WAIT FOR THINGS TO TRULY UNFOLD

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THE FOUR SEASONS --- THE MEASURE OF LIFE
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Here's another one coming from the same pile; I found it closer to the bottom and was dated June 01, 2004 - Word Ministry. Unfortunately, the first two paragraphs on the sheet were torn off and the rest had turned brown with time. But as far as I can recall the article is about a man who sent off his four sons into the woods and to this particular tree and to report back to him their observations about it.
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The succeeding paragraphs unfold like this...... and to quote
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--- "When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen. The FIRST SON said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted. The SECOND SON said no --- it was covered with green buds and full of promise. The THIRD SON disagreed, he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen,. The LAST SON disagreed with all of them; he said that it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.
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After listening to their feedback, the man explained to his sons that they were all right, because they each seen but ONLY one season in the tree's life. He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season. And that the essence of who they are -- and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life -- can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up.
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He further said...... If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, the fulfillment of your fall. Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest. Don't judge life by one difficult season. Persevere through the difficult patches and better times are sure to come at some time or later."
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Unquote.
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And that is so true, isn't it? We each go through the seasons of life. Each season comes to touch our lives in ways authentic to its own purpose. Maybe what the father is trying to tell his sons is that life should be viewed not from the constricting point of one season or one event or one experience. Not to think that the end of the world has come because of one failure or mistake. Not to pack up our bags outright defeated just because things are not happening the way we want them to. Not to consider others as less than ourselves just because they don't think, speak, or act the way we do. Not to be too quick to push that 'react' button.
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Instead to wait for things to truly unfold. Wait for explanations. Wait for the story to finish. Wait for the dust of aggravation and strife to settle down. Wait for the time when truth reveals itself in all of its splendor.... or its opposite. Well, sometimes truth can be quite unpleasant to see or hear. But then truth is truth and off it we can better make honest judgement or measure and its corresponding course of action, be it pleasant or otherwise.
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Life is beautiful. But we must also understand that life too has its rough patches. There is both good and bad in it. Yet we shouldn't allow negativity in any form, ours or that of others, to spoil what we have in terms of joy, fulfillment, and happiness.... or quench our hope of having more of those we treasure and value most. God planned us for happiness. Happiness is indeed our worthy portion. That is truly by divine design.
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Blessings, everyone!

 

 

DO WE KNOW OUR BLESSINGS

 

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Scruffy, our newest addition to the pack, is a rescue dog who has found his forever home with us. One of my favorite things to do in the house is to sit beside him on the marble floor by the doorway stroking his fur while looking out on the garage and to the street outside. Out on the street it can be so quiet and busy depending on the time of day. But sunset is my special time with Scruffy.

A thought struck me....  Does Scruffy know his blessing? I wonder.

Looking down into Scruffy's eyes I see an affirmation to that. He looks back at me with love and devotion etched right there in his doggie eyes. Love for his forever home. Content and happy. Yes, Scruffy knows and shows it in his doggie ways - the language of his heart and soul.

Do we know our blessing?
In good times it can be so easy to say yes. In bad times, do we even recognize it?

Sitting there with Scruffy leads me to different threads of thought. One is about blessings. Life is truly tough and it tells us in so many ways. I struggled with mine and so did mom before me. But she taught me one simple lesson with this..........

'Look for the blessings. No matter how you feel or whatever you are going through... blessings are there for you.'
 
I didn't always understand that. What I could understand about life was that life is mean, hard, unforgiving, unmerciful. Because it was all that to me. My heart broke into pieces and my soul wearied from the solitary struggle. Yet Mom's words kept haunting me like she was herself pushing me to look for the ... blessings.
 
One day I stood by the window (always my favorite spot), took a deep breath, closed my eyes for a bit second and then opened it again. I saw how pretty blue the sky was... how gracefully the clouds glided by... how so green the leaves on the gently swaying tree tops... how nice and gentle the breeze blew... and how it all gave me joy!

Then it dawned on me what a blessing was. That made me happy.

