CHANGE IS A NECESSARY PART OF LIFE

 

 

 

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I was at the tail-end of my usual morning walk and was nearing this middle-aged woman who looked so intent in her task of sweeping up the dirt in front of her house. She was doing quite a thorough job of sweeping going through the grounds with her broom. As much as I admired her sense of thoroughness at the job, I cringed at the possibility that she could be sweeping away the tiny minute unseen-to-the-eye creatures of the ground. 

Anyway, I slowed down my pace as curiosity got the best of me. Just as I thought-- she left no stone unturned, no stray bit safe..... even the ground seemed reduced in size with the passing of her broom.

Now can you imagine this........

if we could sweep away the debris of our lives in a similar manner? Certainly it would have to take a magic broom, of course. But have you identified the ‘debris’ cluttering your life? I’ll bet you would put in a lot of ..... bad events, situations, experiences, people, bad habits, and other things besides in that category. How about prejudice, bias, attitudes, addictions, perversions, greed, and corruption? Oh yes, the ills of the world, too. Don't you wish that we could sweep them away too, right?

Sometimes ‘junk’ of all sorts seep into our lives and chip at our values too. Small things which may seem trivial at a glance thus ofttimes ignored and unnoticed. But these very small yet unpleasant things slowly gnaw at our values like termites do on wood. Pretty soon unknowingly bits and pieces are being altered in our minds and hearts. What used to be good, whole and wholesome has become shredded, tattered, and cluttered like garbage. Eventually turning into ugly debris stored up within and taking its hold or grip on us thus influencing our everyday lives.

We move around our lives carrying this garbage not recognizing it as 'garbage'. We utter words of hate and division.... we think thoughts of bias and prejudice.... we do things which hurt our neighbor, friends, and families for no just reason or cause. We transform into monsters of negativity, ill intent, lopsided views and opinions. And the sad thing about it is feeling good about ourselves! We think we're defending our right to be heard.. but has it also crossed your mind that you could be simply defending the.....ego? Ego knows no right or wrong, no good or bad. It's goal is self-satisfaction. Period. The termites have indeed done a good job of gnawing at the wood of our character.

We do need to be aware of our internal garbage and work to sweep it up out of our lives. Determine to throw it into the bin of extinction. Tough job, I know; but at least let it be said that we did try and will persevere until every last bit of garbage is gone! We take back our true selves.... as God originally designed.

Change is an internal job. Nobody will or can do it for you. We can work at change bit by tiny bit, one step at a time, one day at a time, pulling ourselves away from the unnecessary and unpleasant comfort zones of negativity and trash.

May God bless you with His love, peace, grace to do good things for yourself and others

CHANGE AND UNEXPECTED TEACHERS

 

 

 

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I was going through my old files, sorting through it with the intent of ridding it of non-essentials. This made me think. Non-essentials --– if you think about it you will understand that there are indeed plenty in your store of life and living… the accumulated bits and pieces that you might be better off without. But of course you wouldn’t want to deal with that when you are young for the simple fact that you are so attached to it. Even if conscience tells you to be done with it.

The thing is when you get older or have grown older you get this feeling that something inside of you has changed. What was isn't anymore. What may have been important to you back then may not be anymore many years after. It’s sad but its importance or relevance has waned or diminished, its attraction fizzled out or maybe gone in some. It seemed to have lost its life. Holding on to it, you get to realize, has now become dead weight.

So I am now on a fresh and determined journey of ridding my store of dead weight. Some people may have a name for it but I am calling it change.

Change is something you cannot fight. Maybe you can delay it, dilute it, mask it, or give it another name perhaps but change it still is. And I’m starting with my files.

This morning’s activity though came to a brief halt when…….

I stumbled on this piece of writing paper and on it were printed these words. Now it made no mention of its source or of who wrote it so I guessed that it was quoted from something. Here it is by an anonymous writer. A wonderful piece that made sense back then, still does in the present and I guess will continue to do its job of imparting its precious wisdom to anyone who stops awhile, pay attention, and learn.

Quoting…….

UNEXPECTED TEACHERS
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Some of us have our prejudices, some of us have our biases. Some of us, no matter how old we become, remain childish. We continue to select only those things we want to listen to.

But in doing this, we also lose.

