Growing in Faith

Growing in Faith

April 25, 2017

By: Gina Yoryet

One day at the crack of dawn late July of last year (2016), my sleep was abruptly interrupted by a clear vision, pers se, a deep desire during my youth, an unfathomable achievement. An abstract victory that had simply been fabricated in my feeble mind. Little did I know that my dream would later turn into passion, and my passion would later divert into reality. In illo tempore I was afar from defining the woman I was meant to become through my purpose. In my early twenties I quit my job at a Financial Services company to follow my “dream” job. To work for the State of California. At that time I truly believed I had scored big time professionally and financially.

Shortly after, I was struck with emptiness, loss and discontentment because of certain events I provoked. At that time I was convinced that my future was there forever, at the wrong time and place and I made myself believe that it was my fate. Now I can clearly visualize that my reluctance was unintentionally writing my destiny to set myself for failure somewhere along the line. I prayed every single night when I lay in bed with my eyes shut, pretending to be asleep. I begged God to help me grow in faith by leading me towards a professional opportunity for his Glory, for the good of my community, and for my own spiritual, emotional, personal, professional and financial benefit. I also begged for him to help me find a man of faith, but before reaching that milestone, life had many lessons to teach me. As a strong-willed and stubborn young woman, I wanted to devour the world and do everything my way because I didn't trust God's timing.  

Those desperate pleads first emerged when I became cognizant of the world. The more I learned about the universe, the more my heart agonized, but the more I wanted to live, learn, and experience events. Through that entire period since childhood I was at a loss. That was then, now, finally when I was on the verge of giving up, my prayers were finally answered and my vision came to me very direct and clear late July of 2016. I finally became very receptive of my truth. As many inner altercations of skepticism that inhabited in my cajoling mind, as much certainty of my quest finally dwelled within.

I should have known then that I am NOTHING but a student of life and an instrument of God, triggered and guided by my passions, dictated by my heart, and strengthened by my faith. I should've known that God had a plan for me but I fought against it for many years. But today I choose to keep growing in faith, for that has defined who I am.

Grow in Faith

Catholic author Edwin Freedley said in 1853 that business is a “fiery furnace to principle.” Grow in your faith, prayer, and virtue through business and entrepreneurship

“Real living is living for others.” Realize that anything you want in life can be obtained by helping others get what they want.”

A Woman of Genuine Conviction

A Woman of Genuine Conviction

April 18, 2017

“A strong woman looks challenge dead in the eye and gives it a wink.”

Anonymous

This morning I had to really struggle to open my eyes and hop out of bed. It was an ordeal to force myself to make it to the gym. I told myself excuse number 1,000, 1,001, and 1,003.

Thirty minutes later at the gym, I was very ignited while I was watching the news about Katherine Switzer, who became the first woman to officially finish the Boston Marathon on April 19, 1967, even after being attacked for the mere fact of being a woman running a marathon back in the day.

On Monday April 17, 2017, 50 years later, she ran the marathon once again at age 70! That is serious conviction!

I found this article on the Washington Post!

I want to celebrate each decade by running a marathon or completing an important sports event despite aging, injuries and my own physical ghosts that haunt me every day!

Una Sociedad Condenada

Una Sociedad Condenada

16 de abril, de 2017

El Magnum Opus de Ayn Rand 

Uno de mis escritoras favoritas es Ayn Rand, y uno de sus libros, Atlas Shrugged, en Español conocida como La Rebelión de Atlás. Alguien me envió estas palabras tan ciertas y oportunas la semana pasada sobre esta magnifica escritora. Es muy impresionante.

No estoy de acuerdo en algunas de sus creencias, en particular en el tema de la religión. Más bien admiro el alto nivel intelectual y su talentoso juego de palabras - la escritura. En lo personal, yo debo tener un fundamento mayor que el gene egoísta – ‘Yo.’ La fe es uno de los cimientos necesarios desde el principio de mi existencia. Mandatum hoc est primaria (es mi mandato principal), mi salud mental y espiritual.  

El 2 de febrero de 1905 nació en San Petersburgo la filósofa y escritora estadounidense (de origen ruso) Alissa Zinovievna Rosenbaum, más conocida en el mundo de las letras bajo el seudónimo de Ayn Rand, y falleció en marzo de 1982 en Nueva York.

"Cuando advierta que para producir necesita obtener autorización de quienes no producen nada; cuando compruebe que el dinero fluye hacia quienes trafican no bienes, sino favores; cuando perciba que muchos se hacen ricos por el soborno y por influencias más que por el trabajo, y que las leyes no lo protegen contra ellos sino, por el contrario, son ellos los que están protegidos contra usted; cuando repare que la corrupción es recompensada y la honradez se convierte en un auto sacrificio, entonces podrá afirmar, sin temor a equivocarse, que su sociedad está condenada.”

 AynRand (1950)

The False Friends

The False Friends

April 14, 2017

By: Gina Yoryet Román

Every language has its own personality, colors, intonations, sounds, emphasis, culture, vision that uses diverse vocal cords. Every system of words for communication, serves its own purpose through its idiosyncratic terminology. Each language is so rich in its own unique way, through the use of homographs, homophones, homonyms, true cognates, false cognates, and other important terminology. As a professionals Translator, Interpreter, and Language Professional, the one aspect I have to constantly walk on egg shells with is false cognates, or AKA, the false friend. According to Wikipedia, false friends are pairs of words that seem to be cognates because of similar sounds and meaning, but have different etymologies; they can be within the same language or from different languages. For example, actual in Spanish, is the equivalent to current, in English. Actual in Spanish is real, realmente. Or the world’s most expensive cognate so far, intoxicado, and intoxicated, is worth $71 million dollars. The article, Language, Culture, and Medical Tragedy: The Case ofWillie Ramírez, published on November 19, 2008 gives a thorough overview of how that word´s worth got to $71 million dollars. A false friend can cost someone´s life, and $71 million dollars is the price for that someone´s life because of a deceitful term. It can cost someone´s job, profession, an entire empire, it can put someone´s life at stake.

As a language professional, I have to be constantly vigilant of the false friend. The same way these false friends can betray me the moment I let my guard down, Jesus’ disciples forsaked their loyalty towards him. I´ve learned through trial and error that everyone in my life has come to help me, to use me, to love me, abhor me, to hurt me, to stay with me, or to leave me. Everyone that is in one’s life whether it is temporarily or permanently, has a reasoning underneath it all. Said logic shapes one’s character and it molds the person one is meant to be.With age comes wisdom, through wisdom comes acceptance, and a new mindset, and with that frame of mind, one becomes more frugal and discerning towards those false friends lingering around us. Hence, one is entitled to who we want to keep in our lives, and who we want to let go, for false friends are cunning, and they can make one pay a high-price if one allows them to beguile one.

Three things I am very devoted to are, faith, grammar, and health and fitness. Through my journey I’ve encountered many fraudulent friends who for some reason hate you, or something about you because you are healthier or in “better” shape. Yet, they don’t look at the whole picture. Most people fear sacrifice, and they are not willing to do what it takes to be in healthy. So, they fake a legitimate friendship and try to instill their unacceptable habits. It’s happened to me, in my early twenties when I was a prominent amateur runner, I ran into a few of those here and there. Back then I chose to draw the line. Even back then I assimilated that I am my toughest opponent, going through a daily battle against me. That’s why I chose to not have other counteragents. I am more than a handful, so I keep clear from false friends. I don’t care about not having many people in my life. I’d rather stick to quality vs quantity, transparency vs hypocrisy, good vs evil, love vs hatred, peace over hostility, truth vs falsehood…