WHAT ARE WE HERE FOR?

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Let me tell you a little story.........

I remember this conversation long ago when school friends and I had a reunion. They were a good mix of personality and character each unique in her own sphere of life. But sadly we've been out of touch hence with each one led by life into other directions and pursuits. Anyway in such gatherings among ourselves, the conversation always gravitates towards topics which ordinary mortals wouldn't touch. Like husbands and their jobs, babies and feeding bottles, dresses and shoes, pizzas and pastas etc. etc. Oh are those ordinary? Hahahah .... Just kidding!

But sometimes a question such as this would come along .... 'So what are we here for?'

'What do you mean here? Here as in here in this nice cozy restaurant? Or here as in the here of a huge stupendous  mind-boggling and kick-me-quick-before-I-go-crazy here thing??'  Oh yes, that's one expected of Jane (not her real name).

After the laughter subsided round the table, the mood inched its way slowly into a more serious mode when Isabel (not her real name too) said  'I'm here for my family..'

'Here for my career...' said another. And the rest with ... 'Here to be happy..'   'Here to find my one great love..'   'Here to be a successful businesswoman..'   'Here to be a hero....'  Oh but this last one is a joke (just kidding)  ... although there is potential and a treasure of possibilities in those words. Life is full of surprises, as we all know it to be.

It was always nice to see and listen to them talk that way so much alive and fresh and fun and interestingly diverse yet still so much the same. They buzzed on oblivious to the fact that I was silent and enjoying my latte while savoring the moment.

Precious moment as I saw a common thread there. Oh no it's not what can be seen as so obvious but it's this special glow unseen by the naked eye which shines through and out of each person. A light which glides around inside the group traveling from one heart to the other with its warmth and joy. A light which is as singularly as it is collectively magical.

So what are we here for? I think we're here to build a bridge or bridges of light with one another. The more light bridges built the better for humanity and the world.

Have a fun-filled weekend, everyone. Build your bridges of light and shine!
God bless you all. Trust Him to take care of your day.

LOSS IS ALSO PART OF OUR LIFE JOURNEY

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Except for sporadic rains the weather has improved some. I hope this means we're saying bye to Habagat rains finally. That would be answered prayers for and from every nook and cranny of flooded Metro Manila and parts of Luzon.

Been talking to a good friend on the phone and the subject came to 'loss' and 'lose'... not in the usual grammar booboos we see in some but in how it plays a great part in our lives.

We both agreed that 'loss' is and will always be a part of the human journey.

It comes to us in different shapes, forms, sizes, color, intensity, diversity, and reason. Sometimes unexpectedly, suddenly, irrevocably. We are shaped by it just as much as the good times do. And too burdened by it when recovery doesn't come easily nor sooner.

She then posed this question  'what do we do?'

Good question, isn't it? But we also know the answer to that. It's simple. We do it everyday for or over some tiny or big loss that comes to us at fateful or predictable or odd times no matter the pain or unease it may cause us. We simply move on with life and living.

We may hurt awhile, lick our wounds, swim in buckets of tears, smash all the plates and glasses in the house in rage, or wither away within the solitary confines of our inner world. But just for awhile. Because in its own perfect time the small voice within makes itself heard with just two words..... 'Move on!'... and loudly. It isn't a small voice anymore...  And it won't take 'No' for an answer.

Though some may take longer and then some amazingly bounce back like a ping-pong ball effortlessly. But either way the command is to 'Move on!'.

Life and Time waits for no one, as we know it, and the journey is always forward. The road is almost always tough especially if it is the less traveled one. I should know, that was my journey. Rest when you can... who says you can't or shouldn't. But when you're done, pick yourself up again and move along down the road once more.

Then one day when all is quiet and still that same tiny voice within will tell you that everything's fine as you have grown wiser, gained greater courage while keeping in step with Time and everything it carries with it, including loss and pain. With this new understanding you turn back to the journey but this time renewed in strength, unafraid, and armed with faith transformed.

