Friday, August 25, 2023

WHEN THE SOUL SPEAKS --- LISTEN!


☕πŸ‘­☕A friend called me up not so long ago. Having just arrived from Cebu she wanted to meet up for a chat over coffee. Yet I bowed out of the invitation as there were errands to do. But she's not one to easily give up, so she determinedly tied me down to the phone with updates about her life in Cebu. It was a long tale, but I sensed something seemed off with the way she sounded.


πŸ™„“Okay, what’s up?” I asked straightforwardly. We’ve been friends too long that honesty and straightforwardness have become a comfy thing between us.

“Len, sometimes I wish I was just me; I feel old and weary.” She replied with unsurprising honesty.πŸ˜” "Like am down this old beaten path leading to where I do not know."

Let’s think about this……

That’s a ‘hugot’ line, right? Meaning that runs deep. We would probably guess that something or some things happened somewhere in there which had caused this weariness of the soul.

πŸ€““I wish I was just me…” ---Do you know who you are? What roles do you play in life (I know we can be many things to many different people)? What matters to you? Do you or do you not care? Do you sometimes wish you were doing something else? Or was someone else?

There is no straight or right answer to those questions. Or so I believe. Because you are that person in every-question-and-answer posed lived by you at many different and diverse points in your life. You hate, you love, you adore, you are brave, you despise, and you abhor, also can be cold and despicable when reason presents itself. You pretend you are strong and yet vulnerable too, you are confused, and sometimes stubborn even in being wrong. You are all of the above and even so much more. You are everything a human being is. Perfect and flawed. But admittedly at the end of the day when the dust has settled and you stand alone tired and utterly exhausted by all that, you drop to the ground buckling under the overwhelming weight of it all and exhale a weary … ‘I wish I was just me.’πŸ˜”

πŸ€“"…old and weary” ---
Oh but I hear that often said by friends and strangers alike. Both from the young and the old.

πŸ‘¨‍πŸ’ΌπŸ‘©‍πŸ’ΌWhen young people say it, it rises from being drained of all energy, effort, plans, strength, courage, hope, and perhaps faith, too. Trying to make it in this crazy world of ours is tough. Pursuing dreams even tougher. And you are not even assured of success or of making it. Sometimes it may seem so near and yet still so far. So each day you struggle with frustration, sadness, disappointment, irritation, failed expectations, and bits and pieces of your broken dreams. Every night you plop down on your bed worn out to the bone. So exhausted, wondering if you'll ever make it.

πŸ‘΄πŸ‘΅When old people utter those words, it expresses a mix of everything past, present, and even the future. It hovers over why-did-it-happen or what-could-have-been. Regrets creep in and weigh down both the mind and the heart. It doesn’t help if in the home they have become just a piece of the furniture. Ignored, often left alone, no longer enjoying the vibrant exchange or connection enjoyed with the family he thought he knew so well. Although not entirely the family’s fault. Because age imposes new restrictions on the mind and body thus puts on limitations to choices, his or theirs. This reality creates a painful void for loneliness and longing. The soul becomes weary, drained, alone.πŸ˜”

πŸ‘ΌIn all this, young or old, it’s the soul that feels and bears the brunt of our physical effort and lives. It is strong, no doubt about that, but sometimes you just have to -- let it breathe…give it rest to recharge itself… give it space to become new again. Just as the body needs to rest – the soul needs that too. And for a definite purpose -- to remember its connection with the Divine. It does need to reconnect every so often with its Creator. It needs to be renewed in its life purpose. God creates and can recreate.πŸ‘Ό

When the soul speaks, learn to listen ..... and pray! 

....

Monday, May 29, 2023

SOMETIMES ALONE IS GOOD COMPANY

(A post from long ago. Just to tell someone that being alone need not be lonely.)

It’s not all the time that I want company, or listen to the noise of endless banter, or watch the chaotic human parade of other people’s lives. It’s vexing to the mind, is wearying to the heart, and tires the soul down. It leads to confusion and troubling vibrations in the air turning my world upside down. It’s startling how all these can touch your own sphere of life and leave you so drained by it all.

Sometimes … I simply want to be alone. To be there in my-own-moment just being - To feel the soft breeze on my face – To feel the warmth of the sun on my skin – To hear birds chirping on the trees – To feel the waters under my feet walking by the seashore – To touch the petal of a flower – To watch the sun go down on the horizon – To let the rain touch my skin – To write my dreams on clouds of flight – To be still - To hear my heartbeat.

Sometimes .... I simply want to be that little child on God’s lap. I remember those times when I told Him .... about how Peter and Jane have hurt me in school ----- to ask him to make Billy the Bully a good boy so that he won’t bother me again when I walk by his house ----- to tell my mom and dad to please know why I cry when they leave for the office ----- to tell Him how bad I feel because Santa Claus didn’t give me a puppy for Christmas ----- to ask Him to make grandpa well again so that we could play ----- to thank Him for letting Mom cook my favorite spaghetti with huge meatballs every Saturday!! 

Aahhh...the prayers of a little child. 

Sometimes ... I simply want to be with my thoughts – thinking of the past and the things it has left me with – thinking of the present and how it’s forming my tomorrows – wondering what my tomorrows will be like or when I will be finally gone.

Sometimes .... I simply want to BE – seeing my flaws, mistakes, imperfections – seeing how fragile and vulnerable I truly am – looking at my limitations, my borders, my walls – and yet understanding that I too have my own strengths, potential, and the power to dream. That everything there, good or bad, has shaped who I am. That all that I was, is, and will be is the story of my life.

Sometimes .. I simply want to be here – with nothing – doing nothing – yet loving everything.

Here's a quote that's closest to my heart......

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"Inside myself is a place where I live all alone and that’s where you renew your springs that never dry up.” 

                              Pearl S. Buck (1892 – 1973)

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So then.... Learn to treasure your alone moments. Do not be afraid to be alone. It is a precious gift, too! So precious. 

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