The next day I was ready to grab another dose of happiness. But things began to happen. Problems, disappointments, frustrations, worries and anxieties, loss of strength courage hope and even of faith.. all came hurtling down on me like a comet at loose careening through space. I hurt and cried.

But mom, bless her soul, pushed even harder.

Once more I stood by the window, took a deep breath, closed my eyes,  and opened it again. I felt tears falling down my cheeks,  I sensed the beating of my lonely heart,  I felt life throbbing through my veins,  I saw the day unfolding still with all of its glory,  I sensed the presence of the Divine......  I was alive! My tears rolled down even more but this time.... with praise and thanksgiving towards a loving and merciful God, my God!

I finally knew what blessing was.

A divine gift ....  to lend us strength, courage, hope, faith, love, joy, inspiration. To help us see beauty where we thought none existed. To see ourselves as an important part of this universe. To see God and His great love for us. A divine gift to reaffirm our importance in God's eyes and heart.

Mom was right. We need not search far and wide for our blessings. It's right there in our day... within us and without... in our lives. All that we need to do is ..... stop -- look -- and listen!

Have a great Sunday, friends. See your blessings with a grateful heart.

DWELL MUCH UPON THE POSITIVES

 

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I love Pamela Steinke's book -- 'Good Morning... God'.  Grow in the faith - We don't only learn this in living life with all of its struggles but we also must seek to learn it from good people and good books. After all God uses a diversity of tools to make us learn about Him or know Him better.

Here's a snippet from that book.....

THE POSITIVES

God:   "Yes, dwell much upon the positives! Let the good things of life saturate your mind; think much about them and do not give thought to the negative. Always think upon the positive. Concentrate upon each blessing until you are filled with joy! Always you have concentrated most upon the negatives of life. Now it is time to learn to fill your thoughts with the good. You are learning to wear the armor of God."

Unquote.

This, I believe, is the formula to how life can be better lived. I have learned that much through the ups and down of my speckled life. Speckled.. is an understatement. If life were a face it would have been one with tons of pimples, acne, freckles, psoriasis, allergies... name anything ugly you wouldn't want on a perceived pretty face... and it's there on THAT face! That was life for me... a bundle of 'I don't need you-I don't want you-I don't like you-but you're here' ugly stuff. It's like some horrendous mean ogre (with his ugly face of course!)  is so obsessed in making my life miserable. I guessed that he too must have read what we have read about 'misery loving company'... and was hell-bent literally on pursuing it with me!

But amazingly it were those same things which gave me my lessons in faith, courage, hope, and positivity. Somebody up there makes a mighty good teacher! You see I had to grow up fast, learn fast but He made sure that I did it the right way. He gently steered me into learning to see with my eyes, mind, and heart the wonderful positive things in the world ... and that it exists even in a speckled freckled life.

But if you're looking for or expecting positivity wrapped in wondrous drama with cymbals and drums making a heavenly noise, nope it's not always that way. Sometimes it's that silent courage you feel in the face of strife which pushes you forward a brave step at a time. Sometimes it's simply a warm sun and a gentle breeze which in some marvelous way lifts the worrisome lines off your weary face. Sometimes it's the chirping of a bird outside your window atop tree branches which opens up your eyes to a lovely glorious day. And sometimes it's the raindrops falling from gray skies which in a precious fleeting moment reminds you that the sun will come out later but it surely will.

Because you know in your heart that you can make it yet and that Somebody up there is keeping watch making sure that you'll be okay. And the joy coming out of that is way beyond measure! Try it to believe it.

Here's the bible reference found in that same book. (By the say, thanks Pamela Steinke. I love your book.)

Philippians 4:8
New International Version (NIV)

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

May the blessings of the Lenten season pour out upon you and your homes.

