I HAVE NOTHING AND YET EVERYTHING IN MY BACKPACK

I was sitting there enjoying my green tea frappe... yes, Starbucks... where else?! :-) While waiting for my daughter who went to National Book Store on an errand I overheard this conversation from the next table not far from mine. In a group of middle-aged women, one matronly-looking woman spoke.... "Ay naku, pera-pera lang yan. Tingnan mo lang kung gaano kabilis ang solusyon kapag nabigyan mo na."  -- In essence that meant ... "It's all about money. Money buys everything."

That got me to thinking. Back in the house as I sat at my desk the thoughts came tumbling out and I wrote...........

There’s nothing else I know. There’s no supernatural formula I could easily summon up to solve problems with. There’s no wise guru to teach me some special mantra to erase worrisome cares and woes. There’s no big fat bank account to ease my way through the rough and tumble grind of earthly struggle and strife. There’s no magic potion on my shelf which I could conveniently pluck out and slip into a mean person’s coffee to bring about a change of heart or mind.

But I know this.....

I travel through life’s journey with this special thing packed tightly inside my backpack. It’s a small thing lest you think it’s a grand magnificent piece of heavy treasure stacked in there alongside other stuff. But it is a treasure indeed and it glows albeit often small, sometimes strangely, at times falteringly, even faintly, neglected at some point, at odd moments I don’t feel it and yet its flame won’t snuff out nor disappear into thin air as you think it easily might. It glows steadily and amazingly considering it’s just the size of a mustard seed. It’s there regardless of how I feel.

I have my share of tough times too just like we all do and those things don’t and won’t stop because that is just what life is made of. I'm just a weak puny human being trying to make it in this crazy world. Yet I can say this much that it’s like I always land on a bean-bag each time. Faith is like a soft self-inflating bean- bag which catches you every time you fall. Oh maybe you’ll get some bumps and bruises here and there but who wouldn’t with a fall no matter its size. And yes you will feel depressed, lonely, disappointed, angry, afraid, sad and everything else miserable in the book of life. All of life is about feelings, too.

But it doesn’t kill you. In fact, it’s like warm comforting arms wrapping around you in a big glorious divine hug. It simply makes you feel so good that you always want to cry so much relieved. It’s like something or SOMEONE tells you ... ‘It’s okay, don’t be afraid; I’M here.’

It’s just wonderfully there. I, with blessed joy, thank God for this gift and treasure.

POSITIVITY - IT'S A WINNER ANY WAY YOU LOOK AT IT

"Life is a grand  party where no one gets to meet the host or stay to the end."  --- Robert Brault 

A very positive and optimistic point of view on life which I honestly don't get to hear often. But we do know by experience that life is everything but a grand ball. And yet, it can be the grand party you may wish it to be if you so choose it. Just a matter of attitude and a huge dose of positive thinking. That's what it said in a book I had recently read.

Life is tough as we hear it often said and as often as we have been told about it. Consequently we get to experience it ourselves as we get down to the real thing in our respective lives. While many would groan and whine going through the fire, there are some amazingly who would simply dance through the flames. And what may be the difference there? Yes, you're right, it's attitude... a positive attitude towards life.

And as I have learned, a positive attitude springs from a positive mind. But how does one describe a positive mind? I think it's one that believes in possibilities, in potential, in hope, in faith, and in believing that there is ONE up there who cares what happens to you down here. So if HE CARES, what could hold you or us back from anything good?!

An ounce of positivity is a pound of _________. So you fill in the blanks according to what positivity did for you. Maybe somebody out there needs to hear it. :-) Pass the positivity around. It's a winner any way you look at it.

(Thanks, Mr. Quote Man, for the quote. And thanks to the internet for the wonderful images.)

Blessings, everyone!

I THINK THEREFORE I WRITE

Whenever I feel the nudge to write I don’t just sit at my desk and words come flowing out like flood waters out of a broken dam or like a wild horse which has broken free from captivity now running wild and free. It doesn’t happen that way. Starting off with this magical nudge, I sit at my desk with my fingers poised over the keys waiting as my thoughts begin to churn. A phrase comes out and I type it. A paragraph comes next and I type that too. Then a pause wiggles in to which my eyes take advantage of wandering outside my window looking out to the blue sky or admiring the tree branches traipsing in the wind. A distraction you might say but not really. Thoughts don’t stop just because you look somewhere else. Well, at least it does that to me. It continues the process of thinking yet further enhanced by and with the observed nuances of a scene, thing, activity, or sound carried in by one momentary second of perceived distraction.

