WHAT AN EARLY MORNING WALK DOES TO ME

 

I walk through scenery similar to these in my early morning walks in my neighborhood. The tree-lined paths are my favorite. Morning walks are not only beneficial to health as widely prescribed to but undoubtedly do far more than that. It's not just the fresh morning breeze, the sight of the bluest of skies, the lush greenery, or the friendly smiles of neighbors you meet down the road which give you a great feeling of being one with the world, with the day, with life. And not only does it flush out stubborn calories but also toxic negativity trying its best to establish residence in your soul.

It's just thirty minutes sometimes an hour but the best time of the day for me. Here I throw away all worries and cares and woes to the wide expanse of the blue yonder and nothing else seems able to touch me or even try. My mind stronger and free gets back its clarity and ability to see beauty, good, awesomeness, creation .. and my soul is restored.

I walk through streets some paved some graveled but I understand how it resonates with what life is all about --- highs and lows, smooth and rough, good and bad, the regularities and the irregularities. Neither do high walls nor thick fences succeed to block my seeing through to the houses and the people living within its walls as I understand how so much we are all the same in both life and in living. We stand connected to one another in our basic similarities and even in our differences. And that no matter how much you would choose to ignore this it always gets us back to this quintessential wisdom -- we are the same.

Everything seems to fall in place, in perfect unison to a divine plan. Even my morning walk is part of that plan if its design is to make me grow more and more towards becoming a better person. I feel it being achieved as I walk uphill, downhill, round corners, and straight down the roads as creation unfolds before me in every smallest detail or its biggest displaying in full grandeur or magnificence every treasure I am made to gather with my soul.

When I finally arrive back to my house and before I enter the door, I look back and up to the sky and see in my mind a smiling God content to see that I have learned. I guess it's not just with the early morning walk but it's something which I understand I should be doing with the rest of life and living. Thank you, God!

LIFE IS A TEACHER WE SHOULD LISTEN TO

 

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Got this in gmail from Mr. Quote Man and is something truly worth thinking about...........

"Everything is a life lesson. Everyone you meet, everything you encounter, etc. They're all part of the learning experience we call 'life.' Never forget to acknowledge the lesson, especially when things don't go your way. If you don' get a job that you wanted or a relationship doesn't work, it only means something better is out there waiting. And the lesson you just learned is the first step towards it."     -- Author Unknown


I think nobody is ever without any problem. People struggle with some kind of difficulty or suffering somewhere there in their lives, big or small, visible or not. I do.. and you'd think that at this age I would have been through it all. But I remember mom saying often in the course of my growing up .... 'life is one big university and we are its students'. Others may say it in other different ways but it's all the same thing or as mom would say ... 'same old dog, different collar'.

And that's what I've learned -- we should try to see it that way if we are to make sense of all our troubles. It cannot simply be ignored nor can we just turn the other cheek and look for other explanation or rationale to it..... one which suits our personal preferences which apparently ride on our comfort zones.

Indeed life is and always will be about lessons and we are expected to learn them........ the lessons are there right before our eyes and it will keep repeating itself in our lives until we decide to understand and accept it for the learning we should be doing anyhow.

I heard this from a friend long ago..... 'but I don't get it; I don't see it'. Another friend with all honesty replied to this with .... 'there's nothing wrong with life --- life is what it is; but there could be something wrong with you. Think about it. Take down the blinders in your mind and in your heart... then you will begin to understand'.

May God bless your day and week.

PEOPLE -- IS GOD'S BUSINESS. FAITH IS OURS.

Today, January 13, Sunday, is a wonderfully sunny day over here.

One time not so long ago, we three friends were walking down the mall and one friend remarked.... 'haaayyy di na maubus ang mga tao sa daan..' (endless stream of people). The other looked askew at her but in jest said... 'pag walang tao sa mundo, wala nang trabaho si God' (literally translated, 'without people God won't have a job'). Well, that somehow managed to calm down the irritation of the other because they were now good-naturedly laughing their hearts out.

But she's right... people is God's business. The caring, comforting, consoling, guiding, guarding, forgiving, saving, providing, healing, managing, the coaxing and the reprimand, and the loving --- that is God's job description. And HE loves HIS job because HE's got lots of love to give. And anyone who does that kind of job must be very much in love indeed. HE is LOVE.

So why still do we worry and fret about what's next, what more to accomplish, difficulties to overcome, and about tomorrows? Simple. That's who we are.... 'O ye of little faith'. You and I, them, and plenty of others more.... we can't help but worry. We do that repeatedly over things we don't understand and even on those that we do. And God -- that's something we don't always understand. Right?

We worry in small measure or big, in the silence of our hearts or openly with our hearts splattered all over the place, alone or in the company of fellow-worry warts, in weakness, and sometimes even in strength.

Whenever the day makes me worry, (oh yes, there's plenty in the day and in life to worry about, we all know that don't we? we do that everyday every chance we get)...... I run to these .... Psalm 23: The Lord is my shepherd... Psalm 91: The Lord is my refuge... But essentially to this    JEREMIAH 29:11 ...

