ReVoLuTiOnEr's CoRnEr

The Times of Our Life

Tick..tick..tick...

Each moment, every breath you take is bringing you closer to tomorrow.Take a look at the world around you. It responds with the ebb and flow of time just like a clock. The flowers bloom in spring, the world is brighter, people are much happier in the promise of warmer weather. As the autumn approaches, the leaves fall from the trees, the animals prepare for the long, hard winter and people seal up their windows and doors to keep out the cold. Almost like protecting themselves and shutting down for a time. They go about their everyday lives, but wouldn't it be nice just to defy the rhythm of life and on a cold winter dayto fire up the grill and invite a bunch of people over for
a party, play some beach music and just have some fun?

Pump up the volume and hey let the neighbors watch. They will wonder about you but that's okay. Don't be so predictable and shake things up a bit. That is what is
fun about really living instead of doing what is alwaysexpected of you. You can always look back and laugh at all the silly things you do in life and have no regrets
ever! Your friends will enjoy the fun person you are!

Time will tell and your home will be filled with friends that want to be there and friends are a treasure worth more than money or anything found on this
big beautiful Earth! Friendship is important to me and I know I write alot about this topic. It is close to my heart. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for a friend, but I will always be honest, even if they don't like what I have to say. And I am willing to
listen to what people say. I try to keep an open mind and heart. I am not perfect. That's boring! I wouldrather just be myself. And I don't expect perfection
from anyone. Just be who you are. There are no secrets between friends. Sometimes words get in the way of friendship. Don't assume that a friend will not
understand your pain. They are not trying to be controlling or pushy. They just care about you. They want you to be happy and whole! They just plain miss you!! You
are a part of their hearts and its natural for a friend to want to reach out and talk to another friend. Don't shut the door on friendship because stuffing issues
and problems inside only hurts you.

Be assured of the trust that is between friends. If friends are true , they will keep your confidences and rest assured, they want you to smile again! Take a chance and talk to a friend. You won't be sorry! Like I said, Time ticks by. Why  let a precious friendship by the wayside over something that happened a long time ago. If you
had a disagreement, forgive. Forgiveness is easy. Don't let pride keep you from a good friend. Believe me, I think we have all been there. It's okay. It's the stuff you don't do that you often regret.If I yell at a friend, it is because I care! If I didn't care, I  wouldn't bother. I speak my mind, but only for a little while. My friends know that and they laugh. Hey, what can I say? I like people and they like me!

Because that is what life is all about....if you can't find something to smile about, life can be mighty empty.Keep smiling! Remember that Yesterday is history....Tomorrow is a mystery....Today is a gift you give to yourself....

That is why it is called the "present"...

Enjoy today!

Acts of Kindness

What power and freedom is in the act of appreciation.
The attitude of deeply feeling grateful for people and conditions in your life opens the floodgate for more of the same.

It also lifts the countenance of all those around you. There was a report done that showed when acts of kindness were done that the giver and the receiver at once felt good: what is even more incredible is that the same thing happened to those who witnessed the act.

Our bodies create a “feel good chemical” when we engage in acts of kindness, receive them or even witness them. This is so powerful that once we really understand the possibilities we can change the world.

Just think for a moment of a world where people are being kind to each other. Think about the chemical affects on each person as they act with kindness, receive kindness and witness kind acts.

This natural high of good feelings would reach further and further affecting more and more people, filling them with a sensation of kindness as well.

Imagine kindness and appreciation catching on and spreading throughout the land.
Just think how powerful this would be. If each of us decided to act with appreciation and offer acts of kindness to all we come in contact with we could in fact change our world.

Simple things like saying Thank you offer appreciation and the energy of feeling good to all you meet.
Telling the people in your life how talented, loving, and how much they mean to you creates an environment where kindness grows.

When you are in the check out line at the store, take a moment to appreciate the person helping you to make your purchases.

As you drive down the road be aware of opportunities to be kind: let someone get in front of you, smile, offer blessings as you go down the road.

