Random acts of kindness...

I came across this amazing video on Facebook. It's done by a group called Life Vest Inside. Simply put, they are promoting random acts of kindness. I was really moved watching the video and so decided to post it here.    It has a similar theme as the movie 'Pay it forward' where each person who is at the receiving end of a random act of kindness, continues to help someone else... What a beautiful world if would be, if we could all live this way.

Is there a doggy heaven?

This morning I was pondering about doggy heavens while playing with our dog Lassie. She seems almost human, the way she looks at us, how she gets excited when we come home, how she looks sad when we leave, she is the epitome of loyalty and unconditional love...

There are so many other loyal dogs too, that have saved their owners life, either by dialing 911 like in this story or simply by being a companion and showing unconditional love to someone who doesn't have anyone else. It also reminds me of the story of Hachiko the Japanese dog who went to the train station to meet his master for nine years even after his death. Its hard to imagine that such patience and love can go unrewarded.

But then this opens up the whole debate about do animals have souls? As a devout Catholic, we generally believe that only humans have souls, but then what about the animals? Not only dogs, but many animals live lives which we can emulate. Even Jesus used birds as the example of trusting in God. "Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them" Matthew 6:26


Then there's the famous leadership lessons by Geese which was observed 1972 by Dr. Robert McNeish. He noticed how they fly in a formation to support each other, how they change leaders, encourage each other by honking and support the birds in difficulty.  There can be so many lessons that can be learnt from animals, unconditional love, no jealousy, to be satisfied with little and patience to name a few. They don't try to out do each other, they don't say to the owner, the next door dog has a better ball, I want one too. They are satisfied with what they have. They seem to be predisposed with the ability to do right rather than us humans, who struggle day in and day out with decisions of how to be better people. 


I don't know what happens to any of us after we die, or whether heaven is a place or a state of mind. What ever it is, I do believe that God also has a 'good place' reserved for dogs and cats and all the other lovely creatures created by him... And I hope to see dear Rocky sometime, our faithful German Shepard who left us, earlier this year.

To be a candle in the darkness…

Lord, a candle stands before me.

It burns restlessly, sometimes with a small, sometimes with a larger flame.
I too am often restless. Let me find rest in You.
It gives me light and warmth. Let me too be light for the world.
It consumes itself in its service. May I also be of service to people.
With this candle I can ignite other candles.
May I also contribute in this way that others may begin to shine.

I came across this prayer when we dropped into a lovely church in Lucerne to light a candle for our intentions. It reminded me of my favourite quote by George Bernard Shaw (which is also the description of this blog). The quote talks about being a splendid torch, but even that torch most probably got its light from a tiny candle... There is something beautiful about the flame of a candle flickering in the wind, that has always drawn me to it. Today with electricity the candle doesn’t have that same significance to give light, but I always see the value each time there is a power cut (when I was in Sri Lanka) and we light the house with candles, its wonderful how even a single candle can pierce the darkness and give light…

I would like to be like a candle, giving light to dispel the darkness rather than just cursing it. This is also the motto of a Sri Lankan association which was started to help the needy called CandleAid formerly known as AFLAC (Association For Lighting A Candle). I came across this organisation when I was at the University of Moratuwa studying engineering and across from our University there was a blind colony which was helped by AFLAC. There were 5 houses with around 7 blind, very old and feeble ladies and gentlemen with no one to look after them. I remember doing a community services project where we went with some Civil engineering students and improved their houses and blocked leaks so that they would not slip and fall when the rain water leaked from their roofs. We also went there a few times to talk to them, take food and rations (they especially loved sweets) and they always welcomed us holding our hands to say hello, they even sang Christmas carols to entertain us… I wonder how they are now… I haven’t visited them for a very long time, I guess life gets busy and then we forget about the less fortunate. Especially living in Switzerland I don’t really see much poverty. Even the beggars here dress quite well. Of course I’m sure they have hard lives, trying to live in such an expensive location with no proper income, but the sheer level of poverty is not so obvious here and when you don’t see them you don’t feel guilty for not doing anything.

I have now hung up the prayer from the church to remind me to be that ‘candle’ rather than just a complaining or cursing the darkness…

Happiness, can anyone find it?

These days I’ve been reading a couple of books, and strangely enough, they both have similar themes, even though expressed very differently. The main message in both is that we get what we seek, from happiness/unhappiness, riches/poverty, to the people we meet.

