RESOLUTIONS ANYONE??

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Friends keep asking me about my New Year's resolutions. I just give them a smile because honestly I don't do end-of-year-resolutions. Not that I don't believe in them but different folks, different strokes. Same story with my friend. She thinks resolutions are simply empty promises to self. And we do know about promises, don't we? That it's just meant to be broken. Maybe some of us are good at it but as far as I gather for some years now nobody has come out honest and clean. Somewhere there down the road the resolve goes stale.
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Maybe it's through no fault of anyone or anything.  I would rather think that it's the self which does more influence on making or breaking personal resolves. One may start up strong but further down the line ends up weak or shattered. There's always a story behind the reason why but don't let anyone say that you chalked up excuses to cover up for your failure. Own up to failure bravely managing with a sheepish grin if you can. Besides they never really expected you to follow through with it anyhow. Nobody believes in resolutions these days. It's just media hype.
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But...........
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How about we take on another approach to 'making resolutions'?  Be more real and straightforward about it. One that's manageable, within our control, and I think much more closest to our heart.
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DO THE THINGS THAT COUNT.
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Do the things which matter to you. Do those things which make you happy  (not those things which are influenced or dictated or imposed upon you by your peers)..... stuff which make you feel pleased with yourself  (boosting creativity so much more)..... build self-confidence  (you must be good at something - everybody is)..... further bond with your family with quality time  (work is just work; don't let it get in the way of creating wonderful moments with them)..... tasks which make you far better at your skills or talent (you're better at it but what's stopping you from being the best)..... engage in activities which enhance your social skills further  (we all stand connected)..... and many more things which you simply love doing.
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It's not a promise you make to yourself;  you do it because you love doing it. You cook fantastic dishes at home and even explore new recipes. You clean the car top to bottom and this time regularly because you love your car so much (and sometimes even more than you love your wife... ooops! Just kidding!) You buy ten burgers and ten bottles of water and then give it away to every street person you see (because you love the giving far more than the receiving end of it). You write letters to your congressmen or senators telling them what's wrong with your country (because you care what happens to your district or country -- and it looks like they don't).
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There's more that you do and can do. And the only thing that you should be careful about is........ choosing the right things. Things that genuinely matter are things that genuinely count.
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Resolutions, anyone?  Naahh.. I don't think so this time. I have this suspicion that you are just too busy doing the great wonderful things you love to even bother about resolutions. (Me, too.)
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Shine on, friends! This is your year. Blessings are there waiting for everyone ....  2015!!!  GOD BLESS YOU!

HEAVEN IS NOT A FARAWAY PLACE

 

"Don’t search for heaven and hell in the future. Both are now present. Whenever we manage to love without expectations, calculations, negotiations, we are indeed in heaven. Whenever we fight, hate, we are in hell."    ~ Shams Tabrizi

That's right. Heaven is not a faraway place, though it's okay too to think that it is. But truth is, where there is the presence of God --- is heaven's place. And that could be anywhere where you put in some good. In our mundane day to day lives as we consciously do good to ourselves, others, animals, mother nature, and the rest of the world.... Wherever good is --- God is.

What about hell? It's here, too. When we allow the evil one to influence our lives turning it into such a big horrifying mess. Like whenever bad rears its ugly head in our character-----    whenever we allow it to dominate us...    whenever we consent to the bad of others...    whenever we turn blind towards injustice, cheating, falsehood of any kind...    whenever we serve greed, meanness, cruelty, pride, ego...    whenever we think ourselves superior to other living creatures...    whenever we twist religion to suit personal agenda...    whenever we consider bad as good and some good as bad to suit personal convenience....     whenever we stick to being wrong because it's easier to remain inside our comfort zones.....    and everything else and more along those lines.  That's hell ....... and we certainly give the devil every reason to have a party.

So then....    what's it gonna be ----  heaven  or  hell?
The choice is ours to make.  It always is.
This is just one life -----  make it count.
Blessings, everyone.

WE EACH ARE BOTH TEACHER-AND-STUDENT TO ONE ANOTHER

 

Learning does not stop when we finally receive our diplomas and bid school adieu. Learning continues. In fact, somebody once said that it is a life-long endeavor or pursuit because there is so much to learn in this world, in this life, and from people we chance to meet at every stage of our mundane existence. Things not taught within the four walls of a classroom or in interactions with other students or on the campus grounds. Essential things which amazingly bring added color, diversity, interest, wisdom, adventure, and greater possibilities for you. Thinking about that now, I feel that it just might take us a thousand life times to learn it all or maybe even more...and still that wouldn't be enough.

But learn we should. It is a waste of this precious god-given gift to allow our brain cells to atrophy or our hearts to harden with old jaded blood. There is still more that we can do to and with our lives. All that we need to do is .... learn and learn some more! When you do that you will be in for plenty of surprises unimagined nor ever dreamed of before.

Now this 'teaching'.... As we are eternal students of life, so too are we as 'teachers'. Not as our teachers of those good old days of school but as teachers of life and living. We teach by the way we live our lives. It is true that we all stand connected. Whatever you do with your life will impact, affect, or influence another person in his own, for good or for bad....directly or indirectly. As says this beautiful quote...........

“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a cloud be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.” ― John Donne, No Man Is An Island 

In short, we each are both teacher-and-student to one another.