Everybody is in the same boat. All of us do not know everything but, we can listen.

Because we have a lot to learn from people for whom we think we have no respect.

Who are the people for whom we have no respect? For whom we have incorrigible biases? People for who we think we have nothing to learn from?

Think well and hard.

We will have a lot to learn from these unexpected teachers.

(Author Unknown)

Unquote.

Have a great and blessed day, folks. Siksik, liglig, at umaapaw pa!

THERE IS BEAUTY IN DIVERSITY

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This morning went out for my usual early morning walk. As I was rounding the block and aiming for the hill... the rains came tumbling down! Ohhh.. there goes my early morning walk, I thought as I soft-jogged my way back to the house. And just when I was already in my house dress Mr. Sun came bursting out from behind the gray clouds shining brilliantly like he was enjoying the big joke he threw at me just a few minutes ago! Oh well.. !!

Yesterday's .morning walk was such a delight though. You would probably be thinking that walking these same roads, neighborhood, and hill repeatedly for so long now would have exhausted everything there was to see.

Maybe... or maybe not.

Things may look the same but not really.

Movement, Change, Birth. Growth. Decline.

Of such are the things of the earth and of life.

If you do not pay close attention, you will certainly miss its beauty, wonder, joy..... or miss to be awesomely amazed by it all.

Like this plant I saw up the hill.... a huge leaf standing tall and erect with its glistening young green color seemed to greet me with a huge "Hi five!!". And I hi-5'd back at it, grinning. Buti na lang walang tao sa kalye! :-D (Luckily there was nobody around that time of day!)

Not far from it stood this gorgeous flower ...once a shy tiny bud now proudly showing off its dazzling brilliant color in full bloom. Movement and change. It lends fresh color to the world.

Farther up ahead, I saw (again) this cluster of huge mushrooms (remember my post several months ago on the same mushrooms as large as my shoe?) ...but this time several have grown black in color (decline)... as new fresh ones sprouted nearby (birth).

Round the corner up ahead bloomed Birds of Paradise (thanks IC Guerrero for the name) standing proudly in a cluster, too, on the shoulder of the road. Birds of the same feather flock together, aye!? Just like humans do.

Then a handsome dog caught my eye as I continued up the hill. It appeared shut out of his human's home as he stood patiently waiting outside the gate hoping that somebody would open it and let him in. Just a thought here, if you can't take good care of your pets... don't get one. Don't even think about owning one. Because having a pet in your home is having another member added to your family. Be responsible for it. Love it like you would your child. My family has four dogs and eight cats. By the way, the word dog spelled backwards is God. It's just a reminder that nothing in God's creation is insignificant. Everything is .. for a reason. That means animals, too.

As I forced myself to walk past it (with a heavy heart), I came upon a middle-aged lady who was sweeping that part of the street fronting her house. When she saw me approaching she smiled a pleasant "Good morning!" That took the gloom out of my heart as I smiled back at her and moved on bouncing happily in my steps. Be generous with smiles; it can do wonderful things.

Walking downhill I saw a friendly neighbor who had a small bonfire going by the side of the road and under his fruits trees (several more I could see in his yard). I stopped to say hello. With a wide grin he said "Di ka talaga pumapalya noh?!" (You don't really miss your morning walks aye?!) I smiled even more with "Pwera lang kung umulan." (Except when it rains.) Stayed a few minutes more to admire his fruit trees now bearing fruits to which he said I was welcome to it anytime I wished so. Friends are the true treasures of a neighborhood, a community, a town or city, a country or of the world. They add to the spice of life and living with their own individual brand of uniqueness and with their blessed contribution to humanity.

As I neared my block and was just a few houses away from home ... I noticed the lush greenery outside a neighbor's gate. But these two particular bushes ... each different from the other in color and shape.... and yet sharing the same air, soil, and space stood side by side. Together. Happily. Humans can learn something from that.

There is beauty in diversity.

Have a lovely day and week. God bless you!