The first book I just finished is ‘Illusions – The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah’. This book talks about the world and how everything around us are made of illusions; it is the story of two pilots who meet and how one is the Master who teachers the other about the world. He talks about how we magnetize into our lives whatever we hold in our thought, including the people that we meet, happiness, sicknesses and so on. It talks about the world being like a movie, and we can choose to watch what ever kind of movie we like, comedy, horror, sad, romantic, and we could even change and go to see a different movie in the middle of one if we don’t like it. That some people for some reason actually want to see horror or sad movies, while others choose the comedies. It gave some interesting food for thought…

“But why would anybody want to be horrified? Or bored?”
“Because they think they deserve it for horrifying somebody else, or they like the excitement of horrification, or that boring is the way they think films have to be. Can you believe that lots of people for reasons that are very sound to them enjoy believing that they are helpless in their own films? No, you can’t.”
“No, I can’t,” I said. “Until you understand that, you will wonder why some people are unhappy. They are unhappy because they have chosen to be unhappy, and, Richard, that is all right!”

The other book I read is ‘Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential’ by Joel Osteen. It is very different to the first book in the way it is written, as this is more of a self help book by a pastor talking about how to live a more fulfilling life by having faith in God. What they both have in common though is that we all can be happy if we choose to be…

According to this book first, you need to enlarge your vision for your life. Until you begin to dream God sized dreams, you will never live your life at its full potential. Secondly, you need to develop a healthy self-image. Learn to love yourself before loving others. Thirdly, you should realize the power of your thoughts and words. He states that if we continue to think and talk negatively we will not live life at our full potential. Fourth, we need to let go of the past. Next, we need to learn how to find strength through adversity. Everyone will experience difficulties, but learning how to capitalize from these trials will help you live Your Best Life Now. Sixth, we need to live to give. God commands us to be generous. Lastly, we need to choose to be happy. Everyone experiences circumstances that can depress them, but if you want to experience Your Best Life Now you must choose to rejoice and thank God for all the blessings he has bestowed upon you.

This book talks about how we should expect God to give us the best in life, to remember that we are his children and that if we have enough faith in him and live ‘favor minded’ he will answer our prayers, and though we may have trials and tribulations in the end everything will be good. As our priest in Sunday mass put it during one sermon, we should live like babies, see how they put their complete and utter faith in their parents knowing that their parents will take care of them, and just like that we should also have an unwavering faith in God, who wouldn’t let any harm come to his ‘babies’.

Looking at my life so far, it seems true… ever since I started to believe and have faith in God and expect good things to happen, they have been happening, its like a dream, but now and then I need to be reminded not to think of the world negatively and to have faith and dream :)… Other than that, these books give a lot of food for thought and I am going to try to have faith and believe that the best will happen, to dream and choose to be happy… will it always work? I don’t know... I need more guinea pigs to test the hypothesis! Maybe I can try to research on it for my phd! :)

As for the question in the title, I really do think that anyone can find happiness, though it may take more effort by some people compared to others…

I’ll end this post with a few more quotes from Illusions…

“Attached! I was whocking that cloud with everything I had! Fireballs, laser beams, vacuum cleaner a block high...”
“Negative attachments, Richard. If you really want to remove a cloud from your life, you do not make a big production out of it, you just relax and remove it from your thinking. That’s all there is to it.”

"Argue for your limitations, and sure enough, they’re yours."

"You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it true. You may have to work for it, however."

“within each of us lies the power of our consent to health and to sickness, to riches and to poverty, to freedom and to slavery. It is we who control these.”

Starry Starry Night 2...

Starry starry night...
paint your palette blue and grey
look out on a summer's day
with eyes that know the darkness in my soul.
Shadows on the hills
sketch the trees and the daffodils
catch the breeze and the winter chills
in colors on the snowy linen land.
And now I understand what you tried to say to me
how you suffered for your sanity
how you tried to set them free.
They would not listen
they did not know how
Perhaps they'll listen now...

This post is not a continuation of my previous Starry night post on Van Gogh, actually it's very different topic...

Since a couple of weeks ago, i have started hiking with a group of my colleagues from work every Thursday night after work. It's wonderful, cos the mountains are so close to Geneva, and we go there and hike for about 3hrs.

This week we headed out to Col de Marchairuz part of the Jura mountains. I was so impressed with the hike that I had to blog about it. We started during daylight hrs and climbed upto a peak by which time it was already dark, and we had wine and cheese under the stars it was so lovely...We also had two Border Collies in the group, who seemed to see us like a flock of sheep. It was hilarious, these two dogs kept, going to the front and back of the group to flock us together, pushing the people at the back to move faster!

