Realign.

Re-Align.

 

It was Cliff who, after reading New York Times best-selling “Relaunch” by Mark Rutland, who shared with me his greatest takeaway from this hidden gem of a book:

 

What struck me was the author’s emphasis on Alignment.

It reminded me of the time I was training for the Iron Man-

if the activity or food was aligned to the purpose of improving my performance, I would do or eat it.

If it didn’t, I would drop it.

In the same way, whatever that does not align with our vision of serving in missions overseas,

that’s got to go.

 

Cliff’s analogy made things clear to me in an instant. In our day to day lives, we are bombarded and  hacked with distractions and decisions to make. The key difference between someone staying true to his or her goals in life, then must be their undying commitment to that vision. This is where Alignment becomes critical. If something aligns to our vision and goal, then we must pursue it. But if something is extraneous, just good-to-have, or even unnecessary, then  we must make the clear choice to amputate or prune it off immediately.

 

In the same way, in the midst of us preparing ourselves for overseas mission work next year in Africa, this principle applies to us too. What we need to pack, what we need to leave behind, the decisions we need to make- all these decisions can seem overwhelming, at the very least. But when we simply put every question against the yardstick of alignment, then things, circumstances that appear challenging and massive and even little question marks that pepper the mundane routine of life, become much clearer.

 

From big questions like “Does saying yes to this promotion bring me closer to my vision of helping the underprivileged overseas?” to small questions like “Will packing this help me to be effective in ministry when we reach Africa?”, this commitment to realign ourselves to our vision can crystallize many answers we thought were difficult to find.

 

“Relaunch” was a book written for leaders who desperately need to turn around an organisation down in the doldrums. The author, a true leader himself who had led several institutional comebacks, said, “This is for the rugged visionaries who see in the wreckage a hope for the future and are willing to pay the price for a relaunch.”

 

 I have not read the book myself, but when I read this quote and about what Cliff shared with me, I thought to myself: Don’t many of us see ourselves partly as “wreckages”? Be it being disappointed every year-end about the little we’ve accomplished or feeling lost about our futures, don’t many of us sometimes see our dreams as beyond repair, beyond salvation, or beyond hope? It may be us feeling disillusioned about our shattered dream to change the world, our discouragement at being caught in the frenzy of the urban rat-race, or us feeling overwhelmed by the many small decisions we made along the way that brought us to a destination we did not want to be at.

 

It is not too late to re-align yourself.

 

Just as how purging impurities from gold may be hot and painful, the process of realignment may be, too. But it is not impossible. And if you do see in  your own wreckages, a hope to relight that fire within you, then ask yourself if you are willing to pay the price for a relaunch.

 

Because if you are, then it is possible.

 

Looking back, I see God’s hand in our lives in the year gone past. Unconsciously, through many mentors and loving people, He had taught me the principle of realignment even without me realizing it. When Cliff appeared in life, I thought to myself, he could either be the greatest blessing or greatest de-railer in my life. As I got to know him more and saw our values and visions aligned with each other, I started to appreciate the synergistic power that alignment brings. We spurred each other on, we fed each other’s fires, we helped each other grow our dreams.  When faced with the seemingly insurmountable mountain of our parents’ initial objections, it was seeing how our hearts aligned with what we thought to be God’s vision for our lives that helped us persevere in prayer. If we had not persisted in prayer because of this conviction, we would probably not have married in 2012, and we definitely would not have had the doors to longer-term missions open to us now.

 

When we were faced with the choice of buying our own home or car, we simply asked ourselves, “Is this in line with our vision to enter missions whenever God calls us?” Because the answer was crystal clear, we rented, and now have the freedom to leave whenever, without being shackled by the chains of heavy financial investment.

 

So you see how key this idea of alignment is?

 

It sounds easy. But in actual fact, it is not. It requires commitment, it requires sacrifice. In “God-terms”, it requires faith and obedience, even when we don’t understand it. It means for us to come to terms with the painful reality that not all dreams can or should be pursued.