  

 

 

 

 

  

WANT CHANGE? YOU KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN

 

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Everybody is talking about change.... wanting change. Yes, the general perception is that we need change in every area of our lives.............. government, politics, public and private endeavors in business - banking - finance and in every industry meant to promote the country. Systems need changing and the people who run or operate it need some attitude revamping. too..
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Just an observation but I've been here long enough to see that we are a people of contrasts and contradictions. More often than not we don't really walk our talk. Or maybe that's a human frailty.
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When we speak of change, we think that it's the other guy who needs to do that (an external process rather than an internal one outside the self) ----- the government officials... the inefficiencies of public and private services... the system of governance... the policies in place which we perceive are no long relevant to the changing times... the institutions perceived to be corrupt... the foreign ideologies allowed to encroach into our territory... those and perhaps even more contribute to the mess we find our country and ourselves in. We point our finger to these reasons or causes.
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Honestly... that's only half of the story.
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Do you know what the other half is all about? Try these.........
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--- not crossing on assigned pedestrian lanes
--- not following traffic rules and regulations
--- 'tanim-bala' at the airport
--- throwing candy wrappers, receipts, cigarette butts, empty coke cans and water bottles on sidewalks and streets
--- sweeping dry leaves, twigs, plastic bags, trash into street gutters in our neighborhoods and communities
--- using dishonest weighing scales at the market place
--- overcharging goods and services
--- cruelty to animals i.e. abandoning them in their old age or when sick, hurt or wounded
--- not coming to the rescue or looking the other way when somebody is being victimized by thieves or robbers on the streets
--- vandalizing public and private property
--- unnecessarily cutting down of trees and polluting rivers, streams, seas with trash
--- kung may nangungutong na pulis.... meron ding nangsusuhol na civilian
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--- and so much more. You know it; we all know it. It's the little sometimes unnoticed and oftentimes taken for granted things being done in daily lives on the ground, visible and invisible, which show the character of a person, community, city, nation or country.
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Change can be pushed by a leadership but it will take its roots from the people. If they want it too..... hurray! If they don't...... then it's back to square one... again!
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That's our story. I don't care if other countries have the same story, too; that's their problem. This is ours... our story, our problem.
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Donald Miller says...... "Change the world around you by LIVING A BETTER STORY." --- That, I believe, is now our challenge. To create a better story for our individual lives and for our people and our country.
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God bless you.... our people.... our country.... the world.
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(Big thanks to the internet for these inspiring images.)

GROWTH LIES OUTSIDE OUR COMFORT ZONES

No matter our efforts or intent to change and even if that prospect of change would largely improve our selves or our lives, still we hold on fiercely to things which comprise our 'comfort zones'. The CZ (comfort zone) varies from person to person. It could be every reason, smart or silly, brought forward by each of us to protect what we each perceive as essential to our existence. Even ready to every extent at defending it. In some it isn't even considered as a CZ because it has become so much part of character and personality comprising the whole package of being individual and human. It no longer is recognizable.
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A teacher from long ago once said.... 'No amount of teaching or learning will progress if a person doesn't first learn to let go of comfort zones'.
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That made me think.................
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She may be right. A CZ can be, by all appearances, sometimes cute... hip... attractive... comfortable... but is undeniably an ego booster... a people pleaser... a band-aid to insecurities... and a superficial guarantee of stability and worth. A comfort zone is just that ----- a place or state of being where you are most comfortable with who or what you are that you don't or won't want to change it.
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Yet, my teacher further added..... 'Being comfortable with who or what you are does not necessarily mean it is good.'
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The sole purpose of our lives, she says, is to grow... improve... to work at making ourselves better if not the best. This process would require shedding off layers in our character which hinder -- stunt -- delay -- or get in the way of growth. Human nature tends to incline towards what is easy... safe... comfortable. It veers away from strife.... struggle... harsh realities... fierce challenges... and change. Anything that suggests any one of those is a bane (nuisance) to a stubborn mind.
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That, by the way, is where our biggest battles are fought. Man, indeed, is a child of comfort zones.

 

"All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of 

letting go and holding on."   - Henry Ellis

I hope you all are having a pleasant week, rainy weather or hot notwithstanding. Take care and God bless!

 

(Thanking Mr. Quote Man for the wonderful quote mentioned above.)