But even with them, one of my friends and i still managed to get lost! Well not really lost, cos the paths are very clear, just stuck behind, cos we were so impressed with nature and what we saw. There were coloured wild mushrooms, and interesting looking bugs, wild berries, and it was very dark skies full of stars, so we kept stopping to admire nature, and the funny creatures that appeared in front of our flashlights on the way back! We even saw the milky way (or we think we did) which is why i put a pic of the milky way, and were singing 'starry starry night'... No moonlight, city lights or headlights, so we had a wonderful view of the night skies. It was lovely feeling lost in the wilderness, and i was reminded of the famous essay topic that we had to write when we were small, 'I got lost in the jungle'... We were so awe inspired we were actually discussing the meaning of our existance, and the possibility of aliens out there, among the many many stars! How often do you do that with your colleagues? Ofcourse we didn't figure it out...

I was just thinking that i really should make this a more regular outing, atleast when the weather is good, cos it seems that we have lost touch with nature. We are so 'busy' at work, at home, even our form of entertainment is usually technology related like TV. It's nice to get away from it all, during the week, and admire the wonderful nature around us, felt like a kid all over again...

The Little Prince

I never thought that a tiny children’s book could have this effect on me. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupéry was a book that was recommended by a colleague as a lovely children;s story but it has some very interesting observations about human nature.

It is about the lovely innocent world of little children, and how we forget all that imagination, the dreaming, the wonder that you have when you see a star, as we grow older and start thinking of “matters of consequence” as the book puts it…

Just made me think for a while, so what are all these matters of consequence? I guess this was what Jesus Christ meant when he said that you must be like a child to enter the kingdom of God, the simplicity, honesty, satisfaction with the small things, though we have all these fancy toys, most kids would be happy just playing outside with flowers or watching butterflies or birds… We’ve forgotten to see with the heart.

"It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
“The men where you live,” said the little prince, “raise five thousand roses in the same garden– and they do not find in it what they are looking for.”
“And yet what they are looking for could be found in one single rose, or in a little water.”
“But the eyes are blind. One must look with the heart. . . ”

There were some other lovely quotes from the book.

"When you tell grown-ups that you have made a new friend, they never ask you any questions about essential matters. They never say to you, “What does his voice sound like? What games does he love best? Does he collect butterflies?” Instead, they demand: “How old is he? How many brothers has he? How much does he weigh? How much money does his father make?” Only from these figures do they think they have learned anything about him.
If you were to say to the grown-ups: “I saw a beautiful house made of rosy brick, with geraniums in the windows and doves on the roof,” they would not be able to get any idea of that house at all. You would have to say to them: “I saw a house that cost $20,000.” Then they would exclaim: “Oh, what a pretty house that is!”

"They are like that. One must not hold it against them. Children shouldalways show great forbearance toward grown-up people. But certainly, for us who understand life, figures are a matter of indifference."
This is sad but true, when it comes to value we often try to put a number on it. And the things are measured on how much they cost…

“I know a planet where there is a certain red-faced gentleman. He has never smelled a flower. He has never looked at a star. He has never loved any one. He has never done anything in his life but add up figures. And all day he says over and over, just like you: ’I am busy with matters of consequence!’ And that makes him swell up with pride. But he is not a man– he is a mushroom!”
How many people like this do you know? Well I was like that myself, you sometimes, keep working hard, morning, noon, night, come home late and happy that you did a lot of work, but is that life? People sometimes say stop wasting your time chatting or fooling around, and do some useful work, but I now come to think of it… the time you “waste” is the time you spend making friends, discovering and so on, so hey can you say it’s a waste of time.

Some more food for thought…
“And what good does it do you to own the stars?”
“It does me the good of making me rich.”
“And what good does it do you to be rich?”
“It makes it possible for me to buy more stars, if any are ever discovered.”
“How is it possible for one to own the stars?”
“To whom do they belong?” the businessman retorted, peevishly.
“I don’t know. To nobody.”
“Then they belong to me, because I was the first person to think of it.”
“Is that all that is necessary?”
“Certainly. When you find a diamond that belongs to nobody, it is yours.
When you discover an island that belongs to nobody, it is yours. When you get an idea before any one else, you take out a patent on it: it is yours. So with me:
I own the stars, because nobody else before me ever thought of owning them.”
“Yes, that is true,” said the little prince. “And what do you do with them?”
“I administer them,” replied the businessman. “I count them and recount them. It is difficult. But I am a man who is naturally interested in matters of
consequence.”

