It Felt Love

How
Did the rose
Ever open its heart
And give to this world
All its Beauty?
It felt the encouragement of light
Against its Being
Otherwise,
We all remain
Too
Frightened.

~Hafiz

Today I encourage to go out and feel love. Let it light up the sky and electrify your senses. Take this feeling and spread it through your actions.

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The Reality Of Reality TV

I had a discussion the other day with someone who likes watching reality TV. He says that he thinks it’s funny when people do all sorts of crazy things.

I asked him if he would watch the shows if they were about nice people doing kind deeds instead of mean people doing misdeeds? He looked at me like I said the most insane thing he had ever heard and then said,

“Nice people are too boring to watch!”

Reality TV has gotten to the point of no return. As soon as we think that we have seen the worst, another show crops up that is even worse. This has been going on since the invention of reality TV.

We have become so used to watching the intimate details of strangers that we forget that everyone doesn’t behave in such fashion. Have we really become so intolerant of nice behavior that we prefer bad behavior?

These shows are scripted in such a way that they look real, in the same way that TV wrestling looks real. They exist for entertainment, but mistreating others is no way to entertain. It tears away the inclination to treated others nicely.

We tell children not to tease other children, yet the basis of many reality shows is to ridicule. We see adults ridiculing other adults and we gawk, laugh, judge, and cast insulting remarks.

Though we may not see it on TV, there is a lot to be said about treating people with kindness, respect and tenderness.

Is reality TV corrupting the way we think, behave and display love?

Do you think that people would watch positive TV programming or do you think that we are more likely to watch people at their worst?

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Without A Doubt

A man was about the cross a river, when master Bibhishana came over, wrote a name on a leaf, tied it to the man’s back, and said:

"Don’t be afraid. Your faith will help you walk on the waters. But the minute you lose faith, you will drown."

The man trusted Bibhishana, and began to walk on the waters, without any difficulty. At a certain point, he had an overwhelming desire to know what his master had written on the leaf tied to his back.

He took it and read what was written:

“Oh god Rama, help this man to cross the river.”

“Is that all?” thought the man. “And who is this god Rama, anyway?”

The moment this doubt became lodged in his mind, he was submerged and drowned in the strong current.

~Sri Ramakrishna


Today have faith in your decisions, dreams, and goals. Not only can faith move mountains, it can move water too and whatever else is in your way. Without faith, doubt will rule you.

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The Cure

If you wake up with gratitude, you will give your day a healthy start. A day without gratitude is like a day without sunshine. It leaves a cold chill in your bones and boards up the window of your soul.

“Gratitude is a vaccine,
an antitoxin,
and an antiseptic.”

~John Henry Jowett

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Endurance

“Even his griefs are a joy long after to one that remembers all that he wrought and endured.”

~Homer

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Circus Of Change

As a child, I never knew if my mother was making stories up for their entertainment value. They certainly made good dinner conversation. Maybe it was a ploy to make me and my siblings eat our food.

One such story was that my grandfather used to work in the circus. I imagined that he had giant tattoos, was a strong man with a handlebar mustache, trapeze artist, lion tamer, elephant trainer, clown, contortionist or a million other wild images.

Didn’t every kid want to run away an join the circus? I figured that my grandfather actually made it to that destination known as fantasy.

When I finally met him, he was just normal. I found out that he was just circus barker. My childhood fantasies had come to a crashing halt. What a disappointment.

I wanted him to be larger than life and he was just like the little man behind the screen at the end of The Wizard Of Oz. He had been projected as a giant and he was no more than an ant.

I learned never to put people on a pedestal because they could never live up to it.

As the world turns, we turn with it. We learn truths that were once hidden. We learn how to navigate the turns and piece life’s puzzle together. We go through a circus of change.

We learn that no matter where we are today, tomorrow we will be somewhere else and that is the pleasure of living.

Nothing stays the same and we change right along with it.

How has your perception of life changed as you have evolved?

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The Man Rules

Are men a women really that different? Do we each have a set of rules in which the other sex must abide?

I asked myself those questions as I read an email that a friend of mine sent to me to get my opinion.

At first I thought, how funny that some men may possibly think like this. Then I thought, that even though humorous, the underlying theme is true - men and women think differently.

Men and women communicate differently. We speak differently. We hear differently. We feel differently. We are different.

As much as I would like to think that we are somehow coming together in the long run, I can’t help to think that we are maintaining separate residences on the way we perceive our differences.

Enclosed are The Man Rules unedited by me.

Please note, these are all numbered 1. ON PURPOSE!

1. Men are NOT mind readers.

1. Learn to work the toilet seat. You're a big girl. If it's up, put it down. We need it up, you need it down. You don't hear us complaining about you leaving it down.

1. Sunday sports, It's like the full moon or the changing of the tides. Let it be!

1. Crying is blackmail.

1. Ask for what you want. Let us be clear on this one. Subtle hints do not work! Strong hints do not work! Obvious hints do not work! Just say it!

1. Yes and No are perfectly acceptable answers to almost every question.

1. Come to us with a problem only if you want help solving it. That's what we do. Sympathy is what your girlfriends are for.

1. Anything we said 6 months ago is inadmissible in an argument. In fact, all comments become Null and Void after 7 Days.

1. If you think you're fat, you probably are. Don't ask us.

1. If something we said can be interpreted two ways and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, we meant the other one.

1. You can either ask us to do something, Or tell us how you want it done; Not both. If you already know best how to do it, just do it yourself.

1. Whenever possible, Please say whatever you have to say during commercials.

1. Christopher Columbus did NOT need directions and neither do we.

1. ALL men see in only 16 colours, like Windows default settings. Peach, for example, is a fruit, not A colour. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.

1. If it itches, it will be scratched. We do that.

1. If we ask what is wrong and you say “nothing”, then we will act like nothing's wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.

1. If you ask a question you don't want an answer to expect an answer you don't want to hear.

1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is Fine...Really!

1. Don't ask us what we're thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as Football or Boxing.

1. You have enough clothes.

1. You have too many shoes.

1. I am in shape. Round IS a Shape!

1. Thank you for reading this. Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight; but did you know men really don't mind that? It's like camping.

Are men and women really THAT different. Don’t we all want love, compassion and someone to care about our dreams and passions? What do yo think?

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