And the writing continues because the thinking cranks up to high gear. Now the typing picks up speed trying its best not to miss every word every thought. Then again another pause... something akin to vigorously running a long mile and coming to losing your wind and so you stop. But does the thinking stop too?

It does not. I may want to walk away from my desk with a new intent to grab a nice cup of coffee and too decide to sit back and relax enjoying it but my thoughts would still keep on tossing and turning ideas in my mind. It does not care about the coffee but it does care about my experience of it. Yes, more food for the thought and for the writing.

My mom, bless her soul, summed it up long ago with this......  ‘You think ... therefore you write.’

This post is also meant to encourage others out there who love to write to .......  connect with your thoughts and W-R-I-T-E !!

Blessings, everyone!

A FLOWER JUST WAITING TO BLOOM

 

 

  “All wonders you seek are within yourself.”  

 –  Sir Thomas Browne

'You are a flower just waiting to bloom.' --- Those are my mother's words told to me dozens of summers ago when I was sitting by the window one day looking out and wondering what I was going to be when I grew up.

This is what I strongly encourage all mothers or parents to say to their children. These little angels running around the house doing a lot of mischief, spilling spaghetti on the floor, throwing tantrums at the slightest provocation, and every little thing to test your patience is one day going to be a ----------  lawyer, famous painter, president of the country, philanthropist, writer, doctor, engineer, cardinal ----- or a parent, son, daughter, sister, brother, aunt, uncle, grandma or grandpa living ordinary lives extraordinarily and outstanding in the eyes of God ----- or a future Mandela, Einstein, Newton, Kennedy, Mother Teresa, Pope John Paul II, and others more. And it starts in the home!

These perceived tiny brats and little devils, as most adults exasperatedly would consider them to be, have the seed of potential already placed in there by an All-Knowing God.

And what is our role as parents? We are tasked to nurture that special seed and provide it with a loving and nurturing environment to help it grow to its highest potential and purpose. We are tasked to keep them on track with their destiny. We are tasked to help them be ready for it. Because one day they will be called to their future as designed by God. One day they will bring greater glory to God. One day they will help create a better world for everyone. One day they will make great inventions or discover new treatments for diseases or build environment-friendly communities. One day they will make you proud.

Believe that our children are flowers just waiting to bloom. All wonders we seek are there in their precious little hearts and souls. That, dear friends, is truly by God's design. Believe!

May God bless you and your families.

(Thank you, Mr. Quote Man, for the wonderful quote.)

LIFE IS A PROCESS - TIME IS THERE TO SUPPORT LIFE

 

 

LIFE IS A PROCESS                                      

... and that takes time.

If there is anything which test my patience it is going through a process. Any process whatever its size, shape or form, or for whatever reason is not going to get a big smile from me. I hate long queues, government offices, clinics or hospitals, ticket booths, or any waiting line created just because somebody behind the window up ahead is sorting out papers, signatures, and your reasons for being in line. 

I stand there fidgeting I summon up in my mind diverse things to say, brilliant angry stuff, to rouse guilt on the person who is taking all of eternity to get to me. And then finally I get to the window... and there looking at the person working on my papers I feel every mental and physical muscle and energy in my body suddenly drain out of me and drop to the ground. I watch the person leaf through the sheets, punch something on the computer keys; seek out a particular rubber stamp on her desk; leave the window to seek out somebody whose signature should be on it; return to the window again and then push the papers out to me pointing at a dotted line with a pen. I sign-receive my copy, and I’m off. Relieved, not so much happy, but relieved releasing a big resigned sigh to the Universe that incidentally sees it all and is rolling on the floor laughing. 

Life is a process. Whether it is giving birth, getting married or a divorce, having your hair fixed at the salon, driving somewhere in your car, cooking for dinner tonight, learning in school or college, holding meetings in the boardroom, sweeping the yard, getting a health check at the clinic, arranging funerals, flying to some country, taking a bath, paying your bills, and more. There are no short cuts. In life when you go through strife struggles or challenges, you simply go through it albeit reluctantly resentfully grudgingly fearfully lazily tearfully but, this I tell you, there is neither an easy way out nor escape for you to grab on. You might want to pull at your hair, gnash your teeth, rev up your ugliest horrifying snarl at anyone or anything hoping to scare it away, but you still have to go through it just the same. And that’s final.

