WE ARE CREATORS

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Have read this somewhere and it's a good line to remember too, especially good to tell a friend who now is feeling quite down in the dumps with her bland boring day... thinking that life is just one heavy stack of tough luck. And believes that there’s nothing else one can do about the situation. 

Well, I hope that she's reading this now because that line tells us that we need not look far and wide because we can indeed hope to turn things around. 

How? With our innate and inherent -- creativity. 

If you’ll ask Mr. Webster, he’ll tell you that the word is about – ingenuity, cunning, intelligence, inventiveness, cleverness, resourcefulness, and imagination.

Wow! We’re all that!? And it’s right here in our hands to work out something better for ourselves!? That's Wow!! 

So who’s been telling us all this time that it’s out there whatever-it-is that we need to be or have to make good in life? Doesn't he understand that 'out there' is nothing compared to what's 'in here' --- in us, in you, in every breathing living person on this perceived 'supposedly cursed' planet?! 

So why do we persistently think or behave otherwise? Why instead do we spend so much time bewailing the difficulty of our days and times when it isn’t really so hopeless and dire as we perceive it to be? Who’s been pulling the wool over our eyes now?! 

We can actually do something about bad days and bad lives; change alter or transform it -----from poverty to immense wealth of-and-in experiences, or challenges, opportunities, riches, learning, and wisdom. And this is not just all about the material. Sure it does not happen overnight (I struggled with it, I know - 'been there-done that' .. besides good doesn't come easy), but when you decide to get on that road decisively.... you will sooner or later certainly get where you want to go.

Why not give that a thought, my good friend? And while you’re at it, think about this --- 

We are indeed ‘creators’ as we are created in the image of God – THE CREATOR of all things then and now, visible and invisible! Yup, heard that before, right? But it's true. Remember our catechism? Yup, they started us early on that. It's His Will that we should and do something for ourselves, too. He knows it'll be good for us. And if you know your God, you'll know this to be true. 

So why not give life our best shot? Besides, don't you think that life is short to waste it with buckets of tears? 

And in spite of this you still think you can't ... I might as well bonk you on the head with a block of ice. The hot weather must be affecting your brain, dear friend! C'mon, shake yourself (harder please) and get back into the groove again.  

ON A DAY-BY-DAY BASIS

2016 --- I like how that sounds. I like the flow of time. It's telling us "I move... so you move, too. But be sure you know where you're heading."
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The new year has opened its door to us. Let's get both our feet in. Not one foot in the door.. but with the other foot left behind. Get in and close the door behind you. Whatever happened in the past is now history. Its all now gone except for the lessons we got from it. That is what the past is for... as an archive of lessons learned.
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Begin anew. Build new goals... plans... objectives... targets... destinations... expectations... hope... dreams. You may not be able to do it all in one sitting (Who can anyway?!!) and don't even try. Easy gains have no lasting effect. It's always those things done with persistence, determination, steady effort, hard work, study, passion, and with a can-do attitude --- all these combined always hit the goal. Small effort perhaps?.... that matters, too.
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Be patient. Those things worth doing can sometimes be so boring, tiring, monotonous, and it can get on your nerves too as you feel that you're heading nowhere but a dead-end. But --- persevere because each day holds its own promise and potential. Keep pushing..... keep hammering..... keep going..... keep building..... and live at the same time. Life is beautiful!
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Wishing you blessings of abundance in the days ahead. God bless you.

JUST BECAUSE YOU MADE A MISTAKE - DOES NOT MAKE YOU A MISTAKE

Don’t be afraid to make honest mistakes. So you think that the world will stop on its tracks because you bungled up? Or that your friends will think you stupid or a loser? Or that you will disappoint dozens of relatives and other people who think so highly of you and your talent? Excuse me, but I remember when I was burning over some mistakes, my mom simply said to me that --

"...the best lessons come wrapped in blunders, mistakes, failures, and errors. Because only then will you be able to smooth the rough edges of your character, hone your talents to perfection, and grow into the person you were meant to be --in God’s blueprint of your life."

Thus how then can I, or anyone for that matter, ever become this entire gorgeous package if not through the fire of disappointment, failure, and mistakes?! But she too warned me that it was going to hurt. I then countered -- "Oh okay, but isn’t the sun better and brighter after the rain? Don't rainbows too appear after? I'll set my eyes on that." And she gave me her brightest smile.

Be gentle to yourself. Don’t be quick to blame yourself when things go wrong in your life. Don’t bash yourself so hard believing that you did so badly and you deserve to be thrown into the fire and be devoured by the flames! Dump that attitude. I don’t buy that.

Just because you made a mistake, does not make you a mistake. If you fail in one area of your life --- you still have the rest to shine in! Besides it’s not all your fault because bad situations do come to people, jerks may cross your path, and other people’s bad decisions could affect yours. So why blame it all on yourself? Does that make sense now? Be good to yourself – you’re much better than you give yourself credit for!

REINVENT YOURSELF

Don’t let your college persona determine who you will become. This is something I’d like to say to a friend’s son who can’t find a job – yet. He took up engineering and he feels that everything seems to be blocking him from becoming one. Now that's being shortsighted. Gosh, it's not rare to see engineers work themselves up to the position of Vice President of the Sales Department... or become a very successful media man.

Let me quote this from something I read just recently ------–

To quote --- “ …Unless you really loved who you were in college. It doesn’t matter if you were the nerd, the dumb jock, the bully or the wallflower. College is over and your new life is beginning. Now is the time for reinvention if you deem it necessary. Think Madonna—but maybe not her cone bra phase. If you were the wallflower, break out of your shell. If you were the bully, try to be nicer. The world is waiting -- try to be the best person you can be. Make good decisions. Remember, the decisions you make after college have real-life consequences.”

Now don’t get me wrong, I didn’t mean that you waste your education away. What I’m saying is --- you can’t let it determine you or your future. There is so much more that you can do, not just being what you studied for. That’s a mind set that's limiting you.

Further quote --– “The school you graduated from does not determine the quality of your future.There are still small-minded companies that only accept applicants from the supposed top universities but don’t let that stop you. Just because you came from one of the more popular schools doesn’t mean you can rest easy. And it doesn’t matter either if you came from a school that no one else has heard about. It is you, and not your diploma, that will make your future.” --- Unquote.

There you go. I rest my case. :-)

IMPLAUSIBLE DOES NOT MEAN THAT IT WON'T WORK

We are used to looking at the bad side of things that whatever does not meet our expectations are quickly thrown into the ‘will not work’ bin. And definitely we’ve accumulated piles and piles of those ‘will not work’ reasons and have changed bins several times through the years. I don’t know where we got that myopic view of looking at life and living but it sure does not do anything for us at all - Albeit lots of amazingly good opportunities are lost in that manner.

The thing is that something which we may have categorized ‘not plausible’ will just might have one teeny-weeny cause in there which might work to its favor and perhaps turn things around if given the chance -- Unless of course we’ve exhausted our search inside out and satisfyingly proved to ourselves that the case is downright hopeless -- Then and only then should that be bulldozed out of our life. But yes, that would be the exception rather than the rule.

Do you know what keeps scientists, inventors, businessmen et al do their respective tasks a thousand times over – doggedly going back to the drawing boards when stumped with an obstacle, flaw, or hurdle? They keep searching for that one good reason that will tell them that it will work! The things which we are enjoying now from that unflagging effort definitely tell us that they found it. Who’s telling us now that we can’t do the same??

"Forget about all the reasons why something may not work.
You only need to find one good reason why it will." - Dr. Robert Anthony

(That picture there is Malen on her way to a big adventure towards her dream. God bless, Honey!)