WE WERE MEANT TO COLLIDE - DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY

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What's on my mind today? Plenty. But I would like to zero in on this...... (a repost from the blog counting some years ago..2008 because somebody needs a nudge in this direction).
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EVERY HUMAN BEING HAS AN IMPACT ON ANOTHER
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That’s a line I heard from the movie ‘Patch Adams’ which I saw on DVD. I won’t be talking about the movie here although I must say that it was an inspiring and a feel-good viewing experience.
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What impact do you have on another? Is it one lovely thing or something opposite it? Because Mom would push this thought on me as I struggled with my angst in high school -- that always there are two things to everything -- Like you can’t enjoy coffee without cream (well, that’s me), or a table without a chair, or drive a car without gas, or have honey without a bee, or live a happy life without some share of sorrow or pain, etc. Life comes in two’s – it may be complementing or otherwise but definitely something is there which tells you that ‘one’ is not really alone.......... yup there’s more to just one.
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When you go about your daily business thinking that you’re doing fine by yourself minding your own affairs, think again. Because even by the mere fact of your standing there on the corner waiting for your bus you impact another person who may be merely looking at you or simply passing you by at the least. You may be shaping his thoughts. Because you have your life experiences etched on your face and that is what the other is catching.
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Oh some of us may use the milder term ‘impression’ as it looks far appropriate to them. But I would stick to the word ‘impact’ because it best expresses what happens when people collide with each other in this high social traffic called life. People crash, collide, contact with another being going from here to there. Lives intertwine directly or indirectly, visibly or not, or meet at some point or another or leave something behind. This could be very brief, fleeting, or even linger for some amount of time until it is asked to move on by some unknown force.
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In that process something happens. Something from you transfers to the other and stays there or vice versa. It forms our thoughts, opens up our eyes, and nudges our hearts.
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I was in this party last week, a reunion of old colleagues (a tight group of about 20) from the company I worked with for twenty years. As all reunions are there were plenty of smiles, guffaws, laughter, teasing, nostalgia, and memories for everyone’s picking. And of course – food! While everybody was feasting on a spread of mouth-watering delights I, seated close to the end of the long table, ‘feasted’ my eyes on the people there. My file of memories opened and names instantly popped out. Oh yes, each one had indeed made an impact on my life and had managed to form my thoughts on several things seen and observed in life. I was never the same person with every encounter and experience. Something was shed .. something was gained.
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Every human being has an impact on another. You can count on that because God did not mean us to live solitary lives. We were meant to collide, crash, touch, link, connect, interact, or impact each other’s lives. Because only with another or each other can we be helped to grow into the persons God meant us to be.
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Nobody should be ignored. Bless you all!

FAITH IS TO SEE WHAT YOU BELIEVE

 

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A good friend of many years sent this to my email......
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"Faith is: .. dead to doubts, dumb to discouragements, blind to impossibilities." - Unknown
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He wanted to know my thoughts on it.
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Beautiful, isn't it? And so encouraged and inspired I replied............
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Faith is magnificent. But like anything of immense beauty, value, and significance is quite difficult (to say the least) to pursue. Faith is itself the prize to anyone's struggles aimed to hold it in the heart. And yet fragile too as one can lose it anytime. --- To achieve it is a task which a full-grown man or woman can fail at quite easily despite his/her intelligence, righteousness, bravado, or wit.
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It is easy to make claim to what it does to peoples' lives but living it is a different thing. I struggle with it in every challenge life sends me. Every faith-challenging-moment different from the next....with faith staggering under its weight. In some, faith could soar high like riding on wings of a mighty eagle...... and then again in some, nothing happens to the dozen or so prayers of pleading. Faith bashed to the ground by the silence of the heavens.
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So it's true what's been said about it....you pray for faith; it's not one you're born with. You take it one day at a time..one day to the next. One faith experience after another. That I think explains what the bible is telling us....you live by the grace of God, for God, and with God.
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Our life therefore is truly a journey of faith...from learning it, praying for it, living it. All by God's design.
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Blessings to you, my friends. Keep up the faith.

