Friday, April 23, 2010

HOW MUCH YOU CAN PUT INTO YOUR POT DEPENDS ON YOU

Do you know that you, me, and everybody else are nothing but pots? Yeah, pots! Or would you prefer to be called a vase or a vessel. Whatever it is that signifies a container meant to hold something, you are it. We all are. But I would like to use the word.. pot.. for this post.

Now what do we do with that? Let me tell you what I did with mine.


I am a pot...

When I was a baby I put in all that was about being a kid. Innocence, pleasure, delight, awe, fun, birthday cakes, ice cream, warm beds, doggies, and... mommy and daddy. It was great. Everything centered on me and I was everybody's priority. All I had to do was smile my cutest and throw in a tantrum or two to get them to my side pronto. That filled my baby pot.

Then I was ten. I couldn't be a baby anymore although I would have preferred to be as it seemed that mom and dad would always be coming at me to do this and do that. But school was great, had new friends, lots of fun things to do with them, was more aware of my newly found likes and dislikes. I was liking chocolate bars and cakes, coca-cola, nice teachers, field trips to museums, and always loved Sally and Susan -- my cute walking dolls. That filled my pot a notch higher.

Then they called me a teenager. Oh there was much in this new world that I never had before. I discovered that I loved the colors pink and blue, dresses, ladies bags and shoes, still loved cakes and ice cream, adored my first crush next door, enjoyed sketching and designing clothes, hoarded good books and magazines, delighted in poem-writing, and wrote for the high school paper. That filled my cup two notches higher. Plus up another with college that followed.

Then I found myself wearing size 7 high-heeled shoes walking it to a place called an office. I soon discovered that I was good at making tons of reports -- weekly, monthly, annually -- and did some travel, lectures and trainings for newly employees, reveled in office banter and camaraderie, events and more. That brought my pot fuller almost to the brim.

Then life turned more adult. What does that mean? Marriage, children, sickness, death, disappointment, sorrow, fear, anger, betrayal, change, trials, challenge, growing older, and all the stuff which makes an adult even wish in exasperation for the good years past. My pot now went on full and over.

So to be able to make sense out of all that... I thought I needed to do something. And fast. Or else so much would be lost. All of my history, all that made me, all for nothing if I let something like a full pot have its way. A further thought on the side, I can't and shouldn't get stuck with a full pot because there's still so much out there to learn, experience, enjoy, and live for. It's never over until it's over.

I emptied my pot.


... and by so doing have made room for insights, perceptions, retrospection, wisdom which I wouldn't have done being so involved in the living aspects of life. I needed to empty my pot so that new things could come in --- things which made sense of everything that I had gone through. It was there all along simply waiting in the wings for its turn to be inside my pot so that it could do its work.

This is where I believe that everything in our lives, no matter how tiny or insignificant it may be or maybe bigger than what we want it to be, is there for a reason. But reason which cannot reveal itself until or if we don't give it that needed room or space to do so.

Emptying our pot makes that possible. An empty pot invites it in. And this would give us all the treasure we may want or hope to acquire. This takes us higher to a better place of self and of understanding life, people, the world, and God. That's right. Whatever we want our day or our life to be, depends on how much we are willing to empty ourselves... and make room for more blessings.

One unknown writer puts it this way.... "We shape clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want." --Anon.)

Yeah, how much you can put into your pot really depends on you.

God bless you.


Saturday, April 17, 2010

OLD SELF - NEW SELF


I am not what I used to be -- my old self which worried over every nitty-gritty detail of a mess-up, mine or somebody else's. I don't fret if the house is a mess, at least not anymore. But cleaning up goes on normally as it should. I save not for a special occasion because I've learned that everyday is a special occasion. So then I would buy ice cream, cakes, pretty clothes, shoes, bags and use them for no special reason. It doesn't have to be my birthday to look pretty or be happy.

Flaws, imperfections, weaknesses, or differences displayed by other people now amuse me because I have understood that we are all different and that being so does not make one person better or less than the other. It just makes us different. People's foibles are now better understood and forgiven, including mine. I draw close to people I like.. and if I don't like someone I simply stay away and forget that person. No point in having someone like that stick around to ruin my parade. I try not to go crazy when plans bomb out or when appointments are missed. Because if and when they do certainly it must be for some reason. Eventually something much better takes its place. But I try to make sure that I don't miss the good idea - thought - benefit or lesson behind it. Better to see it with a positive eye, otherwise it's bound to cause more stress in trying to figure out what happened.

