Sunday, March 31, 2013

An amazing story

"He said you have an amazing story..!"

“Life is so beautiful that death has fallen in love with it, a jealous, possessive love that grabs at what it can. But life leaps over oblivion lightly, losing only a thing or two of no importance, and gloom is but the passing shadow of a cloud...”  
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“You might think I lost all hope at that point. I did. And as a result I perked up and felt much better.”
*
 “To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation.” 
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“If you stumble about believability, what are you living for? Love is hard to believe, ask any lover. Life is hard to believe, ask any scientist. God is hard to believe, ask any believer. What is your problem with hard to believe?”


BELIEVE
 

"Love every morsel of the people in your life"


"With each challenge we grew closer. Words became less important. One night Jen had just been admitted to the hospital, her pain was out of control. She grabbed my arm, her eyes watering, “You have to look in my eyes, that’s the only way I can handle this pain.” 

We loved each other with every bit of our souls.
Jen taught me to love, to listen, to give and to believe in others and myself. I’ve never been as happy as I was during this time.

Cancer is in the news daily, and maybe, through these photographs, the next time a cancer patient is asked how he or she is doing, along with listening, the answer will be met with more knowledge, empathy, deeper understanding, sincere caring and heartfelt concern."



Before going to sleep Jen and I used to ask each other what the best and worst part of the day was, choosing to tell the best part last so we could fall asleep happy. The night we came home from the hospital after being told that Jennifer’s liver was failing and she didn’t have long to live, I asked Jen to tell me what she loved most about the day, which we had spent with family and a few close friends. Jennifer thought for a moment then looked through my eyes and into my soul. 
She said, “I loved it all.”

Friday, March 29, 2013

Just like life

"I recently told a friend, my novel in progress is the funniest I have  read.  He commented on my ego, but I stand by it.  It should be really.  I wrote it for myself.  The characters are flawed and the plot messy. Just like life. And life is funny."
 

Follow me

You might not understand the words but look at the pictures on this page
The world is wonderful with some truly amazing people and places in it.


I have no more words.

<3

Change

 Changing the world begins with a smile - yours!

:)

Relativity

"There is no one in the world whose desires are always fulfilled, in whose life everything happens according to his or her wishes, without anything unwanted happening."

Yes - these things happen. Life is about all kinds of experiences. We are all the same in the eyes of misery, and as a feeling,  it can overpower each and every one of us, the rich and poor, black and white, babe and old and cripple and healthy. We all have our miseries and frustrations.
But more and more I've come to a realization - as many external factors and patterns that unexpectedly or constantly affect our existence can be taken as facts of life and hence there isn't much we could usually do about them, we DO have immediate access to our feelings and how we CHOOSE to react to those FEELINGS. It's not about trying to bend the physical reality because we don't personally like any of the factors, it's about building a reality inside YOU that's aware and unbendable for you have the vision to see beyond the wall of reactions and observe things for what they truly are. Things just are. It's a flow of existence. That's it - nothing more and nothing less. All we can do as people is try to cope with that and make our existence full of feelings that we'd want to be there.We all have our methods to reach that. But I would just like to type it out clear an simple - happiness is a choice.
You can choose to be happy in this day, here and now, and none other, because life is happening now. It's not a preparation towards something.. something bigger. This is it. Now.
The endless flow of tomorrows is growing shorter, step by step, with each breath you take. How do you want to look back on your life one day? Yes, it was hard - but there is always, always, always something to be happy about. Every day tiny magical things happen and they are all around us. Smiles, colors, sensations, sounds, kind words, lucky chances..Let them be part of your existence as well, just as all the issues we come across on our paths.



This is the link to the page where following thoughts and sentences are from. It's long but if you have the time and interest, it's worth reading:

ANGER
Burying the negativity in the unconscious will not eradicate it, and allowing it to manifest as unwholesome physical or vocal actions will only create more problems. But if you just observe, then the defilement passes away and you are free of it.
This sounds wonderful, but is it really practical? It’s not easy to face one’s own impurities. When anger arises, it so quickly overwhelms us that we don’t even notice. Then, overpowered by anger, we perform physical or vocal actions which harm ourselves and others. 
Later, when the anger has passed, we start crying and repenting, begging pardon from this or that person or from God: “Oh, I made a mistake, please excuse me!” But the next time we are in a similar situation, we again react in the same way. This continual repenting doesn’t help at all.

