Do it Anyway

Painting by Mary-Ann Loo   http://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=AwrB8pewoopVEyQAmkGjzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTBtdXBkbHJyBHNlYwNmcC1hdHRyaWIEc2xrA3J1cmw-/RV=2/RE=1435177776/RO=11/RU=http%3a%2f%2fwww.maryannloo.com%2fportfolio%2foriginalpaintings/RK=0/RS=ocF1oLCwwHIgjIMf8tXkOHgHCtI-

It is so interesting how most people have been brought up to be considerate of other people.  Most of us will treat others politely.  We want to be kind and we want to be liked by people.  Yet there are those who do not care about being nice.  They are ready to find fault and complain, they want to say what they want to say, where they want and to whom they want to say it.  They do not care about the effect it has on other people.  Sometimes the effect they have on people could be so severe that the receiver of the words or criticism might feel despondent or feel like giving up on their plan or idea.  It is very difficult for most of us not to be bothered by such negativity, but I would like to share this prayer by Mother Theresa with you and say:  Don't pay attention to others' opinion of you, never give up on your dreams and stay true to who you are!

 This version was found written on the wall in Mother Teresa's home for children in Calcutta and is said to have been written by her.  There are other versions of this prayer, but this is the version that has been credited to Mother Teresa.

              People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.  Forgive them anyway.

            If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.  Be kind anyway.

            If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.  Succeed anyway.

           If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.  Be honest and sincere anyway.

            What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.  Create anyway.

            If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.  Be happy anyway.

            The good you do today, will often be forgotten.  Do good anyway.

         Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.  Give your best anyway.

         In the final analysis, it is between you and God.  It was never between you and them anyway.

I would love to hear from you.

Be blessed.

Wag your Body!!!

What a perfect Monday it is!  I have a friend who finds my Monday happiness quite disturbing, saying that I am messing with Monday's reputation.  Yet, I can't help myself, I love new beginnings and that is what Monday's always symbolize, a brand new fresh and promising day, the portal to a promising week.

Going for an early morning run today, I noticed the people and children on their way to work and school wearing their Monday looks.  What struck me was the total absence of happiness on their faces.  If I were to judge what their weekend  was like by looking at their faces, my guess would be that they must all have had dreadful weekends, their Saturdays and Sundays must have been filled with misery.

All the way back home, as I huffed and puffed, I pondered this.  It is as if we are suffering from a shortage of Happiness.  We are so overwhelmed by the crime and corruption stories we are bombarded with on a daily basis that happiness is steadily being eroded from our lives.  We are weighed down by worry, fear and the anticipation of a bleak future.  It is so sad that we have lost our natural ability to smile, to smile for no outward reason, but just for being happy within our souls.

Maybe it is time that we take a lesson from little children and dogs.  They have this wonderful gift.  They can smile (wag their tails) at the slightest provocation.  They love being happy.  Just take some time to watch a little child at play.  They take such delight in everything around them.  They marvel at the dust motes tumbling in the sunlight and chuckle with delight at the funny faces we pull.  At the slightest movement we make, our dogs start wagging their tales and jump up excitedly, expecting a treat, a loving pat or an afternoon walk.  No matter how often they get disappointed, they still jump up every time with the same excitement and happy expectations.  Their furry bodies ooze out happiness.  They love us unconditionally and they are ready to bounce and jump with all the exuberance of the whole universe.  They wag their tails when we leave, because they believe we will return, and when we return they celebrate our arrival with wild tail-wagging excitement, whether we have been away for five minutes or a month.  

Our furry friends and little children have one thing in common apart from their inherent happiness - they live in this moment.  They do not worry about tomorrow.  This moment, perfect, new and full of wonderful possibilities, is enough for them, and they absorb every bit of joy from it.  They trust in the moment and by default they also trust in tomorrow.  They believe their parents and their masters will take care of them.  They do not live in fear, they do not hold grudges and they do not worry.  Every new moment is another opportunity to laugh, to discover, and maybe get a treat.  They expect good to be coming their way and they look for it everywhere.

