TRUTH, LIKE ROSES, HAVE THORNS ABOUT THEM

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Remember my dear friend from India.. Mr. Quote Man? Not his real name, of course. He is a longtime friend since my early days in the blog at Indiatimes. That's about a decade ago. We haven't skipped a chance to connect every time we're online, in both highs and in lows, in all those great years of friendship. A treasure, indeed.
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Well, in the past two years or so he somehow made it his mission to pass on to me his favorite quotes the goal of which is to make me write, particularly when I'm down to a 'writer's block'. He knows how it is because he struggles with it, too, being a writer himself.
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Making the selected quote the subject of the day we then bombard each other via email (back-and-forth) with insights, perceptions, interpretations enough to fill a book. A thick one, I should say.
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It's always such fun and a wonderful learning moment every time because he is such a rare specie of open-mindedness, is broadminded to a fault, unbelievably selfless, and is the least concerned with the usual I-Me-My-Mine of life and living. (Hmmm... I remember someone say this before .. "At this age you don't bother about that anymore.")
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Can you believe that!? Yeah, sometimes it does make me think maybe this guy might be from some strange planet in the galactic realm out there.... an alien! A nice alien... so much like some nice earthlings that have crossed my path, too.
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Well, this was another quote he sent to my email.........
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"Truths, like roses, have thorns about them."   -   (Henry Blinn)
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That's right, isn't it?
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Truths are not always welcome and why we shrink or shirk from it with elaborately cooked up excuses.  Motivated by so much an aversion or diversion from what could be apparent challenges to one's preconceived notion or notions.  But all for naught because truth will seek you out. Always. Sooner or later. Know that to be true?

 (I found this lovely quote/poster online and loved it. Again true, right?)

WE ARE ALL SO MUCH THE SAME --- AND SO MUCH DIFFERENT TOO

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This early morning I was sweeping the patio of last night's rain which flooded the tiled floor about an inch high. Not much, I know, so not much effort either in performing the task.
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Almost done with the whole thing when came loud chatter floating into my direction from the street outside. Three middle-aged ladies were engaged in conversation in such high-pitched voices that easily anyone could hear what they were talking about. As they passed my front of the street I could catch snippets of their chat...... but I wouldn't put them down here as it would be very unfair to hear only one side of the story.
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Gossip. Bashing. Or whatever other name it's called is never fair..... is unkind..... is opinionated (To my young readers, that means --- 'of fixed views').
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No two persons are alike..... nor do they travel the same life road..... nor do they have the same life story. Each one is unique.... different.... an individual. Whatever he (or she) goes through in his own journey is tailored fit for him alone. His experiences, observations, perceptions, insights, opinions, challenges, or drama are all his. Love, laughter, tears, fear, embarrassment, confusion, disappointment, anger, bewilderment, doubt, joy, misery, sorrow, excitement, wonder, challenges...... the whole range of life and living are all lived in his own special individual character and nature. His own true form or template.
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It would be unfair to gauge his life through our own set of eyes, mind, and heart. Like my mom used to say........ "I am not her; she is not me."   Let that person be who he was or is meant to be. He will have his own set of mistakes, blenders, and lessons to learn. He will do it in his own pace and time and reason.   

The thing is every person is growing as he should preset by Someone above. Sure, he is going to fumble and his mistakes may be quite irritating to us -- we may fuss over his mistakes, fume at his imperfections, curse his stupidity. Sometimes it ruins the day for us. But heyy, we fumble too and our own blunders may sometimes impact the people around us the wrong way. So let's try to be kinder to their imperfections as we also hope that others may be kinder to our own. It's the same road we're taking.

As someone once said.....  'We must not allow other people's limited perceptions to define us.'  Besides we have no idea what people are dealing with in their personal lives.
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I guess what mom was trying to tell me was.....
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Let's try to be more gentle with one another. Be kinder. Be understanding and compassionate. Be aware that we all are, separately or collectively, living our own lives and writing our own life stories.
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That makes us all the same .... and that makes us all different, too. By God's design.
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God bless you.

