Have you ever asked yourself the question, what on earth am I here for?
To many people, the meaning of life is neither an unquestionable answer nor an answerable question.
Many wise men tell us that the purpose of life is a life of purpose, and indeed it is.
But do we really know what all that means? In all probability, it was easier said than done.
In a sentence life is simple, it's just not easy. True or not?
Kathleen Norris puts it this way, "Life is easier than you think: all that's necessary is to accept the impossible, do without the indispensable, and bear the intolerable." Pretty tough thing to do, isn't that?
To some,life is like a box of chocolates but to many, life is a lot more like a loan shark; it exacts a very high interest for the few pleasures it concedes.
Well as they say, when life gives you lemons, don't complain, just make lemonade from them.
Always remember, count not on yourself, but count on God, the Giver of Life and surely you'll be in good hands.
I love this Dolly Parton song that's entitled "Backwoods Barbie". Follow the lyrics, they bring home a lot of memories, don't they?
Thanks to "HAARulz" for posting it on "Youtube" for us to enjoy. Hope you like it too.
I love tags and taglines. Some are very pretty and so expressive that you just can’t help falling in love with each one of them.
Take the above for instance, they look simple enough but behind each design, lies the ingenuity of its creator. It goes to show just how creative some people are.
Hats off to all these creative people, many actually preferred to remain anonymous, but I would say that they have left their “fingerprints in the sands of time”, as their creation is “a thing of beauty” and is there in the public domain (online) for all of us to enjoy.
As one poet John Keats puts it, "A thing of beauty is a joy forever, its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness..."
Indeed, beautifully crafted tags with imaginative taglines can be very enjoyable works of art. It gives pleasure to both its creator as well as its admirers.
Think about it, where would humanity be if not for creativity?
Here is a beautiful song by Don Williams entitled, "You're my best friend", the music-video courtesy of "Tranquility12". Enjoy.
Many, many years ago, Christina Rossetti (~1830-1894) wrote these famous lines,
“Who has seen the wind? Neither I nor you: But when the leaves hang trembling The wind is passing thro’.”
Today I write,
“Who has seen the Spirit of God? Neither you nor I But when our souls are deeply touched, God’s Spirit has visited us.”
Mother Teresa had said this many moons ago,
“Silence…we need to find God, and He cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature, trees, flowers, grass grows in silence, see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence… We need silence to be able to touch souls.”
As we all know man is not perfect. One answer I think why he isn’t, is perhaps because man has acquired the imperfect characteristics by living in an imperfect world.
However, I believe there is a part of us, inside the soul of us, that is still perfect and pure and that’s quite untouched by the imperfections of this world.
Indeed as Bridget Menezes, a contemporary self-empowerment guru whom I greatly admire puts it, “There is goodness in each one of us which can be tapped by going into silence.”
She tells us that if we can do that, it will bring forth untold benefits.
“First, it allows us to manage our thoughts better. When we sit in silence, only those thoughts which are necessary will emerge.”
“Second, the experience of silence releases us from the grip of our negative programming and conditioning.”
She goes on to say, “We will easily experience the truth of our inner peace and dignity. This further aids the mind in remaining focused and stable.”
We all want to be energized and rejuvenated at some point of our lives but often we don’t know how.
The advice is to simply take a breather in between activities. Stop for half a minute of peace, take a few deep breaths, stretch and look at something in the distance.
Then close your eyes and slowly “retreat into timelessness”, into a time of absolute tranquility and silence.
For a moment, free your mind from worries and the cares of this life. Relax and then reflect, and allow your head and heart to catch up.
Just enjoy the peace, the serenity of unity of body, mind and soul and of life. Let God’s Spirit touch you.
Indeed, have frequent “retreats into timelessness and into silence”. Make time as it also helps to enlarge your mental space.
I think, it is a therapy that can cure many of the ills of the imperfect man. Try it and be surprised!
This music video is courtesy of "Hamp32". It's an old hit by Simon and Garfunkel entitled "Sound of Silence".
I have always loathed the use of the general expression, “No time, lah!” as an excuse which people often use to escape from something.
I think it is an unforgivable wrong when the plain truth is on the contrary, quite the opposite.
Funny thing is, why do people want to hide by using this “mischievous excuse” then when in actual fact, they have plenty of time to spare?
Quite often, people don’t say what they mean and it’s getting to be an art to decipher people’s use of language through their tone and demeanor. Ever got a chance, go to the law courts and you’ll see what I mean.
I have been taught from young to have the courage to always say what you mean and mean what you say. Indeed, to me honesty is still the best policy.