PRECIOUS MOMENTS OF OUR LIVES FOR A LOVELY DAY

Back from my early morning walk I went straight to my tiny patch of a garden. Looking at how the weeds were having a huge holiday camping in and round it I decided to end their pleasure with a pair of garden shears. Straight to the task I went about snipping here and there. I was pretty hard into the chore when a friend from another street who looked like she was also into her routine morning walk came by with a pleasant greeting. Glancing up I nodded with a smile. This led her to stop (Good Lord!) for a chit-chat much to my annoyance, disguised irritation. But it was such a lovely morning to even try to be ‘mean’. Yet looking down at my work I saw that I was only about two-thirds done with my weed-destruction mission and Old Sol was getting hot. I was faced with a dilemma.... be honest with being annoyed... or be kind. Yeah you guessed right... a little bit of kindness won’t hurt. So I turned towards her with ‘Musta?’ (How are you?)

She smiled even bigger with ‘Ganda ng araw noh?’ (Lovely day, isn’t it?)

To which I replied ‘Ay sobra!’ (Indeed it is!)

‘Wag lang umulan’ came her reply. (Hope it doesn’t rain)

She continued....‘Hay naku, maglalaba pa naman ako mamya. Kainis noh kapag ayun may sampay ka tapos biglang bumuhos ang ulan’   (Gosh, I intend to do the laundry later. It would really suck when you have hung up the laundry to dry and then the rain pours.)

I looked up to the clear blue skies with nary a cloud in sight and said.. ‘Maganda ang sikat ng araw, sapat yan para matuyo ang mga nilabhan mo maghapon.’   (The sun’s shining brightly enough to dry your clothes the rest of the day.)

‘Sana...’ she sighed. (I hope so...)

To this I said with a smile ... ‘Naku kung ganyan ang iniisip mo eh di simulan mo na siguro...’ (If that’s how you think about it, why don’t you get started then...)

If that was a disguised push for her to leave, I agree. I simply can’t stand negativity from anyone, especially if it stands to ruin a lovely day for me. And if she can’t appreciate a simple blessing as a wonderful day, there’s nothing much I can do about that but I hope she gets to understand what she’s missing.

When you’re having a lovely moment or day, enjoy it for what it is. Savor it.... the place, the people, the sights and sounds of it, and more. Don’t let anyone or anything take you away from such pleasure or delight. Neither should you allow any hint of negativity ever to douse your precious experience. Negativity is a joy-killer.

We live for the moments of our lives. A brightly shining morning sun, the soothing calm of a clear blue sky, the whirl of the wind, a baby’s angelic smile, the loving look in your lover’s eyes, a promotion at work, an unexpected fortune, a wedding or a baptism of a child, and even the falling of soft rain on your face. Wondrous moments of pure joy, of awesome discoveries, of intense living, of blessed experiences, of eureka moments, and of freeing your light to shine through and out to the world.

Think positive, think life, think blessing. And remember to thank God for it all. Oh yes indeed!!

Blessings, everyone! Have a nice weekend up ahead.

CREATE SPACE FOR MOMENTS OF JOY

"Having more joy does not necessarily
require a life overhaul --
you may just need to create
more space in your life for moments of joy."
-- Debrena Jackson Gandy

"Create space for moments of joy." --- Now isn't that simply beautiful. Or maybe you have forgotten what that means. C'mon, let's admit it most of us do or really have forgotten. This is what we know about life...... or so it seems 

 Life is survival. Survival means honing our talents or skills to survive. It also means being goal-centered. That also means making sure that we get there and won't let anything or anyone stand in the way of our journey. In the process we tend to be protective of our space, territory, function, plans. That also means being discerning of the who or what or when in our lives. Because we know that in this journey we often find out that what we think as friends are truly enemies and that what enemies we tend to see turn out to be friends. There's stiff competition and rivalry. This pushes us to learn to package our self to merit the highest adulation, attachment, favors, opportunity, preference. We seek that figure who would stand as that essential benefactor of those graces. We have learned to understand that because life is tough we would be needing a lot of help.... any help.... to make the journey seem easy and the goal attainable with possibly less or the least of risks. We aim to win.

That's life in the world out there, in huge or small measure, in every person's little corner of the world. And that robs our life of joy. Not much we can do about it really; it is what it is, like it or not.

