Kevin Kwak’s Blog

LIFE is…

Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling five balls in the air.
You name them: work, family, health, friends, and spirit, and you’re keeping all of them in the air.
You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball.
If you drop it, it will bounce back.
But the other four balls - family, health, friends, and spirit are made of glass.
If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged, or even shattered. They will never be the same.
You must understand that and strive for balance in your life.
How?

Don’t undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others.
It is because we are different that each of us is special.
Don’t set your goals by what other people deem important.
Only you know what is best for you.
Don’t take for granted the things closest to your heart.
Cling to them as your life, for without them, life is meaningless.
Don’t let life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future.
By living your life one day at a time, you live ALL the days of your life.
Don’t give up when you still have something to give.
Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.
Don’t be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect.
It is this fragile thread that binds us together.
Don’t be afraid to encounter risks.
It is by taking chances that we learn to be brave.
Don’t shut love out of your life by saying it’s impossible to find.
The quickest way to receive love is to give;
the fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly;
and the best way to keep love is to give it wings.
Don’t run through life so fast that you forget not only where you’ve been,
but also where you are going.
Don’t forget that a person’s greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated.
Don’t use time or words carelessly. Neither can be retrieved.
Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way.
Yesterday is History, Tomorrow is a Mystery, and Today is a gift ; that’s why we call it - the Present…

Goizueta, Coca-cola CEO

Inspiration. BTW, Happy 250 birthday Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. I love his work!

What do you think of this entry’s title?
e•jac•u•late ( v ) Pronunciation Key (-jky-lt): To utter suddenly and passionately; exclaim.

That title was a slogan of one of my colleague’s xanga page who is no longer with us but someplace else.
As my graduation ceremony closely approach, time is not on my side. I don’t even have time to reflect on my early college years because I want to prepare for what is to come rather than what had already came. The more responsibilities I want to take on, the more I realized that my hand had already been full and thus my performance was behind.

Someone reminded me once again that nothing is really more important than your own health. A brother in church had an internal complication that involved his lungs and his heart. He was told by the physician that he needed to be taken to a general hospital and get a surgery because his condition got worsened.
Some of the church groups went to visit him this past Sunday. It has been years since I last entered a hospital hall. And seeing the brother lying down on the hospital bed with tubes attaching to his chest and his arm was not pleasant at all.

During and after the evening visit, I was so thankful for my health. The only time I took a medicine pill last year (2005) was during the Los Angeles Marathon which I desperately needed the aid of the acetaminophen. Besides that day, I have not taken a single medicine, not even a cold medicine or a flu shot for the entire year. I was in my optimal health. I’m so thankful because I do not drink or smoke and so proud to say that I was and will remain drug-free since the day I was born.
I know for certain that my health will eventually go downhill after 50 but I am preparing for the best by continuing my fitness membership on campus so that I can squeeze in an hour or two during the day to give my heart a good pumping.

Lately, I’ve been very busy (like most college students) with unending workload. By the time I graduate, I will be a whole different person compared to the first day I entered my freshman year, and I am not talking about knowledge-wise. I’m talking about my health. I look much older thanks to lack of sleep and days of stress.

I can’t believe it. My years as a student will soon come to a conclusion. No more worries about homework, projects, contacting and reminding lazy group members to do their shares, and endless hours of research. I can’t believe it. No more 30 miles commute early morning. I can’t believe it. No more spending over $100 for one textbook and reselling it back for a substantially lower value. I can’t really believe it.

The first few years of post-college might not be very exciting because I plan on finding a traditional 9 to 5 job for maybe the first year but I know God has great plans for me. I know that for certain because when I look back into my life, God’s timing is perfect. And although I been worrying about my future, God have not let me down so far. Ironic because I am worried at this very minute.

Reviewed my credit report for the second time and everything looks perfect except one minor mistake with my primary name. The credit score came along with the trial plan (cancelling soon to avoid the outrageous fee) and what do you know, 749, 751, and 751. I am impressed with my FICO score.

But if only my GPA was this outstanding. 8/

I just can’t help but to feel very rushed every Sunday.
Getting to church by 10 a.m. is not a problem but finding the darn parking space is not cool. Once the prayer meeting finishes at 11 a.m., I need to immediately unload the drum equipments from the container and transport it down from 3rd to the 1st floor riding the elevator and over to the next building. Let me tell you, carrying that bulky black bag every Sunday morning and after service is tiresome. Once the equipments are at the wedding chapel, I need to set the drum set as soon as possible. I feel very rushed. From then on, the praise team either practice, sound check, and/or pray prior to the service which is exactly at noon.

Service ends at around 1:30 p.m. I then need to pack up the drum parts and pack it up inside the black bag. With the help from a brother (thank you Jays!), we then head out of the wedding chapel, stroll the bulky black bag with my right hand and my bible, cymbal stand, and the crash bag with my left.

I dislike the fact that the college ministry needs to vacate the wedding chapel at around 1:30 p.m. because another department, the orchestra team comes in and set up their own equipments for their practice. If we were to have the room all to ourself for maybe an hour once the service concludes, we can have lunch served inside the room and encourage fellowship and everyone to just stay a bit longer and spend time together. Another reason why I feel very rushed to pack up the drums once the service ends.

Things have changed since last year because the praise team decided to ‘not’ practice prior to the service. Everyone sets up their musical instruments, and head out to a small room to pray. That really helps. As soon as it is 12 p.m., we start praising.

Despite the emotional rush, I am glad that I can serve and use every precious seconds to the fullest.

I was surprised one evening. My parents were eating fruits and watching the late evening Korean news. I sat and snacked on the sliced melons. The news about the Iran leader/activist came up and my parents started to discuss and shared their reasons why that particular leader was bad, this and that, and on. It was interesting to know that my parents were much more informed about the world news, the political agenda (both U.S. and South Korea), and a variety of current agendas. I was listening because I really didn’t have anything to say and you know what they say, “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool that to speak and remove all doubt.”

Although both of my parents are not college educated, they are active subscribers to Joongang Ilbo (equivalent to L.A. Times but in Korean).
Since I want to join in their ‘partner discussion,’ I changed my homepage to Google News.
Strange to say, I found the Sundays L.A. Times on the front yard this morning. Strange since I don’t subscribe to the newspaper edition.