I read recently that “to bless means to give it your best energy, your highest thought, your grandest wish. You send a thing good energy when you bless it. This is something physical that you are doing, not merely
conceptual or philosophical.”

As you go through your day at home, work, shopping, driving through traffic: remember to appreciate, to be kind, to bless all you come in contact with.

To appreciate you must bless; you must offer your grandest, highest thought of well being and goodness. This is always followed with acts of kindness, which have the power to change the world.

Lift up each person today with your highest thought, see the Divine within each, that spark of love and light that always burns within each created being.

Allow yourself to feel love and move in appreciation and follow with actions of kindness.

When each of us dares to live a life where appreciation and kindness are standard each and every moment of the day, we then, change the world and greater yet: we change ourselves.

You will know when your feelings of appreciation are genuine by the washing of love and positive energy that suddenly flows through you and touches those around you.

Appreciate each moment and each person with acts of kindness and lift the world to the highest place where love and joy reign.

Only Smoke And Ashes

The past is an intricate part of all of our lives. We were raised, in whichever way was our destiny, and then we headed out on our own. Usually, by the time we figured out how our past affected our feelings, thoughts, and actions, we have left a trail of hurt behind us, along with a fair amount of hurt within. If we are lucky, we realize a need to get further help than we can supply ourselves. Until our past is balanced, and put into the proper perspective, we hold onto resentments, and that anger comes out in our personalities.

We find ourselves getting frustrated while waiting in lines, or in traffic, or with our spouses, or our kids. There are unsolved issues creating our anxiety, and until we understand what those issues are, and take the necessary steps to correct them, we are living with more stress than we need to. I know what happens when these issues are hiding. Life is angry and flippant and impatient. Alcohol, and prescription or non prescription drugs may be our way of hiding the pain.

If one finds themselves in the same position, but a parent or person that has wronged you has moved or passed away, or you can’t get in touch with them, a letter to them is a great way to let the demons out. Once completed, the letter is to be burned, and an awakening should be felt. We need to be free of all of our past in order to move forward and appreciate life and what it has to offer. Once free, we might find ourselves waiting in traffic, but experiencing how beautiful the sky looks, and the birds in the trees, instead of getting annoyed to the point of anger.

Of course life is going to throw us negative situations that cause us to be angry or fearful or anxious. There is, however, a better way to deal with these situations than in a destructive way. We are the ones who hurt ourselves the most by misinterpreting others, and life situations, and then acting in an inappropriate way. Our actions will usually cause us guilt and shame as soon as our behavior is realized.

Pondering The Big Questions

Do you ever ponder the big questions, like "What is consciousness?" or "Why do we feel motivated to do good?" Doing so really takes no more brainpower than balancing your checkbook, and although you are more likely to be satisfied and certain with the result of the checkbook balancing, thinking about these things is not just good brain exercise. It gives you insight and perspective.

In the case of a "what" question, you would continually define each new explanatory word as it was used. For example, "What is happiness?" might be answered, "A feeling that everything is all right." Then you ask what a feeling is and what "all right" means. If you were to say that "all right" means "as it should be" you are lead to the question of "What does 'should' mean?"

This technique of repeated questioning that children use is great for creating an explanation (or many). It is also good for pointing out assumptions that we may not have previously stated or been aware of, such as "Going to work makes me money which buys things we need which will make me and my loved ones happy," or the shortened version "Going to work produces happiness." But simply explaining and making assumptions more conscious isn't necessarily very educational or enlightening.

Why do you want to exercise your brain? The answer to that might be something like, "To be more intelligent." Why do you want to be more intelligent? Maybe to solve problems more effectively. Why do you want to solve problems more effectively? Maybe to have more control over your environment, to make more money, or to create better things and situations in life. Why? To be happier, perhaps?

