DECORATE YOUR OWN SOUL

Two posts I love today.....

One posted by a good friend on his fb page:  

"Look to this day for it is life, the very life of life.
In its brief course lies all the realities and varieties of existence.
The bliss of growth, the splendor of action, the glory of power.
For yesterday is but a dream, and tomorrow is only a vision.
But today well lived, makes every yesterday a dream of happiness
and tomorrow a vision of hope.
Look well, therefore to this day..."

-- Sanskrit Proverb


The other by a public figure in my country:

 "I love this warning:    Never judge a man by his relatives. He or she did not choose them. Don't brag about your ancestors -- give your descendants something to brag about.   Every person is uniquely, wonderfully and beautifully made by God. We need to start with this thought. This reduces a lot of ugly discrimination. Life would be better this way."

ATTRACT POSITIVITY TO YOUR LIFE

I've read this in a book long ago. Yes, long ago but these lines I will be quoting to you have stayed in my mind through my learning years. It plays an important role in our desire to grow, progress, improve, or change for better and best. Here's what it says, to quote...........

The Law Of Replacement

"There is a law in psychology that says --- you cannot get rid of one thing without replacing it with something else. --- Since nature abhors a vacuum, if we just try to eliminate the negative without replacing it with the positive, the vacuum created will eventually suck the negative back in. If we are not careful and conscious, we sometimes end up just replacing one negative with another negative."  (The Aladdin Factor, Canfield and Hansen)

Unquote.

So does that not give us an idea why sometimes things don't seem to happen the way we hope or want to in spite of eliminating what we may have thought was the cause? It's because we did not have a fitting replacement for what we have eliminated or removed from our lives. If something causes us so much pain or misery (a negative), we pluck it out of our system or existence... And a vacuum has been created. So what then have we filled it with next?

Here are familiar snippets of life which put that principle into play........

- A woman is in a bad relationship but instead of getting into another relationship which may or may not guarantee happiness comes to decide to free herself of the negative presence in her life. And having learned well the lessons therein replaces it with renewed maturity, fresh courage, much wiser, and determination to build her life anew and move on with it by her lone new self. 

- A man is in a dead-end job but instead of feeling sorry for himself kicks the bucket of negativity and resigns from the job. Then gathering strength which he thought was non-existent learns from mistakes, boosts his confidence and sets his eyes on a fresh new approach to job hunting.

.... and many other similar situations we will surely find in life if we open our eyes and pay attention.

The lessons is simple....  life should be lived with positivity. Although I admit that sometimes staying positive serves such a huge challenge too. But if we persist with it and learn well the rewards are far greater than we can imagine. So why don't we give it a try? After all we all desire better or the best for ourselves. So let's give ourselves that chance.

Blessings, everyone!

OPEN YOUR HEART AND FEED YOUR SOUL

The question of the day  'What's on your mind?'

It is this ---- THE HEART RULES. And this highlighted quote and the others on the list (all by Goethe) speak my heart. Which of these speak to you? Take it; live it; make it your own.
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My favorite:
"All truly wise thoughts have been thought already thousands of times; but to make them truly ours, we must think them over again honestly, till they take root in our personal experience."  -- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

1) “A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.”

2) “You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him.”

3) “It is not doing the thing we like to do, but liking the thing we have to do, that makes life blessed.”

4) “You can’t, if you can’t feel it, if it never
Rises from the soul, and sways
The heart of every single hearer,
With deepest power, in simple ways.

You’ll sit forever, gluing things together,
Cooking up a stew from other’s scraps,
Blowing on a miserable fire,
Made from your heap of dying ash.

Let apes and children praise your art,
If their admiration’s to your taste,
But you’ll never speak from heart to heart,
Unless it rises up from your heart’s space.”
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Blessings to you and more for the weekend up ahead.

