LIFE IS BOTH THE SMILES AND THE TEARS

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This morning good friend, Mr. Quote Man, sent me this quote. And I liked it. Because I know that it would ring a bell in many hearts out there. It speaks to your memories of how life happened to you then and as it continues now.

That's what I have learned, too. Back then, I was waiting to be happy because I thought that life was meant to be lived happy. And it did not begin until I felt happy. But I was proven wrong many times. Then I finally got it.. That the pain, hurt, fear, confusion, disappointment, frustration, anxiety, weariness, defeat, and even so much more which made my heart cry ----- were also called life.

Here's the quote:

For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin.....
But there was always some obstacle in the way,
something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business,
time still to be served, a debt to be paid.
Then life would begin.
At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.

---- Alfred Souza

Beautiful, isn't it?
Remember, folks..... Smile and the world smiles with you.

AN EARLY MORNING WISDOM WALK

Am just standing out the gate of the house, not yet walking. I don’t know, things just sweep into my brain and get me into thinking mode just like that. I can’t put it aside, nope, because it won’t let me until I get it all sorted out clear through. For instance, I look down at my walking shoes and I see just how good it is to have one as perfect as this. It hugs my ankle firm and its thick soles lets me go over gravel and stones with ease. I’d like to think that a person should arm himself with that kind of attitude – firm and thick. Oh yes, firm in his values or goals with thick or solid principles which certainly will help him walk through life’s challenges with no or minimal difficulty.

I look up and see the road I will be walking on stretching out before me. At this starting point of my one-hour-walk, the road I see is quite smooth wide and paved. As I go farther down it, the road changes its terrain. Cracked and uneven in some parts, blotched with pebbles, stones, and rocks in another, and strewn with nature’s mess --- bird droppings, dogs’ shit, fallen leaves and fruits rotting on the ground. I must look like a funny sight skipping over the shit or zigzagging my way through, over, or around the mess.

Doesn’t that remind you so much of life – this life journey we each embark on? Sometimes we get it fun and pleasurable; at times it becomes so disjointed and utterly aggravating with odd situations; and then in some again it gives us the darn annoying and maddening circumstances which try our patience and test our resolve. We get it all, don’t we, in this uneven terrain we travel on. But when faced with such challenges, I fall back on the famous words of Michael Jordan ---

"Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it."

There’s so much I can see in that walk, so much like life itself. But uncannily when I get to the end of my hike and am back home where I started, I get this feeling that nothing has ended but simply stands on temporary ‘freeze’ -- poised to resume again with the next morning walk. And that’s what happens on my next walk. The walk comes to life again with fresh observations, insights, perceptions, and learning. It’s never the same experience every time. Always something new unfolds itself before my eyes. It pays to pay attention.