GREATNESS -- THE TINY SEED WITHIN

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It's the little things which truly reveal greatness. Not always or necessarily in the grand or grander gestures that man throws at the world. Sometimes done simply for show by some. Rather it's that tiny kind thought or the tiniest glimmer of compassion behind the giving.... behind the smile.... behind the helping which points directly to an outstanding character or heart ..or the awesomeness of the soul.
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It's what Mom would say 'the extra mile - the extra touch' which separates mediocrity from greatness. She would urge me to look for that mark of greatness in people. It's there, she says. Just pay attention. Sometimes though they don't know it themselves because it comes through quite naturally in them. Often too we don't notice it nor give it much attention -- we take for granted those things which we shouldn't. Our bad.
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I guess what she means by 'the extra mile' are those things which a person does out of --- pure generosity... sympathy.. compassion.. understanding.. empathy... care... concern... solicitude.. sensitivity... charity... mercy... tolerance... humanity ---- and acting upon it a little bit more than ordinary.
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Thinking more of the other than of one's self. That isn't always easy. We were raised to think and believe that nothing or no one else in the world matters but ..... I, me, mine, and my. What others do with their life is their business... ours is our own to tend.
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We create walls.. fences.. gaps.. borders.. lines... to keep others out of our lives. Anyone who might cross it is a threat. Only when what they do or can offer serves our best interest would we be inclined to welcome them into our world and space or we in turn would enter their own.
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It really is a solitary and disconnected life we're living, after all. All our fault.
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Yet Mom would remind me that 'greatness' is still in everybody's nature as basically man is created good. By God's design. The thing is it gets buried deep down by the meanness and cares of the world. So then people forget to be kind.... to be human and humane.
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But it's there. And it slips out sometimes, as called forth by some divine intent. Sometimes in bits and pieces. You will miss it if you don't watch for it or look harder. Pay attention. Greatness sometimes comes in small packages.
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God bless you.

WE ARE ALL SO MUCH THE SAME --- AND SO MUCH DIFFERENT TOO

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This early morning I was sweeping the patio of last night's rain which flooded the tiled floor about an inch high. Not much, I know, so not much effort either in performing the task.
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Almost done with the whole thing when came loud chatter floating into my direction from the street outside. Three middle-aged ladies were engaged in conversation in such high-pitched voices that easily anyone could hear what they were talking about. As they passed my front of the street I could catch snippets of their chat...... but I wouldn't put them down here as it would be very unfair to hear only one side of the story.
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Gossip. Bashing. Or whatever other name it's called is never fair..... is unkind..... is opinionated (To my young readers, that means --- 'of fixed views').
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No two persons are alike..... nor do they travel the same life road..... nor do they have the same life story. Each one is unique.... different.... an individual. Whatever he (or she) goes through in his own journey is tailored fit for him alone. His experiences, observations, perceptions, insights, opinions, challenges, or drama are all his. Love, laughter, tears, fear, embarrassment, confusion, disappointment, anger, bewilderment, doubt, joy, misery, sorrow, excitement, wonder, challenges...... the whole range of life and living are all lived in his own special individual character and nature. His own true form or template.
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It would be unfair to gauge his life through our own set of eyes, mind, and heart. Like my mom used to say........ "I am not her; she is not me."   Let that person be who he was or is meant to be. He will have his own set of mistakes, blenders, and lessons to learn. He will do it in his own pace and time and reason.  

The thing is every person is growing as he should preset by Someone above. Sure, he is going to fumble and his mistakes may be quite irritating to us -- we may fuss over his mistakes, fume at his imperfections, curse his stupidity. Sometimes it ruins the day for us. But heyy, we fumble too and our own blunders may sometimes impact the people around us the wrong way. So let's try to be kinder to their imperfections as we also hope that others may be kinder to our own. It's the same road we're taking.

As someone once said.....  'We must not allow other people's limited perceptions to define us.'  Besides we have no idea what people are dealing with in their personal lives.
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I guess what mom was trying to tell me was.....
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Let's try to be more gentle with one another. Be kinder. Be understanding and compassionate. Be aware that we all are, separately or collectively, living our own lives and writing our own life stories.
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That makes us all the same .... and that makes us all different, too. By God's design.
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God bless you.

