Saturday, November 28, 2009

Four Things to Learn

If there's anything you should keep in mind for life, these are the few things.

I have four things to learn in life:

to think clearly without hurry or confusion;

to love everybody sincerely;

to act in everything with the highest motives;

to trust in God unhesitatingly.

Albert Schweitzer

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Things to remember....everyday

Perhaps this year has been the bleakest for humanity.

I watched 2012 and the best quote was,"The day we stop fighting for each other, that's THE day we lose OUR HUMANITY".

Here's something for you to remember.


If you want your dreams to come true, don't oversleep.

The smallest good deed is better than the grandest intention.
Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important.
The best vitamin for making friends....B1.
The 10 commandments are not multiple choice.
The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts.
Minds are like parachutes...they function only when open.
Ideas won't work unless YOU do.
One thing you can't recycle is wasted time.
One who lacks the courage to start has already finished.
The heaviest thing to carry is a grudge.
Don't learn safety rules by accident.
We lie the loudest when we lie to ourselves.
Jumping to conclusions can be bad exercise.
A turtle makes progress when it sticks it's head out.
One thing you can give and still keep...is your word.

AND FINALLY...

The pursuit of happiness is the chase of a lifetime!

To live by being an example

There's a story about Gandhi.
When you go through his life story, you just cannot help but be inspired.

One day a woman came to see Gandhi with her son in tow."Tell my son to stop eating sugar!" she demanded of Ghandi.

Gandhi thought for a moment and said "Come back tomorrow."

The woman and her son returned the next day.

Gandhi motioned the son forward and said "Stop eating sugar".

The son bowed his head, nodded and started to walk away but his mother stopped him and turned to Gandhi.

"You could have said that yesterday. Why did you have uscome back today?" she asked.

"Yesterday", Gandhi replied "I was STILL eating sugar".

Hope

I've been called the unabashed/eternal optimist, but I believe that without hope, you have nothing.
Here's something to hope with.


If you can look at the sunset and smile, then you still have hope.

If you can find beauty in the colors of a small flower, then you still have hope.

If you can find pleasure in the movement of a butterfly, then you still have hope.

If the smile of a child can still warm your heart, then you still have hope.

If you can see the good in other people, then you still have hope.

If the rain breaking on a roof top can still lull you to sleep, then you still have hope.

If the sight of a rainbow still makes you stop and stare in wonder, then you still have hope.

If the soft fur of a favored pet still feels pleasant under your fingertips, then you still have hope.

If you meet new people with a trace of excitement and optimism, then you still have hope.

If you give people the benefit of a doubt, then you still have hope.

If you still offer your hand in friendship to others that have touched your life, then you still have hope.

If receiving an unexpected card or letter still brings a pleasant surprise, then you still have hope.
If the suffering of others still fills you with pain and frustration, then you still have hope.

If you refuse to let a friendship die, or accept that it must end, then you still have hope.

If you look forward to a time or place of quiet and reflection, then you still have hope.

If you still buy the ornaments, put up the Christmas tree or cook the turkey, then you still have hope.

If you still watch love stories or want the endings to be happy, then you still have hope.

If you can look to the past and smile, then you still have hope.

If, when faced with the bad, when told everything is futile, you can still look up and end the conversation with the phrase...."yeah....BUT.." then you still have hope.

Hope is such a marvelous thing.
It bends, it twists, it sometimes hides, but rarely does it break.
It sustains us when nothing else can.
It gives us reason to continue and courage to move ahead, when we tell ourselves we'd rather give in.

Hope puts a smile on our face when the heart cannot manage.

Hope puts our feet on the path when our eyes cannot see it.

Hope moves us to act when our souls are confused of the direction.

Hope is a wonderful thing, something to be cherished and nurtured, and something that will refresh us in return.

And it can be found in each of us, and it can bring light into the darkest of places.

NEVER LOSE HOPE.

Saturday, November 07, 2009

Someone's mother

I've always wanted to post this, and I know it's probably because I have a guilty conscience. You see, years ago, when my granny was still alive, we used to go to the movies.
I got to the age where I began to be interested in girls. There was a girl, Mei Mei, whom I really liked, and one day when granny and I were at the Lido cinema, she happened to be there too.
I don't know why, but somehow when children TURN into teenagers, they associate being with older people as "UNCOOL".
So, as I walked with my granny, hand in hand, I saw her when we turned the corner. I immediately let go and moved to a distance.
My granny didn't understand, and I never should've done it in the first place.
Mahma, I'm sorry. I know you're in Heaven now, but I know better now.
Here's to the senior folks. We MUST treat them better.

Somebody's mother

The woman was old and ragged and gray
And bent with the chill of the winter's day.
The street was wet with the recent snow,
And the woman's feet were aged and slow.

She stood at the crossing and waited long,
Alone, uncared for, amid the throng
Of human beings who passed her by,
Nor heeded the glance of her anxious eye.

Down the street with laughter and shout,
Glad in the freedom of "school let out,
"Came the boys like a flock of sheep,
Hailing the snow piled white and deep.

Past the woman so old and gray
Hastened the children on their way,
Nor offered a helping hand to her,
So meek, so timid, afraid to stir,

Lest the carriage wheels or the horses' feet
Should crowd her down in the slippery street.
At last came one of the merry troop,
The gayest laddie of all the group;

He paused beside her and whispered low,
"I'll help you across if you wish to go."
Her aged hand on his strong young arm
She placed, and so, without hurt or harm,

He guided her trembling feet along,
Proud that his own were firm and strong.
Then back again to his friends he went,
His young heart happy and well content.

"She's somebody's mother, boys, you know,
For all she's aged and poor and slow;
"And I hope some fellow with lend a hand
To help my mother, you understand,

If ever she's poor and old and gray,
When her own dear boy is far away."
And "somebody's mother" bowed low her head
In her home that night, and the prayer she said

Was, "God be kind to the noble boy
Who is somebody's son and pride and joy."