It ended with some lovely lines, which I thought how romantic…when the 2 friends part…
"All men have the stars, but they are not the same things for different people. For some, who are travelers, the stars are guides. For others they are no more than little lights in the sky. For others, who are scholars, they are problems. For my businessman they were wealth. But all these stars are silent. You– you alone– will have the stars as no one else has them–”
“In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing.
And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night. . . you– only you– will have stars that can laugh!”

Just say 'Yes'!

After a long absence I finally started my Improv classes at CERN again, I had mentioned starting them last year, but have not been attending them for the last couple of months, cos first my parents were here, and then I had to move to a new flat and was extremely busy.

But yesterday I decided that I should go even though I was a bit stressed at work…or maybe because of it, cos improv gives me the chance to behave like a kid again! J

For those not familiar with improv, this link shows the kind of crazy things we do! Freeze is one of our favorite games that we play and it’s a load of fun!

The main concept of making improv work is ‘Just say yes!’ so no matter what your partner says, you should say yes and play along with the idea, and build it rather than arguing cos it’s funniest when you build the scene together rather than trying to break down the other person’s ideas, or bring other ideas cos then it doesn’t make a coherent story. This can be more difficult than it appears, simply cos usually as we start the scene we have already made this 3 act opera (as our instructor put it) in our head, and then if the other person does not do what we expect them to, we have the bad tendency of wanting to stick to our own initial idea, rather than validating the new one. Cos if one person says no and brings a new idea, then the second person would not want to agree with it and will continue with the initial idea, and in the end there is no story, so the improv does not work. I guess you could call it a team sport (the only one that I can play J) If you watch the video closely you can see how each person keeps saying yes even to the most ridiculous ideas, and it just makes it really funny.

I was just thinking that this is also very relevant to everyday life. Even in conversations, sometimes we have the bad habit of wanting to get our own thoughts and ideas, rather than listening to the other person. Saying ‘Yes’ to another persons ideas and listening can really show that we are interested in the other person and is a great way of building relationships! The other thing you can learn from improv is to listen without judging, cos everyone’s ideas are important, and that;s something that is very important in life cos when we listen without judging it helps the other person to be creative and expore an idea without being fearful of being ridiculed.

So as Kevin Hogan put it in his book 8 barriers to communication “People that don’t give us a chance, an opportunity to share and express ourselves, to be US, put out our spark, our flame. It is this spark, our spirit, this fire, this waterfall within us all that drives us, which makes us whole. This constant, ever changing flow of energy is what makes us, US. why not allow yourself to truly listen. Not just hear someone speak, but focus on listening to them, be in their shoes when they talk, see the world through their eyes, experience life from someone else’s point of view instead of being compelled to express your own.”

Temptation

I just finished reading the 'Temptation' by Douglas Kennedy about a screen writer who becomes famous and leaves his wife and kid for an actress and then everything falls apart for him as he;s accused of plagiarism... he finally gets it all back... Along the way there are many twists and a all powerful rich man trying to play 'God', and the writer falls in love with his wife. It was an interesting read.

The book ended with some food for thought...

"Daddy, she asked, 'can you tell the story without the big bad wolf?

I considered this for a moment, wondering how could I make it work:

'Let's see now.. there's a house made of straw. There's a house made of sticks. There's a house made of bricks. What happens next? Do they form, a residents' association? Sorry, sweetheart, the story doesn't really work without the Big Bad Wolf.'

Why doesn't it work? Because all stories are about crisis. Yours. Mine. The guy sitting opposite you on the train as you read this. Everything's narrative, after all. And all narrative - all storytelling - confronts a basic truth. We need crisis: the anguish, the longing, the sense of possibility, the fear of failure, the pining for the life we imagine ourselves wanting, the despair for the life we have. Crisis somehow let us believe that we are important; that everything isn't just of the moment; that, somehow, we can transcend insignificance. More than that, crisis makes us realize that, like it or not, we are always shadowed by the Big Bad Wolf. The danger that lurks behind everything. The danger we do to ourselves.

But who, ultimately, is the mastermind of our crisis? Who is the controlling hand? To some, it's God. To others, the state. Then again, it might be the person you want to blame for all your griefs, your husband, your mother, your boss. Or maybe - just maybe - it's yourself.

I guess sometimes we do seem to need drama 'good or bad' in our lives, or create it when it is non existent...which is unfortunately why most people aren't happy... there;s always that thing in the horizon that we would like to have and with which things would be perfect...so most of the time are unable to live in and enjoy the present moment... I guess i;m telling myself this while writing this...and the marketing campaigns and the commercials use this side of our human nature to their advantage, telling us how our lives will be perfect with that new car or luxury watch or other material thing, and we fall for them...

