Some of us would take our time, if we knew that we are rushing to our deaths
― Mokokoma Mokhonoana
“Thank God it’s Friday”, never sounded as sweet as it does, when you’ve had a trying week.
So it’s important to remember to take things easy. At the end of the day we really can only do so much and no more. It’s amazing how terrible something appears to be until we are on the other side looking back at what was. Nothing seems as bad as it was when it’s over, and even for one perfect moment, there is a sense that there are no impossibilities.
Great, we have survived the week and we now feel invincible and we deserve to take the time to recuperate and seek a quiet moment to get ready for things yet to come. It really makes no sense to carry on with things that we realize are a burden to us. Instead, what we need to do is to let go of some of the baggage we struggled with this week. It’s okay to let go of missed opportunities and unrealistic dreams. It’s okay to grow a little older, because with it comes a little more wisdom. This is the wisdom to make choices that will enrich our live.
Also, while we are at it, let’s release all bad vibrations into the atmosphere and collect to ourselves, positive wholesome energy. After all, each day, week, month and year is another opportunity to finally attain your inner peace.
It feels sometimes like life is one long sentence that seems to carry no full stop. You then begin to wonder at the wisdom of some of your choices just when you're ready to stop, you hear a voice telling you, you're approaching the light.
Nothing is forever.
IS this a positive or negative? Change is good whether you get what you wanted or not. It's good to approach your challenges with the knowledge that change is just around the corner. This change that will ultimately lead to where you want to go.
Now should we wait to reach the light To live? The light is ready to be lit no matter the situation. A smile to block out the pain, a word of kindness to erase a wound thoughtfulness and love to cure all incurables. These are all perfect ingredients to see the light, to be in the light.
When you decide not to hold on for dear life, maybe then you can live life until you can't. It never pays to stop to wonder what road will lead to success, that vision has been compromised. Better to be led by the light. Close your eyes, see and trust what you cannot see with your eyes wide opened.
The less you know of those dark places, the more likely it is to feel the power of the sunshine the wonder of the moon light. To never wonder at miracles likely to happen when you stop looking for all that is wrong and celebrate that one good thing.
Just think,
this life will never be yours again. This smile last for only a while, these hands can only flow for a moment.
Stand straighter step strong, move with fluid movements. celebrate this one good life.
Feel the wind lift you higher and no matter what, don't look down.
Your destiny does not lie in looking down but flying higher and higher. No one said the flight would be smooth. Ride the wave of the turbulence laugh in the face of storms past, present and those to come.
Allow the wonder of finally seeing the light to be the eighth wonder of the world.
Better yet make it the only wonder that counts.
It is hard to begin, but once you have started to see, you can glimpse the beauty that was already there. When you have lost much, put the brightest and loudest colors on what you have left.
Those are what matter.
When you finally rest in the light, smile, you made it. Finally, you have seen the light.
If there should be a poor man among your relatives in one of the cities of the land that the Lord your God is about to give you, don’t be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward your poor relative. Instead, be sure to open your hand to him and lend him enough to lessen his need.
Deuteronomy 15:7-8
Today in the bus going home, a person with a disability stood up and asked for some money, ” even $10 or $20″. Now in usual fashion you had some who gave and some who did not – FYI most did not. Now if we know anything, it is that some people are professional beggars, while secretly doing well for themselves. As a result of this of this, many of us have hardened our hearts to the seeming begging epidemic we see on the streets.
As holy people whom God has chosen and loved, be sympathetic, kind, humble, gentle, and patient.
Colossians 3:12
Now as he walked down the isle of the bus collecting from those who were willing to give, I thought, ” well I am not gonna be fooled by him!” So I sat there ready not to give, when my conscience attacked me. This attack let me to relent and give him something, but not too much. So I took out a twenty dollar coin to give him. it was the best of both worlds, I was giving him the the higher of what he asked for so no one could say I was not generous. However, while I waited for him to pass by a thought came to interrupt my philanthropic act.
Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate.
1 Timothy 6:17-18
I suddenly remembered making the promise that I would not give a person who is able bodied my hard earned money, only a person with a disability. However, now that I had the opportunity, I was finding reasons why I should not give. I started to feel uncomfortable, then I realized that I had only made the promise to restrict who to give because I did not want to give at all, and I felt ashamed. When did giving become such a challenge? Or better yet, when did giving to those who needed it the most become such a challenge. We freely give our time and resources to people who do not need them, and when we see someone who really does need them, we are reluctant: ” what if they are playing a trick and don’t really need it?” On the other hand, we give it to people who are doing well, going places and who have potential, but we find it harder to give just to give, with no strings, conditions, or because. Oh, we give to a friend in need, but a person we don’t know who is down to their last dollar cannot be trusted, we don’t know them. Yet the truth is it is often the persons who have the most access to our resources who can do the most damage and not that random person we give a small change to, once and never again.
I have noticed that at times, people are more willing to give a little more to those who seem to be succeeding. We build them and forget about those who have nothing to offer but need so much more. We know that they exist but we do not often see their worth. We do not realize that we have been conditioned to size up a persons worth to us long before we know or understand their story. Sometimes we don’t care. We are too busy protecting the “little” resources we have to care.