But I can't live with that. Oh sure been through it all. Maybe that's why I insist on turning up high the spark of inner joy. Because I know it is the one thing that can and will hold you up when all else come falling down. It's there inside of us, maybe hidden for such a long time and maybe we have indeed forgotten how to experience it. Well then, learn again. Create room for it in your life. You need not look far, start right where you are... with the little things which make your weary heart smile. Create the space wherein it can flourish and grow and expand. Don't stifle it. Let it shine through and out. And most of all..... know your God --- the genuine one true foundation of joy. Joy which fills up our existence with blessings way beyond measure. Pure joy which only He can give.

Blessings to you all!

MY FAMILY HOLIDAY ON BORACAY ISLAND

The previous posts have all centered on the family's Boracay grand vacation in photographs. This current post now will be a bit longer than usual (at the risk of taxing your patience and interest Lols!).... as I intend to put in a few more pictures too. So this probably will be the last segment on my Family Boracay Holiday. I hope this will make your blog visit fun.

There is something that a vacation does to a person aside of course from obviously resting his weary mind body and soul. It makes one think..... a lot. The thoughts do not center on any one thing but churns itself feverishly with every sight and sound that confronts it. Nothing goes by unnoticed... every small detail goes through close scrutiny. This in turn generates a fresh influx of new perceptions or insights. And this is good. Just learn to crack through the thin veneer of glitz, gloss, and glamor.

On that wonderful vacation with my family, the sights and the sounds of the place revved up my senses to overdrive --- the sight of a fabulous sunset, the clear pristine waters, the cool white sandy shores, the green palm trees lining the beach, the people of different colors- cultures- nationalities, the diversity of shops all aiming for your wallet, the flashy display of attractions by hotels competing with each other for patronage, the blaring sounds of music coming out from every pub and bar, the raucous celebration of every sort from different groups in different places on the ground, the aroma of a variety of both familiar and exotic dishes, the sensory thrill of a good foot massage, or meeting the popular friendly canine resident of the island resort who goes by the name of Friday, and many many more. But having my hair braided or my arm henna tattooed would totally be out of the question. That would simply look outrageous on me! As to surfboarding, diving, snorkeling, or wind surfing – that will take another vacation I guess and a good mentor.

I count family time as the greatest moment or moments of all. You can just imagine the joy and pride I felt watching my daughters enjoy this wonderful island vacation and resort. And how I enjoyed the four of us (and my future-son-in-law) on those lovely walks down the long stretch of the shore, feeling the fine white sands under our bare feet, seeking out a good place for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, gushing over a delicious scrumptious piece of cake, frolicking on the beach, or picking up seashells washed up the shore, simply lounging by the shore just looking out to a gorgeous sunset, or be one in agreement that God sure blessed us all with beautiful nature and more so in life if we only open up our jaded eyes minds and hearts, or watch them taking charge over the flight schedules and transfers to and from the island to the mainland, or riding a pedicab to church for the Sunday mass, or trek off on an ATV (All Terrain Vehicle. That was fun!) to Mt. Luho, or see their care and concern for my comfort welfare and enjoyment like I remember I once was with them when they were kids long ago. How fast time flies... how they have grown up to be lovely affectionate and responsible daughters right after a mother's heart. I count family as such a wonderful gift from God.

It is good, all good. It tells me how we all go through the same things in life whoever you are whatever you do or wherever you are from. We work ourselves maybe 24/7 to the bone but we too love the idea of a great vacation in some lovely paradise where everybody else shares your idea of rest and recreation. And that no matter which way you want to go, we still are both the same and different all in the same breath. We like and love the same things or not, we hate the same things or not, we have the same thoughts and not too. And nothing lends such clarity to that than a vacation.

Take a vacation, folks. It makes you see life, people, things, the world, God, and your family better. Essentially it gets you connected to your core and restores balance -- Something which we easily tend to lose in the busyness of our lives and living.

So here ends my family holiday in pictures. But it felt good having those wonderful moments, experiences and pictures shared with good friends. So until the next adventure... :-) ...and I hope soon. Well, as Christine says "I'll be back". And I with Amchit, Malen, and Daniel would say to that "You bet!". :-)
Ciao and God bless!!

