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

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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

 

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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

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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.

JANUARY 1, 2014 - FROM ME TO YOU, DEAR FRIENDS

To you, dear friends known and unknown, who come to my blog... visiting, viewing, liking, following, appreciating .... visibly or invisibly --- Thank you so much! My wish for you all in the NEW YEAR of 2014  is ......

MAY ALL OF YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE!

HAPPY AND BLESSED NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!

GOD KEEPS YOU CLOSE IN HIS HEART.