WORK IS NOT ALL OF LIFE. NEITHER IS LIFE JUST WORK.

Here’s a thought……..

Work is good, whatever work you do. (We need it.) But truthfully it does not need you. Because if you can't do the job, it will find somebody else who can and will. There always is a long queu... a very long one... outside the company door waiting and wanting your job. Harsh but true.

So...

Work with your very best, give it your best shot but do not let life pass you by stuck at your desk or something. -- Work is not all of life. Neither is life just work.-- There's more out there in this big wide magnificent world... there's more you can do with who you are and with your God-given talents. There are people waiting to be part of your time -- of you (your family is one). Time becomes precious in good precious friendships, communities, etc.. Enjoy it.

Most of all God didn't say that life should be spent exhausting or slaving yourself over one thing alone. He intended you to enjoy life to the fullest (there is a verse in the bible about that). And that means to experience and relish life's vast potential for beauty and good. Bask in the glory of nature, such beautiful and amazing diversity. Connect and interact with good hearts and kind souls. And remember that living those wonderful moments with your family can give you a delicious taste of heaven here on earth. That’s a most precious gift.

Grow as you should but not only with charts, statistics, reports, data, or picks and shovels, etc. Grow as God intended you to grow --- in your fullest human potential…. being a delight to the people around you…… and most of all --- a bigger delight to His heart.

So what’s keeping you? Time waits for no one. You decide. :-)

May the good Lord bless you with the choicest of blessings, friends.

 

 

OF BLOGGING... STORIES.... AND STORYTELLERS

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There is a diversity of reasons why people do what they do. In every area of our lives -- the whatever-however-wherever it may be -- is what makes up your story. Every bit and piece in it is everything that tells the world who you are. Because everybody is a story.
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But -- that is just one part of the whole..... Completing that is the listener. One is nothing without the other. Somebody tells -- somebody listens. Somebody writes -- somebody reads.
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Try cruising down a blog site, stop awhile and visit a blog or blogs and you will know what I mean. You will begin to appreciate such display of diversity, of interests, and the wide range of expression in telling it. The thing to remember is that it's not just all about words or pictures but it's all about people and their stories. and how it's told.
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Some people, as I have heard them say, remark that it's a frivolous or flippant world and is such a waste of time. I will disagree to that. If some blogs do appear as such it does not necessarily reflect the site or the activity itself but rather it simply points you to the person writing it. The work is reflective of its creator.
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Each day adds another page to our life story. Make it count, make it matter. Learn whatever there is to learn every time the learning comes to your doorstep. Recognize and appreciate the carrier of the lesson -- acknowledge its presence... the person who is simply sharing his or her own story. As you have yours and share it too in your own special way in your own corner of the world and universe.
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Blessings to you and your dear ones. Great day ahead; enjoy! God bless you.

 #learning   #writing   #blogging   #storytellers   #blogworkshop 

 

The What:  Blissful Blogging Workshop

  

The Where:   Tweedle Book Cafe

 

The food --- but of course!

  

The organizers.. and speaker.

 

The storytellers.

 

 

 

New friends.. seatmates.. teammates.

  

#TheLearningJunkies

 

LOVING YOUR JOB IS THE PREREQUISITE FOR A JOB WELL DONE

Many years ago when I was in my first job, I would often sit by myself wracking my brains dry trying to figure out the what-and-how of doing a great job. One day Mom, having noticed my bewilderment and anxiety, came to me, sat down, and said............. 'The only way to do a great job is to love it and give it your best shot. Even the geniuses of men with all their brilliance won't make it if what they do is simply out of the exercise of competition and rivalry. That would simply be a display of lame motivation. Because the truly motivated person knows that only by genuinely loving your work..... being passionate about it..... by learning something everyday..... and sincerely caring enough to put out the very best can performance be said to be truly outstanding. So whether you are a simple janitor, street-cleaner, salesperson, the office clerk or the president of your company, loving your job is the prerequisite for a job well done. The rest will follow.'
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I still miss her today as I did that year she left me and my brother. Life would have been so much lighter and grand with her by my side and with her bottomless stack of wisdom and care. She always had the right words, encouragement, strength, hope, faith, and positivity when my own failed. I remember best what she would always say to me............ 'Press on, Honey, got you covered with prayers.'   That made a great deal of difference in my life back then. But I have with me all those wonderful memories she left behind. I can say that with those golden memories inside my backpack, my life journey would be a breeze.
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"Older and wiser voices can always help you find the right path, if you are only willing to listen." -- Jimmy Buffett

YOU DEFINE YOUR WORK AND LIFE BY YOUR ATTITUDE

Oh but my friend never misses a day in sending me nuggets of wisdom in my email. Well, he does me a great service because I love quotes. And if some of you would wonder just why he does painstakingly send me quotes? I'll tell you why.... it's his way of nudging me to write! Makulit! :-)

Here's what he sent me this morning.......

