Something to Die for

“There are clearly many different ways of looking at success and it is only the poverty of the English language which provides us with but a single word for them. Perhaps, the simplest definition is ‘to set out to do something and to succeed in doing it’.” –Edward de Bono


Francesca Schiavone is a successful tennis player as she set out to win the French Open final and succeeded in doing it on 5th of June 2010 by beating Samantha Stosur 6-4, 7-6 (7-2).

Moreover, she became the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam tennis title.

As reported by the Associated Press: “On winning, Schiavone fell onto her back, then rolled over and kissed the clay. She rose covered with dirt, hugged Stosur and broke into a winner’s grin, then trotted over to the wall behind the baseline and climbed it for a group hug with her supporters.” She loves the very terre battue (French for “beaten earth”) on which she played her game, and played it so resoundingly well.

And, in the same report, the following comment by 18-time Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova struck me: “She wanted it. She wanted it badly. She was going to die on the court if she had to.”

Tis’ so true that to be successful, we have to have a purpose that is bigger than the sum of our parts. Something noble, something so big that it would take sacrifices such as unrelenting hard work, focus, determination, dedication, and discipline to achieve. It’s the same whether one is an unheralded homemaker, aspiring Olympian, struggling artiste, dejected businessman or a visionary leader-in-the-making.

Yes, something, for which, we are willing to die for. When we find it, life will take on a whole new level of meaning and drive.

Love of Bread

“There is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread.” – Mother Teresa

LOVE and appreciation are in short supplies. You could just hear the silent cry of slogging stay-at-home spouses, overworked employees, or constantly-harassed civil servants, with teachers being the prime example.

Thankfully, in part, the merchandisers have sniffed out a golden opportunity to cajole shoppers to dole out gifts on people-centric days such as Mothers’ Day, Fathers’ Day, Teachers’ Day, Secretaries’ Week, Bosses’ Day, and the whole gamut of it all.

People or rather the love for people is what makes the world go around. You can hear the refrain of ‘We are the world’ in the background or recall the following opening monologue from William Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” where ‘All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts,’.

So, at first inning, it’s all up to us to step up and stretch forth with love and appreciation.

However, as a gifted baker you may take a witty slant that the hungry hadn’t tasted your morsels of bread yet. Had they tasted it, you await eagerly to see whether they would swoon or break into a celebratory dance.

For example, BreadTalk (http://www.breadtalk.com) was, in my opinion, a first-mover which succeeded famously to raise the dough (pun intended) and changed the landscape of bread in Singapore, forever. Then, there is Barcook Bakery (http://barcookbakery.com) with its fresh-and-hot from the oven servings of exquisite buns filled with mashed-potatoes-cum-oozing-Cheddar-cheese or melting-cream-cheese-cum-tantalizing- raisins for its queue of hungry-looking customers, of which I am one.

Moving even further on the breadline, I hear the cry of Isaiah the prophet of Christendom,

1 “Ho! Everyone who thirsts,
Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price.
2 Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance.
3 Incline your ear, and come to Me.
Hear, and your soul shall live;
And I will make an everlasting covenant with you—
The sure mercies of David. “(Isaiah 55:1-3a; NKJV)

Isaiah spoke of the One who would give us bread that truly satisfies our inner man. So, for our last inning, I pray that you would obtain a revelation of the Bread of Life from the word of God as contained in the Holy Bible.

“ 1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.” (Hebrews 1:1-4; NKJV)

And, who is this Son that God spoke of? The answer my friend is not unattainable. He is Jesus Christ - the One “who was and is and is to come!” (See Revelation 4:8; NKJV)

“33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”
35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” (John 6:33-35; NKJV)


Let’s live it up with love and appreciation, enjoy our bread and find the Bread of Life!