BE STRONG TO LIVE LIFE

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Do you know why I love my early morning walks? It's because I get to know more about life through it. Oh of course there are also the books... but sometimes out there one gets a lot more of stuff that feeds the mind, heart, and soul. Oh sure, some would say there's nothing special there but ordinary normal mundane puny lives and living. Well, if you stop awhile to think --- our lives, none exempted, are nothing but ordinary puny lives. We eat, work, play, sleep, hurt, cry, laugh, hate, and all the other things found on the emotional scale. And we do this over and over, again and again from sunrise to sundown.
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Like these three middle-aged ladies I saw outside the gate of a nice house. Ordinary people in an ordinary neighborhood living ordinary lives. One was looking so bored, another looked flustered, and the other couldn't quite decide what to do. And their conversation, in loud ordinary voices which is the trademark of Pinoys huddled in an invigorating conversation, male or female.... trailed down inescapably to my ears. Yup, you guessed right... my radar was tuned-in on the trio. My radar, as you must already know by now, is primed to zero-in on new learning, observation, information, insight, and awesomeness of both living and non-living things... no matter its size, race, color, or creed. What they said caught my attention. To catch more of their chat I stopped, bent down and pretended to tie my shoelaces (both shoes). Kinda lame don't you think? But they were quite oblivious to me. So there!
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Lady#1:      "Hhaayy... Wala na bang maibibigay sa atin ng buhay kundi puro problema?" --- (Can't life give us something else other than problems?)
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Lady#2:      "Umasa ka pa! Walang alam pang iba ang buhay kundi ang tambakan tayo ng problema. Heto katatapos lang ng isa... may bago na naman." --- "You kidding me?! Problems are all that life can offer us. One problem finishes.... another crops up!"
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Lady#3:     "Kayo naman! Hindi naman siguro ganyan. Nakatutok lang kayo kasi sa problema." --- (C'mon, can't be that bad. You're focusing only on problems.)
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Ladies#1&#2:     "May bago ba!?!"  --- (So what else is new!?!)
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At that point I didn't wait to hear the reply because I was there long enough and might get noticed by them, so decided to move along.
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But what I gathered from their chat made me think.............
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Is that all there is to life really? Problems?
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Looking back at my own life journey I can say that yes I too have had my share... and new ones do crop up now and then. But that's the same with everybody else.. And problems come in different sizes.. shapes.. color.. and in varying degrees of intensity, force, or severity... rising from a diversity of causes or reasons. It will make you cry.. or anger you.. can be so frustrating, disappointing, irritating.. can arouse depression, self-pity, anxiety, hopelessness, fear, sadness, confusion.. and some seemingly mean and cruel will bash you to the ground utterly defeated. Or so it seems.
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But life does not stop there. Nor does it end there.
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You are here. I am here. Problems notwithstanding. What does that tell us?
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Life may be tough....... but people are tougher.

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By God's design.

 

 

 

 

 

 

OUR PATHS CROSS WITH OTHERS

 

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My thoughts today. Found nothing else as beautifully encapsulated as this one.  It's all there beautifully expressed like none other.

My prayer that God pour out upon you blessings far more than your heart can hold.

LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVERYDAY

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We have our prejudices. We have our biases. Some of us, no matter how old we have become remain childish. We chose only those things we want to listen to, like a stubborn child who won't listen to his mother.
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WE DO NOT KNOW EVERYTHING. Nobody does. Nobody has the monopoly of knowledge or wisdom or information which this world or life contains. Always there will be things to learn ---- new ideas, new roads to discovery, new insights or perceptions, new technology, new inventions, new ways of doing things or understanding things. Even new ways of learning. Life, as I have learned, is all about learning.... new learning, unlearning if must, relearning if necessary -- it's the whole process of developing- of growing - of becoming better - of achieving perfection if you so wish.
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I thought I knew all there was to know about cooking pancakes... until somebody did it with sour cream in the batter! I didn't know you could do that?! And I didn't know that it's okay to have lumps in the batter -- because I would beat the batter till it was smooth and silky. See? I was learning a different way of doing something.
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But we can LISTEN. What we lack in our own may or can be filled by somebody else's wisdom, knowledge, insights, experience, observations, or perceptions. They may have solutions to our problems.... they may have discovered a better way of doing it... they probably could refer us to people who are better on that subject. Maybe we can learn more if we decide to LISTEN and pay ATTENTION.
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Do you know what usually gets in the way of learning? EGO and PRIDE. You know it. I know it. Everybody knows it. Nothing more can be said about that. It speaks for itself.
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Do you want to bring in awesome into your life.. everyday?? LEARN SOMETHING NEW EVERYDAY! It does not have to be those things of grand or grander measure or scale. It could be the teeny tiny thing unimaginable... but then teaches you something of such great value that it hits you like a eureka ball!. And you realize how much you have been missing.
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And......
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sometimes somewhere there we get to learn from UNEXPECTED TEACHERS. Life is full of them. I get my share and I am grateful to them... two-legged and four-legged teachers!! And Mother Nature! They fill up my day and life with awesome learning.
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Have a nice awesome weekend, friends! God bless you!

 

 

 

EXAGGERATED SELF-IMPORTANCE

 

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If you get the chance, get this book "1000 Stories You Can Use" by Frank Mihalic, SVD. My copy bought in 1993 almost always served through the years as a wonderful tool in understanding people and life. I am sure it will be in my library for a very long time yet. Here's one which always makes me laugh......
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To quote...
#426 on page 190 Exaggerated Self-Importance
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A small passenger plane was cruising through the sky, carrying as its passengers a minister, a boy scout, and the president of a computer manufacturing firm. Suddenly the engine went dead.
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Frantically parachutes were passed among the passengers. There was fast breathing, a rush of wind as the door was thrown open. And as the plane tilted and fell through space, there came the horrible realization that there were not enough parachutes. There was one too few.
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"I have to have a parachute," cried the pilot. "I have a wife and three kids." So he grabbed a parachute and put it on and leaped into the void. The wind whistled and the three passengers looked at one another.
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"Well, I certainly should have one of the parachutes," exclaimed the computer manufacturer. "I'm the smartest man in the world." And slipping his arms into the shoulder straps, he jumped out.
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"Son," said the minister wistfully, "YOU take the last parachute. I'm old and ready to meet my Maker; you're a fine youth with all of your life ahead of you."
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"Relax, Reverend," said the boy scout with a smile. "There's still a parachute for each of us. The 'smartest man in the world' just jumped out wearing my knapsack."
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The End. 
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Have a great day, folks. Laugh whenever you get the chance.