I Sit Beside The Fire and Think

A nice way to end a hectic month a poem by J R R Tolkien

I sit beside the fire and think

Of all that I have seen

Of meadow flowers and butterflies

In summers that have been

Of yellow leaves and gossamer

In autumns that there were

With morning mist and silver sun

And wind upon my hair

I sit beside the fire and think

Of how the world will be

When winter comes without a spring

That I shall ever see

For still there are so many things

That I have never seen

In every wood in every spring

There is a different green

I sit beside the fire and think

Of people long ago

And people that will see a world

That I shall never know

But all the while I sit and think

Of times there were before

I listen for returning feet

And voices at the door

The journey is short

The journey is short earliest publication in 2017 on a blog called Speaking Tree by Muthender Velishala

An elderly woman got on a bus and sat down. At the next stop, a strong, grumpy young woman climbed up and sat down sharply beside the old woman, hitting her with her numerous bags.

When she saw that the elderly woman remained silent, the young woman asked her why she had not complained when she hit her with her bags.

The elderly woman replied with a smile: “There is no need to be rude or discuss something so insignificant, as my trip next to you is so short because I am going to get off at the next stop."

This answer deserves to be written in gold letters: “There is no need to discuss something so insignificant because our journey together is too short."

Each of us must understand that our time in this world is so short, that darkening with struggles, useless arguments, jealousy, not forgiving others, discontent and an attitude of constant discovery is a ridiculous waste of time and energy.

Did someone break your heart? Stay calm.

The trip is too short.

Did someone betray you, intimidate, cheat, or humiliate you? Relax. Excuse. The trip is too short.

Did someone insult you without reason? Stay calm. Ignore it. The trip is too short.

Did a neighbour comment on the chat that you didn't like? Stay calm. Ignore him. Forgive that. The trip is too short.

Whatever the problem someone has brought us, remember that our journey together is too short.

No one knows the length of that trip. Nobody knows when it will arrive at its stop. Our trip together is too short.

We will appreciate friends and family.

Let us be respectful, kind and forgive, we will be filled with gratitude and joy, after all our trip together as the journey is truly short. 

Generosity

 Generosity is not something that comes easily to many. We become trapped in our own circle and as we age, some of us begin to focus inward. We do not focus on the greater good, but on the greater good for us or those close to us. We think we are generous because we help close family and those who are part of our tribe. We also ignore or complain about the ungrateful people we have met. We may believe that the ungrateful person you met is the norm for the group they are associated with, and we begin to exercise caution and that can make you ungenerous. In your desire to avoid ungenerous people, you become less generous yourself and so lose out on the benefits of being generous yourself. 

I suggest it is better, however, to get no return than to confer no benefits. Even after a poor crop one, a farmer will sow again; for often losses due to continued barrenness of an unproductive soil have been made good by one year’s fertility. To discover one grateful person, it is worthwhile to be generous to many ungrateful ones. 

True generosity, Seneca argues, is measured not by the ends of the act but by the spirit from which it springs. He writes: 

Benefits, as well as injuries, depend on the spirit… Our feeling about every obligation depends in each case upon the spirit in which the benefit is conferred; we weigh not the bulk of the gift, but the quality of the good-will which prompted it. So now let us do away with guesswork; the former deed was a benefit, and the latter, which transcended the earlier benefit, is an injury. The good man so arranges the two sides of his ledger that he voluntarily cheats himself by adding to the benefit and subtracting from the injury.

 

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We need nature

 A rich father who wanted his son to know what it was like to be poor brought him to live with a farming family for a few days.

The child stayed there for 3 days and 3 nights.

Back in the car on their way to the town, his father asked him:

"And your experience?"

"Fine," replied the boy.

"Did you learn anything?"

The boy then explained:

1.    "We have a dog, and they have four of them.

2.    We have a pool with treated water. They have a river with crystal clear water, fish and other good things

3.    We have electric lights in our garden, but they have the stars and the moon to light them up.

4.    Our garden extends to the fence. Theirs up to the horizon.

5.    We buy our food; they cultivate, harvest, and cook it.

6.    We listen to CDs ... they hear a sustained symphony of birds, crickets, and other animals ...... all of this, sometimes accompanied by the singing of a neighbour who works on the farm.