But .....

Mind what you think through the long process. Those thoughts which simmer or seethe through your brain will determine the end result you desire. Be kinder, more compassionate, understanding, observant, patient, perceptive, insightful, and open to learning whatever there is to learn from the challenge. You just can’t beat the process; it will roll out just as it should and not minding whoever you are or whatever you do. Time is there to support life.

It’s there for a reason which I am inclined to believe is by God’s design. And God’s intent, as I understand it, is always to make us grow. Therefore GROW ...we shall!

God bless you.

HAKUNA MATATA - WHAT A WONDERFUL PHRASE

Hakuna Matata ....means no worries.   “To find hakuna matata you must look beyond what you see.” That’s what the guru monkey said in that movie ‘The Lion King’. 

 

No worries. But how does one live without worries? We worry about a lot of things.... the monthly bills, illness, losing our teeth, losing our jobs, bad choices, rejections, messed up relationships, leaving home, losing loved ones, unhappy past, unknown future, growing old, our stupid choices, school exams, junior-senior prom, the girls talking behind your back, betrayal, conservative moms, strict dads, wanting to fit in, wanting out of it, and every other tiny or huge reason to worry. We even worry about world events. We just worry. I worry. All these can prick and gnaw at the edges of character particularly at the core where it can really hurt most. Worry and worrying is huge. It can break you. I’ll tell you that it broke me many times there in my life.

So how do we get to that point of --- ‘Hakuna matata’?

You must look beyond what you see.

That place beyond what you see of cares and strife and everything else possible working to upset you in life and in the world, that belief that just as much as bad happens self-caused or not ... so will good. You just have to look beyond what you see and find the good that is simply waiting to happen. And if you put in everything you’ve got of faith, strength, determination, perseverance, and hard work.... gosh, it’s really going to happen!

 

And you’ll be too busy to worry at all. Hakuna matata! Hard? Of course it is! But what’s stopping you from trying? You do know that something good is just around the bend. You do know that good happens. And this keeps you believing, having faith, and pursuing your dream. And if you must know, I too keep believing, having faith, and dreaming. Hakuna Matata, friends, just like many more out there that believe, has faith, and worry not. It is a wonderfully blessed life! Decide that it is.

BE A RAINBOW IN SOMEONE'S CLOUD

 

“Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.” --Maya Angelou     

I think that's what we’re supposed to do in this life. Life is tough and sometimes somebody else has it even tougher. We can't simply leave them behind in this long journey. We must give them that much needed push to persevere in this long tough journey and get to that destination called our final home - a place which we all are supposed to arrive at, by God’s design. If it's called being a 'rainbow in someone's cloud'... so it is. But that, simply stated, is what God has commissioned us to do to each another.

So let's try with whatever opportunity God shoots our way and armed with this God-given gift granted us to strive to work towards that common goal. I see many others do in their own respective unique ways and talent. Maybe some do it in a grand or grander scale and then some in utterly quiet unobtrusive ways. But it's all the same. It's the same beautiful rainbow painting a person's life with magnificent colors of hope, faith, courage, charity, strength, resiliency, and an unflagging belief that everything will work out fine one day soon. It surely will. By God's design.

Blessings, everyone. Keep the fire burning.

MUCH LEARNED FROM SOLITUDE

 ---------------
This was written in the blog a long time ago. But I'm bringing it here as the perfect platform for my return to writing after a brief hiatus which, by the way, was certainly enjoyed much.

THE INDEPENDENCE OF SOLITUDE

The independence of solitude... ahhh that's a beautiful phrase and thought. And yes, it's perfectly sweet. Knowing where you are, knowing that things are temporary and will pass, knowing that people will come and go in anyone's life, and knowing that anything that happens will happen because they happen for a reason, including love. Everything has its own place, time, season, and reason. (Ecclesiastes from the Book) -- All these are better understood in the presence of solitude.

Never deprive a man of his solitude because there he grows in self with self. He learns well when left to his musings, reflections, and insights. There he is restored to his core and once again regains his balance and true perspective. There he comes to terms with his inner demons and learns to sift through the grain to find his true gold. There he will argue with his God and who in turn will show him where he is right or wrong. There he sees himself without sham or masks and exposes his weaknesses as well as his strengths. There after all the battles fought he will finally come to a rebirth of self -- a renewed creative shining powerful version of his old self.

The independence of solitude confirms and affirms the independence of that person not only for his good but hopefully for the greater good of which we all must serve.