My good friend as she said goodbye on the phone said.... 'God is good.'  Oh yes, He's always with us. That tiny voice within never leaves us. Never does.

“God writes spiritual Mysteries on our heart, 

Where they wait silently for discovery.”
-- (Rumi)

Blessings, everyone. And let's try to share the blessings with those who need it right now.

(Big thanks to Mr. Quote Man for the quote.)

CLOSURE -- A BLESSING OR A BURDEN?

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Being fine-tuned to life and to things around you is a plus more than an inconvenient irritation. The latter unfortunately is how most people see most of life. I don't blame them there's more that hurts the eye or the mind or the heart than desired. What is happening now in the no longer revered walls of our congress goes top on that list. The bottom line of it all is it's a battle among the good, the bad, and the ugly. How it will end is anybody's guess. How it affects (you) us is our job.

Back to the fine-tuning.

I have observed and learned something about 'closure' from watching this TV show last night 'Burn Notice' (season 5; final season is 7).  Michael (the lead star) and his mom were talking about a young person who felt so hurt and pained by what happened to his sister caused by, of course, the bad guy in the show. It was something which she said (and I had to write it down immediately before it got lost) which struck me and it goes like this.....

"You know, people talk about closure, but I don’t buy it. People blast a hole in your life, it tends to stay open."

That made me think.

That hole in one's life therefore doesn't really disappear!? It's not just a skin-deep, superfluous, temporal thing that simply leaves on its own or goes away when the cause is eliminated (as in the TV show). It's there as real as potholes and bumps on our city streets which undergo a thousand makeovers but underneath it all still lie the hole or holes. Not wise therefore to simply gloss over a person's pain to make him feel better. So it doesn't work that way.

'A hole in your life' could mean a lot of things. A hurtful relationship, a betrayal, bad things happening to good people in your life, failures, rejection, and other mountain-size of unpleasantness, to say the least, that hits you straight where it can hurt most. That hole in your life is a core-deep experience. The core, as we know it to be, is usually that place within where you find your comfort safety and balance. But as life seems to have the knack for doing it... one day it sends something to blast through those safe walls and create a hole, a damn huge one, which then shakes up your world big time.

That hole never gets closed again, it stays open.. as Michael's mom said. But then at the end of the conversation, she hinted (smart lady) that it was up to us how to respond to it and said ... 'someone has to teach him...' and Michael went on to do just that.

What a great lesson..... to deal with the holes in our life... not meaning to close them as it never will. It may simply stay there as an ugly bump, a stinging sore and scar, or stays there as a gaping hole... defiant maybe and could hurt you again when someone or something rubs you the wrong way one day. But and BUT you don't let it define you as a person. Rather you let it be a reminder that you above all else can be stronger and smarter than you think. That you know about 'holes in our life'... it's part of the landscape, territory, tapestry, spectrum, diversity, and the reality of the good-the bad-and-the ugly ... of our existence, like it or not. That you have learned well and have become much wiser - smarter - better - and importantly in control. That you have learned to use the tools wired in you by the Divine to overcome challenge. Now isn't this what they say about true power? Honestly I'd like a piece of that. Don't you too?

Okay, I think I'll finish off season 5 tonight.
See you all next -ish!
Rainy Sunday but it's just rain.
Blessings, everyone!

LIFE IS MADE UP OF THE LITTLE PRECIOUS THINGS TOO

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One of things in life I have learned is that..... to quote

"Life is made up, not of great sacrifices or duties, but of little things,
in which smiles and kindnesses, and small obligations, given habitually,
are what win and preserve the heart and secure comfort." -- Humphrey Davy
Unquote.

The great sacrifices and duties of life that each of us do are not always a source of peace and comfort. Sometimes, and I say sometimes, they heap unhappiness and sadness within us which does not always translate to a life we would rather have or have imagined in our dreams. These are the secrets in the heart which some of us or maybe even a lot us keep. But we deal with it in each our own way. Most of them find their way in prayer.

