M.E.E.T. Deeper

Celebrated birthday with a male bestie and other mates, it was a good dinner. So much laughter, so much food. The birthday cake was made of an entire slab of roasted pork. Too sinful good to resist! Should have seen birthday boy's face.

I have been thinking about M.E.E.T. for the past 2 days. And then today while K.Yau was talking about going DEEPER in relationship with God, it made me realise that even in that, M.E.E.T. can be applied.

What is this M.E.E.T. that I speak off...

Money
Energy
Effort
Time

MEET is so important in allowing things to grow beautifully. And I personally believe that these two are positively correlated.

Let me try illustrate further...

Example 1: Raising children 

• Money - Milk, clothes, shower products, diapers, toys, food, etc. It's all about the $$$
• Energy - From what I've seen, so much energy is needed to handle an infant! *salute to all mothers in the universe* Fine! *fathers get salutation too*
• Effort - Requires a lot of effort and strength to sustain an entire day with the child. And really, a lot.
• Time - The moment a couple brings a new life into this world, almost all their time is devoted to raising their children. Family time.

Example 2: Doing well academically

• Money - Parents will have to invest a whole load of chachings and bablings for their children to have sufficient academic support; books, school, tuition fees
• Energy - Energy is needed so that effort can be made; in getting money [for parents] and in studying [for children]
• Effort - Making effort in sacrifices and prioritisation. Parents supply the dough, children put more effort in staying awake in classes
• Time - Ok, well, some geniuses are born into this world for reasons I do not know off. So this probably don't apply to them. But in other normal cases, most of us need to invest time into studying in order to see results. And hope that we get good surprises.

Example 3: Excelling in sports; swimming 

• Money - To pay the coaches, to buy swimming gear, to pay for swimming competitions
• Energy - To swim from one end to the other. To never give up. To push on.
• Effort - Getting out of bed, changing into training gear, jumping into the pool (hopefully it's heated so you can avoid goosebumps and visible hardened... yeah. No.)
• Time - Practice practice practice. 

Example 4: Playing a musical instrument; guitar

• Money - for lessons, for the guitar, and whatever ding dongs that come with a guitar
• Energy - to pick up the guitar and endure the pain on the fingers everytime. To persevere. 
• Effort - *read energy*
• Time - practice practice practice.

So how is this related to having a deeper relationship with anyone/God?

• Money - tithe and offering, petrol to go to church/temple/anywhere. We give whatever we can. We allow our faiths to be stretched. Having 0 in your wallet and still believing that you will have food to eat later, that's faith. Or is it just the power of debit/credit card? That's the God part. Then there's the relationship with family/friends/romantic partners. Need I say more? ;)
• Energy - Sometimes we feel that someone/God has failed us. It takes spiritual and emotional energy to tell us to just push on.
• Effort - Again, when we 'think' that we're being let down, we need that extra strength to pick ourselves up and just try to make it work. 
• Time - You spend enough time with someone, naturally your level of understanding of each other will grow. With time, relationships get deeper. 

MEET somehow influence one or the other. They aren't mutually exclusive. They aren't independent. When it comes to growing something, that is. 

Am I guilty of neglecting MEET in certain parts of my life? Surely. Therefore it's time I act on it.

To a better tomorrow! And more prancing around.

-Me-