Now as you look at each of these steps in the reasoning, you can identify a number of assumptions - ideas which may or may not be the best ones to operate on. It might be a valid question to ask if exercising the brain actually improves intelligence, for example, or if only certain kinds of mental exercise are effective for this. You might also ask whether being more intelligent really helps you solve problems more effectively. Perhaps learning specific problem solving techniques is more important than one's level of intelligence.

Besides challenging any and all assumptions, you can also look for new perspectives and approaches by moving up the hierarchy of ideas and seeing if there are other ways to re-create this logical chain. For example, if the end result is supposed to be happiness, what other approaches make more sense than exercising one's brain? Or without going that far up the hierarchy, what about having more control over your environment? Is increased brainpower the best approach to that, or are there specific actions that will get you there faster?

Life Is One Choice After Another

Life is one choice after another, whether we think about it like that or not. There are developments we don’t even realize we are making choices about. We wake up and decide whether we’re going to have grapefruit, or cereal, or both. Coffee or tea? Maybe some hot cocoa would be best. We decide what shampoos and conditioners and soap we’ll use in the shower, or should we take a bath today? We pick out what clothes we’re going to wear, what shoes, what purse will go with what, or what tie goes best with our shirt.

Do we need a jacket or will a sweater do? What shall we have for lunch? Should we stop on the way home for gas, or get it tomorrow? What shall we have for dinner? What should we watch on TV, or should we spend some time reading, or on our computer? Should we take the dog for a walk or just let him out in the backyard? Does the dishwasher need to be run, or can we squeeze tomorrow’s dishes in first? What time shall we go to bed?

All decisions we are making, transitions we are going through, and most of the time, we don’t even realize it. And yet, our day is filled with them. What color yellow should we paint the hall? Should we put a border up or leave it plain? Should we take our chances in the snow and go for some ice cream, or stay safe in our homes? Should we get another cat when this one passes on? Should we say something to our neighbor about their dog coming onto our property, or just let it go?

It appears as if our lives are just one big set of choices, constant, and sometimes smooth, sometimes rocky. Should we get a second opinion on the mole on our face, or just leave it alone? Do we want turkey for Thanksgiving, or an oven stuffer chicken? Should we get our hair cut short, or just shaped as is? Should we do a couple of loads of laundry, or wait until tomorrow?

Should we shovel the walkway, or just let it melt? All these questions our brain is keeping track of, and all the answers it is shooting back at us. Most of the time, our feet just shuffle us off to where our brain tells us to go. We don’t appreciate the process that goes on that allows us to do so.

It can get a little overwhelming at times. Which movie do we want to go see? What restaurant shall we eat at? Should we just order out for pizza? Did I check the alarm to make sure it’s on? So many questions, and so many answers. It’s like a race to see what our brain can come up with next. No wonder we get tired at night. We’re actually constantly following orders. Pick the grapefruit, have the coffee, wear the red dress, pick the blue tie. And on and on throughout our day. Then, we go to sleep, our brain gets a chance to rest, and the next day, it’s ordering us around again.

The confusing part is if we play tug of war with our brain, and choose all the opposites. I don’t even know where that would lead, I’ve never tried it. I bet it would be an interesting day! I’m glad that whatever happens in the brain to allows us to put one foot in front of the other, and make our daily choices, is there for us. Otherwise, we’d all just be bumping into each other, trying to figure out what we’re supposed to be doing. I’m happy we have the ability to pick and choose.

Cultivate Concentration

Will and power, seem like they go together hand in hand, if we learn how to make it so. Our will can be so strong, and so steadfast and stubborn, that in the right circumstances, it can provide us with the power to push us along to do great things. Things we might be afraid to do, like jumping out of a plane, or starting a new job, or being the best at who we can be. Will power delivered three kids naturally to me! Ive used my will power all my life, but not always for the right reasons.

The right type of will power can build bridges and railroads and allow leaders of different countries to talk amongst each other, in an effort to promote peace. Will power can be the survival tool one needs when we hear of people surviving in all kinds of conditions; hanging from a tree for eight hours in the tsunami, clinging to a cliff until help arrives, treading ocean waters for days until rescued.

