LIFE CANNOT BE LIFE WITHOUT PEOPLE IN IT

I was on my way down the hill at the tail-end of my morning walk when this silver-haired gentleman-foreigner heading my way from the opposite direction on seeing me slowed down and greeted me with a huge friendly smile and a question... "How many times do you go round the neighborhood?" I replied "Twice, most times." To this he smiled even more and said.. "Good for you!" And walked past me still wearing his big wide smile..
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Apparently he too was doing his usual morning routine. And so were other Filipino residents of the neighborhood at that early hour. But one thing looks quite clear to me.... Filipinos are shy .. in fact, just too shy to jump on an opportunity to make friends or simply share the good vibes of the moment. I remember Mom said this long ago....... "The art of giving and receiving does not come naturally to many. But it can be learned. Start with loving yourself, life and everything in it."
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Life without people would be similar to one landscape of meadows, mountains, rivers, forests running endlessly beyond the horizon and even farther. Magnificent but somehow incomplete.
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People, on the other hand, bring into life those thousand-and-one things which make it come pulsatingly alive. Challenges... perceptions... insights.... excitement... adventure... joy and happiness... creativity... productivity... emotional diversity... development... growth, etc. Add to the same pot the worrisome and wearying disputes... arguments... sorrows... questions... destruction.... conflicts... negativity... and other things more which make you want to bang your head on the wall. These things happen between man and man interacting and colliding in a manner they alone best know how.
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Life cannot be life without people in it.
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Wishing for you and your family God's blessings beyond measure.

WE MAKE A LIVING BY WHAT WE GET -- WE MAKE A LIFE BY WHAT WE GIVE

 

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I'm not done yet with the sorting of books since yesterday. It's a modest collection of books I found interesting through the years, not necessarily best sellers, but stuff which lent me wisdom or insights into life and living. Some of its authors are unknowns and as a good number are famous writers. The books have turned brown on the edges but I don't mind it. They have stayed good friends who have stood the test of time and have stood as silent witness to my dreams.. one of which is to have a book out in my name. Ahh but what is life without dreams!!

Here's a tiny book I found by author Maya Angelou " Wouldn't Take Nothing for My Journey Now"..  a pocketbook with just about 139 pages. I would like to share with you these lines (my favorite) lifted from page 15.......  to quote

'............ giving liberates the soul of the giver. The size and substance of the gift should be important to the recipient, and more important, that intangible but very real psychic force of good in the world is increased.

     When we cast our bread upon the waters, we can presume that someone downstream whose face we will never know will benefit from our action, as we who are downstream from another will profit from that grantor's gift.'

--Unquote.

Giving need not necessarily be on a grand or grander scale. It can even mean a tiny act of kindness, the happy thought you cause in another person's life, the comfort you add to another person's painful existence, the encouragement or strength or inspiration you cause to spark in a weary soul... and so much more. Neither does it require applause or need the spotlight on you standing on center-stage. Giving does not require thank you's either.

Giving, one which Maya prefers, is that which comes naturally. It gives without thinking, as a familiar phrase goes. It's giving from where it matters most.... the heart.

A heart that cares can do wonders not just to the people around him but farther down the line and beyond. Its good flows like a happy stream running merrily  through its winding course nourishing every living thing it passes as it continues onwards and out to the sea. It doesn't stop for a hug, appreciation, or someone's thank you. It's happy with its own thought that it's doing someone-something-somewhere some good. And the universe is made even happier with that one unselfish act. How much more happier with many more!! This can create a happier world.

A giving person is content with the idea that it is doing what it is supposed to do. By God's design. And the prayer is to be transformed into that divine design by God's guiding grace.

Wishing you all a pleasant and blessed day.
Keep looking for blessings;  expect it.
God bless you, lovely people.

NOT ALWAYS WHAT I WANT

There are so many things I want in life that there's not enough fingers in my hands to count it with... toes included. Nope, it's not true that the farther one advances in years those wants decrease in proportion to it. Or have I said that correctly? Anyway, wanting something is part and parcel of being human. It never stops. But it does change in levels of priority, time and season, reason and rhyme, fashion ...and dreams. Truth is, I have more wants now and they are better defined meaning I understand what I truly want. Before, I wanted something because of some preset reason dictated by circumstance or life conditions. Now I find how much different it has become. Now i want this or that because i feel that it may be nice on me or will be good for me or that I will be enjoying it immensely. I want those things which will make me happy, comfortable, entertained, appreciated, or everything else that usually delights a woman's heart... and mind. And yes that list is now a mile long!

Will I get them all? Who knows?! I'm hoping that I would. Some have already been achieved though and you can just imagine how much pleasure and delight it brought me. Now am tweaked with bigger anticipation to look forward to the rest coming my way in their own good time. Admittedly things do come to us in its proper time and timing. You can't push it but you can pray for it.

But.....

There are also much on that list that I don't get. It's a downright 'No' on an item or two from Someone up there, and there's a 'Wait' on a few, and 'let's come back to this later' on some. Does that disappoint me? Of course it does and it raises my level of impatience a notch higher every time. So I make alterations adjustments conditions promises to my prayer with the intent of making the Big Guy up there concede to my request. But nope He won't budge. Not one iota of movement. Ugh!

But..... I'm glad.

If I had all my wants realized i would be ecstatically happy.. believe me, but is that a guaranty that it would be good for me too? I mean good in its truest sense. I can see what I see before my eyes... things which are tangible and real to my senses. But there's more to just the sensory thrill or satisfaction of a wonderful experience. That can easily pass with time. There should be a much more serious meaning or purpose or depth in the wanting and receiving, I believe.

Therefore I think that alone comes in wanting too what I need. Because in reality it's not always what I want that I get. But rather it's most times what I need. These created who I am today, shaped me in my thoughts and attitude towards people - life - the world. The Big Guy up there sure knows His job. Thus He does not always give me what I want although I'm sure He could..... but He gives what I need because he wants me to grow - mature into the person he meant me to be in the first place. He does this with everyone.... everyone!

So really, it's not always what we want but what we need that we get. I am learning to appreciate that.

(Picture is courtesy of friend-photographer Larry Conception)