WHAT'S TO BE SCARED OF

 

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A friend once said that the one thing that we should learn is .. 'to mind our own business'.
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Really? That made me think. You see, there were those times I remember very well when I needed a helping hand... a kind word... some bit of inspiration or encouragement... someone to be there ----  but nobody bothered to be there because they were simply minding their own business like it was the best and proper thing to do - to leave me to my misery. Can you imagine if somebody just forgot about being scared and took that brave step to get in there and ask if I was okay? That would have made the big difference.
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What's to be scared of? Getting involved in other people's lives? That it might make a dent into your resources, time, energy, or take you out of your nice comfort zones? That by giving more of you -- that you become less and less? That you are not good enough or rich enough or influential enough to make a difference?
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But I have learned that the trouble lies in this simple fact that we are too tied up with the self. That after we have slaved ourselves to where we are whatever it is we take pride in, we now consider everything else as a possible threat to that. And that, to our mind, will hurt our tiny world and we don't want that.
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And here comes a cry for help... but we look the other way.
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Mind our own business.  Do you think that it is correct? Of course, we should be respecters of men and women. But it does not have to mean that we isolate ourselves from one another. That's taking it too far.  That's not why we are here.  If I can't count on you.. and ..you can't count on me ---- who will and would??
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No man is an island;  we all stand connected. You feel, I feel;  you hurt, I hurt;  you're happy, I am happy;  you grieve, I grieve. You are no better or lesser than me ... nor  I better or lesser than you.  I am you and you are me.  We keep forgetting that simple truth.  All by God's design.
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So, my dear friend, if perchance you need a prayer - and prayer is what I can give you with all my heart --- let me know!  God bless you.

THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY

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“It's so easy, To think about Love, To Talk about Love, To wish for Love, But it's not always easy, To recognize Love, Even when we hold it.... In our hands.” – Jaka
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There now does that hit you at some point in your life? Fact is, we can't (possibly) know everything there is to know about love although we pretend to or believe we do. The love we say we know is that which we see acted out on the big screen by our favorite Hollywood movie stars. It's the one we enjoy most watching because we know its beginning and its end... and everything in-between that.
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But who would disagree to this observation that when it comes it comes wrapped up in coy surprises and unpredictability. You know, the kilig factor (the thrill). The stolen looks (yung pailalim na tingiin), the shy smile (na sabay ayos ng buhok), the thrill of surprises (kunwari di alam pero expected naman), the rehearsed poses and semi-poses (pa pogi points) and the itzy-bitzy charming nuances and early steps of attraction.
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We have all 'Been there-done that'.... O di bah? It's as normal as pizza pie, red roses, starlight and moonbeams, lollipops and ice cream cones. It brought the tingling to our hearts and the spring to our steps... and emptied our wallets and purses dry.
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But how about the one that got away? That one who you didn't know loved you ... or the one who you finally realized you love until too late for that person's no longer there. You begin asking yourself -- 'why didn't I see it?' ... 'how could I have missed it?' ... 'what happened?'.
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I know a friend who said this to that...... "Life's Tragedy is that we get old to soon and wise too late." (Benjamin Franklin) .. Although I thought it was the wrong quote hahah...
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I think what she was trying to say is............... when you love someone, say it ----- when someone loves you, see it.
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Have a great day, friends. Blessings are there just for you.

P.S.  Thanks to Mr. Quote Man for the lovely quote.

KINDNESS IN ANOTHER'S TROUBLE - COURAGE IN YOUR OWN

 

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Life is mostly froth and bubble,
Two things stand like stone,
Kindness in another's trouble,
Courage in your own.

-----Gordon Adam Lindsay

Have you come across this poem before? It's beautiful and true, isn't it?
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Froth and bubble.... if you think about it, life is indeed most of the time froth and bubble. Temporary, fleeting, sometimes meaningless. Those things which we do for ourselves really don't matter where it should matter most. Superficial ---- We spend so much time "caring too much about how we look. about how other people look. about what we say and do and what other people say and do". And we think that's important because it is all about us. Our dreams, ambitions, experiences, opinions, achievements or failures ... our lives. Not that those things in itself are bad; those have its uses, too. But honestly we can take that only to a certain extent. Beyond a certain point it would matter no more.
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And that certain point is when everything about us is satisfied or sated. Thereafter things only get repeated over and over, again and again and in effect lose its relevance at all. Pointless... meaningless... 'been there-done that' is what some would say. Jaded robotic existence.
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But have you noticed how your soul comes alive when your focus shifts to another person? Particularly when you share of your self generously... selflessly? Feel the vibrant energy oozing out from you? A spark is lighted (you don't even know how it got there) and you get infused with its brilliant light. You become alive!
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The same magic happens to you when you face your struggles and challenges with new-found strength... strength you thought no longer existed. Bravery in your own is a magnificent thing. You begin to see life anew with renewed hope, courage, and faith.
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Kindness and courage .... both give meaning to life --- and life to meaning.
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Blessings to you all!