PLENTY STILL TO KNOW

To quote: ... " 'Que Sais- je?' (What do I know?) was the motto of Michel de Montaigne, the sixteenth century French essayist whose amiable good sense still endears him to many readers today. His question was intended to remind him that knowledge was there to be tested and tried. But it was also a reminder that he an educated and quite wealthy man, well-read and with his own library of books, actually knew very little."   -- David Ross, Pearls of Wisdom

To my personal stack of knowledge I see quite a good share gathered through my own life journey through the hits-and-misses, the succeeding-and-failing, the joys-and-tears, the joyful fulfillment-and-disappointing regret, and everything else contained in the whole spectrum of life and living. But monsieur Michel was right ..... 'what do I know?' My answer to that would be ... 'plenty' still to know!

My journey isn't over and God isn't finished with me yet. And that speaks for all of my fellow travelers down life's road. There's more to discover, know, learn. If you think seriously about it, a person will need a thousand lifetimes to get to that point of being 'all knowing' and even more. One lifetime isn't enough.

But we don't need to do that. We just need to take what's there in our day, examine it, explore, pass it through reflective thought, learn what's there to learn, put it to the test, and then make it our own. It's one day at a time of pursuing knowledge, experience, wisdom. You can't just cruise down the avenue of living or sit on the fence and watch people and the world go by. You get involved in it... get your hands dirty, get your heart bruised, shake up your mind. All these for a better you. That's the whole point of everything.

So then 'Que Sais- je?' Plenty still that we don't know.
Blessings on your own life journey.

THANK YOU, FATHER

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads here on earth and those in heaven. But especially a big hug to the greatest and wonderful Dad beyond compare .... our FATHER in heaven. Thank you, Daddy, for your continuing love and care, bountiful blessings, mercy and protection over us all.

A visit to Loyola Memorial Park with the family. And a good lunch at the new Faburrito - Fresh Mexican Grill at Eastwood. A nice hefty healthy plate of salad... greens topped with chicken (for me) and pork (for daughter) Mexican style. And a gorgeous bouquet of fresh flowers signed off the day with L-o-v-e!

SMALL PEOPLE - TREASURE FROM UNEXPECTED PLACES

What's a 'talipapa'?  It's one of these depending on what you see settled in your area.........  Talipapa - a temporary fish market;  Talipapang gala - a traveling wet market;  Talipapang bayan - a public market. While a 'palengke' is a public wet market more permanent in structure.

So this morning I went to a talipapa with the intent to buy mangoes from my 'suking tindahan'. For my foreign friends the tagalog word 'suki' is of Chinese origin. Translated means .. suki - a regular customer;  suking tindahan - a favorite store where you shop regularly. This talipapa is just a few meters from the main road outside the main gate of my subdivision. A mini version of the wet market and temporary in the sense that they could be sent away or closed down on short notice anytime when the proper authorities feel that they should.

Anyway, I bought some vegetables, calamansi (also called Chinese orange), bananas, and of course my favorite sweet mangoes. Unfortunately I didn't bring an Eco-bag so I was laden with five plastic bags of goodies which my tiny fingers and hands struggled with. In fact, that concern was major-major (borrowed your words, Venus Raj) because I still had a long walk back to the house to consider. At the fruit store, the store owner saw my problem and without much ado took the bags yet smilingly.... yup ....he rearranged the goods and tied the plastic bags at their top edges and presto! -- I was left with only two bags to carry back home. Thanking him was such an honor and delight. So appreciated it was especially when the rains started. Luckily though I had with me my dependable umbrella.

Also before I forget, in one of the small stores I lacked the necessary change for the stuff I bought but the girl simply smiled and said 'It's okay'.  Oh, you don't get these in the big markets. They usually leave you to deal with your market problems by your own exasperated hapless self.

Small people... they usually have a heart of gold. They take time to help or serve with what they know or can. With eyes beaming with honest intent and concern they lend a helping hand without a moment's hesitation.  But this one is just a talipapa and one day I may not be seeing them there but I will always remember the times they made me feel good.

Have an interesting day, everyone. Blessings!