Was their concentration such that they were free of anything but their instinct to live? How does one get that kind of concentration? Hard work, I would think, and many experiences that have transformed their resolve. Miners trapped in mines, people huddled in caves, and also those who go after and get the job they want, and succeed in getting it. All allowing their concentration to trigger their will power and strengthen it in the most necessary of times.

Concentration can be cultivated, accomplished and refined. I have been working very hard on where my concentration lies, and what I need to get out of my head to leave room for the positive will power I want to have access to. I know how to concentrate, but about what? All the worries I can think of? To cultivate that focus, that concentration on humanity and nature and rebirth, would give us the will power to make positive changes, in ourselves, and in others.

To discipline ones body, thats a hard one for me. I would like to achieve it, but today isnt the day. Discipline is a hard concept for me to grasp and follow. I think Im working towards it, but I need more learning and more practice, which I intend on getting.

"And train ones mind." This is such a lengthy and surreal and emotional undertaking. I know because Ive been working on it for some time now. Ive even managed to put it into practice sometimes, and the results have been so much better than they ever would have been before.

Human Interpretation Is Different

It is almost impossible for two or more people to perceive the same object, situation, or person, in the same way. The free will of our brain allows us to think whatever way we want. That means every other soul on Earth has that same free will, and can think whatever they want.

Imagine there was an orange pumpkin with a painted face and some warts. Four people are looking at it. One sees the painted face, another sees the brightness of the orange, another sees the shape, and yet another sees the warts. Who’s to say which thinking process is correct? I guess people who go to school and study these things, and become psychologists, psychiatrists, and therapists.

Maybe they would say we should look at the whole picture, and take in the whole object and think about each of it’s characteristics. Learning better ways to see things, think, behave and act, is the main objective, so maybe we should listen. Wouldn’t we get more enjoyment out of seeing the whole pumpkin in it's entirety?

If one office worker wants the Yankees to win, and another wants the Red Sox to win, is one of them bad? Is one of them wrong? Well, in a sense, because one team is going to lose, but there is no malice involved in their picking an opposing team.

There is no need for angry words and insults to be thrown back and forth, or a physical fight to ensue, but they do. One is not allowing the other to have their point of view, which is their God given right, free choice.

We each have our free choice on how we are going to think about things, if we’re going to be positive or negative, soft or harsh, fair or vengeful, selfish or unselfish. Then we go on to act on those thoughts. They may not be right, and people and things and situations may suffer, but, unless one is willing to change, it won't happen.

Some people want to improve their dispositions, I did, and did! However, chances are, that unless a person can understand why their thoughts and words and actions and reactions are hurting others, therefore not acceptable, you can’t get them to understand it. Revenge is part of many people’s lives. They think if someone did something to them, they have the right, and are justified, to fight back with bigger cannons.

Unfortunately, many times, the person getting pummeled meant no harm, but was just misunderstood. ``Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity." I’ve done many things that I thought were good, and I was mistaken, but I never meant any harm. "First do no harm."

It’s difficult to either be misunderstood, or have an opposing view that others will argue about, whether or not they know they are hurting your feelings. It’s a strong person who can hold onto their identity when others are arguing with them and trying to crush their spirit.

Where does that right come from? Was there a meeting with God that absolved us of having to be decent to others, and I wasn’t notified? Of course I am just as quilty as the next person, I’m a human, too, and it appears we humans have a lot to learn about treating others with respect and understanding. Our egos can be fragile, and right there is a good place to start-strengthen our self worth, and stop depending on others to fulfill what only we each can fulfill on our own.

With a strong feeling of self love and pride, what others say to us out of stupidity or simply feeling that way, will not have the wrong intention in our mind, resulting in an angry confrontation. Everyone has the right to think, and act, and react.

