In life there are no mistakes, only lessons ...

"Do not dwell upon the sins and mistakes of yesterday so exclusively as to have no energy and mind left for living rightly today, and do not think that the sins of yesterday can prevent you from living purely today." - As A Man Thinketh

It's been said that the majority of conversations by men over 40 are about the past. Sometimes it´s about the "good old days" and sometimes it's about the deals gone bad, the "if I only had" stories, the missed opportunities, etc.

Letting our "sins and mistakes of yesterday" dominate our thinking today robs us of our present joy and our future happiness. It causes us to miss the real opportunity of TODAY!

John Maxwell, in his outstanding best-seller, Failing Forward, gives some great practical advice: "To move forward today, you must learn to say goodbye to yesterday's hurts, tragedies and baggage. You can't build a monument to past problems and fail forward."

Take time right now to list the negative events from your past that may still be holding you hostage. For each item you list, go through the following exercise:

1. Acknowledge the pain.
2. Grieve the loss.
3. Forgive the person.
4. Forgive yourself.
5. Determine to release the event and move on.

Your best days are definitely ahead of you if you treat your "mistakes" as necessary lessons to be learned. If you understand that each lesson brings with it a certain amount of wisdom, you can understand how truly enhanced your life is becoming. Many people can't achieve the success of their dreams because they won't leave their past behind. They won't tear down the monuments they've built to their old hurts and problems.

One of the best teachings I've ever heard on this was from a motivational speaker whose name has escaped me, but whose message didn't: "In life there are no mistakes, only lessons."

Dreams

Dreams are renewable. No matter what our age or condition, there are still untapped possibilities within us and new beauty waiting to be born.
.. Dale E. Turner

So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.
.. Morrie Schwartz

Change ...

Life is about change
Acknowledging change
Embracing change

No matter how painful the process
No matter the consequence it brings
Change we must accept
By change we learn to adapt
Change is inevitable

Like it or not
Letting go
Moving on
Life goes on
It evolves

For better or worse
Till death
Change will forever depart us

Wrote this poem some years back ...

Someone once said ... life is pleasant, death is peaceful. It's the transition that's troublesome ...

Therefore, it's been destined that one's life will be fraught with wants and needs unfulfilled as human nature is never satisfied.

Attitude ...

A great attitude does much more than turn on the lights in our worlds; it seems to magically connect us to all sorts of serendipitous opportunities that were somehow absent before we changed.
.. Earl Nightingale

Loving is being

All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.

.. Helen Keller

True generosity ...

Real generosity is doing something nice for someone who will never find out.

Forgiveness ...

The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
.. Gandhi

The gift of understanding ...

When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don't blame the lettuce. You look for reasons it is not doing well. It may need fertilizer, or more water, or less sun. You never blame the lettuce.

Yet if we have problems with our friends or family, we blame the other person. But if we know how to take care of them, they will grow well, like the lettuce. Blaming has no positive effect at all, nor does trying to persuade using reason and arguments.

That is my experience. No blame, no reasoning, no argument, just understanding.

..Thich Nhat Hahn

The light of life

Go out into the world today and love the people you meet. Let your presence light new light in the hearts of people.
.. Mother Teresa

Peace

If there is to be any peace it will come through being, not having.
.. Henry Miller

In giving, you receive ...

What we have done for ourselves alone dies with us. What we have done for others and the world remains and is immortal.
.. Albert Pine

The law on love

Hatred does not cease by hatred at any time; hatred ceases by love. This is an unalterable law.

.. Buddha

Living with a purpose ...

It's not enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for something. May I suggest that it be creating joy for others, sharing what we have for the betterment of personkind, bringing hope to the lost and love to the lonely.
.. Leo Buscaglia

Cherish ...

Cherish your vision; Cherish your ideals; Cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts. If you remain true to them, your world will at last be built.

.. James Allen

Fear

Death is not the biggest fear we have; our biggest fear is taking the risk to be alive -- the risk to be alive and express what we really are.

.. Don Miguel Ruiz

Loneliness

Loneliness is not the same as being alone. Everyone has times when he or she is alone through circumstances or choice. Being alone can be experienced as positive, pleasurable, and emotionally refreshing if it is under the individual's control. Solitude is the state of being alone and secluded from other people, and often implies having made a conscious choice to be alone. Loneliness is therefore unwilling solitude.

