As the story has it, one day I headed to the opposite side of the globe – the Flipside. I arrived in Korea February 16th, 2005 and thought I’d do a year, then leave. I was wrong. I stayed, launched my first company, Flipside Fitness, and then opened Korea's largest boxing club, Hulk's Boxing (now called Hulk's Club).

After 11.5yrs in Korea, I then picked up one day and returned to Toronto, Canada. But then I left again.

Now I live in the Philippines where I am the CEO and head coach of Empowered Clubhouse, the Philippines' first and only boxing clubhouse exclusively just for women. I also am the founder of the Lil' Sistas Project, CEO and designer of Slay Gear and Baa Baa Black Sheep .Ph.

Sunday, January 17, 2016

Beauty in My Church... Sunday, January 17

Got to love attending a church here in Canada, seriously, where the diversity of the members includes such a range of cultures and people from different countries and the church celebrates this.

I had arrived a bit late to church today but was greeted by the same overdose of smiles and hugs like usual.

Walking into my church always feels so good.

I sat down in the pew and took a glance around to see who was there.  Everyone looked so beautiful.  I had got into a conversation the other day about how there is beauty in everything and everyone and my friend had teased me about being almost like high on life.  I am high on life.  Life is good.  It could be better but it so easily could be worse.  "I could be still in Korea", I always say.  

I now live in a country where I can just open my mouth, speak and be understood without having to translate what I want to say, explain the cultural context of what I want them to understand, or have to use honorifics or hold back.  I feel so free to speak and so freely understood.  

I don't want to disrespect Korea but it's not Canada.

And so as I sat there in the pew, I smiled at friends and fellow members, and took a mental note of the beauty in the service.  Today's beauty was not only in the people that filled the pews but also in the moments of the service.  I took a mental note of such experiences that I thought were very special, very beautiful.
  • A professional opera singer visited from Ohio today and performed -- wow!!!
  • The pastor asked one of our members to be escorted up to the front and we all sang "Happy Birthday".  He is our oldest member; he turned 95.
  • My pastor prayed in Italian.
  • Our congregation said goodbye to a man who is returning to India to get married.
  • We welcomed back to a newly engaged member who just returned from India. 
  • The man behind me complimented me on my Biblical scripture reference tattooed on my neck and then got all teary eyed talking to me about it.

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