 

 

YOU CAN'T BE ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE

 

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I was cruising down the LinkedIn site and stumbled on this these beautiful lines. It's just a part of the article '8 Behaviors of Phenomenally Successful People', (By Jeff Haden. Ghost writer, speaker, LinkedIn influencer, contributing editor for Inc.) The article makes for a good read but these lines at the bottom struck me the most....... to quote'
.
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"You worry about what other people think. (Don't feel bad -- I'm sure I do that as much as anyone.) Yet no matter how hard you try, you can't be all things to all people. But you can be as many things as possible to the people you love. And you can be the best you. Be yourself. That is the one thing you can do better than anyone else."
.
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I have singled that out because it resonated well with a chat I had with a friend a couple of months ago. She's one who worries a lot about what others may say about whatever she does. Drives me crazy listening to her list of -- 'what if' -- 'would they like it' -- 'am I doing it right'.
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She is a people pleaser but is overdoing the whole thing much to her own discomfort and misery. Sad?.. but don't worry, she's quite an intelligent person too and will in good time realize what she should be learning and change what should be changed. Just needing a gentle nudge perhaps in that direction. Sometimes change comes slow and the transformation slower to some people.
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Jeff Haden said it perfectly.... 'Yet no matter how hard you try, you can't be all things to all people.' -
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So why even try? Every person on this planet sees the world, life, people through his own set of eyes.. brains, and heart. He thinks, sees, and acts off his own set of insights, perceptions, measure and standards. So whatever he sees it may not really be all about you (if you happen to be in the picture); rather it's dictated by his own set of rules by which he evaluates everything, tangible or intangible. Remember this? -- That 'we see things not as they are but as we are.'
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The best way to live life is how Jeff Haden puts it ---- 'And you can be the best you. Be yourself. That is the one thing you can do better than anyone else.' ---- And I agree 200%. And don't listen to people who say that you can't... because you can!
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By the way, it's still the month of June; I know somebody out there has this as his or her birthday month, too. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! May you be blessed with wonderful things to last you a lifetime.

CHANGE OF SELF MORE THAN A CHANGE OF SCENE

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Was at the patio sweeping up leaves fallen from my solitary tree when I overheard this conversation between two women out on the street walking by.....
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'Ayoko na. Kahit ano pang sabihin ko, gagawin pa rin niya ang gusto niya. Di niya makita na mapapasama lang siya sa ganun.' says woman #1 ---- (I give up. Nothing that I ever say would make her change her mind. She can't see that nothing good would come out of it.'
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'Bayaan mo na. Nang matuto siya!' replied woman #2 ---- 'Let it. That she learn her lesson!'
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Does that sound familiar? Happens everyday to people around us... family, friends, and strangers alike. Not just without but also within ourselves. Sometimes or rather most times when we make up our minds nothing or no one can make us want to change it. We just don't or won't listen. For good or for bad. Period.
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It got me to thinking.....
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An objective view, I think, most times is the better view. Being free of attachments, emotions, sentimentality, expectations enables a person to see a situation for what it truly is. Decisions are best made in such an environment. Thus an objective view is better rendered by a person who is standing on the outside looking in. A role best played by psychologists and psychiatrists and middle men.
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I have learned, too, that if change were desired or where it needs to happen, this will not without the consent of the person or leading player in the issue being played. In short, change won't come to that person who does not want to change.
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No amount of sweet talk, bribery, coaxing, threat, grand promises, or drama can push the correct button to get a person off his ill-decision once made, especially when he or she believes it to be the right one.
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So what to do? As what woman #2 said -- 'Let it!'
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Sometimes for our own good it is best to make our own mistakes. We must learn it by our own lonely self. Nobody can or will do it for us. We on this lonely planet are each given our individual lessons for learning and corresponding homework to do. We are expected to make mistakes but we are also expected to learn from them too.
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So when somebody bullheadedly and stubbornly is holding on to not-so-smart decisions, let it be. Just be there when she (or he) falls to help pick her (or him) up.
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Have a great day, people. Be there for someone.
Be blessed and stay blessed.

