The Man In The Mirror
“Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,…” (Proverbs 21:2). We are often very quick to judge other people on what they do or by how they act or lived. But perhaps we should also do our own examination of ourselves.
What Matters Most
While I was studying in high school I use to watch this old man in the City for many months, with dirty turned out clothes he mostly wear. I use to pay a lot of attention on people’s faces as each one of them looked at him with scorn. He did not hold a sign up, on the corner where he stood begging for food or money, like others like him would. He is also an alcoholic and I found out later that people use to call him ‘POWER’ as his nickname.
I Dreamed a Dream…
When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds. Your mind transcends Iimitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.
Hang in there…
It is not enough to just exist. We must GROW, and PERSIST. Yes, we must remain in God and bear fruit. We must not just be “living branches.” We must be fruit-bearing branches. For those who are still alive, and who perhaps are living abundant lives, the question remains: Am I living a fruitful life? Have others benefited from my life?
OMG, It’s My Birthday!
“The most extensive knowledge does not necessarily know it; reasoning will not make men wise in it. The sages have decided against both these methods … By non-action everything can be done.” (Tzu, 1968). I don’t know about you, but I’m getting sick of pretending to be excited every time it’s somebody’s birthday, you know what I mean? What is the big deal? How many times do we have to celebrate that someone was born?
The Insatiable Demand For MORE…
There is a phase that suggests a subject: “The insatiable demand for more.” Who ever heard of anyone who was happy, who wouldn’t be satisfied? – who always had to have more and ever more – more thrills, more indulgence, more power, more possessions. Some over-indulge by trying to satisfy appetites that remain unsatisfied. Some make demands, and when their demands are met, make more demands.
Winners & Losers…
“Help me to seek not so much to be understood but to understand, to be loved but to love with all my soul.” (St. Francis of Assisi). How many people have lost their health, reputation, family, friends, values, and even their very souls for the sake of money? Is it worth it all?
Light The Road With True Friends
Live is never about proving to people that you are a good person. Sometimes, the bad things matter… for in your dark side, you see people who are ready to light the road with you.
Prescription For… The Heavyhearted
Sometimes we suffer the symptoms of diseases we don’t have. And sometimes we suffer the symptoms of unhappiness for insufficient reasons. Often unhappiness comes from overemphasizing the negative side of situations. This is easy to do, since time seems to move more swiftly when we are happy and more slowly when we are heavyhearted. And so we might suppose that we are unhappy more than we are.
On Belonging to a Family
One of the very wonderful things of life is a sense of belonging. And one of the most wonderful things to belong to is a loyal and affectionate family – a family who have each their own individual activities and interests but who feel a real oneness with one another. There is much that a family can do with oneness, and much that without it is missed. There are so many things to join, so many things to do, so many things to take us away, but a loving and loyal family is still one of the most wonderful things in the world to belong to.
Allow them to walk their own path…
I’m sure there are people in your life whom you see acting in ways that upsets you. Watching our loved ones, family or a good friend traverse a path littered with stumbling blocks can be immensely painful. We instinctively want to guide them toward a safer track and share with them the knowledge and wisdom we have acquired through experience. Yet all human beings have the right to carve their own paths without being unduly influenced by outside interference.
Practice what you Preach
There’s an old saying that goes…’we should practice what we preach’. It seems very profound, subtle and simple. But I wonder why for some reasons or another not all of us seem to know what it means. Or…(maybe) doesn’t want to know.
Here I am – this is me…
“Openly revealing our feelings establishes credibility”. Gerry Spence. I learned a long time ago that I try to use in my daily life. To resolve conflict creatively we need not only to speak the truth in love, but also to listen with our heart. We need to be honest and share our true feelings – not just our surface feelings.
I, I who have nothing…
These are all false standards and false dichotomies, but they are so common and so ingrained that we sometimes believe in them without even realizing it. And this leads to a mountain of insecurities, because nobody measures up to these crazy standards (and nobody should).
It Isn’t Fair to Expect Perfection…
We live in a world of imperfection, and certainly there are no perfect people. And one of the surest ways to break up a home, to break up a marriage, to break up a friendship, a business, or any relationship in life, is tooveremphasize faultfinding.