 WE ARE ONE
 This is the culmination of the teaching of the Buddha: self-purification by self-observation. It can be practiced by one and all. Everyone faces the problem of suffering. It is a universal malady which requires a universal remedy, not a sectarian one. When one suffers from anger, it’s not Buddhist anger, Hindu anger, or Christian anger. Anger is anger. When one becomes agitated as a result of this anger, this agitation is not Christian, or Jewish, or Muslim. The malady is universal.

SELF OBSERVATION
This direct experience of our own inner reality, this technique of self-observation, is what is called Vipassana meditation. In the language of India in the time of the Buddha, passana meant seeing in the ordinary way, with one’s eyes open; but vipassana is observing things as they actually are, not just as they appear to be. Apparent truth has to be penetrated, until we reach the ultimate truth of the entire psycho-physical structure. When we experience this truth, then we learn to stop reacting blindly, to stop creating negativities—and naturally the old ones are gradually eradicated. We become liberated from misery and experience true happiness.

OUT OF IGNORANCE
This is what the Buddha taught: an art of living. He never established or taught any religion, any “ism”. He never instructed those who came to him to practice any rites or rituals, any empty formalities. Instead, he taught them just to observe nature as it is, by observing the reality inside. Out of ignorance we keep reacting in ways which harm ourselves and others. But when wisdom arises—the wisdom of observing reality as it is—this habit of reacting falls away. When we cease to react blindly, then we are capable of real action—action proceeding from a balanced mind, a mind which sees and understands the truth. Such action can only be positive, creative, helpful to ourselves and to others.

...and this sevenly.com seems to have a nice cause. I even like the original design of shirts and the price is not bad! So why not? Give it a look.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Coffee

This story will warm you better than a coffee in a cold winter day:
"We enter a little coffeehouse with a friend of mine and give our order. While we're approaching our table two people come in and they go to the counter -
'Five coffees, please. Two of them for us and three suspended'
They pay for their order, take the two and leave. I ask my friend:
'What are those 'suspended' coffees ?'
'Wait for it and you will see'
Some more people enter. Two girls ask for one coffee each, pay and go. The next order was for seven coffees and it was made by three lawyers - three for them and four 'suspended'. While I still wonder what's the deal with those 'suspended' coffees I enjoy the sunny weather and the beautiful view towards the square in front of the café. Suddenly a man dressed in shabby clothes who looks like a beggar comes in through the door and kindly asks
'Do you have a suspended coffee ?'
It's simple - people pay in advance for a coffee meant for someone who can not afford a warm beverage. The tradition with the suspended coffees started in Naples, but it has spread all over the world and in some places you can order not only a suspended coffee, but also a sandwich or a whole meal."




Inspiration



Sometimes I feel like I have something inside me that needs to be said out loud, needs to be shared; just needs to get out there and start a life of it's own.. It's an inspiration to inspire somebody. To bring a sunny smile into someone's gloomy routine. I started this blog with a small post that I came across on my facebook wall and found it worth spreading and remembering. There is such wonderful things out there. Such inspiring deeds and jaw-dropping amazingness and thought provoking ideas. The page here is dedicated to those things - to the wandering wonders that are all around us.. and maybe not as noticed as they should be. Things we should try to think about more often and try not to forget, things that should make us smile and warm our hearts and make us realize something we never realized before. Small things that are not so small after all..

EDIT: During the year I have had this blog, the orientation of it has slightly shifted. I have found myself gathering also thoughts and bits and pieces from here and there across the "interweb" that I find inspiring and would like to turn back to now and then, when I feel lack of inspiration or a bit under the weather. There are amazing people around us, each with their uniqueness and inspirations and fears and achievements. We are worth remembering.