FACELESS NAMES, VISIBLE HEARTS
I’ve seen Mini’s post, and I guess so has everyone else. It’s a lovely one. Unfortunately I don’t know so many people in here because I don’t come as often as others do and so never had the chance to get to know them better. And neither am I familiar with India’s artists thus any feeble attempt to do a ‘Mini’ would be inadequate and not do justice to Mini’s wonderful idea. But I did have the chance to see how lovely and handsome India’s artists are through her post. Do you know what I find so striking and attractive in those faces? – It’s their deep dark doe-like eyes. Fantastic! And I believe that it’s those same lovely eyes which I will see among my o3 friends, men and women, if fortune allows us to meet one day.
In my ‘young’ life here as a o3 blogger I had the pleasure of having made the acquaintance of several people who in great measure made my stay in o3 wonderful. The first who holds the sole position of being the person who introduced me to o3 is -- The Great Rambler. He was a friend even before this and I hope always will be no matter the times and seasons of life. The following months moved on easily as names continually added up in the blog comments section--- AngelsFear, Taira, grace_wilson, Busybee, Zaki the duckie, windtalker_1985, Tejasmalik, Shady, Neel Sha, Pearl, Nadiya, Rohit, Archiezyz, Mudo, IK, Shell, Gem, SK, Mountainaura, Godolphin, Pramod, Ducky, Rashmi, Mamsi7, Sharad, Shrawan, Vinayak, Zgirl, MV, Sumit, DecentMonkey, Divya, Ganesh, Priti, Forbidden, Teybir, Curious, Vani9, Mini, Maya, Vishant, Savy, Zephyr, Priya, Frenchita, Cloud9, Deeps, Jim, Rups, Kjack, LostPatrol53. There are other names that I no longer see, apparently they have moved on. I wish them God speed.
Names! Virtual names --- Faceless names. These may or may not change as each of them maintains a o3 blog (for how long nobody knows). Furthermore, I will forever be kept in limbo as to how they look in person. But let me say this --there is one predominant quality that commonly defines them all. Cruising down the archive of the comment section will show you the long list of lovely words, wishes and intent, greetings, warm expressions, encouragement and inspiration. Their hearts literally jumped out of the page and touched mine. They have beautifully and wonderfully succeeded where some friends up close have dismally failed. Faceless names – visible hearts. Do you still wonder now why I stay on at o3?
DO NOT FEAR.
We know that nothing can leave us as numb and dumbstruck with apprehension as with a huge insurmountable overwhelming problem staring us in the eye. This could be anything – an important job on the brink of losing, a needed major operation that could spell life or death to a loved one but with no funds to back it up, business floundering on the verge of bankruptcy or a marriage sliding down the slippery mountain slopes of indifference. What to do? Me? Why I would flee to my room, lock myself in, shut the world outside! With heart pounding loudly in the head, blood running cold in the veins, extremities stiff and numb… I won’t be surprised if I’d be ending up a bad case, too. Just damn scared!
But hold it! Before you get to that same point described, take a deep breath -- deep. Now go to the bathroom and splash water onto your face. Look at the mirror. Looking awful? I’ll bet. That’s fear written all over your face. Two things you can do --- do nothing and let IT grip you or --- YOU grip it tight and smash it into smithereens the first chance you get! And that is NOW.
Do not be afraid. You still got YOU --- brains intact, heart in place, and soul ready for a prayer. The rest of your body will follow suit. So get working. De-fog your brain, re-assess, re-evaluate and re-charge, change strategy or tactic, reconnect with friends or good people, and importantly get down on your knees and pray! If still that doesn’t work, it just means you haven’t tried hard enough. So get cracking at it once more. Who says that you can’t try again and again and again?!! I hope somebody’s there to kick your butt if you ever stop trying.
BE QUIET IF YOU HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO SAY.
Passing on unverified information hurts two people. One is the object of the information… and the other is the carrier of the information. Saying something about another person must be guided by three things. Ask these three questions. Is it necessary on the present situation? Is it kind? Is it true? You may know something to be true about the person, but if it has no bearing on the issue at hand, why bother to say it? You might just be compounding the issue further. Honesty is good but if done in absolute frankness, it can do more harm than good. Honest criticism should be tempered with kindness. Why rub it in when the person is already hurting inside. Speak the truth in love. The true sign of a person’s maturity is learning when to speak and what to say. And may I add how to say it.
I’m sure you’ve noticed this -- when you point your finger towards another, one finger points outward but three fingers point back at you, too. In much the same way can passing on unverified information hurt you. When this salacious information is found out to be false maybe at a later time, everybody then begins to seek out who spread it in the first place. And when traced back to you, it begins to affect or alter their opinion of your character. It absolutely can cut off a huge slice off it. Who’s going to want to trust you ever again? Will you be a credible person in their eyes hence? Remember that an acquired reputation will precede you wherever you go or whatever you do. So then, do be careful what you say, or better yet, if you have nothing better and good to say, just please be quiet?
HAPPINESS IS NOT ALWAYS GOOD, BUT GOOD IS ALWAYS HAPPY.
To most people, happiness means a new dress, a sumptuous dish, honor and recognition, money, good education, a network of influential people, a big house, three cars, jewelry, travels around the world, or an expensive vacation. Well and good. But it could also mean many other different things. A person is made happy by things which bring him pleasure -- pleasure which could also include addiction, perversion, or imprudent passion. These create happiness momentary or temporary and predictably end up in bad situations or create bigger problems. Thus one hears of lives ruined, relationships fragmented, and character shattered to pieces. Happiness, this way, is not good.
How does it feel having helped an old lady cross a busy street? Or stayed and patiently listened to your friend pouring out her worries and woes? Or gave your old clothes to the poor in your community? Or helped a co-worker finish a project running late on schedule? Happy, of course! Whatever the kind deed or good word, no matter how small you may think it to be, good always lands you on a happy note. Although you may not start out happy because it may create a big dent on your pocket, energy, time, and resources --- but when you see the grateful smile on the old lady’s face, the relief felt by your burdened friend, the joy of the poor in having clothes clean and whole unlike their own frayed rags, or the happiness of your beleaguered officemate in finishing the job just in the nick of time…. you’ll feel like top of the world and wearing the widest grin this side of town! Believe me, good always makes you happy. Always!
Well, we’ve come to the end of our meadow walk. Hope you had a good time. And if you would want another visit, just let me know because it would be my pleasure to take you there again. J God bless you.
posted on Tuesday, April 11, 2006 8:24 PM
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