So, as I waited for his return I realized that if I am going to be true to my word I have to give willingly. We all need to give willingly especially those we consciously or subconsciously consider the least among us, when they ask us for help.
Give to everyone who asks you for something. Don’t turn anyone away who wants to borrow something from you
So today has been one of those days; when you have a choice to either allow things to get you down and interrupt your day or just go with the flow and roll with the punches.
On Mondays I get up early as usual, but not for work. I get up at 4 a.m. to go to up to the good ole U.W.I, a struggle I hope to overcome soon. I did everything I would normally do, but apparently not everything.
I got to the bus park and guess what the line is super short. This means I will be getting a comfortable seat today! As I stand in line a thought comes to me: “do I have my ID?” And you guessed correctly, I did not. Upon realizing this, couple of thoughts flashed through my mind. Should I just go home and use this as the excuse why I can’t go to school today, after all I can’t use the library without my ID and going there will take up a large chink of my day? Or, do I call my aunt to see if she can get someone to get it to me? Or, do I call a taxi man I know to get it from her to take to me?
Now normally before I think of what to do, I would spend some time cursing the day and fate that caused me to forget my ID! I would probably cry for good measure, because poor me, I did everything right and things are still not working out for me. But i surprised myself today.
I was a bit surprised at how calm I was. I did not complain, curse nor cry. Instead, I picked what I thought was the best solution. I stepped out of the line and called my aunt. But she did not answer the phone. What next could I do? I had called her several times and still not answer. if I went home now no one could blame me, after all I did try. Right?
However, I decided to try another number. My plan worked. I got her and she was able to get to a good taxi friend who could drop it off so I could collect it. As I waited for him I realized I had to use the bathroom, but I did not want to miss him. But I had to go! I went and quickly did my thing and just as I came out he was already there looking around for me, ready to leave. I ran and collected my ID and ran back to the bus park.
Two buses had come and gone since I left and the line was still short. A real miracle. In less than a minute another bus approached. I was able to get a comfortable seat and I was on my way!
Sitting in the bus I thought of the me a year ago. The me who would have been so frustrated at this seemingly insurmountable blockage. I would have given up and called it a day. I would have wallowed in self pity and thought of all the past incidents that prove once more that no matter how hard you try, things just don’t work out sometimes. I would not have been able to see beyond my disappointment to other solutions, to get what I needed in order to go where I wanted to go. However, today I could and I did.
Though I am still affected by things that I should not be affected by, I realized that I am no longer as stressed out as I use to be. I am more realistic in my approach to situations and therefore more rational in how I react and choose to get things done.
A disappointment does not have to result in lingering and all consuming unhappiness. Things do not always happen the way we imagine but that doesn’t mean they will not happen. We may have to shift our plans, take a different route or delay a bit, but we do not have to stop. We do not have to let the actions of others affect our mood nor our dream of where we are headed. We do not have to beat ourselves up when we make mistakes that delay our plans. Maybe we will have to adjust how we get to where we are going, and that’s okay. In the end let nothing stop you from getting there.
It is also easy to do, so we are more tempted to do so than not. If we had to take the time to consider and admit that “everyone doesn’t do the same things, not “everyone thinks the same way” and not “everyone cares about the same things”, then we would have less of a concrete argument for some of the assumptions that we have.
It may seem that I am pointing the finger, and I am. However, it may comfort you to know that it is also pointed at me too, because we have all done this (or am I generalizing?). Sometimes we do it subconsciously and sometimes we are very deliberate about it. When we do not want to consider that there may be another side or some other reasonable explanation we sweep all doubts aside by generalizing. At this point, we are unwilling to listen and we don’t care much about the truth.
So, we go around, sometimes not knowing that we are the hosts to faulty and overgeneralization until we are forced to unmask it hiding within us. By that time, as is often the case, we have caused some direct or indirect damage to those who have to be content with these generalizations, because they have developed into prejudices and discrimination. And poor us for not knowing that using those sweeping generalizations would result in a language of hate and sentiments of division and “othering”.
Also, can you imagine thinking that because someone is from a specific place or does a specific job, you are better than they are? Only to find out, years later, that while you have been dangling on your last shoestring, they have been happily and successfully going about their business. That’s the irony of life when we get caught up in the lies that have become truths in society. Many miss out on the opportunities because of what they think of a place or of “certain” people!
I came across this quote and I think it is something that we all need to think about:
we cannot all become geniuses [and] we cannot all reach the same level.
The Joke’s on You:
I was talking to a friend who asked a student a while ago, how he would feel if he and the garbage collector got the same pay if he was able to get the material things we’re told to aim for, such as the best car, a grand house and so on. The student was adamant that he would not accept that because he and the garbage collector should not be getting the same pay because he is more academically gifted. But then my friend also made the point that some bright or even brilliant sparks who look down on persons with technical skills will never achieve as much as those persons. He further made the point that the act of looking down on persons for perceived shortcomings could be their way of addressing their own sense of inferiority.