DON'T GIVE UP YOUR DREAMS

So you think that dreams belong only to the very young? When they arriving at this special point in their lives begin to think that the whole world beckons to them to experience its adventure, mystery, enigma, wonder, and new surprises? It's commonly the idea. It's a world of many firsts -- the first job, first major project, first recognition -- these and many more fire that passion in the heart. And truely off would they fly in pursuit of those dreams.

But.....

What if something unexpected takes you off that road? What if you are made to surrender or give up those dreams? What if you lose control of your destiny and somebody holds it in his hand? (we're not referring to god or religion this time)

You may feel that there is no reason for wanting to go on, that the chase would be pointless or useless anyhow, that life wants you to do this and not that, that when the dream has broken into bits and pieces it would be too late to put it back together again at anytime. So you resign yourself to your fate.

Are you sure?.....

Because I don't buy that. I know that dreams don't disappear. It's still there tucked up somewhere inside of you. Maybe pushed to the far back or corner, but it's there. And it's simply waiting to be resurrected, to be championed once more. It stays there with its small warm glow of hope and faith that one day YOU will come to your senses and pluck it out of the darness and bring it to the light where dreams truly belong.

It doesn't matter how much you have lost, or how much older you are now, or how strange or foolish it may look to others, or how much people will tell you that it will never work out. It doesn't matter. What matters, and you should etch this in your heart, is that you have picked up the shreded bits of your broken dreams and pieced them back together again. Oh it's true that you may or may not succeed but it's alright. Who cares?! (Lols, I'm taking my dream one tiny step at a time and I don't even know if I'll get there or not.) I think that the wonderful sense of joy and adventure would be enough to restore the glimmer in your eyes, brighten your smile, and put back that long lost bounce in your step! That makes it all worthwhile. Because, believe me, from there... tomorrows could be beautiful. Besides, God is delighted by dreamers with a lot of spunk.

"When you find a Dream inside your heart
Don't ever let it go
For Dreams are the tiny seeds from
Which beautiful Tomorrows Grow"

(Thanks to Parth for this lovely quote, author unknown.)

DON'T WE NEED A LITTLE MAGIC IN OUR LIVES

The other day I heard someone say that life was 'boring - boring - boring!'. Yeah, he said that three times. And he was right inside the mall with all possible distractions that could take a person's mind off cares and woes even if it be for just a few hours. Well, so what makes for 'boring'? I could venture a few descriptons, like --- absence of activity, lack of interest, dearth of inspiration, scarcity of surprises, or decline of hope and belief in life and living. Everybody has his own reason, I am sure, but valid or not it still is no excuse for giving up on feeling alive.

Alive - that is the one big word that explains everything and anything there is in our life. Anything means the good, the bad, the sorry, and the glad -- and everything else in between all that. It includes all the people you meet - the goodies and the baddies and yah some in-betweens too.

And yet despite a ful plate we still get to be bored. Why is that?

It's because.. we lost something somewhere back there.

I think what we need is to gain it back -- that special something we once had or were when we knew how to --- marvel, be in awe, feel the stars in our eyes, laugh with gless at a big surprise, feel the adrenalin rush in our veins, feel our steps quicken, or hear the warm thumpity-thump of our heart for someone or something.

It's something you can't fully explain but I think you don't need to anyway. it's enough that it brings the sparkle in your eyes, puts a gorgeous smile on your face, makes you feel up there on cloud 9, or walk about with a song in your head and heart -- or maybe sing in the rain. It's this wonderful joyous sense of living.

It's magic!

And everybody needs a little, and more if you can, MAGIC in their lives. So get back the magic into your life. See life and the world as --- magic and magical. You can if you try. It's all up to you. Don't lose that little kid inside. :-)

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Just in case you wonder, am blogging from the net cafe this time. Lols! :-)

THE 'DONE IT' LIST

We have created so many different kinds of lists for every plausible activity in our small mundane lives. There’s the to-do list, priority list, shopping list, friends list, grocery list, Christmas list, appointments list, book list, popular song list, best dressed list, worst dressed list, or the top ten Hollywood hunks list (hmmm, I’d like to see this one! Lols).