SOMEDAYS YOU JUST HAVE TO CREATE YOUR OWN SUNSHINE

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"Life is a smile so find it
Put your face behind it
Get it straight in your mind
You gotta make your own sunshine
..... It can't be so hard to find."
(Anon)
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Even if life throws you a sour ball and you get it smack on your face......... that only means that you have to practice your ducking skills some more!
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And if life plays a sad bad tune and expects you to dance to it......... say 'thanks but no thanks' and go ahead make your own music and dance loco to it.
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When you get spoilers to your day of things and people......... show them the door and slam it hard behind them.... gleefully!! Bwahahaaaa......
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When something goes wrong to your favorite plan or project......... take that as a cue to ease up, lie down, or hit a ball or two on the tennis court or check out your better idea to unwind. Or better yet clear the cobwebs in and on your mind -- There must be a huge ugly super-pangit spider somewhere in there picking on your creative cells for lunch.
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When you feel that you could kill this jerk because he IS a big jerk......... think of how our jails are hopelessly congested you have to queue for hours to use the toilet.
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When no matter how hard you try you just can't seem to find that elusive sunshine......... i-drawing mo na lang yan! Draw your piece of sunshine with crayons and paper. Yeah, Go ahead!!! .... and rainbows and stars and roses and angels and moonbeams!
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When you feel that your prayers are hitting a huge blank wall......... it's just the devil making you think that way. So direct your prayers to the villain with this: In Jesus' name, go smash your ugly nauseating excruciating obnoxious villainous head to that wall there!!! ... Then go back to your conversation with God.
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Yes, I get bad days too just like everybody else and sometimes my sunshine goes shy. But I have learned to buoy up my sunshine with some wee bit of effort and a truck-load of prayers. You just have to try. Don't let a lovely day go to waste.
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Wishing you a lovely day of blessings. Shine with your light! God bless you.

A PURPOSE TO EACH AND EVERY LIFE

 

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Reading the Sunday paper this morning, I stumbled on this line... one which is so simple and yet can be quite easily taken for granted because others have said it or written about it a dozen times before that it loses its novelty after a time. But sometimes in a day or at some point in your life when you stand ripe for learning or teachings... a tiny nugget of discovery, revelation, insight, or wisdom strikes home in your brain or heart.. to where it matters most. And it doesn't matter if you have heard or read it before a hundred times or more.
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This one got to me and opened my mind like a can opener opens up a can of pork-and-beans. Yummy, by the way... my favorite.
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It says, to quote.... "There is purpose to each and every life on the planet - spiders count, too!" ---Unquote
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Yeah. And I think back on those things which sort of irritate or vex my soul then and now. Plenty, I must say. Things and people which don't live up to their promise or primal purpose always rub me the wrong way. Shortsightedly I fail to see reasons behind it and instead zero in on my irritation or inconvenience. My bad, right.
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I didn't quite see why in heaven's name should anything or anyone so inefficient or seemingly uncaring should inhabit this planet. Till I learned to understand that those things and they too have a reason for being.
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Every life has its reason to be here. That includes all creatures of the air, land, and sea. A life may not be as perfect as you may want it to be but in its imperfection lies your nudge towards understanding your own imperfection, too. Some things somewhere there in your life journey manage to knock out your world in chaos and disarray... things which didn't and couldn't grant you the satisfaction you desire.
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But all are for a reason. And the reason is for you to find out. I don't have the answers for you, nobody does. We each are tasked to seek it ourselves. In that process lies our learning. One lesson different from the other. But all and each tailor-typed to a perfect fit.... for each and every living thing.
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God didn't create life and the world on a whim. Everything is engineered to serve a higher purpose. Every life big or small, significant or insignificant is to work its reason for being and do its part to complete the whole tapestry of God's design.
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We're here for a reason. That little spider has his and is tasked to do his part.
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We all stand connected. By God's design.
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Hope you're all having a pleasant and blessed day. God bless you.