"It is easy in the world to live after the world's opinions;
it is easy in solitude to live after your own;
but the great man is he who in the midst of the crowd
keeps with perfect sweetness the independence of solitude."
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

-End-

Wish you all blessings for a lovely day!

ASK WHAT YOU CAN BRING INTO LIFE

 

 ---------------------
NUDGE-NOTE 1, 2014

Good friend Mr. Quote Man is back to his usual self of flooding my inbox with 'nudge-notes'. Yup, I've decided to call it that. After all his intent is really to nudge the writing when the Muses seem to be somewhere else. So he sent me this poem to start the new year writing with. To quote.....

"Life is a mixture of sunshine and rain,
Laughter and pleasure, teardrops and rain.
All days can't be bright but it's certainly true,
There was never a cloud the sun didn't shine through."
(Unknown)

True, isn't it? Life is beautifully summed up in that beautiful poem. Too bad we don't know who wrote it. But that won't stop us from appreciating its honest lines.

I think there isn't a person now who isn't thinking about what the year 2014 would bring him or her in terms of fortune, job, health, success, material wealth, relationship, family, and so on-and so forth. Even on the subject of 'luck'. Well, did that, too.

But wouldn't it be interesting to know ... if someone would instead say or think on what he can bring into the year in terms of diligence, hard work, passion, compassion, growth, self-improvement, faith, love, selflessness, joy, kindness, and awesomeness.

To twist a once famous line by J. F. Kennedy, how about saying to ourselves instead to....

Ask not what life can bring you but rather ask what you can bring into life.

Let's be our best selves this year. At least try. And sum it up in just one word.... AWESOME!

A blessed New Year to everyone!

CHANGE YOUR THOUGHTS - YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE, THE WORLD

--------------------
It's January 3 of 2014.....

So the celebrations have all gone and in its place a new set of wonderful memories to add to life's treasure chest which keeps filling up year after another. All well and good.

Now it's time to take up where we left off.....  jobs, the laundry, the shelves that need fixing, the shoes that need to be taken to the shoe repair shop, the cupboard that needs to be replenished as it always is at this time of the month, and the relationships which holes in it need some patching up and sewing up too. Much more as we sort through the bits and pieces from the past year still waiting to be resolved.

I was in that sorting mood when the phone rang and Sally's (not her real name) voice blasted the phone and my ear with a Happy New Year's greeting! And then predictably we settled down with a nice chat as friends usually do.

'So kumusta ang buhay-buhay?' (So how are you.. how's life?' I asked.)
'Ala lang...' (Nothing...) she replied unenthusiastically.

And that's all I will share about our chat. Suffice it to say that it went on for about an hour.

'Ala lang...' (Nothing...)  We always say that when we have nothing better to say or we can't quite sort out our muddled thoughts and come out with some good sense out of it or we don't want to tell the world what bothers us.

NOTHING. Looks like an empty word but truth is there is much in it that could shake a life unpleasantly, yours and others too. Inside a 'nothing' remark is contained a person's potpourri of worrisome thoughts. But unlike a potpourri of nice soothing scent, this one reeks of a collective stench brought about by one's confusion, disillusionment, frustration, hurt, pain, embarrassment, fear, anxiety, missteps, faltering or the absence of faith, and other unpleasant stuff we tend to hide to the world. Yet like a hot kettle of boiling water it just might come to that point of blowing out, spilling over and messing up the territory some more (or so we tend to think)...... and we don't want that. It makes us appear as weak managers of our lives...... and again we don't want that. So we try to cap it down hard with the lid remark (pantakip) called 'Nothing'.

What to do? How about changing the lid with a new and better one? Try the lid called......

-- 'Got some issues now but I'll work it out for sure.'
-- 'Everything's fine, not perfect, but good.'
-- 'Nothing that I can't handle with God's help.'
-- 'Just taking the time to recharge myself.'
-- 'Working on something good. Might take awhile.'
-- 'I'm fine!' (and mean it)

And other words of strong honest positive affirmations. Such words are beneficial to the mind, heart, body, and spirit. That makes the big difference.

Because if you have really paid close attention there really is nothing which God cannot do for you if you humbly ask Him to. And in this line, the word 'nothing' hints at wonderful possibilities ..... meaning that wonderful miracles can happen..... far more than your heart can ever imagine. All glory to a Magnificent God!

Happy New Year, everyone! God bless you.