That is why I like people and admire human beings. Oh I know there are jerks scattered in there but everybody is a someone for a reason. Both the good and bad are because of a reason or reasons good or bad. You are who you are because something made you that way. Even God does not condemn a sinner but only the sin. Oh yes, bad can change but that would take for another post. As for the good, keep on being good because that is a big winner however one may look at it.

The little things... ahhh but this one is different. You know what, my preferences have changed as I grew older. I would rather have the tiny sincere gesture of kindness, a thoughtful concern, a comforting touch, a considerate word or words, an understanding look, a smile that says I'm okay and everything will be fine, an unexpected Hello, gifts of time and presence, and all the tiny kind nice heart-based gestures or things which truly create the precious treasures of life and living. These I like to see in my day with family, friends, people. These I live for because without them life is nothing but a wound-up clock ticking time away.

:-) I hope you're all having a lovely weekend.
Release the power of love and positivity around you
and to the universe. The universe will surely remember
to give back to you a thousandfold more.

Oh by the way, God is watching and blesses you all.
Have a great weekend!

(By the way, thanks to Mr. Quote Man for the lovely quote above.)

WE ARE WIRED FOR GOOD THINGS

None that I saw this week or this month could better what this quote says here..... (many thanks to Mr. Quote Man)

" Life is like a camera...
Focus on what's important,
Capture the good times
Develop from the negatives,
And if things don't work out
Take another shot."
(Author Unknown)

Focus.  That seems quite easy to do. Yes, if one has learned to sift through the bits and pieces of a crazy day or life. Otherwise we usually get derailed or loose our sails, too find it hard to get back on track again. So then recharge, regroup strengths, realign, reset focus once more. And hope it does the trick and the picture comes out right.

Capture.  Admittedly times when something passes our attention and we realize it too late that it was something good... really good. This always happens when we are just too much into ourselves. That nothing ever matters except the I, Me, My, Mine of things. So we don't often notice the landscape of our lives. There are far more interesting things and experiences other than who we think we are. Yes, because this big wide world isn't all about the singular me....  but also all about the wonderful diversity which God made sure we should have.

Develop.  Yes, that's what we're supposed to do and be doing with our lives. Learn well new things. Learn even so much more when bad comes... which is said to be there for our learning and betterment. Unfortunately we don't always hit the mark with this one. Human nature, I guess, which tends to enjoy a little bit of misery or is it just a weak call for attention. But haven't we been told that we are wired to succeed whatever the challenge? Or survive as our personal histories testify, if we take time to look back at it. Admit that somewhere there was a bit of positivity which propelled us to move forward strongly and has taken us to where we are at this point in time.

Take another shot.  This runs parallel to the one above in terms of not giving up. Truth of the matter is, there is no other option nor choice. Because in whatever circumstance we find ourselves..  we are always required by some unseen hand to 'take another shot' at it when the first time had us failed. We do take another shot at... life, relationships, education, jobs, applications, business, dreams, governance, goals, or simply in wanting to be pretty, and whatever else humans are designed to go through in life. We take another shot because we have tied our dreams, hopes, or the whole of our lives to it. Nobody need tell us that, I think, because we do it everyday. It's second nature, like breathing. It's life; it's what we do. Thank God!

We must be good...  we are God's work.
Yet glory to God. He wired us for good things.
Blessings, everyone!

WORDS OF COMFORT TO DRY PARCHED HEARTS AND SOULS

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Have you been through something like this? ... times when we lack for the right words to say to comfort weary hearts and souls. The heart may connect but frustratingly the words just don't come. And so difficult even when the tables are turned and we find ourselves at the receiving end of it. Words of comfort can fall like rain to dry parched hearts and souls.

So when I get those odd moments, this book comes to the rescue like a soothing balm from the heart of God. And why I love this book. To quote... 'This collection of treasures from the heart of God, was recorded by an ordinary person who cared to 'listen'.