I am still on my own journey to heal the wounds that bind me so I will hopefully, think and act and react the way I should. It’s not an easy process, and it takes a lot of time, a lot of thinking, a lot of prayer, a lot of writing, and some type of therapy, which I have found in my reflexologist. I want to be as healthy as I can, in mind, body, and spirit, and I will continue to work on it. I have come a long way, and that shows how much work I’ve put into "getting better." Life would be so much more peaceful if more of the rest of the world would do the same.

Take Control of Your Life

Health matters, it’s as simple as that!  When one has to step out of the norm due to rising health issues it is time to take control. Our lives are our own. We are the ones who know ourselves best.When one feels something is not right with their body act on it, make an appointment to see your doctor.

The fear of not knowing far out weighs the knowledge of knowing. The reason, one knows they are able to take a hold of their lives. They begin by listening to the doctor, or go for necessary tests, and read up on what is going on with them. A person begins to understand the complexities of these changes that take place as we age. This process is not out of the norm however, the fear that something is wrong most certainly is worth seeking answers. Most times the fear is quelled when we find out that we are in relatively good shape. Some simple adjustments to one’s lifestyle are all that may be required to maintain the body.

Have you ever listened to someone who is in their fifties and upward say, “I was able to do the heavy lifting when I was younger,” or “it was easy to work on five hours of sleep?” The next question that follows is “why?” “When did my body give up on me?” Well, to begin with, your body never gave up; it’s just gone through thirty, forty, even fifty years of wear and tear.

Let’s face it, our body may age much faster than our mind (for the most part). Have you ever glanced in a mirror and stopped to question “who is that person looking back at you?” This has been going on for years. Perhaps when younger you didn’t notice your parents going through the aging process. For decades we have been trying to improve upon this reality. Aging is a part of life. Like an old antique model car, generations of a home well lived in, or the old furniture well preserved over the years, we too, are not immune to aging. This holds especially true as we ignore the signs our body is exposing to us.

Think about it this way, if your home needs improvements - you fix it up.  If your car needs work done on it, you go to the garage and get a tune up. Whether it is a material object, a pet or human life, it all goes through the cycle of life. We must remember we are the caretakers of ourselves just as we are caretakers of our families. It may mean a little more exercise and less TV time, or a subtle change in our diets. The goal of those in their fifties is to LISTEN, TAKE HEED and ACT TODAY before we cheat our body from the joys of many wonderful years with family and friends. It is doable! Your health is your most precious commodity, put it first before all else. It is when one is healthy - one is able to enjoy living life to its fullest.

The Purpose Driven Life

Why on Earth are you here” “What is your life purpose? Your responses to these questions can strongly impact the trajectory of your life. Can you answer them yourself right now?

To begin the process of finding our purpose, the author encourages the reader to answer the following seemingly simple, yet often times, daunting questions: “Who am I? Do I matter? What is my place in life? How can I make a difference?” Answering such questions is the first step because they help us become aware of who we are as individuals, which brings us closer to figuring out what we are here to do.

In order to find our purpose, we need to understand what purpose actually is? Purpose is a result or effect that is intended or desired: a goal. When we are conscious of our purpose, we bring focus and direction into our daily lives. Warren says “Your purpose becomes the standard you use to evaluate which activities are essential and which aren’t. Without this, you have no foundation on which you base decisions, allocate your time and use your resources.”

I will use my own personal purpose process as an example. Many years ago, after asking these very questions myself, I determined that my purpose in life was to help others in removing the obstacles that get in the way of them living happy, fulfilling lives. Once set, I continually asked myself if my next action would be congruent with this goal- and if it was not, I did not do it.

In the above explanation, finding purpose is very practical because if you haven’t defined your personal purpose, you run the risk of wasting precious time and energy on things that are not moving you closer to your goals. However on a higher, more Universal level finding purpose effects everyone who walks this planet.