YOU CAN'T BE ALL THINGS TO ALL PEOPLE

 

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I was cruising down the LinkedIn site and stumbled on this these beautiful lines. It's just a part of the article '8 Behaviors of Phenomenally Successful People', (By Jeff Haden. Ghost writer, speaker, LinkedIn influencer, contributing editor for Inc.) The article makes for a good read but these lines at the bottom struck me the most....... to quote'
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"You worry about what other people think. (Don't feel bad -- I'm sure I do that as much as anyone.) Yet no matter how hard you try, you can't be all things to all people. But you can be as many things as possible to the people you love. And you can be the best you. Be yourself. That is the one thing you can do better than anyone else."
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I have singled that out because it resonated well with a chat I had with a friend a couple of months ago. She's one who worries a lot about what others may say about whatever she does. Drives me crazy listening to her list of -- 'what if' -- 'would they like it' -- 'am I doing it right'.
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She is a people pleaser but is overdoing the whole thing much to her own discomfort and misery. Sad?.. but don't worry, she's quite an intelligent person too and will in good time realize what she should be learning and change what should be changed. Just needing a gentle nudge perhaps in that direction. Sometimes change comes slow and the transformation slower to some people.
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Jeff Haden said it perfectly.... 'Yet no matter how hard you try, you can't be all things to all people.' -
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So why even try? Every person on this planet sees the world, life, people through his own set of eyes.. brains, and heart. He thinks, sees, and acts off his own set of insights, perceptions, measure and standards. So whatever he sees it may not really be all about you (if you happen to be in the picture); rather it's dictated by his own set of rules by which he evaluates everything, tangible or intangible. Remember this? -- That 'we see things not as they are but as we are.'
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The best way to live life is how Jeff Haden puts it ---- 'And you can be the best you. Be yourself. That is the one thing you can do better than anyone else.' ---- And I agree 200%. And don't listen to people who say that you can't... because you can!
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By the way, it's still the month of June; I know somebody out there has this as his or her birthday month, too. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! May you be blessed with wonderful things to last you a lifetime.

WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?

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I wasn't meaning to write this morning;  I had a book to read. But a question popped up in my mind. A simple one and maybe some would think quite stupid. The question was this...........


"What are your thoughts?"

We hear that often, don't we? I do, more in times of argument or confusion or censure. But then if you think hard about that, it is a good question.

Why?

We in our day to day lives are more inclined to see things from our own standpoint or point of view. We come to judgement or conclusion filtered through our own benchmark of thoughts, insights, experience, preferences, or perceptions. We do that; I do that.

Consider this.

What if we knew a person's thoughts? By trying to ferret out what the other person's thoughts are about something..... the issue at hand, the thing facing him or when just being still ..... we could gather fresh new helpful insights. It could be something as confronting a huge drama in his life or it could be just a simple thing as tying his shoe ....  new interesting discoveries could unfold to us. It could perchance lead us to a better understanding of that person and his situation. It could tone down our judgement, bias, opinion, and our feeble attempts at writing his story ourselves. It could lead us to some new learning or adventure.

A bigger picture lies somewhere in there. He is writing his own story; living it. Or perhaps talking to his soul. We are but spectators. We need not participate in it .. unless we are destined to.

But we must at least try to understand his thoughts. Better understanding brings out better responses. We each may live separate lives but we all stand connected. His thoughts, right or wrong, can or may in some measure, impact our lives.. directly or indirectly. If something creates ripples in a huge pond, those ripples travel through the rest of the pond touching it in every which way whether the creatures living in their own side of that same pond like it or not. It's the same in the human world. Someone may make your day bad or good without even trying to. It just is. He is just is. Understand.

With better understanding we can make better responses. Better responses can thwart off whatever unnecessary stresses could threaten our own tiny space and too its peace though we stand connected to the even bigger tapestry of life.

Now off I go to my date with a book.
Have a great day....  live in the moment.
Blessings, everyone!

YOU AND YOUR PERCEPTIONS

Claudia Black said this >> "Trust in yourself. Your perceptions are often far more accurate than you are willing to believe."

--- Perceptions about people come from keen observation and insight on those who travel to your own sphere and space. You get a lot of practice because many are sent by God to you for your good learning. You can get better at it from person to person to person. Learn well. It can help you sift through the pebbles to get to the grain.. or something like that.