7.    We use the microwave. What they cook tastes much better cooked on a slow fire.

8.    We are surrounded by alarm fences to protect ourselves ... They live with open doors, protected by the friendship of their neighbours.

9.    We are connected to the telephone, computer, and television. They are in communion with life, sky, sun, water, fields, animals, friends and families. "

The father was impressed with his son's feelings. Then finally the son concludes: "Thanks for showing me how poor we are!

Every day we get poorer because we no longer look at nature !!! "

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A winters friend by Lou Waterbeach - MyLifeMyPastMyFuture

This is just a beautifully written piece and so true. Take a couple of minutes to read it. You'll be glad you did. :D

A WINTER FRIEND

This article is so befitting for all of us... take time to ponder... the last statement cannot be refuted:-

I STARTED READING THIS QUITE FAST UNTIL I REACHED THE THIRD SENTENCE. I STOPPED THEN AND STARTED OVER, READING SLOWER, AND THINKING ABOUT EVERY WORD... IT REALLY DOES MAKES YOU STOP AND THINK, NO MATTER HOW OLD YOU ARE.

So, please READ SLOWLY!

AND THEN IT IS WINTER

You know time has a way of moving quickly and catching you unaware of the passing years. It seems like yesterday that I was young, just married, and embarking on my new life with my mate. Yet in a way, it seems like eons ago, and I wonder where all those years went.

I know that I lived them all. I have glimpses of how it was back then and of all my hopes and dreams. But, here it is... the winter of my life, and it catches me by surprise... How did I get here so fast? Where did the years go and where did my youth go? I remember well seeing older people through the years and thinking that those "older people" were years away from me and that winter was so far off that I could not fathom it or imagine fully what it would be like.

But, here it is...my friends are retired and getting grey... they move slower and I see an older person in myself now. Some are in better and some worse shape than me... but, I see the great change... Not like the ones that I remember who were young and vibrant...but, like me, their age is beginning to show and we are now those older folks that we used to see and never thought we'd be.

Each day now, I find that just getting a shower is a real target for the day! And taking a nap is not a treat anymore... it's mandatory! Cause if I don't on my own free will... I just fall asleep where I sit!

And so... now I enter this new season of my life unprepared for all the aches and pains and the loss of strength and ability to go and do things that I wish I had done but never did!! But, at least I know, that though the winter has come, and I'm not sure how long it will last... this I know, that when it's over on this earth... it's over. A new adventure will begin!

Yes, I have regrets. There are things I wish I hadn't done... things I should have done, but indeed, there are also many things I'm happy to have done. It's all in a lifetime.

So, if you're not in your winter yet... let me remind you, that it will be here faster than you think. So, whatever you would like to accomplish in your life, please do it quickly! Don't put things off too long!! Life goes by quickly. So, do what you can TODAY, as you can never be sure whether this is your winter or not!

You have no promise that you will see all the seasons of your life... so, LIVE FOR TODAY and say all the things that you want your loved ones to remember.. and hope that they appreciate and love you for all the things that you have done for them in all the years past!!

"Life" is a GIFT to you. The way you live your life is your gift to those who come after. Make it a fantastic one.

Remember: "It is Health that is real Wealth and not pieces of gold and silver."

~Your kids are becoming you......but your grandchildren are perfect!

~Going out is good.. coming home is even better!

~You forget names... but it's OK, because other people forgot they even knew you!!!

~You realize you're never going to be really good at anything.... especially golf.

~The things you used to care to do, you no longer care to do, but you really do care that you don't care to do them anymore.

~You sleep better on a lounge chair with the TV blaring than in bed. It's called "pre-sleep."

~You miss the days when everything worked with just an "ON" and "OFF" switch..

~You tend to use more 4 letter words ... "what?"..."when?"...???

~Now that you can afford expensive jewelry, it's not safe to wear it anywhere.

~You notice everything they sell in stores is "sleeveless?!"

~What used to be freckles are now liver spots.

~Everybody whispers.

~You have 3 sizes of clothes in your closet.... 2 of which you will never wear.

~But "Old" is good in some things:

Old Songs, Old movies ...

and best of all, our dear ...OLD FRIENDS!!

