BE STRONG TO LIVE LIFE

-------------
Do you know why I love my early morning walks? It's because I get to know more about life through it. Oh of course there are also the books... but sometimes out there one gets a lot more of stuff that feeds the mind, heart, and soul. Oh sure, some would say there's nothing special there but ordinary normal mundane puny lives and living. Well, if you stop awhile to think --- our lives, none exempted, are nothing but ordinary puny lives. We eat, work, play, sleep, hurt, cry, laugh, hate, and all the other things found on the emotional scale. And we do this over and over, again and again from sunrise to sundown.
.
Like these three middle-aged ladies I saw outside the gate of a nice house. Ordinary people in an ordinary neighborhood living ordinary lives. One was looking so bored, another looked flustered, and the other couldn't quite decide what to do. And their conversation, in loud ordinary voices which is the trademark of Pinoys huddled in an invigorating conversation, male or female.... trailed down inescapably to my ears. Yup, you guessed right... my radar was tuned-in on the trio. My radar, as you must already know by now, is primed to zero-in on new learning, observation, information, insight, and awesomeness of both living and non-living things... no matter its size, race, color, or creed. What they said caught my attention. To catch more of their chat I stopped, bent down and pretended to tie my shoelaces (both shoes). Kinda lame don't you think? But they were quite oblivious to me. So there!
.
Lady#1:      "Hhaayy... Wala na bang maibibigay sa atin ng buhay kundi puro problema?" --- (Can't life give us something else other than problems?)
.
Lady#2:      "Umasa ka pa! Walang alam pang iba ang buhay kundi ang tambakan tayo ng problema. Heto katatapos lang ng isa... may bago na naman." --- "You kidding me?! Problems are all that life can offer us. One problem finishes.... another crops up!"
.
Lady#3:     "Kayo naman! Hindi naman siguro ganyan. Nakatutok lang kayo kasi sa problema." --- (C'mon, can't be that bad. You're focusing only on problems.)
.
Ladies#1&#2:     "May bago ba!?!"  --- (So what else is new!?!)
.

At that point I didn't wait to hear the reply because I was there long enough and might get noticed by them, so decided to move along.
.
But what I gathered from their chat made me think.............
.
Is that all there is to life really? Problems?
.
Looking back at my own life journey I can say that yes I too have had my share... and new ones do crop up now and then. But that's the same with everybody else.. And problems come in different sizes.. shapes.. color.. and in varying degrees of intensity, force, or severity... rising from a diversity of causes or reasons. It will make you cry.. or anger you.. can be so frustrating, disappointing, irritating.. can arouse depression, self-pity, anxiety, hopelessness, fear, sadness, confusion.. and some seemingly mean and cruel will bash you to the ground utterly defeated. Or so it seems.
.
But life does not stop there. Nor does it end there.
.
You are here. I am here. Problems notwithstanding. What does that tell us?
.
Life may be tough....... but people are tougher.

.

By God's design.

 

 

 

EXAGGERATED SELF-IMPORTANCE

 

----------------
If you get the chance, get this book "1000 Stories You Can Use" by Frank Mihalic, SVD. My copy bought in 1993 almost always served through the years as a wonderful tool in understanding people and life. I am sure it will be in my library for a very long time yet. Here's one which always makes me laugh......
.
To quote...
#426 on page 190 Exaggerated Self-Importance
.
A small passenger plane was cruising through the sky, carrying as its passengers a minister, a boy scout, and the president of a computer manufacturing firm. Suddenly the engine went dead.
.
Frantically parachutes were passed among the passengers. There was fast breathing, a rush of wind as the door was thrown open. And as the plane tilted and fell through space, there came the horrible realization that there were not enough parachutes. There was one too few.
.
"I have to have a parachute," cried the pilot. "I have a wife and three kids." So he grabbed a parachute and put it on and leaped into the void. The wind whistled and the three passengers looked at one another.
.
"Well, I certainly should have one of the parachutes," exclaimed the computer manufacturer. "I'm the smartest man in the world." And slipping his arms into the shoulder straps, he jumped out.
.
"Son," said the minister wistfully, "YOU take the last parachute. I'm old and ready to meet my Maker; you're a fine youth with all of your life ahead of you."
.
"Relax, Reverend," said the boy scout with a smile. "There's still a parachute for each of us. The 'smartest man in the world' just jumped out wearing my knapsack."
.
The End. 
.
Have a great day, folks. Laugh whenever you get the chance.