I believe in miracles and blessings which certainly come plenty if one takes pains to find out or see it. I indeed seek for blessings because my mom said I should. Funny isn't it, so many things mothers tell their children and which children often forget. Glad that I remembered this one. You see mom would always tell me that there is always one when you come looking for it... and sometimes even when you aren't looking. Blessings don't always come wrapped up in gorgeous ribbons or other fancy trimmings or make a huge dramatic entrance into your life. Nope. Sometimes it's just there beside you or within you making you feel... peace calm serene joy hope strength inspiration faith... something you thought you'd never experience as the rest of your world comes tumbling down or has already.

I am happy where happiness finds me.... and if sorrow should come I'd probably cry too. Oh yes, probably hurt and ache, grieve, be miserable... but I know better now that these things are fleeting and would easily pass just like all of life. Besides things which I have no control over are no longer mine to worry about. Troubles are plenty it's true and nobody's spared of it, but we can choose how to face them. Thus if I don't have the solutions, then I leave them at the foot of the Cross for God to handle. He's better at it you know. So much better. I've learned that wonderful truth too. ---


Wednesday, April 14, 2010

PAY IT FORWARD

Miracles happen everyday. It's true because my life stands witness to that. God works in strange ways beyond man's ordinary comprehension. Come to think of it, our life has been nothing but ONE MIRACLE AFTER ANOTHER! Who can beat that?! When many are searching far and wide for the miracles they want to see in their lives... we have it in ours EVERYDAY.

Trials.. what are they? If not opportunities to see God work his power and might. Opportunities to make us see just how much HE loves us, no matter our unworthiness. We are petty, weak, flawed, not without sin -- but that doesn't matter to HIM. HE sees beyond that. HE sees our heartbreaks.. disappointments.. hurts.. pain.. hopelessness.. struggles.. helplessness.. our smallness and mortality. And understands!

Thus out of the great love in HIS heart HE moves to comfort.. heal.. save.. strengthen.. encourage.. enlighten.. inspire.. provide.. guide.. and so much more HE becomes simply to match our need. HE becomes everything we need HIM to be, with or without our asking HIM to. That is how much GOD loves HIS children... and that means all of us!! When HE does that it's not like one formula applies to everybody. Rather HE connects to us one-on-one! You're a person to HIM, not just a face in the crowd.

How can we match that? We can't! But we can try to be the best of what we can be with who we are-what we have... and walk beside HIM in trust and love. A life journey we take with HIM side by side.

Lest we forget, God wants us to understand too that in the same way HE is good to us... we must also be just as good to our brethren. We must not let God's love stop with us but it must be moved on along or passed on to the next person who too has need of God's magnificent love. You probably have seen that movie "Pay It Forward" -- that is God's love in action through ordinary people.


This is how we honor HIM, this is our thanksgiving to HIM, and this is what children of GOD do. Don't hesitate, don't be scared. One need not be faultless or sinless or perfect to do God's work nor wait till one is worthy. Because mortals can never be worthy in this lifetime. What we can do instead... is to be and do what we can with who we are and with what God has blessed us with. God does not wait or need perfect servants but HE uses WILLING servants to do HIS work. We need to understand that in doing God's work it is not all about you... it is all about GOD. And the best way to do that is to love and serve one another in the spirit of God's love.

Be blessed and stay blessed.
God's love be with you always.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

LOOKING OUT TO THE WORLD

There are two ways of looking at life, people, the world. One is from your own standpoint and the other is from the other person's. Both don't always agree and that usually makes for the inconsistencies that we see around us in most everything. But life is actually lived in personal terms sieved through our individual beliefs, preferences, insights, opinions, knowledge, and understanding. We don't usually bother about what people may think, as much as we can anyway. We do our thing with what is dished out to us trying as best as we can to be worthy of being alive... of life. We all do that... you, me, the guy next door... everybody. But whoever we are or where we come from, we have our story and we matter. Honestly the world will look like a messy place when we would look out to it from a heart that isn't quite sorted out. That's true because we have to figure out how we want to see the world and with what. We can't just take what's there and work something out and hope to God it turns out alright. That's not how things work out.

So then from where I stand now these are the stories I've seen and heard, and lived quite a few myself .....

-- joining the band wagon won't always get you to where you want to go... especially if you had joined the wrong one. Know when to leave. Leave!

-- when life hands you lemons, it's okay to cry because that's what you're supposed to do with it.. cry. But when you're done crying, shake yourself and say 'nope, you've seen nothing yet'. Then work hard with everything you've got. Walk your talk.

-- people won't always agree to everything you say unless you have succeeded to pull familiar strings in his heart or memory.

-- when you give a piece of praise, give it not because you aim to please. But give it because you agree that that person is indeed wonderful.

-- it could be true that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. But also true is the fact that your side of the fence can be greener too or so much more if you simply remembered to nurture it.

-- you are the only one in the world, there is nobody like you elsewhere... and so does the rest of humankind think about themselves. But that is not the problem. The problem is we can't seem to agree that we all belong here -- together, side by side.


And so much more and we know them all, don't we?