* may my life be like a roll of toilet paper…..long & useful *
O Hai Thar!
No matter who you are, if you judge anyone, you have no excuse. When you judge another person, you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the same things.[Romans 2:1]
The past couple of weeks have been gruesome. On a personal level, community level, national level, universal level, and all other levels there are of concern. During this period I discovered some new words to live by. These words are comforting to read, easy to speak but difficult to live by especially when your heart is heavy.
Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
(2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NIV)
Those words may describe someone you know. They are struggling to hold on to their hope. Life has worn them out. Problems at work. Bills mounting. Broken relationships. Disappointments. Day after day they face life wondering if it will ever get better. Yes friends, unhappiness is a choice.
This month’s song comes from Sarah Brightman if your friend comes to you for help, or to share their story with you, share the words above and share the song below.
There is a very simple principle that most of us can’t seem to get a hang of–as you give, so you receive. Some of us find it difficult to believe that it is necessary to give first and give righteously. Others have been trained to only give gifts on specific occasions, unfortunately this kind of giving is more for ourselves than for the person receiving the gift. If you only give to get, you will not receive.
We have been miseducated about gift-giving. We tend to believe that gifts must always bear a price tag or be given as a particular reason. Try these tips:
Give a smile
Give a prayer
Give your time
Give your talent,energy, your thoughts
Give anonymously without expectation of recognition
Give your knowledge and the information you have received
Pay the toll for the car behind you
Give a book when you’ve finished it
Give someone you don’t know a compliment
Because:
“At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done.
We will be judged by ‘I was hungry and you gave me to eat, I was naked and you clothed me, I was homeless and you took me in.’
Hungry not only for bread — but hungry for love. Naked not only for clothing — but naked for human dignity and respect. Homeless not only for want of a room of bricks — but homeless because of rejection.” ~ Mother Teresa
When I am feeling small, negative feedback seems to better than none. I would rather have a person hate me than overlook me. As long as I am hated I make a difference.
Hunting, throwing stones at wildlife, buying exotic pets, picking flowers, criticizing prominent people, may at times be an attempt to make contact with, even identify with, that which seems free and beautiful and so frightfully unlike us.
When people criticize me I am not any less because of that. It is not a criticism of me but critical thinking from them. They are expressing their thoughts and feelings, not my being.
Before, I thought I was actually fighting for my own self-worth; that is why I so desperately wanted people to like me. I thought their liking me was a comment on me, but it was a comment on them.
The question I could ask myself after receiving criticism, “Does this statement give any insight into myself?” not “Is it true?” If I say, “That’s true,” those words really mean, “I think about myself in the same way.” No one is in a position to know whether or not it is true.
A criticism is at best a description of the immediate past. It does not describe the future course of my life. So is it true to how I have been or true to what I will be? And more importantly, to which end will I use it?
Last week I learned two valuable lessons. The first is acknowledging self-discipline, the ability that I can keep on going despite what feels like low reserves. The second, I can now open my mind to all possibilities.
The decision to climb the hill came at a split second after a friend’s invite. I was stressed, weak and physically not prepared. I stocked up for the mission but uncertainty was at the forefront of my mind.
Ready, Set, No!!
The path between the starting line and the final destination was a long winding road I crept slowly, my calves growled for mercy, my throat stretched and pleaded for water I somehow managed to cross the finish line.
OK, the actuality I didn’t rebel. Respecting my efforts, respecting my self was firmly tightened under my belt.
As I walked, each day was different, climbing the hill got harder by the day and the weather was never certain. My muscles bled, my blood overheated and my mind was open to all, if not every possibility.
The principle seems to be : If you don’t give up, if you don’t lose hope, if you don’t sell out–anything is possible.
I am a promise, I am a possibility, I’m a great big bundle of potentiality.