Maybe you read this and sneer at my simplistic view, maybe you think that it is easy for me to say, I have no idea what is happening in your life, I do not stand in your shoes.  I have to admit you are right, but I also know that when we change our focus and look for reasons to be happy, we wil find plenty still to make us smile.  Last week I heard these words over the radio (I do not know who said it, but my husband and I immediately started implementing it in our lives) :

"Be insanely happy every time somebody whom we love walks through the door!"

Needless to say, we are laughing a lot.

Enjoy your Monday, enjoy this moment.  Embrace it with all your might, this is the moment you have!!!

Be blessed.

Sowing in the Morning

We are all familiar with the sight of an old man standing at a traffic light, unshaven, wearing tattered clothing and holding up a sign that reads: "No Job, No Food. Please help."  We see it so often that many people do not even take notice of him anymore.  Some people are even angered by the sight of just another beggar.  Most of us feel guilty and awkward, and, trying to avoid the hopeful eyes looking at us, we pretend to look for something in the ashtray of our car or suddenly paying close attention to what our fellow passengers are saying.  Anything to keep us from making eye contact with the sad reality of today's life.  

Whether we have become immune to the plight of our fellow human beings, or whether we get angry at them or try to ignore them, the truth is that most of us are afraid.  We are afraid of getting involved with them, we are afraid of caring too much.  We are scared of what it might ask from our comfortable lives if we were to get involved.

You see, we want to be in control and we fear to be taken for a ride, to be made fools of or to be conned.  What if this beggar is just plain too lazy to work, or a drunk, and he is just going to use my hard earned cash to buy himself another drink?  We want to have a say what he does with our silver, once we drive off.

We want a guarantee that our handouts will make a real difference.  Or is that too, just an excuse so that we can sleep easier in our cozy beds tonight?

We live in a needy world.  All around us there are people in dire need of something.  Homeless and destitute families, children abandoned and unloved, animals dropped at overflowing animal shelters and the elderly left alone and confused at old age homes.  We hear about it, read about it and sometimes come face to face with it, but seldom do we reach out and help.  We are too afraid of what it will cost us, not just in money.  We don't help the stray that enters our yard, the sight of his matted hair disgusts us. We don't visit the old and frail, because we are embarrassed at having to laugh at the same old story, or bored of looking through the same album of discoloured photographs of people I don't know.  We don't want to foster a child because we read of people being murdered in their beds by their adopted children. We don't want to go out and testify the world, spreading the Gospel, afraid to be met with ridicule or contempt.  We fear rejection of our faith.  It is so much easier to sit at home and read our Bible and witness to fellow believers than what it is to take the amazing message of Jesus to people who may or may not accept it..

We are afraid to take a chance on people, the risks seem just too great.  We cannot predict success or failure, so we rather turn away and let it become somebody else's problem.

It makes me thankful for farmers.  I am of the opinion that farmers understand the concept of faith.  Despite all the modern technology and scientific advances that have been made, farmers still do not have an absolute guarantee that their crops will be a success or that the return on their livestock will be worth the time and money they have invested.  Yet, still they plough and plant.  They buy piglets, lambs and chicks all because they have faith and expectations of good.  They give meaning to the saying, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Surely the people around us are worth more than a packet of seeds or a herd of cattle?  After all, is the price of kindness really too great?  Can we truly not afford to invest a bit of time or to part with a few cents that can hardly buy a loaf of bread?

In Ecclesiastes 11:6 I read this:

"In the morning sow your seed, and at evening withhold not your hand, for you do not know which will prosper, this or that, or whether both alike will be good."

Let us step out of our comfort zone and sow the seed of love and caring.  We are not responsible for its growth or its success, we just have to sow the seed...

Just Breathe...

At this moment in our lives, my husband and I have a few decisions, a few choices,  that have to be made.  There is no escaping them.  To me they feel absolutely overwhelming.  It is like a mountain ahead of me.  Whichever decision we make will have a major impact on our lives.  Even not making a decision will have a serious effect on our future.  What to do?