Stay well, "OLD FRIEND!"

Share with your 'OLD FRIENDS'!

Trust, Generosity and Love

In both relationships and life, trust begets trust. Easy to say but how easy is it to do, and what does it really mean?

The only way to make a man trustworthy is by trusting him. And the easiest way to make him untrustworthy is to mistrust him and show your mistrust. In all good relationships, particularly between partners, friends, and family the most important ingredient is mutual trust. How do you show someone that you trust them?

Trust, is all about the relationship, and what it takes to create, build, and maintain mutually beneficial working relationships.

Trust isn't a belief about reliability or dependability, nor glue that "makes things possible." Rather, trust is an active process of relationship building. Giving trust is what people do who want to enable engagement, innovation, creativity, and great work.

We have all heard or read that trust begets trust but this has been proven experimentally that if you trust people, you make them more trustworthy and, conversely, sanctions designed to deter people from cheating actually make them cheat.

Here are three trust building approaches to get you started:

1.     Commit to the relationship. Love doesn't thrive because you're in an exclusive relationship, and neither does trust. Effectively handling setbacks, ongoing communication, nurturing each others' strengths, dealing with differences, and making a continuous commitment to the relationship allows authentic trust (and love) to flourish.

2.     Focus on what's going right. A common trust building mistake is spending energy to fix what's wrong or focusing collectively when only a few are causing problems. Instead, identify and reinforce what's going right. Put your attention on getting more of the behaviors and actions you desire. When you reinforce what's going well, you get more of it.

3.     Start the process. Trust is an action. Trust starts because you give it and evolves incrementally over time by actions taken and given. It's not a blank check or on/off switch. Think of authentic trust building like turning up a dimmer switch. You gradually turn the light brighter to fit the relationship. It you turn it up too bright, you can turn it down and adjust the level. Giving trust is like that.

Generosity begets generosity, is from the Bible, Mark 4:25 and refers to the idea that we need to share what we have and when we do, we will be rewarded for those deeds. So, this thought expresses the idea that when we do good things, the resources will be there for us to complete the good deed. As we share what we have and what we receive, our generosity will be rewarded.

Love begets love. If you show it, you will feel it. If you give it, you will receive it.” A quote by Elizabeth Bourgeret

We are all alive and that means we change. We change from day to day, and the reason we change is because of the ideas we experience. Life teaches me that I'm able to make changes. Changes that I want to happen, not just those who just happens without me even noticing it.

But it's easier to make those unseen changes, those that comes with you going with the flow, not thinking much about how you present yourself, or how you interact, or what you do. It's harder when you have to track your progress, ask yourself some tough questions, really find your own voice.

 

A simple yet fact, but one that many people do not understand, to make others love you, you've got to love yourself. To make others appreciate you, you've got to appreciate yourself. Every change starts from within, why not start with adding some love for yourself. Love begets love. Be the spark, especially when it's dark.

Special People

The world is a wonderful place, there are so many splendors no matter where you now live. When we were young the world was in exquisite balance, and we viewed in just such a way that we would never, ever become bored. Do you remember those times, life was new, the world was exciting?

Exciting not boring, because there were a few valleys so that we could deeply appreciate the peaks. A few scaly, ugly, biting creatures, to make the others more adorable. Some slippery slopes, dangerous curves, and moving targets, to show us how agile, brilliant, and cunning we were. And some quicksand, tornadoes, and earthquakes, to help us appreciate a stolen nap, an evening stroll, and quiet times.

 But, best of all were all the special people that populated our lives, we did not think of them as special, but they were. These were the people who had the perspectives and traits so unlike your own that sometimes it would seem your only means of surviving the relationship would be learning to love yourself, even more.  They came into our lives when we least expected them to appear and when they had completed the tasks, they had to do with us, they left.  As we grew older for some of us, fewer and fewer of these special people appeared in our life because we became less and less open to embracing them. In retirement we have the opportunity to start to allow these very special people back into our lives to see how they can make our life more exciting. Be open to the new and enjoy the adventure.

Chance meetings

Met up with the dearest, little angel over the last weekend, but she was so, so sad.