WANT CHANGE? YOU KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN

 

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Everybody is talking about change.... wanting change. Yes, the general perception is that we need change in every area of our lives.............. government, politics, public and private endeavors in business - banking - finance and in every industry meant to promote the country. Systems need changing and the people who run or operate it need some attitude revamping. too..
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Just an observation but I've been here long enough to see that we are a people of contrasts and contradictions. More often than not we don't really walk our talk. Or maybe that's a human frailty.
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When we speak of change, we think that it's the other guy who needs to do that (an external process rather than an internal one outside the self) ----- the government officials... the inefficiencies of public and private services... the system of governance... the policies in place which we perceive are no long relevant to the changing times... the institutions perceived to be corrupt... the foreign ideologies allowed to encroach into our territory... those and perhaps even more contribute to the mess we find our country and ourselves in. We point our finger to these reasons or causes.
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Honestly... that's only half of the story.
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Do you know what the other half is all about? Try these.........
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--- not crossing on assigned pedestrian lanes
--- not following traffic rules and regulations
--- 'tanim-bala' at the airport
--- throwing candy wrappers, receipts, cigarette butts, empty coke cans and water bottles on sidewalks and streets
--- sweeping dry leaves, twigs, plastic bags, trash into street gutters in our neighborhoods and communities
--- using dishonest weighing scales at the market place
--- overcharging goods and services
--- cruelty to animals i.e. abandoning them in their old age or when sick, hurt or wounded
--- not coming to the rescue or looking the other way when somebody is being victimized by thieves or robbers on the streets
--- vandalizing public and private property
--- unnecessarily cutting down of trees and polluting rivers, streams, seas with trash
--- kung may nangungutong na pulis.... meron ding nangsusuhol na civilian
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--- and so much more. You know it; we all know it. It's the little sometimes unnoticed and oftentimes taken for granted things being done in daily lives on the ground, visible and invisible, which show the character of a person, community, city, nation or country.
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Change can be pushed by a leadership but it will take its roots from the people. If they want it too..... hurray! If they don't...... then it's back to square one... again!
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That's our story. I don't care if other countries have the same story, too; that's their problem. This is ours... our story, our problem.
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Donald Miller says...... "Change the world around you by LIVING A BETTER STORY." --- That, I believe, is now our challenge. To create a better story for our individual lives and for our people and our country.
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God bless you.... our people.... our country.... the world.
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(Big thanks to the internet for these inspiring images.)

PEOPLE-WATCHING AT STARBUCKS

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My daughters and I love spending time at our 'adopted' HQ (headquarters at the mall -- Starbucks, but of course! There's a history in it and I think I have written about it before in previous posts. And that history lives on in the hearts of my family.
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Well, the one thing that I love doing .. aside from my green tea frappuccino and corned beef sandwich, playing games on my phone, reading or writing ... is people-watching.
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We know that looking at a landscape of evergreens has its delight and pleasure which only Mother Nature can genuinely give. Now it's a different delight and pleasure when looking at this landscape of people.
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They come in all sizes... shapes... appearances... dress style... hair cuts and dyes... in professional decorum or in the swagger of an "I"- "Me" - "My" - "Mine" person... in all the socio classes of wallets and purses... genders... color... and religion... parents... children... yayas... grandparents... aunts... uncles... professors... students... businessmen... employed... unemployed... priests... nuns or sisters... the loners... groups... the first wives club... the other wives club... singles... married... separated... bereaved... and many others more with all other intentions good or bad coming in and out of any Starbucks door. Well, this Starbucks door, too!
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Almost always snippets of conversation trail down to your table, like it or not. One thing I have observed is that Pinoys can't talk or chat in low voices (even on their cellphones); it always has to be amplified twice regardless of place or time.
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Aside from their vocal narration of life as it befalls them, their eyes visibly validate or corroborate it, and then sometimes it looks the other way. But as someone once said it ------ 'the eyes have it all'.
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In summary, my own understanding of people and of life grows exponentially with every person and life story heard. Wisdom in its barest. Fortunately or unfortunately but much to my advantage this apparently provides authentic seeds for the writing, too.
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That's all for now, folks! My green tea frappe is waiting for me.
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Have a great day!  God bless you!