It is crucial for each of us to find our personal purpose in life because purpose produces passion. When we do what we are passionate about- joy, happiness and fulfillment becomes the basis of our lives -all bi-products of doing what we love to do. When we do what we love, we live joyful lives, hence affecting every reaction and decision we make. Our lives are ruled by positive energy, which enables us walk the Earth softer and with more love which effortlessly spills onto everyone we touch. This brings the world one step closer to finding the peace many of us dream of seeing in our lifetimes.

What brings you passion? What acts bring you bliss? When we do what we love to do, the Universe brings opportunities and events forward that move us in the direction of our purpose. Try it and see!

Often times you hear people say that they can’t afford to do what they would really love to do and as a result, give up on doing it altogether. This is dangerous as it leads to lethargy and lack of fulfillment in life. If you can’t make your passion your main source of income, why not incorporate aspects of it into your daily life? I think you will be pleasantly surprised, however, to find when you do what you truly love, everything, including money will follow.

A note of caution- finding your purpose can be an overwhelming task and most definitely is a process that deserves focused time and energy. If you currently feel overwhelmed, I encourage you to take a deep breathe and consider having your life purpose right now actually be finding out what your life purpose actually is. Give yourself time to investigate and discover. This tends to alleviate some of the pressure involved and if it helps, know that it took me years to find mine. Have faith and patience-take it one step at a time.

It is also important to mention that your life purpose doesn’t need to be grandiose or monumental in scope. A wonderful life purpose can simply be to be the presence of love and peace to those you touch every day. Imagine if we all took on this goal how quickly our world would change! Often the more simple the purpose, the more powerful the outcome!

What is your purpose here on Earth? I encourage you to start thinking about it! The world needs more focused, joyful, fulfilled people. Are you ready to become one of them?

Becoming Single-Minded

Self-consciousness creates the illusion that there is a separate self from the rest of reality. That would be the funniest mistake in the world if so many people weren’t so convinced that the illusion is really true.”

Single-mindedness—Creatively divergent thinking which sees through, over, under, between, around and beyond the warring, polar opposite pairs of realities we imagine with our words, thinking, acting and communicating.

I hope the above definition of single-mindedness nudged you away from the typically negative, oppressive and undesirable connotations that are often associated with the term. It is an important idea whose time has come and we could all do a lot worse than making an honest effort to better understand and know more about this idea.

Solving paradoxes in life is not just playing with cerebral candy for recreational fun. Extremely useful truth clues that can increase your happiness and success are hidden away in paradoxes such as, “you can’t have your cake and eat it too,” and “you have to lose yourself before you find yourself.” Becoming single-minded and reaping all the rewards for doing that involves reconciling the greatest paradox of all, which is our fundamental dualistic thinking process.

The most fundamental process our minds engage in is dualistic thinking—dividing things into this or that and then making further dualistic judgments about the pairs of “opposites” we create with our words. Everything is either this or that and this is either good or bad, and that is either true or false. Today, we have just about thought the whole world in half. Now what in the world do we do with the two halves?

This dualistic thinking serves a very good purpose when it isn’t carried on past this originally intended purpose—we know things by comparing and contrasting them to one another. We come to know and appreciate sunshine when we experience its warmth and light and then don’t experience it during a dark, cold rainstorm. And we learn the relative truth of something by peeling away all its irrelevant falseness much like a sculptor sculpting away all the irrelevant aspects of a naked image inside a block of granite.

Regardless of these two formidable obstacles, we finally do begin to realize that the many dualistic pairs of opposites we have experienced and confirmed with our thinking, are really just two halves of a whole—different sides of the same coin like heads and tails of a quarter.

And in the end of our thinking we become more aware of the only inevitable conclusion there is—that there is but one single energy of God’s love—and it flows through the entire universe, undivided. We make choices to use this energy in ways that our minds and other people’s minds interpret dualistically—positive vs. negative, good vs. bad, inclusive vs. exclusive, enabling vs. disabling and so on. Of course we are all trying to get the right perspective to use this energy wisely, but…there are always unwise choices along the way that snare our attention.