Still I Rise

In giving, we receive

A funny thing occurred to me yesterday as I was writing in my journal- it was about my very first lesson as a substitute teacher for a remedial grade 2 class. I had no clue what I was getting myself into. I came from a family of educators, but having studied communication, I cannot say I was expertly versed in how to instruct my pupils, most of whom struggled to read and a few who couldn't recognize much beyond their names. I wanted to introduce myself to my 42 children. I thought deep and hard. Then I wrote on the board:

"I am Miss Morrison

I can be anything I want to be
All I have to do is work hard
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"

I made each of them stand and introduce themselves and tell me what they wanted to be when they grew up and then I went over each word and made them recite it periodically in chorus. I figured I wouldn't have them long enough to successfully teach them all to read but I could motivate them and plant a seed inside them for them to see that their dreams, no matter how harsh their circumstances, could be theirs if they put in the hard work and only believed.

Who would have known that 8 years later, those same words would be an inspiration to me?

Indeed,
"I can be anything I want to be
All I have to do is work hard
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"

So can you.

Invictus (the poem)

William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be**
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

** I believe in the Reader's Licence (as in open interpretation and application) and therefore I apply my faith in my God as opposed to "whatever gods there may be"

A time for everything under the sun

I think I have been honing the reclusive elements of my personality. Maybe something just had to give. I am always the life of the party, so maybe hermitage is my spirit's call to quietude and stillness.

I don't know how to "reach out" to people who aren't "my people-" as in friend, family, combolu. I can however take comfort in merely being around people, watching them interact with each other and getting every baby who looks at me to smile and even coo.

Imelda tells me that there is a time for everything, and that pulling away to find yourself is a part of life.

I am happy that ESC and I are such good friends. His company keeps me balanced.

I am not going to fall into a dim depression though... I will pray, sweat and sculpt my head above water.

i am closer to a breakthrough than I think.

Not so mindless email forward:

"When life gives you a 100 reasons to cry, show life that you have 1000 reasons to smile. Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear. Keep the faith and drop the fear."

Life is behaviour (Today's inspiration from Tony Horton)

Originally published on his Tony Horton Blogspot:

I have learned from my own experiences (filled with the usual trials and tribulations) that life has stages. These stages can occur in any and all aspects of life. Physical, spiritual, psychological, financial, romantic, adventurous, familial, and so on. As you look back at your life (so far), you can see where you've excelled and where you've come up short.

Most people only focus on two or three of the above categories their whole lives. Other areas of life are neglected because of lack of interest or desire or necessity. The truth is that most men (and many more women these days) spend a substantial amount of their time working to keep a roof over their head, food on the table, and money in their pocket. Many homemakers (male and female) spend a majority of their time keeping the hatches battened down.

So if life feels like an endless episode of Survivor, then how the hell do we focus on what I call the "Bliss Maker" areas of life—the romantic, spiritual/psychological, physical, purposeful, and adventurous? The three key ingredients for finding bliss in these areas of life are TIME, ENERGY, and the REASON why. If you live in a 9-to-5 world and feel overwhelmed, then it's going to be pretty tough to find the time, energy, and reason to find your true bliss.

The average person can find temporary bliss in food, alcohol, drugs, tall tales, and sex. This kind of short-term bliss will take away health, consciousness, rationality, discretion, accountability, and responsibility. Along with distorting values and a sense of morality.

If you're lucky enough to finally discover that there is more to life than making a buck, feeding your face, getting off, and manipulating reality, you'll start to inquire about how to find your bliss. Then you'll have to begin to find the TIME, ENERGY, and REASON.

Time isn't that difficult really. You look at your schedule, move some stuff around, explain to people what you're doing, and figure out a reasonable TIME frame in which to accomplish your goals. ENERGY is a piece of cake! You can master that every time you decide to Push Play! Doing Power 90® or any other kind of physical activity will automatically propel you into one of the most important "Bliss Maker" categories. The REASON why is probably the most difficult and complicated variable when it comes to long-term success and bliss.

To pursue your bliss by means of dishonesty, manipulation, coercion, or the need to seek grandeur will backfire worse than any short-term pleasure ever will. If your spiritual pursuits create a "holier than thou" attitude, then all your learned dogma will fall on deaf ears. If you exercise hard and long just to look hot at your high school reunion, then talk to me the next day when the show is over. If you start looking for adventure for the sole purpose of acquiring trophies, will you still enjoy it if you fail?

If you ever chase any of these areas of life for the REASON or PURPOSE of looking for attention, accolades, and kudos from others, then you are doomed to a life of confrontation, depression, confusion, illusion, and delusion. I never said that pursuing your bliss was easy. That's why most people who try . . . fail.

You can avoid failure by pursuing your bliss with clarity, wisdom, acceptance, vulnerability, patience, consciousness, and truth. These "words" in both the selfish and selflessness ilk represent your intention. Your intention is everything and the only thing that matters when it comes to the right use of will.

I believe that real lifelong change and bliss are achieved over the course of three very separate stages:

Recognition. Knowing and understanding that there must be a shift in the way you approach certain segments of your life and an undaunted willingness to want to make a change.
Catharsis.The period of time you spend venting, releasing, and unleashing the emotions that keep you from your bliss.
Application. The employment and utilization of the tools you've learned through the cathartic stage.
If you can move through these three stages with the right intentions, then you will know what it's like to live on this Earth in a state of bliss.

Peace,
Tony H.