Take a risk. You might wind up being happier with the changes that happen as a result of your risk-taking. And even fi you aren't, you can go back to the way things were and be proud of yourself for being brave enough to take a risk.
Take a chance. Take a dare. Life is too short to stay in the familiar and comfortable all the time. As people, we have a need for routine. But in life, we have to learn to adapt, otherwise we will become fearful and withdrawn. Those who don't take risks miss out.
Your risks could take you from poor as a church mouse to rich as a king and back again. I'd be willing to bet, 9 times out of 10, the church mouse is wealthier in love and happiness than the kind. Give something away that you enjoy, just to see if you can survive life without it. Keep close the things in your life that make you truly wealthy instead: the people you love.
Take a risk. I promise, no matter what the outcome, you'll be happier being you.
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Love, Take Two
Perhaps I have advanced to the next stage of love. At the beginning I was warned by jaded hearts, "The honeymoon phase will pass." "Just wait. The good feelings will go away."
Yet even in the midst of a quarrel or a hard day, one thing remains constant: my love. "Love is a battlefield", as anything else in life is.
I, the eternal optimist and hopeless romantic, believe that happiness is a choice, and love is a decision.
"Too quick."
"Red flag."
"Just wait."
The advice and warnings pour in. Yet no one sees my heart. And they needn't understand. Age, distance, time, disagreements…all formidable, but not as strong as love.
Many can say "I would die for you." How many can say "I will live my life for you and sacrifice for you"?
Ask any couple that have been married for 50 years and they will tell you that they made it through the rough times by keeping the big picture in mind, by remembering that their love would carry them through.
This is the day-on, day-out decision to love.
Love is stronger than me. Love is more powerful. I have chosen love, and nothing will conquer it.
Yet even in the midst of a quarrel or a hard day, one thing remains constant: my love. "Love is a battlefield", as anything else in life is.
I, the eternal optimist and hopeless romantic, believe that happiness is a choice, and love is a decision.
"Too quick."
"Red flag."
"Just wait."
The advice and warnings pour in. Yet no one sees my heart. And they needn't understand. Age, distance, time, disagreements…all formidable, but not as strong as love.
Many can say "I would die for you." How many can say "I will live my life for you and sacrifice for you"?
Ask any couple that have been married for 50 years and they will tell you that they made it through the rough times by keeping the big picture in mind, by remembering that their love would carry them through.
This is the day-on, day-out decision to love.
Love is stronger than me. Love is more powerful. I have chosen love, and nothing will conquer it.
An Over-Abundance of Stuff
As I pack to move this week and attempt to shove my ever-increasing belongings into my little Honda, I continuously wonder how much of the stuff I have would go completely un-missed if I were to throw it away.
How many bottles of shampoo and body lotion do I even need? If I really think about it, I could make do even without the things we consider to be essentials in life.
I've already thrown away dozens of almost-empty bottles of body products, pieces of paper I once considered to be important, old notebooks with nonsense written in them, and put together an overflowing box of clothes to donate that I haven't worn in over a year. I can't even remember what most of the items I put in the trash were. As I contemplate the places where these perfectly good things could be useful, I realize how many people in this very town would value a clean pair of jeans, an extra throw blanket, or a book to read. I suddenly feel excessively rich, and greedy to hold on to all this stuff. Its just stuff, after all.
Millions of people in the world make do with the bare necessities. Food, water, the clothes on their backs, and hopefully shelter from the weather. Millions more don't even have what they need to survive. We have blessings far above and beyond most of the world. Why are we not more grateful? Why do I complain about having less money for shopping or eating out when in fact there is nothing I am in need of?
"To live content with small means, to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion, to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich, to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly, to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart, to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never, in a word to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common, this is to be my symphony." ~William Henry Channing
How many bottles of shampoo and body lotion do I even need? If I really think about it, I could make do even without the things we consider to be essentials in life.