It makes me think of Peter, the disciple of Jesus.  There he was in the boat.  Then he saw Jesus walking on the water.  Now I ask myself - why on earth did he want to get out of the boat?  I read that there was a strong wind and they were battling to row the boat.  The disciples felt anxious, scared that the man coming towards them on the water might be a ghost.  I like to think that Peter got out of the boat, not only to have proof that it was indeed the Lord, but also to be close to him, knowing that with the Lord he would be safe from the storm.  Peter is brave, he takes the first step, he gets out of the boat.  I doubt if I would have been so brave.  Amazingly, Peter walks on the water!  However, soon Peter takes his eyes off the Lord and focuses on the wind instead, and he becomes afraid.  Peter starts to doubt.
It sounds so familiar.  Often I am just like Peter.  I trust the Lord and I know that I am safe with him, yet when I have to step out of the boat I am hesitant.  I am afraid.  That first step out of the boat is so difficult, yet it is that step that takes us from relying on ourselves and our own abilities to putting our faith in the Lord.  We have to leave the boat behind to experience new possibilities, however, we can only do this if we keep our eyes focused on the Lord.  Despite the wind blowing we must keep our eyes on Jesus one step at a time.
My husband makes it look so easy.  He prays about it, waits for the word of the Lord and then has peace with that decision.  I agonize over it, reason about it this way and that, try to find a different way, make plans, just to change my mind again and again.  In the mean time my husband just sits back, and relaxes, just knowing, believing in the word of the Lord.  He is happily at peace.
Then last week I found this quote:
Sometimes the best thing you can do is not think, not wonder, not imagine, not obsess.  Just breathe.  And have faith that everything will work out for the best. - Unknown
So every time I felt that I was getting anxious, I would recite this to myself and breathe.  I left it with the Lord, and low and behold, yesterday the Lord revealed to us, that the decision we have made was indeed blessed by Him.  I feel humbled by his infinite wisdom.  All praise indeed goes to the Lord.

Don't be afraid.  Step out onto the water and breathe...

A Peace of Winter

Today is officially the first day of Winter, yet here in our corner of the Southern hemisphere, Winter has arrived with a gentle breath and a mild touch and the sky is an almost baby blue.  Out here in the suburb a peaceful quiet has settled on the day.

Thinking about this word "peace", it reminds me about the scripture I read this morning - Judges 6.  It is in this piece that we find one of the Lord's many names - Jehovah Shalom, the Lord of Peace.  In the world we live in today, peace is a very scarce commodity.  We just have to read a newspaper, or switch on the radio or television to find that this statement is put quite mildly.  Many people talk about peace, statesmen make elaborate plans to try to achieve it, the oppressed pray for it, beauty queens promote it with carefully groomed smiles, yet it seems unattainable.  This void of peace is not something new, it is an ancient condition.  War and strife have been around for as long as the human race has been around, and our search for peace just as long.

Yet peace, despite its aloofness, is not so far out of our reach as we might believe.  It is within our reach, in fact, it is quite close by.  The peace I am talking about is not the magical version the world is constantly hoping for, where, with the signing of a piece of paper, the parties involved destroy their arms, hug each other and are now all buddy-buddy, no, the peace I am talking about is beyond this superficial and temporary solution.

It is the peace that can only be found in God, Jehovah Shalom.  He alone is the source of peace.  When we stand in a relationship with the Lord, we enter into his peace.  In his presence we find stillness, and tranquillity.  In Malachi 2:5 we find this verse:

 "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace , whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee". 