Sometimes in generalizing, we feed the us-versus-them complex. With this complex people are vilified, and their very complex and real problems are distorted because we refuse to accept that everything is not black or white. No one is completely good or bad and often times the most interesting accept to a person, and the part we need to pay attention to the most are the grey areas. However, many dismiss the possibility of grey areas in favour of half the truth or no truth.
These ideas are supported all around us. in the exchanges that people have daily. We see it in the archetypal, good guy versus bad guy. Then we perpetuate these beliefs in our interactions with others. We look for certain signs and wonders and deem those to tell the story of who a person is until we are presented with a puzzle. But instead of interrogating our beliefs we deem it an anomaly and continue along in our faulty assumptions and generalizations.
But, we should also never forget that while we may not make generalizations about ourselves we buy into them. Based on how we look, what we have achieved and where we are from, we have accepted and lived out a certain image of who others may think we are. So, not only are we prone to generalizing others, but we also can become co-conspirators of our own generalization, without realizing the damage it has done to us.
I think that is why I love novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s speech, “The Dangers of a Single Story”, so much. It was listening to this speech that made me really question what I do not know about people and places. And while there is much that I still do not know or understand, at least I am more aware of this. Therefore, when I hear about such things as Ebola, I do not assume that all of Africa is affected and when I hear about Haiti, I do not only visualize temporary tent camps. Live is complex because people are complex and you can never fully represent everything that is life and every person in your telling, even in a story that involves them. There isn’t enough time to consider all the facets of a person or situation and you can never fully complete the story of someone’s life. Something will always be missing.
While it is hard to prevent ourselves from always generalizing people places or a situation, we should never accept that information as the truth. We should never be complacent in making authentic the injustice of reducing someone’s humanity to a single idea. A single fable.
“I can’t allow you to get in the way of my energy.”
We need to say this especially to ourselves. But before we do we need to develop a positive energy if we don’t have one. It doesn’t matter what we have been like in the past. By being more positive in our thinking I really belief that life would be more pleasant. When the little things don’t matter we can focus on the bigger picture.
And what is the bigger picture you may ask?
Well there are many things we can’t change and we don’t need to spend time trying to. How we look, where we were born and what we were born with, our prior experiences and so much more. what we can focus on are the things that make us happy. Boldly going after what we enjoy, even if no one else gets it.
We spend too much time second guessing our decision and choices, while many opportunities pass us by. We down play our worth until we have erased what God created and replaced it with a poor substitute.
I belief that children should never be told to stop dreaming, that they should be like everyone else and accept where they are. This is a dangerous practice that can kill the soul of that child, that can destroy a beautiful flower before it blooms.
However, it is never too late to revitalize yourself , never too late for a restoration of self. the you that you know you are is waiting to emerge, all you have to do is step out of your way. It’s easy to blame someone, anyone: parents, uncle, aunt, boyfriend or girlfriend, the lady down the road, a neighbour, friend, anyone, for why you are still a caterpillar, but you can’t hide from the truth.
The truth is you may not be giving yourself the chance to grow and reach beyond this very distorted image of yourself because you feel you don’t deserve to be that person. So there it is, your unhappiness and distress could be a manifestation of what’s in your mind and no one’s fault.
Therefore, you not only need to change your attitude but also your energy. Man up or woman up and think about it. Do people want to be around you, do you try to uplift others? Or, do you even get tired of yourself, drained from all the shenanigans you let inside your head and life.
At the end of the day, if we want to be truly happy then we may need to adjust or attitude. We may need to take some time to cultivate a mindset that sees us always hopeful about the future, accepting of what is and a desire to challenge all about the self that has not worked and which never will.
It is easy to look at a problem and think you can solve it. However, when you begin to try to do so, you realize that nothing is as easy as it looks. Now, maybe all it takes is digging a little deeper and being and little more focused. But then there are some things that you just have to live with no matter what.
So what do you do when you can’t chamge the world?
Well you stop trying to do so. You look at yourself and your choices as well as your intention and work from there. We all want to be saviors, to do what it seems no one else can, but we often times cannot. Oftentimes when we feel we have to change something we end up trying to change ourselves. Instead, what we need to do is change how we react to the world and what happens in it.
We don’t need to change the world because nothing was ever wrong with it. What we each need to change is our reactions to each other and our attitudes. That is the apex of our problems, we try to target the wrong things, to hold the wrong people and things accountable for why things are the way they are. Our happiness, sense of success and inner peace are not contingent on what others thinks and does but on us. I am responsible for me and you for you, no one else.
Saving the world is an enormous burden to carry that leads nowhere; because, while we are busy with delusions of grandeur the world and time waves, says hello and goodbye. Some may see it as noble that you want to shake things up, but sometimes when we try to do this we may be avoiding reality. We avoid the truth of why we want to save the world. Maybe it’s because we really think we can, but, often it is because we cannot save ourselves and by focusing on something else we can live vicariously by saving something we feel needs saving.
So when we take out our armor to slay dragons, we need to check if those dragons are of our creation and a way to deflect from our real issues with ourselves.
ramblrWrites.com 