Thankful Thursday: Love sans frontiers

I haven't embedded code in a lifetime...but this...this called for it. Maybe you've heard about this guy, maybe you haven't..but i am personally awed and humbled by him.

We often have an "us" and "those other people somewhere there" mentality. We are detached. I am in no way accusing anyone of anything, because i am  this way too. This is life. We have enough of our own problems and we are caught up in them and the idea that there are people in need is abstract to us.

We know of their existence, we know of their problems. We are aware and we genuinely care. We do. We firmly believe that they need help and love and that they are people too and that someone should be DOING SOMETHING about this injustice.

But that's it, isn't it? "somebody" should be doing somebody. Just like these abstract people and their real but distant from us problem, these abstract "somebodys" should really but a stop to this.

It's about starting with the man in the mirror, isn't it? Thinking like Kant, if everyone were to wish a someone will do something..who will do something?

This man has my awe and deepest respect for his action, his selflessness, his love without reserve.

Today i thought to do a post on love. On recieving it and realizing that it is a blessing and a gift to be loved. So many people spurn love, do not value it, mock and reject it when it is not from the people we want it from. Love is sacred and pure, and should be honoured and respected as such. Someone loving you is a gift. It is really not because you are the supermegabest. We are not obliged to return it in the same intensity..but the least we can do is to not insult it...

And that was to be my post...until i saw this vid that my friend, P sent me...and i was blown away. Literally had this cascade of emotions all at once. Love, awe, respect, humility....this man saw a problem, rolled up his sleeves, and went forward to give love. To the body, and to the soul. He is an inspiration. He ought to be an example to us all. With more people like him, this world will be a much better place. What really is the point of life if not to give? if not to bring more love and light into the lives of others? God is the ultimate healer and lover and earth will never be heaven...but we are called to love...

I'm not saying i'm about to run out and start a soup kitchen. I wish i could..and maybe i can and am making excuses and falling back on my "somebody should" mentality...i'm human, i'm not perfect, i'm not better than the next person...but i do know this man's story has changed a thing or two within me and by God's grace, i too will see a need and be able to rise to meet it...and this is what i hope for everyone who reads this.

I am thankful for life

I am thankful for God

I am thankful for the relationship with Him He has blessed me with

I am thankful for people like Narayanan, who go out and do, and inspire others to do, and bring so much much needed love into our world

I am thankful for family

I am thankful for friends

I am thankful for wisdom

I am thankful for prayer

I am thankful for God's faithfulness

I am thankful for souls

I am thankful for growth

I am thankful for inspiration

I am thankful for who i am. No apologies to anyone. I am going to be real. Need to deliver myself of this mask i've allowed myself to believe is demanded..I am me..i am good, i am a mess, i love, i get jealous, i fall, i get back up....me

I am thankful for words

I am thankful for the weather

I am thankful for music

I am thankful for literature

I am thankful for hot showers

I am thankful for sleep

I am thankful for joy

I am thankful for freedom....set yourselves free

I am thankful for memories

I am thankful for emotions

I am thankful for honesty

I am thankful for laughter

I am thankful for the internet

I am thankful that He provides for me and that He is enough

I am thankful for everyone who stayed

I am thankful for everyone who walked away

I am thankful for His perfect plan

I am thankful for His blessings

I am thankful for His word

I am thankful!

Thankful Thursday: A little thought...

“Your beliefs become your thoughts, 

Your thoughts become your words, 

Your words become your actions, 

Your actions become your habits, 

Your habits become your values, 

Your values become your destiny.”

― Mahatma Gandhi

Mark 7:20-22

And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.

Philippians 4:8 

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

I really rather enjoy these posts where there are quotes at the beginning. I think they help to set the tone for the post, provide a focus point for the whole thing, and are useful as a summary/reminder at the end of the post...but i digress...

Today's post, i think, is pretty straight forward and self explanatory. Guard your thoughts. Be vigilant about them like everything depended on them because, well...everything does. I won't duplicate the lessons written in the abundance of self-help and inspirational books...i'll just stick to this little part of it..