"For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me in earnest, you will find me when you seek me. I WILL BE FOUND BY YOU," says the Lord.
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If there be contradictions to life vs. His word, that is NOT His fault. It's us --ourselves- who create or form our lives by our thoughts, words, and deeds.. good and bad. Know it or not but we receive or block blessings by the strength or lack of FAITH. It's all there --- the spiritual power is ours... the blessings are all there ready for our taking... 'the yoke is easy and the burden is light'. That is His promise. Why is it so hard to believe that?!

FAITH. Learn it... unlearn that which destroys it... relearn to remember it. That, incidentally, is our job description. Let's try to do our job well day by day.

Hope you're all having a pleasant and blessed weekend.
God bless you all!

MAYBE IT'S JUST ONE-FOURTH OF A RAINBOW BUT.....

Today is January 4, 2013, Friday...........

The overcast skies above failed to dampen my resolve to get on with my usual early morning walk. Glad that I did because just about a few minutes into my walk I saw this lovely rainbow.... not a full one, not even half of it, but just one-fourth of a rainbow! But it was enough to bring a song to my heart. Because that's what a rainbow does, at least to me. It tells you so much what life is all about.... colorful, vibrant, diverse... it reminds me of newness, potential, possibilities, hope, dreams, and of God's promise that the best is yet to come.

No, it doesn't say that troubles are over or no more. What it says is that troubles will come as it always will in life but it will pass as surely as the night turns into daylight. And that we can breeze through the transition armed with courage, determination, perseverance, confidence in self, and a steadfast belief and faith in GOD. Rainbows come to seal that glorious promise of rebirth.

We should learn from the past and learn well that always at some point or other in our lives we go through --- change, transition, progress, creation and recreation. And always the movement should be forward. FORWARD. No turning back, no dwelling in the past, no looking back except to pluck out the lessons essential to our present journey.

Well, the rainbow disappeared with the rising of the glorious sun. But it succeeded what it had set out to do.... bring the song back to my heart.

I hope the first week of 2013 gave you a glimpse of the best waiting for you up ahead. If there's none yet, create it. Or just wait a wee bit more. God is definitely working on it. Believe.

Blessings to you all!

LIVE LIFE SLOW -- EAT YOUR PASTA SLOW

This piece was written long ago but every year end it seems to be most fitting to resurrect it to rekindle love of life and appreciation for God's work in it. Just a teeny-weeny nudge to thoughts...  yours and mine.
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MUSINGS ON A DISH OF PASTA

I just love any pasta dish-- the simple home cooked one or the fancy restaurant kind. I remember Mom could put together a mean mouth-watering pasta dish any time just like that weaving her magic in the kitchen while I watched with great anticipation. Birthdays were fantastic pasta days in the house. I was a fast and messy pasta eater getting all that sauce on my chubby cheeks even to my long black hair and down to my pretty birthday dress. Mom would simply smile and gently tell me to eat my pasta slow.

Eat your pasta slow. That is so much like life, don't you think? Live life slow, why the rush? Like it or not, time flies unmindful of our cares and woes. It just moves along. Opportunities come and go, but this can be said of it - it came yesterday, could be here today, and definitely there will be more of it tomorrow. Same thing with people- they come and leave no matter how much we would rather have them stay. People change - they grow, mature, develop, and journey down separate life roads. There's no holding back the years either-- we grow old and our health changes along with it. It's all going to happen in its own space, place, pace, and time. Everything in our life comes in its own time.  It's the rhythm of life. Life is neither quick nor slow; it only appears that way as you perceive it to be. An empty life sees the clock ticking at a slow drag, but a life holding a wonderful pot of thrills, experiences and adventure sees the clock as a dear companion whether it ticks the time fast or slow. Life is precious; so why hurry it? Enjoy your life. Enjoy your pasta and remember to eat it slow.

The many things which go into a dish of past make for a delicious bite each time I twirl it round my fork. I know what goes into a good pasta dish-- bits of meat, mushroom, choice vegetables, red tomatoes, green pepper, cheese, and tasty sauce. Others would put in mushroom, squid, sardines, bacon or ham, some other ingredient to step up the flavor or some other strange unfamiliar spices. And, yet taken all together the finished dish would create such a huge gastronomic delight.

So many ingredients, just like a pasta dish, go into life, too. Each one lends to the overall flavor of our existence. Life is a huge beautiful colorful intriguing tapestry, but to which we seem to have lost the ability to see or appreciate. I guess it is time to get that all back and get on with a fresh new start.

And life is worth it! Bite into life with good cheer and hope. Trust in the skill of the GREAT CHEF who knows how to put together a good pasta dish called life. Enjoy it but eat slow! Or should I say  'live slow'.  God bless you all.

(By the way, these pictures can all be found on the internet. But in real time I can say this that my three daughters can cook up a sumptuous dish of pasta anytime! Reminds me of mom.)

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013, EVERYBODY!!!