Sometimes feels like i;m living from one goal to another, waiting for something...but what happens after obtaining that goal? start waiting for something else?... So again I;m reminding my self that I should try to take one day at a time and enjoy and live in the moment...Have to keep reminding myself to enjoy the journey, cos happiness is the journey and not the destination!

It's Spring... What a wonderful world...

Spring finally is here, and it's so beautiful, the trees are starting to have light green leaves and there are other trees with only flowers no leaves. The transformation of nature is amazing just a few months ago the parks covered in a sheet of white snow, and trees without leaves, has completely converted to become bright green, I can hardly believe that it is the same place... I think I feel the differences even more as I a tropical girl, who;s used to 365 days of summer, and though I do find the cold winters difficult, there is something lovely about the different seasons, the whole cycle of new life in Spring, then Summer, the leaves colouring and falling in Autumn and death of trees in Winter, which leads us back to Spring.

Last evening since the weather was great, i decided to walk home after work, coming home around 7.30pm and there was still day light and little birdies singing! I was walking home listening to my mp3s and even doing a little turn here and there while singing and walking (I'm sure anyone watching me might have thought i;m strange, but I didn;t mind)

I;m learning to appreciate the little things in life, the trees and flowers and even little bugs on the ground… sometimes I feel I;m going back in time and feel like a kid again. Matured as a person but child at heart and I was thinking to my self 'What a wonderful World'.

I see trees of green........ red roses too
I see em bloom..... for me and for you
And I think to myself.... what a wonderful world.

I see skies of blue..... clouds of white
Bright blessed days....dark sacred nights
And I think to myself .....what a wonderful world.

The colors of a rainbow.....so pretty ..in the sky
Are also on the faces.....of people ..going by
I see friends shaking hands.....sayin.. how do you do
Theyre really sayin......i love you.

Easter at Lourdes

Thought of blogging again after a long period of silence, just don’t; seem to be in the mood to write much, maybe cos I’m just too happy these days(I’ve heard that you need some misery or sadness to be inspired!)…the reason, I think I’ll keep to my self for now

I thought of just writing about my lovely stay in Lourdes (it’s at the foot hills of the Pyrenees) France over Easter weekend, I guess it was more of a pilgrimage than tourism…

If you are not familiar with Lourdes and it’s significance, it is considered miraculous by many Catholics and is supposed to be one of the most highly visited pilgrim sights in the world. The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to a 14 year old girl (poor and illiterate), St Bernadette. She had seen many such appearances and at one instance a spring appeared, which later became famous for the miraculous powers of the water. There have been many instances where people with incurable diseases, have drunk or washed themselves in this water and have been cured with no medical explanation. You can find out more about it here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_Lourdes.

I visited Lourdes with my parents who are staying with me for 2 months, my cousin, and aunty (who also stayed for a week, so for one week my single bed room apartment was turned to one big slumber party with ppl sleeping all over the place, in sleeping bags and sofas!).

I had visited Lourdes with my parents when I was 2 years old, but I don’t remember it at all…It was a dream of my moms to go there again, and so I thought this was the perfect opportunity since I stay so close to France and it is possible to go the Lourdes in the over night train.

We also went to take a bath in the Lourdes water well and the ladies and gents go in separately, basically you have to remove your clothes and wear a cloth and get into the water. It was freeeeeeeezing! Luckily they said to say the prayers and make the petitions before getting into the water, cos as soon as I got in I was so frozen my brain stopped working! We also collected a lot of water to give to friends and family who had asked for it.

I also lit candles to pray for many people who had asked for prayers. I don’t know why but there is something about candles, and the light that has always attracted me. The light it spreads and how the tiny candle can dispel darkness...

Since we were there during holy week we went on a rather spiritual way of the cross, what I liked about it was that it was related to our everyday lives rather than repeating a set of prayers.

Lourdes is also a very pretty calm town, as you can see from the pics, and I just wish we had more time there but then I;m saving my leave for a long Christmas vacation home. It was a very slow life style and it was nice to get away from work for a while. One of the things I loved about Lourdes was that though it is a famous pilgrim site, it still had not lost it’s spiritual feel no vendors near the church and where the water is, and they don’t charge for people to go into the church unlike in some churches like St Pauls Cathedral London, where they charge for entrance, and I was once told to leave simply cos I was not going to stay for mass and it was a Sunday and they did not allow tourists! I told them that I was just there to pray which they accepted, but I couldn’t believe that a church should charge an entrance fee while the museums in uk were free!