Once you feel like there's a whisper, a shadow of a thought in your mind that's leading you to the path you know better than to be on...just silence it there, a la "my mommy told me not to talk to strangers". This past week, every time i've gone off and done something i wasn't supposed to..it all started with the most not-even-a-real-thought type thoughts...which gained momentum the more i allowed them speak. All out actions start off as thoughts. Sometimes, we don't even notice we've thought the thought before we take the action, it seemingly just happens with the flow of things...this is why it is important to be conscious of your thought process, aware of it as much as you can..

I'm probably rambling now...

Today is thanksgiving across the pond..on a Thursday..like last year..ha..

I am thankful for life

I am thankful for God

I am thanful for favour

I am thankful for friends

I am thankful for family

I am thankful for my day at uni today! that test was about to slay my nerves!

I am thankful for the inches added to my skin...this skin is thick these days yo!

I am thankful for all the people who have made me wiser and stronger..through their love and encouragement, or through the pain they've caused..what matters is that i'm all the better for it so..i'm thankful

I am thankful for forgiveness

I am thankful for music...i nearly forgot what therapy it is

I am thankful for communication

I am thankful for humour...i don't know what i'll do without it..it's my escape

I am thankful for books

I am thankful for patience

I am thankful for laughter

I am thankful for joy

I am thankful for Grace

I am thankful for food

I am thankful that He provides for me

I am thankful for His Love

I am thankful for His patience

I am thankful for prophecy

I am thankful for His promises

I am thankful for His faithfulness

I am thankful for Wisdom

I am thankful for Understanding

I am thankful for Jesus

I am thankful for testimony

I am thankful for support

I am thankful for growth

I am thankful for spirituality

I am thankful for art

I am thankful for the weather

I am thankful for my teachers and mentors

I am thankful for Men's Health!!! can't lie! i love this magazine like curayzeee! a new edition out on the stands makes my mouth water in joy...don't ask me why my body chooses to express joy in this form

I am thankful for kindness

I am thankful!!!!

Thankful Thursday: A bit of Dorian, a bit of Gray.

So this is an idea that has lived in my head for a while.

It is not news to anyone that our actions have consequences. Somehow though, well, it's quite easy how it happens...A lot of the time, the consequences of our actions aren't visible and it becomes oh so easy to forget that they are there. That we don't see them doesn't mean they aren't there, or that they don't have the potential to leave their mark on our life in a very real way.

Have you read the picture/portrait of Dorian Gray? okay, i'll wait while you do....:P

Well in it, he, Dorian, makes a deal where his own prettyboy face doesn't age or chance at all, but a portrait of him gets to do that instead. All his life, all his actions leave their marks on the face of that painting. Every evil deed, every hurt, every action etches itself on his face..as it ought to have on the real one...but no one can tell how evil he is because it doesnt show...

I'm sure we can all tell kindly old people apart from them meanies...i think that the life we live leaves its marks on our faces..in frown or smile lines, in a cruel mouth or in smiling eyes..it shows, it really does..

Very much the same with our souls. Our souls are Dorian's portrait. We often do things that no one else can see. We sin, we lie, we fornicate, we are cruel...you don't get branded as soon as you do it..you aren't struck dead on the spot...this makes it very easy for us to forget that all our actions, good or bad leave their imprint on our souls, twisting, turning and distorting.

That's just a thought...we are Dorian...because we can't see it doesn't mean it isn't happening...our actions tell on our souls, they have consequences...

I am thankful for life

I am thankful for God

I am thankful for the retreat last week and for the surprise/blessing/miracle God had for me

I am thankful for family

I am thankful for love

I am thankful for relationship

I am thankful for His grace

I am thankful for relationship

I am thankful for friends

I am thankful for forgiveness

I am thankful for His guidance

I am thankful that He saves me from myself

I am thankful for kindness

I am thankful for teamwork

I am thankful for those people who your soul agrees with

I am thankful for my life

I am thankful for Understanding

I am thankful He reminded me today  was Thursday...so tired these days i can't tell one day apart from the  next

I am thankful for babies!