 When we put our trust in the Lord, He quiets our minds and the turmoil we so often have within.  To have such peace is a blessing that fills us with a sence of wholeness and a feeling of security.  It is a peace that the world can simply not comprehend.  When we are filled with the peace of the Lord, we strive to live at peace with others, we are quick to forgive and we are governed by the Spirit of the Lord within us. We quietly await his directions.  However, many of us still miss out on this peace, because we find it difficult to trust the Lord wholeheartedly.  To put our trust completely in God, we need to relinquish control and that is what often scares us.  Why do we have this fear?  Often we fear something or someone because we are not familiar with it, we do not know the person or we are unsure about their bonafides.  The Lord, however, wants us to know Him, he wants to have a relationship with us.  He wants to fill our lives with his peace.  To obtain this peace it is necessary for us to let go and to allow God to be in control, to submit to Him all my fears and worries.

May this new season be filled with warmth and peace.

True Colours

As I set out on my late afternoon run, I felt overwhelmed by the beauty I saw all around me.  The ground was covered in a mosaic of warm yellow, orange and red leaves, and the sky was dusted with soft lilac hues.  Autumn is a magnificent season, neither cold nor wind can subdue its flamboyant spirit, or hide its true colours.  It is the last Friday of a very mild Autumn and, despite my laboured breathing as I plodded along, it felt as if there was a hush over the day, as if nature was taking a brief pause while drinking in the last sunrays of the day.  I could not help but think that maybe, like nature, we should also sometimes pause for a moment and just be.  Breathe and enjoy the moment, allowing the glow of autumn to enfold us.  It reminds me of what is written in Ecclesiastes; there is a time for everything - a time to be born, and a time to die, a time for laughter... Seasons.  Seasons begin, and seasons end, yet each one has its own beauty and its own purpose.  For me Autumn is a season of contemplation, a time filled with gratitude for the good times, to give thanks for the joys and gifts of past seasons.  It is a time to enjoy the harvest after the labour is done.  It is also a time to prepare for the winter that awaits, when the days are cold and the winds are harsh against our cheeks.  It is the memories of these golden days that sustain us through the gray of Winter.  

Enjoy the last few days of this gentle season for soon the frost will steal the last colours from fallen leaves.

I leave you with this quote by John Donne , 

“No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace as I have seen in one autumnal face."

[The Autumnal]” 

― John Donne, The Complete Poetry and Selected Prose

His Perfect Plan

A while back somebody told me this story:

A little boy was walking along and in the veld he found a cocoon, he picked it up and noticed that on the inside there was a butterfly struggling to come out. He immediately took out his pocket knife and cut the cocoon open. Very proud of himself, he helped the butterfly out and placed it on the nearest flower. However, instead of spreading its wings to fly off, it fluttered weakly for a few moments and then fell over and died. Dismayed the little boy ran home and told his father about the incident. The father explained to the little boy that the butterfly needed to struggle its own way out of the cocoon in order to grow its wings strong enough to survive. When the time was right, it would have emerged from the cocoon, delicate yet strong. This story made me think of us as humans. So often, when we find ourselves in a difficult situation, we wait for somebody to come along and help us out. Some knight in shining armour to fight our battle for us, some Samaritan to help carry the burden and often we will just give up the fight, but it is in the struggle, in overcoming, that our strength lies. The butterfly is exquisitely and perfectly created by God, and the inborn struggle it has to go through is also part of God's perfect plan, it serves a divine purpose. When the time is right, God's plan will reveal itself to us, and looking back we can see how it all worked together to complete the picture. Without that time spend in the cocoon, the struggle towards freedom, the caterpillar would forever stay just that, a caterpillar. In Jer. 29: 11 the Lord promises that He has plans for us, plans that we may prosper, not plans to harm us, but when the time is right, His perfect time......

If you flutter by here I hope you will be kind enough to leave a comment, I would appreciate it.

Blessings to you all,

Charri

Pull the Plug

Listen...can you hear it?  It is there.  It is everywhere. We are surrounded by it every day.  It is woven into the silence around us.  It is so subtle that we are not really aware of it, that is, until load shedding reveals its sudden absence.  It is the constant humming of ambient noise that envelops us daily.  Mechanical noise pollution it is called.  Without realizing it, we are actually addicted to its presence.  When power cuts leave us in silence, most people find the sudden absence of sound unsettling at first.  It suddenly feels as if we can hear our own hearts beating, and we feel the urge to whisper reverently.  Yet, soon we are filled with a sense of relief, a feeling of release as if we can now breathe freely and more deeply.

