One of the many highlights from Volunteer Appreciation Day was hearing the testimonies from Jen, Steve and Ray Chow, Auntie Cheh Keat, and Pastor Alvin and Auntie Pat. Thank you all for sharing!
One thing that stood out was when Pastor Alvin and Auntie Pat shared a quality of Uncle Eric and Auntie Angie, described as “chin chye, biao kin” and “major the majors.” They explained this as not worrying or taking everything so seriously as well as not sweating the small stuff and keeping the major goal – love God and love others – in mind.
For me, this really applied to school. You see, I had an exam for a course on Sunday (I know, terrible), and for that same course had an assignment due on Monday. In addition to that, I had a case study due on Tuesday. I also had meetings on Monday and classes on Tuesday, so you can imagine that there wasn’t a huge amount of time to get things done. I was stressing out about studying and completing my assignments on a weekend packed with events, so I was definitely not in the best state of mind.
The reminder to take it easy and major the majors helped center me around the fact that both the assignment and case study were fairly minor in terms of impacting my overall grades. We’re talking one to six percent of my final grades here. I eventually came to the conclusion if I couldn’t submit either one on time or at its best, it wouldn’t have a major impact on me. With that in mind, I decided to try my best, but at the same time, not devote every waking moment to completing the assignment.
I later found that the professor decided to extend Monday’s assignment deadline to Friday. If that wasn’t a sign to not sweat over little things, I don’t know what is. There was really no need to worry so much about those assignments.
I know you probably have worries and stressors of more weight than an assignment for school, but if you’re feeling stressed out and overwhelmed about little things in life, let this be a gentle reminder to relax and don’t take things so seriously. Maybe take a page out of Uncle Eric and Auntie Angie’s book and major the majors – loving God and loving others – leaving everything else secondary.
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
– Matthew 6:25-33