EVERYTHING YOU GO THROUGH, GROWS YOU

 

 

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A friend asked me this question.............. 'What do you do when bad happens to you?' .I looked at her and said.. 'You've been hurt bad?' .. 'Hey, I'm doing the asking here.' she retorted in jest.
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As every person is a story you can be very sure that hurt and pain along with other things complete a person's personal history. Each bit did its part to shape the person for better or for worse and this definitely will impact people who come close to the territory or happen to be near it or get drawn to it by some unexplained circumstance. People collide with one another by some mysterious force but its reason not fully or always understood. Not yet anyway. This human collision does get us bruised.. battered... shaken up... wounded and scarred. Unhappy memories are then created which sadly can still prick even long after the experience is gone. Some may say forgiven, but many more will say not forgotten.
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Bad can hurt. We all know it as it comes to us in many different forms, ways, means, intensity, appearances, reason or intent, sometimes unintended, sometimes disguised, but with the sole purpose of hurting us and turning our world upside down--- rewriting our story in its entirety or in part. It doesn't draw a pretty picture, particularly if you can see it in the heart --- torn, tattered, messed up, beaten, weary.
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It made me think ......
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Maybe there is no answer. Maybe one just lives through the experience..... try to respond to it in the best manner possible..... draw strength where strength can be found from within or from without..... become the change which is eventually going to happen anyway like it or not. But something within, something bigger than yourself, makes you want to try to transform this experience into a treasure - your treasure - that would matter for a very, very long time. For you... for your life... Because, truth is, you owe it to yourself to do just that.
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My friend threw me that question but I think she didn't expect an answer. The answer which, I believe, she wasn't seeking but one which she already knew ------ Bad has its way of making us grow.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2015 - STRENGTH UNDEFEATABLE

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To quote....
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"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable." ------ Helen Keller, Let Us Have Faith (1940)
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Unquote.
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It is that time of the year .. again .. when we reassess, reevaluate, review, or look back to the year that has passed. The highs and lows of it, its triumphs and failures, its joys and sadness, its successes and bloopers, its dare-do and dare-not, its friends and enemies, its good and its bad. Life!
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There may be things in there which we would like to change ....and then again some which we may hang onto quite stubbornly, whether it be good or bad. And then again some who believe that life is just what it is, that it can't be changed.
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Well, whatever your belief is.... life is what you make it, good or bad. Nobody can tell you what to do with it; nobody has the right to. You are your own author... you write your own story.
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You can make it an adventure.... or an endless chain of excitement.... or an endless round of merriment.... or a pocketful of challenges.... or buckets-full of tears.... or a hopelessly boring one........ The choices are all up to you.
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Savor the triumphs achieved but please don't try to heap blame on things, circumstances, and people when life suddenly turns sour. Because life is all about choices. Even in bad situations you still have a choice. Stand up to the choices you have made and make.
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Life is what you make it.
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Let's look forward to the best year 2015 can be for us all.

  HAPPY  NEW YEAR!!! 

 Be blessed. Stay blessed.

Love you all. 
 Thank you for being with me through all the writing.

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A DOGGED PURPOSEFUL PITCH

 

So what's a relationship?

Mr. Webster says  it's..... 'the way in which two or more concepts, objects, or people are connected, or the state of being connected.'

Oh yes, we get that a lot in life. In fact, it rules our life from birth to the grave. It allows us opportunities to ....  laugh or cry, celebrate, dream, succeed or fail, create or build.

It can be your joy or your sorrow, your rainbow in the sky or the thorn in your side.

We can be in good relationships or in bad ones.

Some relationships make you feel chained down, or feel being trampled on, or is something akin to a huge obstinate wall which won't budge no matter how you try.  Don't lose yourself in it. Don't let something like a bad relationship take control of your life. There's no excuse not to even try. And if you fail once or twice, remember what your mother said .... 'if you don't succeed, try again'. Heard this before? --- Drops of water dripping down steadily-continuously-consistently-regularly upon a piece of solid rock will, in time, create a hole in it. Finally.

People are not like solid rocks; they are.......

soft (easy to mold, cut, compress, or fold; not hard or firm to the touch)

fluid (again Mr. Webster defines this as -- 'a substance, as a liquid or gas, that is capable of flowing and that changes its shape at a steady rate when acted upon by a force tending to change its shape'

pliable (easily influenced)

Although yes they can be quite stubborn but essentially, they change. Make them WANT to change.

Just as a salesman tries to win over a potential client, make your dogged (purposeful) pitch. You might succeed or you might lose. But whatever or however it comes out as a result of your effort, know in your heart that you tried! And that in my book or in anybody's book is a ..... thumbs up!

And that's a good one for a smile. Keep that smile on your face. A blessing rolls out for every smile you give or receive. Life is too short not to smile. Bless you!