We also went Nevers to see the body of St Bernadette which is still preserved with no decay, it was amazing, and I believe that many tests have been done, and no one can find an explanation for it, except that it’s a miracle. This is a picture of how the body is, it looks so peaceful and young. (This was not taken by me as it is forbidden to take pictures, I just found this online)

In Nevers which was a the convent St Bernadette later went to, what struck me most was that she was such a humble person, and her contribution to the world was simple service, which was why she joined the sisters of charity… I thought I’ll end this post with one of her quotes which I especially found beautiful. It’s amazing how God chooses the humblest among us to be his instruments, I guess it’s sometimes good to visit places such as these and realize what should be important in our world, not wealth and material things as media would have us believe, but love and serving others…

From here on earth, Love cannot live without suffering. It is through loving the cross that we discover His Heart, for divine Love never lives without suffering. I want my whole life to be inspired by love. He who loves, does all things easily, or, if he suffers, he suffers bravely. Why is suffering necessary? Because on earth, pure love cannot exist without suffering. O Jesus, Jesus, I no longer feel my cross when I think of yours!"
- Saint Bernadette Soubirous

Slumdog Millionaire

I just watched Slumdog Millionaire and I think this was one of those really classic movies after a long time... It is a story about a teenager who grew up in the slums of Mumbai about to win 20M in 'Who wants to be a Millionaire' and how he got there. (I will avoid talking much about the plot as I think you should all go see it!)...

It was sad but at the same time it was a story of love, hope and survival. I know that some critics say that the story line is highly improbable, but in a way it's like a fairy tale where it might not happen in real life just as it is, but is a story of how love will conquer all and of hope...
But at the same time it was also showing the life of slum dwellers, and beggars... what I've seen often in Sri Lanka... It also spoke of one of the issues I often have when I see beggars, cos I feel so sad, and want to give them money, but if I do, am I giving it to the poor girl or boy or to some enterprising rich man trying to profit from the misfortune of the poor... I guess the best thing might be to give food, or things that they can consume, rather than money... It is one of the difficult things for me to see the poor, I feel so blessed, yet there seems little I can do to help I can give food or money for one meal, but what happens after?

I'll end this post with the famous line 'if a man is hungry don;t give him a fish, teach him how to fish and he will be fed forever'. I really do admire those that put this into practice and start organisations to help the needy. I guess this is one of the reasons why I like working for the Not-for-Profit sector, as it feels that you're doing something for the 'greater good' even if in a small way.

Happiness is the journey, not the destination...

I came across this verse by Alfred D. Souza about how happiness is the journey not the destination... It is so true, you can't keep on waiting for something to happen to be happy, but just enjoy the ride, with all the trials and tribulations. So I thought of sharing the verse.

For a long time it seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time to still be served, a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life.
This perspective has helped me to see that there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way. So, treasure every moment that you have. And treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time … and remember that time waits for no one…
So stop waiting
until you finish school,
until you go back to school,
until you lose ten pounds,
until you gain ten pounds,
until you have kids,
until your kids leave the house,
until you start work,
until you retire,
until you get married,
until you get divorced,
until Friday night,
until Sunday morning,
until you get a new car or home,
until your car or home is paid off,
until spring,
until summer,
until fall,
until winter,
until you are off welfare,
until the first or fifteenth,
until your song comes on,
until you've had a drink,
until you've sobered up,
until you die,
until you are born again
to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy…
Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

Connection

I'm just back from the 'Connection' Festival. It was a day of getting together with people of different Christian denominations in the Geneva/Nyon area, and celebrating what we have in common as well as the diverse ways we have of expressing our common beliefs.

It was nice to spend some time getting in touch with my Spiritual side...This was one of the areas of my life that I have been neglecting for sometime... I have been trying to work on developing my Physical and especially my Intellectual side trying to learn as much as I can from the people I meet and the new experiences I come across, but have not really thought much about the Spirit...

Most of the day was discussing about Hope, Faith and Love, and just thought of writing down some thoughts that came to my head...

One of the first things that I thought of, was a verse from the book that I just finished reading; 'The fifth mountain' by Paulo Coelho

"Souls too like plants need a different kind of rain: faith, hope, a reason to live. When this did not pass, everything in the soul died even if the body went on living, and the people could say, ‘here in this body there was once a man’."