She asked, in the sweetest of angel voices, how there can be so much love in the world, yet so few feel it. How there can be so much beauty, yet hardly anyone sees it. And how there can be so many miracles, yet most are ignored.

Poor thing.

So, I reminded her of something far more important. I reminded her that whether or not one knows of the love, they are still bathed in it. Whether or not they see the beauty, they still add to it. And whether or not they recognize the miracles, they are there and happen every single day.

Then, we both just beamed. Life is strange, but good

Did you do it your way?

As you wandered through life, you may have met the disciplinarian who micromanages every step in their very careful dance with life. You may have also met the young or old person who pictures themselves as "troublemaker who only shows up and when they do they appear to be daydreaming. 

Now, whom do you think is most likely to be heard shouting from the top of their lungs as they cruise along a winding mountain road, top-down, shades up, singing "I Did It My Way?

My bet is on the "troublemaker" which were you in your youth, and which are you now?

A philosophical journey from here to there...

Do you think that if $10,000,000 were to be suddenly deposited into your checking account, that over the following months and years you'd have fewer and fewer challenges? Or do you think, perhaps, that your challenges would simply evolve and change?

Right, evolve and change.

And do you think that with your extra $10 million, you'd gradually be presented with more and more opportunities to be happy? Or do you think, perhaps, that your opportunities would simply evolve and change?

Right, evolve and change.

Now doesn't that give you something to think about?

Life is not what you see...

Life is not what you see, but what you've projected. 

It's not what you've felt, but what you've decided. 

It's not what you've experienced, but how you've remembered it. 

It's not what you've forged, but what you've allowed. 

And it's not who's appeared, but who you've summoned.

And this should serve you well, beloved, until you find what you already have.

There is a continuum of attention

 Aa few days ago, I found myself walking near sunset.  The view was impressive and I stopped to take a memory picture). Once I was happy, I continued.  But then I turned around and noticed two people on the opposite side of the path from me. They were standing with their arms around each other's shoulders just watching the sun set.

 It really hit me at a deep level. I saw as sunset not event but not important, and was content to move on. They were actually watching the SUN SET as an event that was important..

I was celebrating the sunset (as a thing) they were participating in the setting of the sun (as an event).

It made me think there's a continuum of attention.

• Unaware - like most of the people walking past the sunset, not giving it a second glance.
• Appreciating - like the man who saw me take my picture, looked at the sunset and smiled as he kept walkin 
• Celebrating - like I was doing by stopping to take a picture
• Participating - like the couple was doing.

Now I want you to think for a moment about your relationships and this continuum of attention.

Maybe you never really think about occasions like birthdays, anniversaries and mother's/father's day.

Maybe you appreciate the people in your life, but you're often too busy to do anything about it.

Maybe you celebrate them by getting them a card and/or gift on the special days

Maybe you make time to actually include them in your life and to participate more deeply in theirs.

(Of course, every relationship is different and I'm not trying to tell you what you should be doing - I just want you to think about it.)

So back to the sunset... once I realized that these people were just standing there watching the sun go down, I turned and did the same.

It only took a few minutes before the sun had disappeared beyond the horizon. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly the sunrise and sunset happen and it always makes me think about how quickly time is passing. And of course, that makes me think.  The next time a thing happens to you can you think of it as an event? 

The Top 10 things that most people seem to forget...

10.  You chose to be where you are now, and you knew what you were doing to get here.

9.    There are no "tests" and you're not being judged.

8.    Everyone's doing their best, with what they know.

7.    You already have whatever you're looking for.

6.    You are of the Divine, pure God, and so is everyone else.

5.    Religion needs spirituality; spirituality does not need religion.

4.    You're naturally inclined to succeed - at everything you do.

3.    You happen to life, life does not happen to you

2.    Order, healing, and love belie every moment of chaos, pain, and fear.

1.    Following your heart is the best way to help others.

Summer is half over, where did time go?

Summer is half over, and you have A LOT of important stuff to do today and this week, this summer, this year. The most important of which is to remind yourself not to go it alone. 

Leverage your friends and engage the magic. 

Touche

Do you  think that life isn't fair? 

Do you believe that all things are possible?