THE PERSON YOU DECIDE TO BE

Mr. Quote Man thought this a good quote and sent it to my inbox...........................  

 "Don't judge me by MY PAST. I don't live there ANYMORE" 

-- Unknown

Yes, it is a good one but I have learned this much too that people generally tend to judge a person by his or her past more than anything else. People have always been that way.. it's human nature.. it's also a human flaw.. it's also a myopic view of life. People do not think in terms of  'what if' ... but rather of 'what has been'. Sad but true. To ask people not to judge by one's past is like aiming for the moon. Only the magnanimous of heart are capable of sifting through the past and understanding what it sees there and then moving on to the present and appreciating it for what it's truly worth. But that, unfortunately, is a rare gift.

And is I think one lesson in life which we are meant to learn and relearn -- if but again and again until we finally get it. To understand best that people do change over time. And that whatsoever you so choose to be is all up to you. But certainly change will get you there.

TODAY BECOME A BETTER VERSION OF WHO YOU WERE YESTERDAY

Got this in my inbox this morning, from friend Mr. Quote Man........

“There are three things extremely hard:   

steel, a diamond, and to know one's self.” 

------ Benjamin Franklin

Oh but we know that, don't we? And most of us also know that just because it is extremely hard (and that even is an understatement) ....  we still would keep working at it until we get the steel to build the foundations of our houses, the diamond to enhance our pleasure, and the effort to better our selves.

Nothing is nor comes easy to achieving something that which is good. The law of the universe. To come out better or best, things and mortals are passed through the fire. The fire is rough, inconvenient, intensely challenging. But it is a necessary process to peel off useless unnecessary layers in order to reveal the precious treasure within.

In the task of self-improvement the challenges are greater and huge. Because we would have to deal with our centuries-old habits, beliefs, and attitudes those which apparently no longer serve a good purpose and which instead stand as obstacles to a better self. The challenges nudge us out of our comfort zones which by our human nature is definitely a most unwelcome change or task. I struggle with that, too.

The aim today and each day that comes to us is to become a better version of who we were yesterday. Hard... yes... but not impossible.

May today bring you endless treasures and blessings, in Christ.

BE THE HOPE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THE WORLD

------------------
"You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; 

if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty."   

-- Mahatma Gandhi

Unquote.

I keep telling/reminding myself that  'Hope springs eternal'  --- No other way to see all of life.... all of bad that is happening.  And if we think of wanting or having a better neighborhood, community, city, country, people and world.....  well, the buck stops here --- it all begins with self. Somebody once said .... 'Be the change you want to see in the world'. The task therefore is all laid down before us .... change. Transformation. Start with who you are, what you are, where you are, and what you have. In that sense, hope will spring eternal. Because nothing can be better than becoming the best improved version of your self..... and then redirect this precious caring unto the world.

Pay the goodness forward. Blessings from the Heavenly Father, everyone.

SHED OFF AND ACQUIRED ALL IN THE SAME SPINNING

 

 Early this morning resumed my usual morning walk which was placed on hold throughout the long hot summer. Just about two months (April and May) but it seemed an eternity under the excruciating irritating insufferable heat of the summer sun. This was in fact the hottest summer recorded in the country.

Anyway, as I walked down the usual route round the neighborhood with a light feeling in my step, I noticed that things seemed quiet in the homes I passed by. Perhaps children had already gone to school and husbands off to work. I presumed mothers and wives with the house now quiet turned their attention to household chores. At some point a whiff of yummy breakfast food from a house nearby pranced around my nose and the thought of pancakes and friend eggs pushed me to hurry with the walk so that I could whip up my own breakfast too.

Nothing much seemed to have changed in the neighborhood in the two months I stayed off the paths. But I wasn't really looking hard enough. I was too eager to finish with my walk with the thought of breakfast stuck on my mind that I wasn't really paying attention. Uh-uh not good!

You see, things don't really stay the same. Except for those which need to stay the way they are for a wee bit longer for some reason or another. Change adorns the topography of our lives, living or non-living. Something becomes less or more, will diminish or increase, become fat or thin, taller or shorter, happier or lonelier, births or deaths, something lost or something else gained, and everything else which tells us that the world turns round and round with or without us. And as the world turns and life moves along with it, things get shed off and acquired all in the same spinning.