"If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper,
sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures,
like Shakespeare wrote poetry,
like Beethoven composed music;
sweep streets so well
that all the hosts of heaven and earth
will have to pause and say,
'Here lived a great street sweeper, who swept his job well'."

Martin Luther King ---

The attitude to work is more important than the work itself!

Unquote.

I like that. Makes sense, doesn't it? Giving our best in whatever job we have or do is just what is expected of us. Anything less than that is mediocrity and mediocrity has no place in the language of successful people. A job done with divided attention, unfocused, sloppy, slipshod, irresponsible, unprepared, poorly thought out, skin-deep, or uncaring attitude won't make the mark I can assure you. Whether we be a -- clerk, mailman, busboy, saleslady, taxi driver, carpenter, telephone man, or a street sweeper ... but also includes positions of high rank -- it's not the job but the person who works it that matters.

What is our attitude towards work and moving that to the bigger realm of life itself? I have learned that --- Your attitude is you.... and you define life for yourself. Nobody can or will do that for you. You either fail or succeed, make it or break it. Enjoy or feel miserable. That's all up to you.

Why settle for less? Success, whether in huge or small measure, is within our control. All it takes is in having the right attitude ---- the attitude of being the best with what or who we are. Besides remember our moms telling us that 'work is prayer' too? :-)

Hope everyone's having a grand time with summer. Hot maybe but good old Sol is simply most welcome when thoughts are bent on vacations, right? :-) Blessings!

WORK IS NOT ALL OF LIFE - NEITHER IS LIFE JUST WORK

Have been part of the work force before. Loved my job, my boss, my colleagues and friends. Gave work my best shot but never was it in any way above my choice job in the home. My family... my children received the best of me heart and soul and spiritually. I got them covered with prayers and that was and still is the best thing that I ever did and still do.. for them. Sacrifice must have been on the menu too but honestly it never seemed like one. It never is. It's just something you do from the heart naturally. Ask any mother and she will tell you the same. I love my family this big!!

Why am writing this now is to say to someone..... that work is good. We need it. But truthfully it does not need you. Because if you can't do the job, it will find somebody else who can and will.

So...

Work with your very best but do not let life pass you by stuck at your desk. Work is not all of life. Neither is life just work. There's more out there in this big wide magnificent world... there's more you can do with who you are... there are people waiting to be part of your time -- of you (your family is one)... and most of all God didn't say that life should be spent exhausting yourself over one thing alone. He intended you to enjoy life to the fullest (there is a verse in the bible about that). And that means.....

..... savor life's wondrous potential for beauty and good, bask in the glory of nature, connect with good hearts and souls ready to welcome you into their midst, and treasure the moments which your family alone can give you akin to a delicious taste of heaven on earth.... and grow as you should but not only with charts, statistics, reports, data, etc. Grow as God intended you to grow --- a delight to His heart.

So why don't you?

Bless you all! :-)

(Photo courtesy of a good online friend; sent to me today)

STOP THE WORLD -- I'M GOING FISHING

I was finishing a new post when I got this piece (from Sanjeev) in my inbox. It's nothing new because I have seen it before and maybe so have you. It's been circulating around on the internet for so long. But when I saw this, a friend came to mind. Anyway, do take time to read this. :-)

One day a fisherman was lying on a beautiful beach, with his fishing pole propped up in the sand and his solitary line cast out into the sparkling blue surf. He was enjoying the warmth of the afternoon sun and the prospect of catching a fish.

About that time, a businessman came walking down the beach, trying to relieve some of the stress of his workday. He noticed the fisherman sitting on the beach and decided to find out why this fisherman was fishing instead of working harder to make a living for himself and his family. "

"You aren't going to catch many fish that way," said the businessman to the fisherman. "You should be working rather than lying on the beach!"

The fisherman looked up at the businessman, smiled and replied, "And what will my reward be?"

"Well, you can get bigger nets and catch more fish!" was the businessman's answer.

"And then what will my reward be?" asked the fisherman, still smiling.

The businessman replied, "You will make money and you'll be able to buy a boat, which will then result in larger catches of fish!"

"And then what will my reward be?" asked the fisherman again.

The businessman was beginning to get a little irritated with the fisherman's questions. "You can buy a bigger boat, and hire some people to work for you!" he said. "And then what will my reward be?" repeated the fisherman.

The businessman was getting angry. "Don't you understand? You can build up a fleet of fishing boats, sail all over the world, and let all your employees catch fish for you!"

Once again the fisherman asked, "And then what will my reward be?"

The businessman was red with rage and shouted at the fisherman, "Don't you understand that you can become so rich that you will never have to work for your living again! You can spend all the rest of your days sitting on this beach, looking at the sunset. You won't have a care in the world!"

The fisherman, still smiling, looked up and said, "And what do you think I'm doing right now....?"