My favorite book 'Good Morning... God', by Pamela Steinke (she lives in a small town in Arkansas with her family)... and these great lines lifted from the book I would like to share with you. May these writings serve as inspiration to your day.

STEP BY STEP                                      2 Cor 11:3; Romans 8:12-13

"Life with Me is so simple. Remember, the simplicity of Christ. Just one step at a time, simply, easily through life we go. A situation arises --come to Me -- how would I have you handle it? Then do as I have taught you. Do not react in the flesh; react in the Spirit. Do not trust your own counsel -- seek Mine. Do not believe or even listen to the lies of Satan. Come to me for truth. Let My Spirit, My very being, totally fill and engulf you.  This is the way to live.  Not struggling in darkness, not languishing in emptiness, not straining against the yoke. But simply, easily, joyfully, in My power --- step by step through life with ME."

HEALING TOUCH                                 Isaiah 53:5

"I am the healing balm for all of life's wounds, all of its pains and sorrows. You have only to come to Me. Sup with Me, share with Me -- open up the hurting recesses of your heart in My presence. The mere exposure to My light is healing enough. There is no sorrow on earth too great for My healing touch. You are My precious child, one I hold so dear, so near to My heart. Bring Me your griefs and sorrows, your hurts and pains, your tears and heartaches. Share them with Me. Then take MY peace, My healing, and comfort back again with you."
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May you be blessed by the healing love and touch of God.
May your day be blessed by the power of prayer.

ROOTS AND WINGS

                

A rainy morning and a timely quote from my inbox (thanks, Mr. Quote Man) for a piece I was going to write.........

"There are only two lasting bequests we can hope to give our children.
One of these is roots, the other wings". -- Unknown

Three college girls walked past my house on their way to school this rainy morning. It looked like not even a cold and rainy morning such as this could dampen their conversation which nestled on the subject of the future... their future. Before they went out of sight I was able to grab snippets of their chat with words such as ---- big dreams, leave home, abroad, independent, sad, family ties.....

If their mothers could hear them now I am pretty sure that it would make immeasurably sad their hearts. Although mothers pretty well know that one day soon their kids would grow up and finally leave home. Still when that day comes they don't really let go. At least that's how they would feel in the silence of their hearts.

Something I have heard from my mother as she entertained her buddies over lunch in our house long ago was this --- 'Mothers are just stewards of their children. The kids don't belong to us though we gave birth to them. They belong to God.'

Many years after when it was my turn to leave the nest, I finally understood what she meant. Although it pained her (I could see it in her eyes) to see me go but she let go. Maybe she thought her job was done and I was ready to be on my own. But was I?

Looking back now I can honestly say that maybe I was. Life was tough but I was tougher it seemed. Now I know my mother's thoughts. She knew about life and she made sure that I be equipped for the rush and tumble of a crazy world outside. She did what all mothers do.... she built on character. On this she shaped my roots knowing wisely that I could not depart from it whatever be the challenges. She did not aim to protect me from failure or mistakes or disappointments. Instead she made me understand that it's all part of the landscape of life and living. And she taught me the wisdom of learning to make the right responses towards it, as best as could be managed. She pointed to God as a supreme eternal guide and help comparable to none. She didn't make praying difficult to do... it's easy when you free the heart to speak. Kindness, generosity, compassion, honesty, dignity of labor, faith and trust, and the essential tiny courtesies of life.... among the good stuff she insisted upon. Imperfection was not a crime (nobody is perfect) but excellence a better choice. Best of all she walked her talk. I saw in her life how strength of character makes one come out a winner. One not by human or the world's standards but a winner in the heart of a Magnificent God greatly pleased. I guess that is what truly matters at the end of the day.

So this is what it is ..... ROOTS and WINGS -- gifts a mother alone can give to her child by the work of her mind, hand, heart, and soul enabled by an All-Knowing God. And when her job is done she humbly steps aside ..... and God takes over.