That said, I think I would be more careful on my next morning walk. This time to steer my eyes to what I should be truly seeing, nudge my mind to understand better the wisdom that has skipped my mind the first time, and tell my heart to lift up a tiny prayer of thanks to a magnificent God who made things the way they are all for my better learning and understanding.

Lovely day to you all.
Blessings!

WE CREATE OUR WORLD BY HOW WE CREATE OURSELVES

Saw this on my news feed this morning and it is good......

Sudhir Krishnan ---

"The quality of your earthly experience has less to do with outside circumstances, and more to do with your own level of consciousness. It's like each one of us shine our own inner light on to the external world. The brighter our inner light, the brighter the world appears, and vice-versa. Our primary work then, is not to change the world, but to be that change, to brighten our "inner light" that will go out and naturally brighten the world."

Unquote.

Simply stated -- change your self, change the world. Other similar sayings....'be the change you want to see in the world'  -  'change begins with self'  -  'you want to change the world, begin with you'  -  'the world will change when you change'.

So then there is no escaping this simple truth.... that we create our world by how we create our selves.

Blessed week to you all!
(Photo is from agoalplanner.com)

GROW YOURSELF

 

I sit here sipping a glass of warm water thinking of a friend. By the way, have read that a warm glass of water is good to start the day with upon waking. The point? Warm water does not jar or shock your system to wakefulness but does it better with a gentle nudge. Well that said, this friend whom I love dearly images that part of us -- that part which contributes to the misery of the self and the misery of our lives.

You know it's not acceptable to allow yourself to wallow in pity, hopelessness, fear, bitterness, anger, unforgiving, resentment because these are like ground bugs (anay) which literally gnaw at your strength, courage, self-esteem, confidence, hope, faith, and joy. It punctures holes in your character, your mind, your heart, and soul. Bit by bit you are reduced to a person engulfed by this dark power of negativity no longer recognizable from your true self.

But we are told to fight it! So You must do the best that you can with life; you give it your best shot. Don't give yourself permission to be miserable. When life hits you with trials, punch back with incremental changes which can alter your internal landscape. Change from within (internal) guarantees change from without (external). Be consistent, persistent, vigorous, determined, and resolute in wanting change. And you begin TODAY! Nobody can do that for you. It's just you and you owe that to yourself. GROW YOURSELF. It's tough work (who sez change is easy?!) but tell yourself that you deserve nothing less than the best!

And last but certainly not the least, ask God our FATHER to recreate you, to restore you to whole again. He WILL!!

Have a blessed Sunday. Love your family. Love yourself. Always love GOD.

YOU WANT SOMETHING GO GET IT

Just an observation.....

Some of my young friends tell of their so many plans, so many dreams, and yet never seem to know what the right one for them is. Confused and bewildered they keep on hammering at a wide range of choices believing that the right one will eventually surface, that somehow things will break and they will hit gold. I’m not convinced with that method. There has to be conscious effort. They have not recognized their path because they didn’t search well.

It’s not always smart to spread yourself thinly over a wide field of prospects. It’s like using up energy and shooting wild bullets with no specific target in sight. Besides it will wear you out faster and pretty soon you will find yourself dragging your feet from one place to another. That’s a candidate for frustration , disappointment and a waste of precious time and talent – one which you can’t afford to lose. Besides Father Time waits for no one.

On the other hand, I have seen other young people take on a well-thought out and planned approach. These boys and girls start out with a well-defined and definite sense of purpose; have equipped themselves with the necessary education and training,  studied their prospects sorting out those which they believe will be a sure fit. They don’t bother with anything which does not fill the criteria they have set down. In such a way they succeed to narrow down the choices to the best of the crop. Once this has been decided then and only then do they gear up for the pursuit and journey armed with a clearer vision of what they have and what they hope to achieve. Surprisingly the required enthusiasm, energy and imagination needed to see it through bursts forth with such unexplained intensity that it certainly amazed me no end. They then were rewarded with gaining greater momentum and ground as they steadily inched their way towards their goal confident with what they know.

"You are the embodiment of the information

 you choose to accept and act upon. 

To change your circumstances

you need to change your thinking 

and subsequent actions."

 -Adlin Sinclair

 To you reading this... GOD BLESS YOU and have a wonderful day.