But I haven’t seen anyone do this list --- the “DONE IT” list. Well, have you or anyone you know ever done a list of that kind? Or maybe they have but given a different name.

So what’s in a “Done It” list? If a “To-do” list holds goals, hopes, plans, wishes, and dreams aimed for… the “Done It” list records ‘been there – done that’ moments, eureka moments, and victories. When a ‘To-do’ list is all about work, the ‘done it’ list is its celebration and reward. The former could bring in tension and anxiety, but the latter will bring in joy, happiness, and gratefulness.

Jill is a good friend of mine and here’s what she sent me. A partial list because to quote her ‘everyday I get more and more added to the list and each time it simply doubles up my pleasure’. Unquote.

My Done-It List

-Took driving lessons two weeks ago (Whew!)
-Drove to work and back by myself last Monday (Hurray!)
-Bungee jumped for the very first time last summer (Exhilarating!)
-Danced boogie-woogie in my super high-heeled shoes (Owee feeling sexy!)
-Got on a sailboat for my first sailing in Boracay (Felt good!)
-Led a team of four in a major sales presentation to stockholders and was commended for a good job (Yippee!)
-Parted with a favorite bracelet which reminded me of a bad relationship (Good riddance!)
-Finally read and finished the book that was sleeping under my pillow for weeks and weeks (That WAS a good book; why didn’t I do it sooner?!)

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There you go, Jill and her ‘Done It’ list.
What about you, what’s on your ‘Done It’ list?

FILL LIFE WITH MOMENTS

A wonderful gentleman and friend Parthasarathi sent me this in email recently -- "Life never seems to be the way we want it, But we have to live it the best way we can. There is no perfect life, But we can always fill it with perfect Moments..." Thanks, Parth. -- Lovely, isn't it? And I particularly loved this line.... 'There is no perfect life, But we can always fill it with perfect Moments...'

That seemed to be my guiding principle when I started in retirement. When one comes to a close in one chapter of one's life (one of several chapters, of course), he has then to change gear and move in another direction to fill in the void created. Because there is a lingering void or a brief spell between chapters of life. It's like a landing on a long flight of stairs wherein one is given the chance to catch his breath and energize for the next flight up that stair.

I took that chance to rethink my directions in moving forward. The plans I had before seemed insufficient now and irrelevant with some things taken away and some more added which I didn't plan for. This made me think how fragile life can truly be. So I decided to scratch off 'forever' from my dictionary and resolved to live in -- moments.

Moments cannot be bought or bargained for, I thought then that I will and should create my own. But it turned out that I was going to be blessed far more that I expected wished or prayed for!

MOMENTS.....

-when my youngest daughter surprised me with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers on Mother's Day

-when my second daughter gave me a surprise treat on my birthday by taking me to lunch in Tagaytay City overlooking the magnificent Taal Volcano

-when my eldest daughter gave me a fantastic massage on my back which pain made my day grumpy

-when my pet dog came to me as I sat on the sofa watching TV and lovingly nestled her head close at my side

-when the soya vendor with a warm smile added two free packs to the ones I bought

-when I watched the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen

-when I heard a tiny bird somewhere up the treetops singing his tiny song and a gentle breeze nudged the leaves to a dance

.....and zillions more through the years!

What I'm trying to say is --- FILL LIFE WITH MOMENTS, PERFECT OR IMPERFECT; THAT DOESN'T MATTER. WHEN IT MAKES YOU SMILE... THAT IS PERFECT.

BUSY IS NOT REALLY WHAT LIFE IS ALL ABOUT

The day is almost over. So what was today like? Overcast skies, dreary news on TV, and people everywhere I look just plain darn busy. Oh but busy is okay. Yeah, we need to be busy to put bread on the table, to send our children to school, to put clothes on our bodies, to buy things and stuff, to feel secure, to be important, to be respected, to achieve something, to reach for the stars.

The only problem I can see is -- they seem such a huge burden, like life is nothing but...

getting busy, doing busy, thinking busy, talking busy, dreaming busy, playing busy, praying busy.

Really. Is that all there is to life and living?? No joy?? You tell me.