IT'S TO NEVER GIVE UP

My neighborhood nestles on the slopes of a mountain.. the Sierra Madre this side of Rizal. So the paths I walk through are never level or straight. It goes up-down and winding round you'll find yourself ending up where you started.This morning as I leisurely walked up a long slope (one of several) I saw this tall slim middle aged guy several meters up ahead running down-and-then-running up again which looked like his own version of exercise. But before I could get to where he was he ended his exercise and went inside the house. Then perhaps would feast on a huge hearty breakfast his wife would have prepared for him! Which seemed unlikely though because when I went past his house it was so quiet and none of the usual aroma of food cooking up in the air (Kidding, of course!)

The neighborhood streets are named after birds. There's Robin, Swallow, Nightingale, Oriole, etc. Really not surprising as the area is a delightful haven for different sorts of birds. In fact, they keep me company on my early morning walks flitting here and there... from tree to tree... or hopping on down on the street pecking on crumbs. All amidst the chorus of tweets and chirps... a full choral ensemble when you get higher up the slopes to dense trees lining up the streets. I remember when I was a kid my father who loved hunting with his friends in the thick forests of Zambales would talk about the birds they saw and one was the Golden Oriole. He loved talking about this particular one; I guess he loved the color yellow. Funny that I would one day years after live on a street named after that bird!

On my way back to the house, I saw this woman brown-complexioned, sun-burned wiry hair, maybe in her forties who from the opposite direction walked hurriedly past me in her weather-beaten flip-flops. But it was not her which grabbed my attention.... it was her worn-out t-shirt and the words emblazoned on it .... Never Give Up.

Never give up! A thought which lingered on my mind as I saw an old man limping on a bad leg but still walking out to the main road..... and this frail young girl in a worn-out dress which saw better days standing in front of her old broken down house holding a new born baby in her arms (bathing in the morning sun) humming softly --- 'okay lang, anak, okay lang...' (It's okay, child, it's okay....) Can you imagine what those words could mean? It could mean a lot of things. But I felt the challenge of life in those words. When I heard it as I walked past them it almost brought a tear to my eye.

So many like them out there in the world battling a problem or some other huge serious concern. But they hold on with every strength or courage they could muster, maybe tired and weary - beaten and worn, but they never give up. No matter how many times they fall they get back up again and fight harder than before... even much harder. One courageous step at a time, one moment to another, one day to the next. I know ... because I had my share of battles too.

Never give up. It should be worth it. It is worth it.
Life is beautiful. Blessings where you allow yourself to see them.

Hope you're all having a good and blessed week. Blessings to you all.
(The Golden Oriole in the photo)

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!

WHAT BAG OF TOOLS DO YOU CARRY THROUGH LIFE

I've been asked today 'what's on your mind'? Today -- it's this......... the words of  R.L. Sharpe --------


 "Each is given a bag of tools,
A shapeless mass,
A book of rules;
And each must make,
Ere life has flown,
A stumbling block
Or a stepping stone."

I don't know what yours is but I'm sure it's good. And if you'll ask me about mine, it is a path strewn with stepping stones, big and small. Now it's up to God to decide where He's going to take me.

Sometimes they're small stones meant to shape up a huge boulder one sweet day. Small steps taken moment-to-moment day-by-day. And then again a few are huge boulders which I could be very proud of but then seriously foresight tells me it could be broken down to pieces too. That would depend on the great plan He may have in store for me. After all, man will plan all that he can or might but God always has the last word on it. Mom would say ...  'You just do what you can.. or work on what He allows you to work on and hang on to the faith that He cares a lot about you. He will work things out for best.'

So to some out there who are not so clear as to what God wants, just stop and see what your bag of tools are and decide what to do with them. God gives us plenty to work on. Aside from what we know of talent, skills, aptitudes, abilities....  there's also the bag of hope, courage, strength, inspiration, faith, compassion, and even so much more. It can mean a lot of things but which serve one big purpose....  to help you become the person He meant you to be. You know what, if there is anything we should be asking God for......   it's to learn to see our lives through His eyes. Work with Him --- not against Him.

What bag of tools do you carry through life?
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Have a lovely weekend of peace, joy, love, and blessings.