When I read this I thought how true... What is life without Faith, Hope and of course Love? In my life I have see these people who's souls have died, even though they are physically alive, some due to poverty, distress and suffering who have lost all hope and others ironically who have too much money and have become so greedy that there's nothing else in their lives and they are always unsatisfied...This is one of the things that worries me about being successful, about earning too much, about being too comfortable and maybe starting to think that the purpose of life is just about material things and about pleasure...Especially when staying in a country like Switzerland, which sometimes feels like a fairy land to me with all the beauty, cleanliness and everything working on time...I want to make sure that I do not forget that there is suffering and pain in life...and that the purpose of life is not about having the best material things or having the most fun (not that it is all bad, as long as it is in moderation), but what's much more important are the relationships that you make and how your life impacts others...

Well I went off on a tangent but thought I'll close this post by going back to the original topic and giving two definitions of Love.

One of the speakers summed it up beautifully as "To see or seek that which is true, beautiful and noble in the life of another"

And one of my favourite passages from the Bible, which is the one written by St Paul on Love,

"Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. "

The Alchemist

I read ‘The Alchemist’ by Paulo Coelho for the first time some years ago, but recently came across it and read it again. As I mentioned in my previous post, this book’s message really spoke to me.

"The Alchemist", is an exciting novel that is full of optimism. It is the story of a Shepard boy, Santiago who goes in search for treasure. It’s main theme is that "when you really want something to happen, the whole universe conspires so that your wish comes true" and about how we should learn to read the signs on our journey and that they will help us to reach our goals. I wasn’t one to really believe in things like this, but lately looking at all that’s happened I’ve turned into a believer. Now I believe that if we are observant and open we will see these signs and they are God’s way of showing us the way…

Coelho also suggests that those who do not have the courage to follow their " Personal Myth", are doomed to a life of emptiness, misery, and unfulfillment. Fear of failure seems to be the greatest obstacle to happiness. As the old crystal-seller tragically confesses: " I am afraid that great disappointment awaits me, and so I prefer to dream". This is where Coelho really captures the drama of man, who sacrifices fulfillment to conformity, who knows he can achieve greatness but denies to do so, and ends up living a life of void.

I my self have sometimes not given my best when doing something in fear of failing… then if I do fail I have the ready made excuse that I didn’t try hard anyway. I think often it is this fear that keeps us from living upto our potential. So I decided I will give my all to everything I do and see how things turn out.

Lucky Man (Girl!)

I Finally found some time to read a book; Lucky Man. Lucky Man is the autobiography of Michael J Fox. It's a really compelling book, and really made me think of what's important in Life, and how short life is and how I shouldn't take anything for granted. I also thought how lucky I am (yes, I'm still referring to my self as girl, after all I'm young at heart!) for everything I've got, even though I sometimes complain about the little things.

I was a huge fan of Michael J Fox, and was shocked to hear that he had Parkinson's disease. I remember watching Family Ties and Back to the Future as a kid and totally loving them both.

There were a few lines from the book which really stayed with me,
"It wasn't for me to fret about time or loss but appreciate each day, move forward, and have faith that something larger was at work, something with it's own sense of timing and balance."

He also reminded me of the famous prayer "God Give me serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference."

He had finished with another one of my favourite lines by George Bernard Shaw
"This is the true joy in life, the being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one; the being thoroughly worn out before you are thrown on the scrap heap; the being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy."
This is the start of the line that I've written as the description of my blog. ("I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. Life is no 'brief candle' for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations")

Barrier Free Communication

I just watched a movie called “Who gets the house”, I don’t think it’s a very famous movie but it had a really interesting concept.

In it this kid develops a theory called “Barrier Free Communication”. He believes that we only hear what we want to hear and that in the first instance itself if we don’t like someone or have some kind of prejudice against that person, we’ve already decided that we won’t like what’s being said and don’t really listen. So he decides to test this theory by blind folding two people who hate each other and changing their voices through a ‘voice emulator’ to sound like someone they like. Then he tells them to get to know each other and try to find things in common, just no personal questions which would give-a-way the identity of the other person. Since they heard the voice of someone they liked they started on a positive note and went on to realize that they had things in common. So finally when the blind folds are removed the enemies became friends. Using this method he managers to get his parents who are on the verge of divorce to really listen to each other and make up…

Obviously this wouldn’t work with everyone and sometimes there are real reasons for people to dislike each other, but I feel that as the father said at one point “We see what we choose to see”, if we’re looking for reasons to dislike someone we’ll find them and vice versa. Often I have made up my mind about people way before really getting to know them, and stuck to those prejudices in spite of this person doing things proving the contrary.

