sec oar

We all need a little help these days. You really never can tell what someone has struggled with, what they’ve been through, that may drive how they are acting or acted. We’ve all been through things. Some much worse than others. Some try to hide it, some use it for motivation and some hold it as an anchor that drags them down to the bottom of the sea of life. Dwelling is hard not to do. Who doesn’t think of the past? Who doesn’t think of their past, their decisions or the decisions of others that have impacted their lives. Impacted who they were, who they are, and who they became or will become. As a younger person, in my teen years and early 20’s, I used it as motivation. In my 20’s and 30’s, I guess I cut that motivation apple in half and then it became a point of reflection. In my 30’s, the apple was half reflection and half anchor as you reflect on some of the bad decisions you made. Ironic, we never seem to reflect on the positive decisions we made. Not too many memorable repercussions come along with positive decisions or experiences. Sometimes it’s a trigger that makes us reminisce about those experiences. With everything, we learn. We learn about ourselves the most I believe. For the most part, we try to rid ourselves of those things in our life that cause us to struggle. Ironically, we sometimes can’t always eliminate people in our lives that we believe cause our stress and struggle. I guess in essence we are hurt by things that we are most passionate about. Hopefully, the tide turns and starts moving you forward instead of pushing against you. We all need a little help…from the people around us, from the person inside us, and a little push from Mother Nature never hurts.  

What we know of other people is only our memory of the moments during which we knew them. – T.S. Eliot

reef

I am sorry....the only three words that can give the future a chance by admitting remorse for the past.

Experience is the name we give to our mistakes. – Oscar Wilde

bright

The darkest tunnel is often illuminated by the smallest flicker of light.

To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless. – G.K. Chesterton  

e/in+(volve)

Different species of animals evolve over years, decades, and centuries. Nature and nurture shaping them, preparing them, adapting them to what lay ahead. Man has gone through the same thing. Evolving over time to prepare him to face what’s next. As humans, we also seem to evolve inside. We go through and get through different things in life. We go through tough times. We go through great times. Happiness grows for us to deal with sadness down the road. Sadness occurs for us to know how to appreciate happiness when it knocks on our door. You become involved in something that turns out to be less than you expected or more than you intended on handling. We evolve out of that situation we are involved in to once again help us adapt to what lay ahead. What is coming toward you? Sometimes there is no way of knowing. Maybe sometimes you expected exactly what was coming and its outcome(s) are a delight. Maybe the outcomes are destructive. Sometimes when we are torn down by time and effort, we build back up with time and effort. Your strength is amazing. You never really can tell how low you can go before you know you will never be that low again. Maybe you help someone who is lower than you rise back up and it is that help that forces you to push on….for those that love you love the fight inside of you. They quietly see it…they whisper…they know you are stronger than so many around you. In that time when you are struggling, close your eyes and take a deep breath in. Stand up on those that have given you the power of their love. Stand up for them, stand on their struggles and the strength they have built year after year…and look to them, not always for advice, but as an example of facing life head on and whatever may come at you.

Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Today..and the rest of your life.

It’s the last day of the year. A year it was. We learned a lot. We lost a lot. We loved a lot. We saw a lot. I am both thankful and melancholy at the same time. Thankful for family, safety, food, roof over my head. Thanful for safety and families enjoying the holidays and loved ones; not just on domestic soil, but abroad as well. The Paris attacks, like 9/11, once again taught us that life is so fragile and needs to be treated delicately and we need to feed off each other for strength. I think for the first time I saw a world united against one enemy and in some weird way, I was proud of that. I think the majority of us love our families. Love our children. Love our husbands and wives. Seeing hurt so far away places hurt on faces of your loved ones so near and dear. Those people could’ve been me. The people in the concert hall could’ve been me. The people eating outside unaware that their last moments were minutes away…could’ve been me. I get angry that people don’t step up to help others. On the flip side I also understand people’s hesitation about making sacrifices that could turn around and hurt their loved ones and families. It’s a very blurred line we walk, but we walk it together. I don’t know you folks that are reading this. I see the countries you may be living in when you read my words, but that’s it. You may think you are just browsing invisibly, but through my words I hope you know that I care. I hope you know that you are just like me. I hope you know you are cared for and in times of worry, you should think of the things you love most on this earth. They are most likely not “things”, but rather those moments in your life when you were happiest. When you were the most content. When a sun-drenched smile was the greatest part of your day or a kiss from the person you love most was the richest of gems that you could hold in your heart. Any more, I am only happy when those I care about most are happy and I can bow my head and leave my worries fall off my back as I pass through the threshold. I hope you have less worry in the new year. Less worry, more love, less stress, more easiness, less war, more understanding. Make it count.

Happy New Year.

Bob

Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart. -Marcus Aurelius

will

I know people in other countries are reading and at a time when nothing is sure in life, it’s important to think about everyone in the world that is grieving and remember, we all lose loved ones and then we ourselves will move on from this world. Death is a scary word. We go through our lives living and learning about death. Loved ones lost to disease, accidents, old age, early deaths, childhood accidents, misfortune, and catastrophe. These days, with acts of violence being so swift and destructive, the value we put on life seems so volatile. It’s sad, a life, any life, anywhere, is so important. A person is given life and love at birth and then this world raises them. Social norms or social lack thereof contribute to a person’s growth and outlook of the world. I will say that I have been fortunate to have been raised around love, supported, able to encounter people with the same ideology and goals and grew to appreciate so many different people and lives. With that being said, we all have our own prejudices that have grown out of hate, indifference, divide, family history, and racial history. I don’t think that is different for any group; although admitting it may be difficult for some or most. Our most common trait is that we are all human. That is one thing that binds us all. Physically hurting someone does come by birth, it comes by learning hurt and seeking it out. While hurt will occur, so will love and care and support. There are always going to be much more people seeking love, care and support against those seeking to hurt. Look inside yourself. Look at your mother or father or sister or brother. Look at your child. Look at your mate. See the love another human life can bring to you. Not just by procreation, but THE creation of human life, spirit and the will to live on, fight on, and love.


If the human race wishes to have a prolonged and indefinite period of material prosperity, they have only got to behave in a peaceful and helpful way toward one another. - Sir Winston Churchill