I am thankful!!!!

Thankful Thursday: Basics.

I'm thankful for life, for each day i'm blessed with it.

I am thankful that there is so much to learn, to experience

I am thankful for my family

I am thankful for art

I am thankful for music

I am thankful for God

I am thankful for the relationship we are blessed to have with Him

I am thankful for prayer

I am thankful for grace

I am thankful for forgiveness

I am thankful for His love

I am thankful for lessons learned

I am thankful that even when i'm weak, confused and hurt, He is there...even when i go off in solitude, shutting everything out

I am thankful...

Thankful Thursday: Adventures in compassion

Today, i don't really have a theme, or an issue on my mind to share..i mean, there are probably lots just doing their rounds in my mind...but not to make a post about. To be perfectly honest, i think it's because of the place i am right now in my life....Life isn't static, and the picture isn't always the same. Sometimes we take trips off the main path and the scenery is different...I do enjoy when my world is shifted and routines are changed. The challenge, the experience leads to me learning something new and important for myself...so for the most part, i'm seeing where this goes...

Apart from that, i am deeply thankful for life and who i am, for thought, for awareness, for the big picture, and all the small pictures that make it up. Life is totally worth living. It keeps getting better, and where it doesn't feel quite so warm and fuzzy, you cannot deny that it gets interesting and has the most unlikely turns of events and they just change up the dynamic and you never can tell where it leads...Butterfly effect things :P

Today in class we got yelled at, for what from one angle looks like not having a narrow idea of our futures. I understand that people should plan their lives..but at the same time, people shouldn't forget that they can plan all they want, but life isn't about to fit itself into their intentions. Who can really fortell tomorrow? who knows the lows from which you'll rise or the heights from which you'll fall? people forget that it is not by their might they are where they are. Me, i'm like this..i give thanks for each day and turn each subsequent one over to God. I know that His plans dwarf mine a million times over, His imagination is beyond what mine can grasp. Chance encounters, strangers, just one thought can alter the course of our entire lives. Where does one person come off judging another for saying..God willing? for saying...i don't know..but isn't this the truth? I do not know what my life will be like a year from now, heck, a month from now..

But maybe this is just me...but He has made me this way...I feel blessed that in my heart, life is an adventure, that i live each day with curiosity, that every day is a new chapter and with eagerness i look forward to what God wants to show me. How can i give that up for a narrow world view that involves me looking only where i want to suck out what i want from the world? for me, that's missing the point.

I have seen people who this type of thought has rendered shallow. They look down on people because they are not like them, because they don't have their goals or dreams or criteria of success. LIFE is beyond a career, beyond a job, beyond what the world considers successful. People are special, regardless of if they are a hotshot gazillionaire. People should be valued for more than their job or the financial gain they can bring to you or their status.

Look deep and open your eyes to the world, open your heart to the beautiful, exhilarating adventure that life is, and pay attention to it. Don't allow yourself get so caught up in some narrow minded view of what is important. Have compassion, realize that everyone has their story and God loves them and therefore they are as important as the next person. Free your minds and look out for things with true value.

I am thankful for life

I am thankful for God

I am thankful for Joy

I am thankful for this adventure

I am thankful for my family

I am thankful for books

I am thankful...for simplicity

I am thankful for feelings

I am thankful for new chapters

I am thankful for...this

I am thankful for food

I am thankful for understanding

I am thankful for patience

I am thankful for honesty

I am thankful for respect

I am thankful for kindness

I am thankful for Uni

I am thankful for God's Grace

I am thankful that there is always something more

I am thankful for His protection

I am thankful for me

I am thankful for laughter

I am thankful for warmth

I am thankful for my friends

I am thankful for inspiration

I am thankful for breaking routine

I am thankful for His love

I am thankful for His faithfulness

I am thankful for His patience

I am thankful for His guidance

I am thankful!