Tag: inner peace

Seeing the Light

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.
Image result for light

Even The Least.

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

St. Matthew 5:42
Image result for 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.

We Do Not Have to Stop.

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?

Image result for failure is not falling down but staying down

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?

Image result for how long should you try? until

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!

Image result for it does not matter how slowly you goso long as you do not stop

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.

Image result for bible verse about completing the race

Get Out The Way!

“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.

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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.

Image result for A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

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.

Image result for Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

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.

Image result for Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky 16 as you hold firmly to the word of life

What Do You Do?

What do you do when you can’t change the world?

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.

Image result for quote about saving the world

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.

Image result for quote about saving the world

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.

Image result for we have two lives and the second begins when we realize we only have one

Sad Tales.

There are sad tales that do not need retelling.

We get so caught up in the wonder of them, that we do not know that we have become trapped by them. Many persons may find comfort in these sad tales, even though they hurt because at one time, all we had were those experiences and the hope of better days. We realize that some of those sad tales mean more, when we no longer live them and looking back we can see things about them that were so real. We felt things that were so real. Sometimes, because we yearn for real things we relive those sad tales and sometimes they bring us comfort.

Image result for quote about sad tales

They become nostalgic mementos, like pressed flowers between pages that we have an urge to take out and look at from time to time. However, sometimes we get carried away with remembering and forget that we have to keep on living. We forget that those tales are a part of the fabric of our lives that we do not need to keep tucked tightly under our hearts. The tale of all our injuries and an account of every slight ever committed, can do us more harm than the real act, if we choose to stay in it.

Image result for quote about sad tales

You see, it is often those stories of near death experiences, or of almost losing it all that inspire us to grow and reach further than we ever had, or thought we could. But, there also comes a time when we must reach for new tales, of happiness and laughter, of solitude and peace. There is always room not just for the sad tales, but also for those that burn a fire within us, that can never be extinguished.

Plant

I Knew You.

 Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be.  Psl 139:16

You i knew 
before my memory got so poor.
Old age cannot explain why I cannot see you.
I think
but my thoughts are all jumbled:
don'tiknowtheyouyouareandtheyouyouaresupposetobe?
A string of thoughts.
No rhyme or reason.
An idea half formed,
destroyed before it could be born.
Or was it killed,
A dream not born of a woman
or man - 
We must always be 
'politically correct"
right?
I know of you,
or so I would like to believe.
But do I know you
really 
as you should have been?
In setting me a part by my appointment did it work?
If it is your Word that comes
why does it not enter,
why is it locked out,
strangled under the weight of not knowing.
Like a bolom maybe I had lost
my salvation.
How to get it back but to retrace my steps and hope I have my way
back.
A silent cry is what I hear and turn to.
A cry that has no beginning 
no ending
no words
no sound.
So loud that it cannot be drowned
Cannot be silenced by the impracticality of your practicality. 

If I awaken from my slumber
will I like that piteous monster,
cry to dream again?
one wonders, if a simple awakening is enough.