In their growth as individuals, humans start a separation process at birth, which continues with growing independence towards adulthood. As such, feeling alone can be a healthy emotion and, indeed, choosing to be alone for a period of solitude can be enriching. To experience loneliness, however, can be to feel overwhelmed by an unbearable feeling of separateness at a profound level. This can manifest in feelings of abandonment, rejection, depression, insecurity, anxiety, hopelessness, unworthiness, meaninglessness, and resentment. If these feelings are prolonged they may become debilitating and prevent the affected individual from developing healthy relationships and lifestyles. If the individual is convinced he or she is unlovable, this will increase the experience of suffering and the likelihood of avoiding social contact. Low self esteem will often trigger the social disconnection which can lead to loneliness.

Sorry: feeling sorrow, regret, or penitence

Why do people say sorry but not make an effort to show that they are truly feeling sorry for the things they did or for something they should have done but did not do. After the sorry is said,life goes on as usual - no change or rather, no improvement.

Action surely does speak louder than words. To show sincerity, one must make a conscious effort to express regret and penitence, failing which 'sorry' does not mean anything.

Woman

She can kill with a smile
She can wound with her eyes
She can ruin your faith with her casual lies
And she only reveals what she wants you to see
She hides like a child

She can lead you to love
She can take you or leave you
She can ask for the truth
But she'll never believe you
And shall take what you give her, as long as she loves you
She steals like a thief

She takes care of herself
She can wait if she wants
She's ahead of her time
And she never gives up
And she never gives in
She just changes her mind

And she'll promise you more
Than the garden of eden
Then she'll carelessly cut you
And laugh while you're bleeding
But she'll bring out the best
And the worst you can be
Blame it all on yourself

She is frequently kind
And can be suddenly cruel
She can do as she pleases
She's nobody's fool
But she can't be convicted
She's earned her degree
And the most she will do
Is throw shadows at you

But she'll always remain the woman in your life

Honesty

If you search for tenderness
it isn't hard to find.
You can have the love you need to live.
But if you look for truthfulness
You might just as well be blind.
It always seems to be so hard to give.

Honesty is such a lonely word.
Everyone is so untrue.
Honesty is hardly ever heard.
And mostly what I need from you.

I can always find someone
to say they sympathize.
If I wear my heart out on my sleeve.
But I don't want some pretty face
to tell me pretty lies.
All I want is someone to believe.

I can find a lover.
I can find a friend.
I can have security until the bitter end.
Anyone can comfort me
with promises again.
I know, I know.

When I'm deep inside of me
don't be too concerned.
I won't ask for nothin' while I'm gone.
But when I want sincerity
tell me where else can I turn.
Because you're the one I depend upon.

If a picture paints a thousand words ...

If a picture paints a thousand words,
Then why can´t I paint you?
The words will never show
The you I´ve come to know
If a face could launch a thousand ships,
Then where am I to go?
There´s no one home but you,
You´re all that´s left me too
And when my love for life is running dry,
You come and pour yourself on me
If I could be two places at one time,
I´d be with you
Tomorrow and today,
Beside you all the way
If the world should stop revolving
Spinning slowly down to die,
I´d spend the end with you
And when the world was through,
Then one by one the stars would all go out,
Then you and I would simply fly away

.. David Gates

One body, many parts

For me, the different religions are like beautiful flowers from the same garden, or they are branches of the same majestic tree. Therefore, they are equally true though being received and interpreted through human instruments equally imperfect.

... Mahatma Gandi

The web of life ...

Humankind has not woven the web of life. We are but one thread within it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. All things are bound together. All things connect.

a sense of loss ...

If you were walking back from a well, carrying a bucket of water & someone jostled you, there could be spilled from the bucket only that which it contained. As you walk along the way of life, people are constantly bumping into you. If your heart is full of ill nature, bad temper, and ugly disposition, only those things will be spilled from it. On the other hand, if it is full of love, you will spill a smile or pleasant remark. You can spill from your bucket only that which it contains. ~Author Unknown

Lately, I am like a bucket filled with much discontentment, unhappiness, anger. Unfortunately, only those dear and near to me will feel the impact of these spilled contents when they bumped into me.

What is happening to me? I seem to be losing the zest for life.

It seems everything is deliberately going against me ... the good is drifting away from me and the bad is closing in.

I know I sound very negative ... and it's not healthy especially when I need to be a walking and living example of strength, perseverance, courage and hope to my precious ones.

I pray for these negative vibes to go away ...