Do you recognize that your thoughts become things, that give rise not only to dreams, but to worlds. 

Do you know that your very existence in time and space proves that you are loved beyond imagination?

Do you believe that the cards of life are indeed stacked in your favor. 

If so I say to you "Touché!" 

N'est-ce pas?'

Ain't life Grand

My life today is

If we take responsibility for our life and say without doubt or equivocation, that "My life today is entirely the result of my prior decisions, focus, and understandings." then and only then can you move on to meet your goals, your dreams, and to make peace with the past. If you can do this, then I believe that you will be able to see, without doubt or equivocation, that it's only a matter of time before your every cup is overflowing.

Time goes by so slowly and time can do so much

Have you ever thought about time? In one day there are 86,400 seconds, or 1,440 minutes or 24 hours.

Have you ever been in a situation, where every second feels like an hour and every hour feels like a day? 

We have all experienced time that has slowed down or has sped up for us. So when do you begin to understand that there is so much time in a day.

You could have breakfast, lunch, and dinner on 3 different continents. 

You could outline the book you're going to write, start the screenplay adaptation, and watch "Gone With The Wind," before the sun even sets. 

Spend a day at work, and still have 16 hours left over. 

Or you could just think 60,000 different thoughts as you tool all over your community 

Hey, the record for climbing Mt. Everest is under 9 hours, leaving 15 to nap and go Yeti searching. There's so much time in a day. So much. 

What are you going to do with your time and your day? As you think about the time you have here is a great song to help you understand that Time goes by so slowly: Unchanged Melody

Consider all goodbyes are temporary

Consider, on the last day of 2016, that the sage knows all goodbyes are temporary, the prophet knows happiness has nothing to do with what others say or do, and the mystic knows life is always fair even when circumstances are not.

Once you have mastery over any of these tricky-to-grasp concepts, you will see life as it is; a wonderful opportunity to love, live and grow

In 2017 become the misty, sagey, prophet, you can be. 

Happy 2017 to all my readers, another opportunity for a great year is here.

Think about living, just think about life

I have noticed that when I am out with my buddies a great more conversation, than I think all of us want is focused on the aches and pains of growing older. 

My suggestion is that when we are given the choice, we should think about smiles rather than frowns, laughter rather than crying, health rather than sickness, gains rather than losses, and income rather than expenses.

After all, we are all anxious to know how tomorrow's going to turn out, and so we should focus on the positive!

To remind us to think about the living is a verse from the old Bob Luman song "Let's think about living" and a link to the song

Let's think about living

Let's think about loving

Let's think about the whoopin'

and hoppin and boppin'

and the lovie, lovie dovin'

Let's forget about the whinin' and the cryin'

And the shooting and the dying

And the fellow with a switchblade knife

Let's think about living

Let's think about life

What is Reality?

Reality, is constructed through our very beliefs – not because we have a magical-thinking way of willing events and phenomena into manifesting, but because cognitive science has shown that the way we direct our attention shapes our perception of what we call "reality."

That's what molecular biologist turned Buddhist monk Matthieu Ricard and Buddhist-raised astrophysicist Trinh Thuan explore in The Quantum and the Lotus: A Journey to the Frontiers Where Science and Buddhism Meet

In considering the constructed nature of reality, Ricard quotes from a 1977 Berkeley lecture by David Bohm (December 20, 1917–October 27, 1992), in which the trailblazing theoretical physicist offered an exquisite formulation of the interplay between our beliefs and what we experience as reality:

Reality is what we take to be true. 

What we take to be true is what we believe. 

What we believe is based upon our perceptions. 

What we perceive depends on what we look for. 

What we look for depends on what we think. 

What we think depends on what we perceive. 

What we perceive determines what we believe. 

What we believe determines what we take to be true. 

What we take to be true is our reality.

Ricard adds:

No matter how complex our instruments may be, no matter how sophisticated and subtle our theories and calculations, it's still our consciousness that finally interprets our observations. 

And it does so according to its knowledge and conception of the event under consideration. 

It's impossible to separate the way consciousness works from the conclusions it makes about an observation. 

The various aspects that we make out in a phenomenon are determined not only by how we observe, but also by the concepts that we project onto the phenomenon in question.