Of course you can’t go through life wearing “rose tinted glasses” I learnt that lesson the hard way soon after I started uni and realized that everyone is not genuine in their intentions… At the same time you can’t got through life in “black tinted glasses” either. I find myself sometimes failing to acknowledge the good things that people I don’t like do… I guess the secret to a happy life is to find the correct balance and try to look at the world objectively…

I was just reminded that I should start to look at the bright side of life again. I know that my profile says this about me but I seem to have forgotten it due to the frustrations of life…

The Definition of Success Continued...

As I was reading the Definition of Success, a couple of lines reminded me of a poem I wrote many years ago and had forgotten about. I dug it out yesterday and thought of posting it here. So here is my first and last attempt at writing a poem. :0)

We all want to do great things in our life time,
To be rich and famous, to stand against crime,
But even if we’re not heros or great leaders when we leave this world
If we could say,
That one person is happier because of us,
Then our life was not just a passing day.
We made someone’s life better, we put a smile on someone’s face
Even if that person wasn’t someone great
It doesn’t really matter
For in their hearts we’d always have a special place.

The Definition of Success

I just found this definition of Sucess at Luminus' and thought what a beautiful way of defining success! Thanks Luminus :0)

To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a little better; whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is the meaning of success.

- Dipo Tepede

The song on its mighty pinions took every living soul, and lifted it gently to heaven

I just came across this quote by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and had to post it, as I feel there’s something about songs that can really uplift the soul. (ok not every song, but I guess you know what type of songs I’m talking about )

Come to think of it, I have a song for each major milestone in my life...

One of the songs that’s really close to my heart is ‘Stay the Same' by Joey Mcintire

When I was a little kid I had a strong inferiority complex and always thought very little of my self. I used to be very shy, and rarely spoke, not because I didn’t have anything to say, but because I always worried that others might laugh at what I had to say, so I’d rather be silent. I used to wish I was different and popular. I was usually classified as a 'nerd' cos I always worked hard at school but kept to my self a lot. So I tried really hard to become 'cool' and pretend to be someone I'm not, just to be part of the 'in crowd'...

It was around the time that this song came out (1999) that I realized inorder to really be successful in life, or to really love anyone, you have to start by loving your self. It was a long hard process to get out of the mode of thinking I was already in, but today I can honestly say that I am happy with my self.

I initially started theatre as a way of getting rid of this shyness and it truly did help. I will always remember the advice to me, by the director of the musical I was part of which was to "Lose the Critic and the Judge". What he said was that it was the 'critic' and the 'judge' sitting on the shoulders of each person that keep telling you that others may laugh at you or think that you are weird if you do something different, which is what kills creativity.

People can usually see through the mask, when you pretend to be someone else. Anyway now I know that you don't need the kind of friends who can't accept the person you are. I believe that it's alright to be different as long as you are true to your self and don't hurt others.

So now when people say I'm different, I say I'm Unique. :0) People say this often cos I don't fall in to any of the typical stereotyped categories. I'm an engineer by profession, and rather studious and ambitious when it comes to my work. I also love working with people and find human psychology very intriguing. At the same time I'm someone who loves performance theatre, and singing and dancing as well as adventurous experiences. When I'm with the 'techys' I'm a total extrovert where as compared to my out going drama friends, I'm the total introvert.

Another thing that I have come to learn is that people who are happy with themselves don't try to put others down, I believe that the deep-seated feelings of inferiority is what makes people want to 'bring others down to their level'. Now that I don't care what other's think of me and not too bothered about the 'in crowd' the 'in crowd' comes to me. :0)

As someone whexperiencedienced the whole spectrum from total introvert to extrovert (though the old feelings do come now and then) I know that once you believe in yourself, you can achieve anything.

I know I totally went out of the topic of songs, but thought of ending this post with that song which changed my life.

Stay The Same - Joey Mcintyre

Don't you ever wish you were someone else,
You were meant to be the way you are exactly.
Don't you ever say you don't like the way you are.
When you learn to love yourself, you're better off by far.
And I hope you always stay the same,cuz there's nothin' 'bout you I would change.

I think that you could be whatever you wanted to be
If you could realize, all the dreams you have inside.
Don't be afraid if you've got something to say,
Just open up your heart and let it show you the way.
Believe in yourself.
Reach down inside.
The love you find will set you free.
Believe in yourself, you will come alive.
Have faith in what you do.
You'll make it through.