As a young executive with a multi-national corporation some 40 years ago, I have learnt that there is no such thing as “no time for this” and “no time for that”. My hardy white boss (of German descent) made sure of that!
You will never find time for anything. If you want time, you must make it. That’s the honest truth.
So deadlines were always kept, and you better have a very good reason if you want an extension of any deadline. Those were the days by which exemplary management were kept and we learnt hell of a lot through sheer experience!
By and large I would say that although time is a tough and uncompromising taskmaster, it is also a very good teacher. Indeed, if you keep true to time, time will have its rewards.
The CEO’s of top companies of the world will testify to this that of all the people in business, they are in all probability the best “time-keepers” that ever were. I think, that’s true even today, isn’t it?
So buck up if you want to reach the top, and try not to say, “No time, lah.”
This music video is the work of "vezzle12" to whom thanks is given. It's a quite a rare Connie Francis' number, entitled "High Noon".
Where the boys are, where the girls are, someone waits for me? Yes, when we were young and in love, that was the usual scenario.
We lived then in a dreamy, dreamy world, all of its own and as far as I can remember, with not a care for tomorrow. How wonderful it was!
The joy of being young and in love, indeed to all of them time is eternity!
However to many, those years have come and gone and now when we bathe in the nostalgia of the yesteryears we can only remember how grand and lovely they were, but we cannot relive any of them anymore.
Yes, for many of us have grown silver-haired now, with wrinkles on our brow and somewhat tanned and roughened skin which tell our age that we very much want to hide but couldn’t.
Yes, we have toiled, and given our best years in order to stow some of those well deserved “fruits” for the years that will surely come when we cannot work anymore.
They say time is revolutionary, and indeed it is for with time, landscapes and life styles have changed, some quite dramatically.
Even our love life as husband and wife isn’t quite the same anymore.
We have chores and responsibilities of our own as well as those towards each other to keep that have sapped our patience and understanding and after more than 30 years or more at it, I must say that our love life may have suffered as a result.
Sometimes, we appear to live in 2 different worlds. We pursue not less but more of our own individual and self-centered interests or activities that are mostly gender-based.
Fellowships that you go to have become more or less for men or for women only, seldom mixed.
The common things that we used to do and enjoy together earlier in our marriage seemed to have lost its favor and we don’t know why.
Why is it that when we were young and in love, we had so many things in common with our mate and enjoy sharing many things together that we don’t find in our later married years? Have love gone stale, can it?
Yes, we have raised kids of own, taught them all we know and we lament how as they grew up, a time came when we couldn’t teach them anything new anymore.
Finally, a time came too when they moved out to start new nests of their own. How our hearts ached and wished it was not like that!
Like many, we took care of grandchildren as and when they arrived and how we loved them like our own, but they too have grown up now, and everything in our home seems quite bare as we the original couple, are left once again to fend on our own.
We come to the point in our lives when we finally ask ourselves, “Is that all there is to life?” Couldn’t there be more?
Well, but what do you expect?
Life’s like that, isn’t it? It’s abundant but yet, not quite fulfilled.
How true what this fellow, Milton Greenblatt had said once and I quote him here,
“First we are children to our parents, then parents to our children, then parents to our parents, then children to our children.” Think on it.
It seems to me that we live life like going thru’ it in seven stages as illustrated in “-ills” by what Richard Needham described as, “The seven ages of man: (1) spills, (2) drills, (3) thrills, (4)bills, (5)ills, (6)pills and (7)wills.” Hope you see how it fits.
Ever wondered, at what stage you are in?
Believe it or not, someone once said, “The first half of our lives are ruined by our parents and the second half by our children.” I’d like to believe that can’t be true but to many, it is.
Life to some, there’s so much to do, and so little time to do them.
And isn’t it so? “Life is what we make it, always has been, always will be.” (~attributed to Grandma Moses 1860-1961)
Well, do not regret growing older. It is actually a privilege denied to many.
Adding to this, I like what Bernard Baruch said, “To me old age is always 15 years older than I am.”
Let’s think of it that way. After all, how old you are, it’s all in the mind, isn’t it? I am what I think I am, and so are you.
Cheers!
This music-video is brought to us courtesy of "gerryotta". Enjoy.
Who am I :
At 60 something and still going strong, a father of 2 and a grandfather of 3. God-fearing.
Loves travel, photography, reading and writing.
Why I Blog :
Where else can you talk freely without being interrupted and as you like it?
A good place to deposit and safe-keep your memoirs.
To have fun, to laugh, to reinvent myself and to make the last of my years the best of my life.
Have you ever asked yourself the question, what on earth am I here for?