Love your mothers. Nobody else on earth can do what they do.
I miss my mom but I know that she's happy where she is now.

God bless you!! Enjoy your day.

THE POWER WORKS EVERYTIME

This quote was a timely one when I saw it this morning in my inbox. As usual sent by Mr. Quote Man --- he never fails. He's an online friend of several years now... a good one. Says that his objective is to make me write and write more and that he hopes to bonk the 'writer's block' I often complain about. Well, he seems to be succeeding.

The quote he sent today........

“Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers,
but to be fearless in facing them.
Let me not beg for the stilling of my pain, but
for the heart to conquer it.”
-- (Rabindranath Tagore)

I say timely because in the past few days I have been receiving messages of pain hurt frustration from fb friends. Just wishing to let go of such heavy feelings in the heart and mind. I feel for them because I have been there too and there's no promise that I won't ever again. Neither too with the rest of humanity. Life's goal is to bring us through struggles not because it has such a mean devilish streak in it but more so because as gold is passed through the fire, we should too if we are to become wiser.. stronger.. in mind heart and soul. The best lessons are learned in and through pain, as we often heard that said.

Not easy and the least welcome I agree. But that's the way the cookie crumbles, as they say it is. Even God in the book says that he won't take away the pain nor make life easy... but he promised that he would be close, very close, that we will never be alone. And if we are to delve deeper into his life experiences, we will see that he himself had his own share of suffering. That, I believe, is set down as the blueprint of our earthly lives.

Most of life, the bigger stuff of life, is beyond our control.... the weather, changes in the environment - in the universe - in the world - in life - in people. We can't have these to our preferences or design in any way. It will do what it has been designed to do by Someone up there or by its sole nature.

What we have control over, I think and believe, is our attitude perception belief or even our response towards everything happening in our day in our lives. What happens to us may be greater than our strength or resources... but how we respond to it is where our power lies.

Here's what......

You know you have it in you. How do I know that? You're still standing. You still wake up in the morning, get up and out of bed, and face the day with who you are and with what you have. That clearly is an indication of the power working in you. And you do that one day after the other as life happens to you. The Power works every time!

That Power has a real name. It's called by that simply because not many understand its real name. nor believe that it really works. Its name is ..... GOD.

Have a God-filled day, everyone!
Blessings await you far beyond measure.

 

 

ONLY MEASURE YOUR TODAY SELF BY YOUR PAST SELF

"If your parents ever measured you as a child, they had you stand against a wall, and made a little pencil mark on the wall to show your growth. They did not measure you against your brother, or the neighbor's kids, or kids on TV. When you measure your growth, make sure to only measure your today self by your past self. If you compare your relationships, your success, or your anything against anyone else, you are not being fair to you. Everyone has a different path, a different pace, and different challenges to face along the way." ----------- Doe Zantamata


 
Isn't that just what we need as a reminder? Because human weakness, one of several, is prone to 'comparing'. It's as if by ourselves we can never do enough, we are never capable of better, we always run short of abilities and talent, or that we don't measure up to anything at all. We see easily the green grass on the other side of the fence... rather than work on our own potential or believing in possibilities right here in our own turf.

This was a conversation I had with a neighbor one morning comparing her children with those of her cousin's. She resented the idea that they were more 'successful' than her own brood.

We think that the other guy has had it so good and easy or that so fortunate to be showered down with all the luck in the world leaving none for yourself. But what we don't know is that a lot of hard work were packed into that image of good fortune or success. And too patience, perseverance, determination, and some sacrifices. Most of success stories have it engrained into their formula.

That's no surprise and .....we can do it too. We all can. But as diverse as people are, we each can work it according to our own individual pace, unique talent and skill, perception and attitude, with a diversity of circumstances and resources. education and dreams. And certainly not least of all, with Divine Guidance.

Truly....... "Everyone has a different path, a different pace, and different challenges to face along the way." As it says in the quote -- Comparing yourself with others is indeed unfair to you.

God bless you, folks, with everything good!