ON A DAY-BY-DAY BASIS

 

 2016 --- I like how that sounds. I like the flow of time. It's telling us "I move... so you move, too. But be sure you know where you're heading."
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The new year has opened its door to us. Let's get both our feet in. Not one foot in the door.. but with the other foot left behind. Get in and close the door behind you. Whatever happened in the past is now history. Its all now gone except for the lessons we got from it. That is what the past is for... as an archive of lessons learned.
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Begin anew. Build new goals... plans... objectives... targets... destinations... expectations... hope... dreams. You may not be able to do it all in one sitting (Who can anyway?!!) and don't even try. Easy gains have no lasting effect. It's always those things done with persistence, determination, steady effort, hard work, study, passion, and with a can-do attitude --- all these combined always hit the goal. Small effort perhaps?.... that matters, too.
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Be patient. Those things worth doing can sometimes be so boring, tiring, monotonous, and it can get on your nerves too as you feel that you're heading nowhere but a dead-end. But --- persevere because each day holds its own promise and potential. Keep pushing..... keep hammering..... keep going..... keep building..... and live at the same time. Life is beautiful!
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Wishing you blessings of abundance in the days ahead. God bless you.

TO YOU ALL........

To my dear friends here in the blog,

a heartfelt MERRY CHRISTMAS!  May the season bring to you bountiful blessings from the heart of God .. way beyond measure -- far more than your kind hearts can hold.  Thank you for the gift of your friendship. 

God bless you and your dear dearest ones now and evermore.

Ellen

BEGIN TO SEE WHAT TRULY MATTERS - WHAT YOU DO WITH IT DEFINES YOU

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I was on the phone with a long-lost friend chatting about good times, bad times, the good old days. Then she suddenly became nostalgic with thoughts unlikely and least expected from her. She was more the type who cared not what happens to the world just as long as she had her favorite crispy pata on the table and later sit down to watch her favorite telenobela.
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She began talking about ......how life is short, how she misses the attention usually poured on her by children now living separate lives, the aches and pains she now feels in her body, the things she failed to achieve in her prime and other regrets, but at the end of her long list sadly resigned herself to her fate and humbly turned grateful to her God. "We all grow old"   she added  "but each on a different pace and time. Still there are days when you wished time would stop but at that right spot when you felt everything was alright."
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That got me to thinking.....
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Not about that aging thing but about .... "...wished time would stop but at that right spot when you felt everything was alright."
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When is "..that right spot when everything is alright"? Is there a one measure which tells us that? Does it mean being problem-free as hoped for by many? Does it comprise perfection as perceived by passionate devotees of such principle? Does it mean that so-called forever-moment of completeness and satisfaction as promoted by media and the movies?
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Nah I don't think so. I have learned that there is no problem-free life. Problems, as we know it all by now, are there for this one sole purpose -- that of shaping us into our highest physical and divine potential. Neither does perfection exist; perfection does not happen here but at the end of our life journey. And forever moments are illusions created by temporal hopes dreams and aspirations.
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Well, time does not stop for anybody or anything, right or wrong. It just moves along like it's nobody's business that it does. And it brings us along with it .....with our dreams, hopes, expectations in tow. Time does not care if we make it or not but it does expect us to do what we can in the time allotted us to do it. But whether we succeed or fail, are happy or sad, feel good or bad, are fulfilled or rejected --- it's all the same to Time. When it cracks its whip we are expected to move along... with or without our baggage. To where? To wherever it takes us. Time's other name is Life.
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To my good friend, know this..... From the standpoint of age, you begin to see what truly matters.... the things that do and those that don't. You see everything and learn to count your blessings. Consider yourself so very blessed!
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Life and Time is good however you may look at it. It's a gift. What you do with it is what defines you, at twenty-six or 
sixty-two.

THE BRIGHTEST WISDOM FROM UNEXPECTED SOURCES

 

  

 

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I suppose that we all go through dull moments in life. That moment or day when you don't feel that so-called twinkle in your eye or the spring in your step. When not even the nice gentle breeze blowing into your day would make you feel serenely refreshed and energized. When a good book you immensely enjoyed reading just the other day isn't anymore. When a cone of ice cream is just a cone of ice cream.
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So.... you pick up the remote and indifferently switch through the channels on TV hoping that something would catch your eye and inject your disinclination-to-motion with a strong dose of perk-me-up. Nope, that didn't work.
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At this point, I was ready to allow the dull day its full reign in my turf having given up all options for a brighter day.
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And then she came.....
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.....brown fur with a tinge of black here and there, black wet nose, intelligent black eyes, a tail wagging feverishly, and laid her snout on my lap. But the prettiest thing was when she gave me her half-smile. Not a full smile, as humans do, but a half-smile lighting up the left side of her pretty face. Not a crooked half-smile either.. or the so-called sneer a human being is very good at... but a sweet pretty half-smile! (It still puzzles me how she manages to do that!) But it said everything!.. even more than words a human could ever say to another on such a spiritless languid moment. Then she bounded up the couch and snuggled close to me..... looked up into my unbelieving eyes like saying.... 'It's okay, it's just a dull day; this too will pass.' And Maxie settled peacefully by my side.
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She was right --- the dull moment passed.
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Sometimes in life we get the brightest wisdom from unexpected sources. If only we would pay attention.
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When perchance a dull day happens to you.... open up your senses, tune in to your surroundings, notice every detail of life around you, forget about yourself. Then you will begin to see awesome beauty and meaning into your day..... and life.
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Blessings are not choosy about time and day --- it comes anytime to a welcoming heart.
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God bless you.
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(That's Maxie in the photo with my youngest daughter.)