Without us being aware of it, this background noise actually hinders our concentration, and as it gets louder it has an increasing effect on our stress levels.  It can even cause us to feel irritable or aggressive.  Some individuals may suffer headaches or migraines from this low level droning.  People suffering from high blood pressure could experience a worsening of their symptoms.  In today's modern and fast paced world we seem to be unable to escape it, as our livelihood depends on the electronics all around us - computers, cell phones, television, security cameras, lights and power supplies, refrigerators, coffee machines and power tools to name a few.

So what should we do?

Sell everything and head for the mountains, maybe?  Quite a romantic idea, but not very practical.  I, for one, will soon miss the comfort of my ambient noise when the shrill chattering of those furry flying night creatures pierces the night!  However, I do suggest we all try to spend one day each month totally unplugged!  Yes - UNPLUGGED!

Switch off the computers, unplug the television sets and put your cell phone(s) on silent, hidden in your drawer for the day.  Make sure your gas cooker is ready and get out the candles.  Make it an adventure for the whole family, it can be a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with your children.  Teach them the art of board games and hopscotch.  Organize an Easter egg hunt by candle light. Tell stories at dinner time, watch the play of shadows thrown against the kitchen walls by the flickering oil lamps.  If we start this month, then we will have had ten unplugged days for this year.  Invite your friends or family over to share in this new tradition with you.  This might be the perfect opportunity to strengthen friendships and create memories.

Going wireless can bring us back in touch with a slower pace and with each other, maybe even with nature itself.

Share your thoughts about this idea with me, and if you have tried this, please let me know how you experienced it.

Blessings,

Charri

Maya Angelou

I love the poetry of Maya Angelou. 

She was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on April 4, 1928 and named Marguerite Annie Johnson.  She was an  author, poet, dancer, actress, and singer.   Over a period of five decades, she published seven autobiographies, three books of essays and several books of poetry.  She also wrote many plays, movies, and television shows during this period.  Maya was the recipient of countless  awards and a host of  honorary degrees.

In her first autobiography she recounts the story of  first seventeen years of life, published under the title  "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" (1969).   She was the second child of Bailey Johnson, a doorman  and Vivian (Baxter) Johnson who was a nurse. When she was three years old, her parents divorced and she and her brother were sent to live with their  grandmother, Annie Henderson, Stamps, Arkansas. 
When Maya was eight, she was back with her mother in St Louis.  It was here that she was raped by her mother's boyfriend, a man named Freeman. Maya told her brother, who in turn told the rest of their family. Freeman was found guilty, yet he was  in prison only for one day. However, four days later he was murdered.  It is suspected that her uncles might have been responsible for Freeman's murder. Following this incident, Maya, for a period of almost five years, never spoke again.  The reason she gave was, "I thought, my voice killed him; I killed that man, because I told his name. And then I thought I would never speak again, because my voice would kill anyone ..."

Here is one of Maya's well known poems.  I hope you enjoy it with me.

ALONE by Maya Angelou

Lying, thinking

Last night

How to find my soul a home

Where water is not thirsty

And bread loaf is not stone

I came up with one thing

And I don't believe I'm wrong

That nobody,

But nobody

Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone

Nobody, but nobody

Can make it out here alone.

There are some millionaires

With money they can't use

Their wives run round like banshees

Their children sing the blues

They've got expensive doctors

To cure their hearts of stone.

But nobody

No, nobody

Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone

Nobody, but nobody

Can make it out here alone.

Now if you listen closely

I'll tell you what I know

Storm clouds are gathering

The wind is gonna blow

The race of man is suffering

And I can hear the moan,

'Cause nobody,

But nobody

Can make it out here alone.

Alone, all alone

Nobody, but nobody

Can make it out here alone.