I've already thrown away dozens of almost-empty bottles of body products, pieces of paper I once considered to be important, old notebooks with nonsense written in them, and put together an overflowing box of clothes to donate that I haven't worn in over a year. I can't even remember what most of the items I put in the trash were. As I contemplate the places where these perfectly good things could be useful, I realize how many people in this very town would value a clean pair of jeans, an extra throw blanket, or a book to read. I suddenly feel excessively rich, and greedy to hold on to all this stuff. Its just stuff, after all.
Millions of people in the world make do with the bare necessities. Food, water, the clothes on their backs, and hopefully shelter from the weather. Millions more don't even have what they need to survive. We have blessings far above and beyond most of the world. Why are we not more grateful? Why do I complain about having less money for shopping or eating out when in fact there is nothing I am in need of?
"To live content with small means, to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion, to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich, to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly, to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart, to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never, in a word to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common, this is to be my symphony." ~William Henry Channing
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Christ-Like
"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."
Gandhi had a point.
I ask you, Catholic Christians, did you have selective hearing when Christ said "Judge not lest you be judged"?
Christ didn't live by rules. He was not accepted by society. He was a vagabond and a radical. Ironically, what people found radical about him was that He chose NOT to abide by empty rules and regulations. His message was not that we should live a strict rigorous unhappy life. It was quite simple: do unto others as you would have them do unto you. He broke the rules, because He knew that love was more important.
When Christ asked the rich man what the commandments were, he started reciting off a list. And Christ said "love your neighbor as yourself." The man went away sad. Rules and regulations he could follow, but something as simple as being generous and selfless he just couldn't swallow.
"Let he that is without sin among you cast the first stone." In the recorded documentation of Christ's life in the Bible, where do we see Him pointing the finger? Not at the fisherman, the prostitutes, the tax collectors, the adulterers, the Samaritans. In fact those were the people with whom He chose to associate, and He didn't give a damn what people said or thought about it.
Clearly, casting out the people who do not choose the same lifestyle as you is not an imitation of Christ. The only place you see Him lose His temper and point a finger is at the Pharisees. The hypocrites. The posers who condemned everyone who didn't follow the exact set of rules and regulations that were supposed to be their ticket to salvation. He promised paradise to the man hanging on the cross next to him instead.
So if it is the very definition of the word "Christian" to be "Christ-like", where did so many of those who profess Christianity get lost in translation?
I, Like Christ, only point the finger only at those He pointed the finger at. I choose to seek to understand rather than condemn what is foreign to me. I choose to treat everyone around me with love, only pointing out wrong when I fear their safety, health, or happiness are at stake. I choose to be Christ-like.
Gandhi had a point.
I ask you, Catholic Christians, did you have selective hearing when Christ said "Judge not lest you be judged"?
Christ didn't live by rules. He was not accepted by society. He was a vagabond and a radical. Ironically, what people found radical about him was that He chose NOT to abide by empty rules and regulations. His message was not that we should live a strict rigorous unhappy life. It was quite simple: do unto others as you would have them do unto you. He broke the rules, because He knew that love was more important.
When Christ asked the rich man what the commandments were, he started reciting off a list. And Christ said "love your neighbor as yourself." The man went away sad. Rules and regulations he could follow, but something as simple as being generous and selfless he just couldn't swallow.
"Let he that is without sin among you cast the first stone." In the recorded documentation of Christ's life in the Bible, where do we see Him pointing the finger? Not at the fisherman, the prostitutes, the tax collectors, the adulterers, the Samaritans. In fact those were the people with whom He chose to associate, and He didn't give a damn what people said or thought about it.
Clearly, casting out the people who do not choose the same lifestyle as you is not an imitation of Christ. The only place you see Him lose His temper and point a finger is at the Pharisees. The hypocrites. The posers who condemned everyone who didn't follow the exact set of rules and regulations that were supposed to be their ticket to salvation. He promised paradise to the man hanging on the cross next to him instead.
So if it is the very definition of the word "Christian" to be "Christ-like", where did so many of those who profess Christianity get lost in translation?
I, Like Christ, only point the finger only at those He pointed the finger at. I choose to seek to understand rather than condemn what is foreign to me. I choose to treat everyone around me with love, only pointing out wrong when I fear their safety, health, or happiness are at stake. I choose to be Christ-like.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)