 

Almost two years ago, it was my second chance to enter John Hopkins University to pursue my Masters of Public Health. But after much prayer and agonising soul-seeking, I found the answer outside of me and the courage within to realize that I had to say no and close this door. If I had gone ahead, we would not have been able to marry, and our paths now, would surely be vastly different. One thing for sure, I would not be leaving for missions with you next year. Some people asked me what made it clear for me- was it love? Was it blind faith?

 

Looking back, it was as simple as this- I just asked myself if getting this additional degree would bring me closer to what I wanted to do with my life, which very simply was to avail myself to the needy. And while you have every right to disagree with me because there are so many perspectives about this and everybody is called to something different (what would the world be without groundbreaking research done by respectable people who have earned multiple degrees?), I decided that I didn’t need a degree to do that. What I needed was a partner, in life and in ministry, to ride the rough waves that would be coming at us to hinder us from pusuing this dream.

 

Many people claim to want a certain dream. They trumpet that they see a cause worth fighting for and a dream worth pursuing. But when you look at their lives, there is little evidence of them moving themselves toward that dream. I have met young people who claim they want to help the needy and go all out for God, but when you look at every holiday in their calendar, you see it peppered with vacations to Europe and Taiwan instead of mission trips, you see their savings rinsed away in material possessions instead of donations or sponsoring children overseas. The brutal fact of the matter is this, they are in love with the notion of that dream- they are in love with what they choose to see in me- that perceived “glamour” and “altruism” and “nobility”, but they are so not in love with the idea of the possibility of having to give up wi-fi for a week, spending their savings on an air ticket to Cambodia instead of California (which costs a lot less, by the way), or giving up their warm beds at home to sleep in a backpacker’s lodge.  

 

Being far away from your dream is okay. Don’t be discouraged by that. As long as you are taking baby steps, they are steps in the right direction. After all, it was when I was 17 that I wanted to do mission work on a longer-term basis overseas. Now I’m 26. Am I late? No, because every year, I took steps and learnt lessons that brought me to where we are today.

 

But let’s come clean.

 

The truth is that if, month after month, and year-end after year-end, you find yourself always chanting the same tune of “I wish” instead of actually taking small steps towards that goal, then it could be that your dream is false, idealistic, unrealistic, or maybe (gasp), you don’t really want it at all.

 

And guess what, that’s actually okay.

 

What am I saying? The thing is, if you’re honest with yourself and realize you really just want to earn a lot of money and settle down rich and climb the corporate ladder and never step foot overseas on a humanitarian trip or channel your money anywhere else except to over-priced branded goods and things that make a difference to your life, and YOU CAN LIVE WITH THAT, then stop deceiving yourself.

 

The truth is that, we will never run away from pain. Rich or poor, degree or no degree, our choices and alignment of our choices to our vision will bring us some sort of discomfort and some set of problems. But it is our convictions that will allow us to endure the scorn and ridicule for what we truly believe in.

 

Our decision to do mission work might seem very honourable at the moment. But did it come without frustration? Was taking no-pay leave and seeing my own juniors earn more and achieve more than me academically easy? Was it all applause and glitz when we made the decision? Was it a breeze for us to confront the higher risks of Cliff contracting malaria or yellow fever or some liver-related problem in a less developed country?

 

I tend to complicate things. I consider a million options. I weigh the vast expanse of possibilities. Cliff makes things simple. To him, if it doesn’t align with us leaving for missions, then in his words, “it got to go”. But if it does, then “we go for it”.

 

So this year, decide for yourself. Be honest with you and decide for yourself who you really are, what vision you want to commit to, and the God whom you serve.

 

Don’t live another year in the wreckage of lost dreams, self-deceit and guilt.

 

Cling on to truth. Burn away the dross. And then, simply re-align.

 

It’s that simple.