--- What I think is it's not wrong to work hard for your dreams. And it's okay to enjoy the fruits of your labor too. Lols! Find your balance. And --- pay no attention to some who think you are not doing enough. They haven't yet learned that it's not kind to judge people by appearances. Could he tell that this perceived lazy fisherman was actually a billionaire just having some good clean fun? :-)

LIFE ISN'T ONLY ABOUT WORK

There was a time long ago in my teens that I would think ‘doing nothing’ was a crime. So I was careful that nobody would see me idle or resting. Made it a point that I would be seen as ‘doing something’ ‘working on something’ ‘performing’ ‘taking action’ – even when it was not necessary at all. Weird, wasn’t it? Well, life was a struggle and I was made to do my part to keep the wheels turning. Mom worked, Dad too, brother did the same—they all worked their butts out for the family. It got so hammered into me that pretty long the idea of rest became an abomination to my young mind. I was no longer comfortable being at rest. I saw the world and life as w-o-r-k!

So it was then and still was when I joined the corporate world… even if the reasons I slaved myself for were no longer there. Oh I still toiled my bones out on some days like I used to – well, habits are hard to shake off. But by some stroke of providence (that would be quite another long story) I began to change. This led me to a better appreciation of work and life, activity and rest, of what I can or can’t do and of what I should do given the right chance or opportunity.

I began to enjoy the day, time, moments, events, people, and the world at large. To my new eyes and mind the sky seemed bluer, the trees greener, the clouds like billows of cotton, the river waters rolling down merrily. I began to notice everything there was to see – hear – touch – experience – because I took the time to rest from my labors. So if I would be asked again… Doing nothing sitting under the shade of a tree or dipping my feet in the waters by the shore or looking up at the star strewn evening skies – is time well spent indeed, believe me. I realized finally that life isn’t all about work and work is not life and that a good balance between work and rest gives us a better handle on life and on ourselves. And so much more – I learned to see God better and His work in my life clearly… and learned well to appreciate it with my whole heart. In turn He taught me how to appreciate me.

"Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time." -- J. Lubbock

BUILD YOUR DREAM DAY BY DAY (a test blog post)

I know what it’s like at times when you feel that nothing seems to work or happen, that everything you’ve done feels like all going down the drain. I know what impatience is like. It’s like tying your shoe lace but your fingers won’t cooperate…like it has a life of its own. That feeling can be so frustrating when pursuing a dream. Feeling that way restricts your vision to seeing potential and curbs it down to feeling ‘I’ve lost it’. Wearisome thought. How it can gnaw at our reserves of courage, strength, determination, energy. It eats it all up wholesale.

In many instances in life, we often find ourselves stuck in a situation like that. The first thing that comes to mind is to hide in your room, sit on the bed, and stare down at your feet - Nope, no clues to be found there whatsoever. I guess a dejected person always looks down, hangs down his head or bows down – a message of complete surrender to whatever it is that confronts him and has won over him.

We have our dreams big and small cuddled close in our hearts. All we want and hope for is to do something great for ourselves or for the people we love. Just like a hopeful and excited fresh graduate who would head off to the big city to try his luck there. But the big city, as often it does, can be like an ugly ogre who can and will rip up weak hearts to pieces dashing dreams to the ground.

Then eventually we lose the will to fight as courage drains out of us like a broken faucet its water running wildly out. Sure enough the next thing that we do is we take down our bags, pack our things, and take the first plane home -- Defeated.

But wait and listen.

‘This is just one day of the many more days you will be having in your journey towards your goal. So do what you must do-- today. Whatever it is, big or small, do it and when you’re through at the end of this day, rest!. When the morning comes, you will do it again. And in every day that follows it – over and over and over till your eyes drop.

A carpenter hammers at a nail several times with sure firm strokes before the nail finally sinks into the wood, right? That’s how you follow a dream – you doggedly follow it one day at a time for many days, weeks, months, or years until you finally get there. See yourself as bubbling waters running through both calm and rugged terrain and river beds stopping for no one or nothing – just rolling along happily until it gets home to the sea.

Time isn’t the main thing here; it is your effort that goes into building your dream which counts. Work at it with sure deliberate steps one piece at a time, one step at a time --day by day. Just hammer at it with everything you’ve got and take it one day to the next. You’ll get there maybe even sooner than you think. Oh by the way, trust God too cause He’s right there hammering with you. ’

"You will achieve a grand dream, a day at a time, so set goals for each day -- not long and difficult projects, but chores that will take you, step by step, toward your rainbow. Write them down, if you must, but limit your list so that you won't have to drag today's undone matters into tomorrow. Remember that you cannot build your pyramid in twenty-four hours. Be patient. Never allow your day to become so cluttered that you neglect your most important goal -- to do the best you can, enjoy this day, and rest satisfied with what you have accomplished." -(Og Mandino)