Great advice for those dealing with racists etc

I often read this column done by Cary Tennis in Salon.
He's an amazing guru (if I can call him that) with great perspective on life and it's events.
Here's a sample of a retort you can use against those idiots who have little tolerance for anything or anyone different from them. This is advice for someone has a bigoted colleague.

I suggest you call him out into the hall and in front of your colleagues say something like the following:
"Sir, I hereby notify you, in this semi-public space, before these semi-trusted colleagues, that I disagree with you on every matter under the sun."

Every time you speak your opinion on politics, religion, sex, gender, race, economics, ethnicity, intellectual style, ethics, power, television, presidents, healthcare policy, the death penalty, marriage rights, affirmative action, foreign policy, saturated fats, bottled water, bicycle lanes, commuting, public transit, mileage standards, financial regulation, zoning, coal-burning power plants, global warming, standards of office dress, suitable locations for weddings, acceptable styles of facial hair, how to properly address policemen, judges and elders, standards for advancement within this office, the political implications of the purchase of various gemstones, free-trade coffee, organic gardening, the existence and moral relevance of the Esalen Institute, the relative importance of a degree from Princeton, Sonia Sotomayor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Glenn Beck, Glenn Greenwald, Christopher Hitchens, the existence of God, postmodernism, Walter Benjamin, Renoir, Rodin, the atomic bomb, Palestine, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, the New Testament, Brazilian bikini waxes, 'American Idol,' 'Project Runway,' Tony Blair, Barack Obama and all other topics known to man herein incorporated retroactively and for all eternity, I find myself in such vehement disagreement with you such that I can scarcely believe we inhabit the same cosmos, much less the same planet, nation, state, county, municipality and office building.

Far be it from me to fathom what diabolical hand of fate placed my desk only mere feet from yours, separated by only the flimsiest of modern steel-stud and Sheetrock office partitions.

"You, sir, in short, are the Israel to my Palestine, the Yankees to my Red Sox, the Dodgers to my Giants, the apple to my orange."

Were I less wise, I would deny your very right to exist."

Being wise, however, I know that in our differences we are like rival lovers or squabbling siblings; no matter what lover, or mother, or share of arid land we squabble over, there is in our hearts enough space for whatever trees we need to grow, whatever fruits we need to harvest, whatever springs we need to drink from."

So I am not frightened or disheartened by my implacable dislike of everything you say, do and think.

On the contrary, I am reminded that by certain equally implacable laws of the universe, I must love you with every fiber of my being.

However much it pains me to the core, I must admit that I could not exist without you.

"This, sir, is the sad yet compelling fact of our mutual existence: Your office being next to mine is a torture but it is the torture of existence itself. It is also a fact that you, sir, could neither exist without me.
"Consider that for a moment, however unsettling it may be.
"I cannot claim to know why this is, nor what can be done about it. I just wish you to know that every time you raise your voice in support of one of your so-called opinions, the opposite opinion arises in my mind with equal and comparable vigor.
You are the red flag to my raging bull, the friend to my enemy and the enemy of my friend, the impediment to my dreams, the opposite of everything I adore and the embodiment of everything I could do without.

"Whenever you speak, I grit my teeth and sigh."Lesser minds and weaker spirits might clamor for a new office down the hall. But that would only create the illusion that we do not share the same universe.
The truth is, sir, that whether you were in Hong Kong and I in Saskatchewan or you in Miami and I in Beirut or I in Karachi and you in Kenosha, we would still disagree about everything under the sun; we would still orbit, as implacable opposites, the eternal unity at the center of all things, that silent, infinitely dense nucleus of existence that encompasses you, me, the Dred Scott Decision, Heidi Klum, the Harlem Globetrotters and the latest and most abstruse ruminations on string theory.

"That is the sum of all I have to say to you: I disagree with everything you say, do and think, yet I admit that without you, I myself would not exist."Therefore, I simply say, Good day, sir. Good day!"

Then, shoulders back, head high, you enter your office and slam the door loudly, well, fully, with vigor but not malice.

The REAL difference between Good and Great

There is a world of difference between willing and wanting.

Most people want to be good, but they do not will to be good.

Strong reasons make strong actions.

Many today do not believe enough to be great.

Mediocrity is the penalty for a loss of faith or character.

- Floyd Maxwell

Would have, could have, why wait?

A friend of mine, Harry, likes to retort when people say,"I should've ...or I would have..." with "yeah, would have, could have, etc".
The point is TAKE and GRAB the moment when it comes. NOT look back with regret and say all this retrospective words.

As Erma Bombeck wrote it back in 1979:

Someone asked me the other day if I had my life to live over would I change anything.

My answer was no, but then I thought about it and changed my mind.

If I had my life to live over again I would have waxed less and listened more.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy and complaining about the shadow over my feet, I'd have cherished every minute of it and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was to be my only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained and the sofa faded.

I would have eaten popcorn in the "good" living room and worried less about the dirt when you lit the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would have burnt the pink candle that was sculptured like a rose before it melted while being stored.

I would have sat cross-legged on the lawn with my children and never worried about grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television ... and more while watching real life.

I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband which I took for granted.

I would have eaten less cottage cheese and more ice cream.

I would have gone to bed when I was sick, instead of pretending the Earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for a day.

I would never have bought ANYTHING just because it was practical/wouldn't show soil/ guaranteed to last a lifetime.

When my child kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, "Later. Now, go get washed up for dinner."

There would have been more I love yous ... more I'm sorrys ... more I'm listenings ... but mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute of it ... look at it and really see it ... try it on ... live it ... exhaust it ... and never give that minute back until there was nothing left of it.