealed the secret of his success -- he had a conversation with God who promised him "strength and power." He said that God once told him: "Just trust me, I will not leave you, I will not abandon you."

That promise was made to him long before he became a world champion. Yet he trusted, he believed, he held on to his faith.

A world champion attesting to God's goodness is something that is not common. Normally, a man of his stature would force on our throats his own greatness and the power that he wields. But this man of humble beginnings continue to acknowledge where all his blessings come from. Since the first time I saw him fight until the last title he won, he always offered to God his own little corner on the ring where he knelt before and after each bout to pray and thank Him.

People laughed at him when he was just starting, finding his behavior odd or too fanatical. Now people see it as a symbol of his unwavering faith- a reminder to everyone that God should be first in everything.

This is one man who has never forgotten where his success came from.... a man who continues to count his abundant blessings and not allowing them to get in his head... a man who acknowledges a greater power over and above his... a man whose unwavering faith should be emulated...

It all starts with gratitude... a grateful heart that counts every little positive thing that comes our way instead of dwelling on our frustrations.

Think of what we have and NOT of what we don't have...

Have a Great Christmas!