THE WORLD IS MINE – Joy Lovelet Crawford

Today, upon a bus, I saw a very beautiful woman and wished I were as beautiful.

When suddenly she rose to leave, I saw her hobble down the aisle.

She had one leg and used a crutch. But as she passed, she passed a smile.

Oh, God, forgive me when I whine. I have two legs; THE WORLD IS MINE.

I stopped to buy some candy. The lad who sold it had such charm.

I talked with him, he seemed so glad. If I were late, it’d do no harm.

And as I left, he said to me, "I thank you, you’ve been so kind.

It’s nice to talk with folks like you. You see," he said, "I’m blind."

Oh, God, forgive me when I whine. I have two eyes; THE WORLD IS MINE.

Later while walking down the street, I saw a child I knew.

He stood and watched the others play, but he did not know what to do.

I stopped a moment and then I said, "Why don’t you join them dear?"

He looked ahead without a word. I forgot, he couldn’t hear.

Oh, God, forgive me when I whine. I have two ears; THE WORLD IS MINE.

With feet to take me where I’d go..

With eyes to see the sunset’s glow.

With ears to hear what I’d know.

Oh, God, forgive me when I whine. I’ve been blessed indeed, THE WORLD IS MINE.

Reading or watching the news is something I do with caution. Because if I’m not careful and I take in too many newspaper articles or news bulletins, it starts affecting my outlook on things. Because some days the news is especially depressing and disturbing.

But I have also found that despite all the bad, sat stuff, there is always a ray of hope somewhere. And ‘if I seek for it, I will find it.’ That ray of hope can come from anywhere! It can be a person, an event, a thought, a memory, a quote, a book, a child’s smile, a coincidence, anything! I just have to look for it.

This morning it was a quote that popped into my mind. I had probably read it years go but it obviously made an impression on me and lodged itself deep within my memory.

Here’s the quote..

“In the world you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.”

(Jesus, circa 30 AD)

How beautiful. And what a perfect statement! It does not deny the problem and sad realities, but it also suggests a response and gives a solution.

“In the world you shall have tribulation.” – No kidding. (In fact, according to the Buddha, life has so much suffering it’s practically synonymous with suffering.)

“But..” – Now that’s an important word right there. It’s three letters long but it gives pause. It offers an alternative. It is the space we put between that which happens to us and our response to it. It gives us an opportunity to choose our frame of mind and our response to situations.

“Be of good cheer.” Now that’s a tall order! In the middle of tribulation? Really? How?

“I have overcome the world.” That’s how. By holding on to the knowledge that no matter how dark the world gets, there is still Something Bigger, Kinder, Gentler and Stronger at work in the world and in our lives. It is a promise of hope. It is a promise of companionship in our darkest night, comfort in our deepest sorrow and strength in our weakest hour. It is the promise of a benevolent destiny.

“In the world you shall have tribulation,
But be of good cheer.
I have overcome the world.”

Let’s live with hope and walk with a smile. It’s a difficult world but we are not alone. We shall overcome.

Regards,

Vinod

Take time to think;

it is the source of power.

Take time to read;

it is the foundation of wisdom.

Take time to play;

it is the secret of staying young.

Take time to be quiet;

it is the opportunity to seek God.

Take time to be aware;

it is the opportunity to help others.

Take time to love and be loved;

it is God’s greatest gift.

Take time to laugh;

it is the music of the soul.

Take time to be friendly;

it is the road to happiness.

Take time to dream;

it is what the future is made of.

Take time to pray;

it is the greatest power on earth.

– Author Unknown

Please watch the movie at: http://www.lifesecretsonline.com/blog/2013/04/02/PowerOfAttitude/

Where your attention goes

Where your attention goes is where your life will follow. Where is your attention going most of the time?

Is your attention consumed with resentment, judgment, envy and spite? Where do you think those things will lead your life?

Do you put so much attention on proving you’re right that you end up with nothing left with which to accomplish? Imagine letting most of that go, and freeing your attention for more positive and valuable pursuits.

There are so many beautiful possibilities for authentic and lasting fulfillment. Those are the things that deserve the power of your attention.

You can decide in this moment, and in every moment, to let go of the fear, let go of the worry, let go of the anger and let in life’s delightful richness. Turn your attention toward those things that make life a joy to live.

You can choose where your attention goes, and where your life in turn will follow. No matter what you may have chosen in the past, right now is when you can choose the best.

– Ralph Marston

Be Not a Beggar

by Swami Vivekananda

Ask nothing; want nothing in return. Give what you have to give; it will come back to you — but do not think of that now, it will come back multiplied a thousand fold — but the attention must not be on that. Yet have the power to give: give, and there it ends.

Learn that the whole of life is giving, that nature will force you to give. So, give willingly. Sooner or later you will have to give up. You come into life to accumulate. With clenched hands, you want to take. But nature puts a hand on your throat and makes your hands open. Whether you will it or not, you have to give. The moment you say, "I will not", the blow comes; you are hurt.

None is there that will not be compelled, in the long run, to give up everything. And the more one struggles against this law, the more miserable one feels. It is because we dare not give, because we are not resigned enough to accede to this grand demand of nature, that we are miserable. The forest is gone, but we get heat in return. The sun is taking up water from the ocean, to return it in showers. You are a machine for taking and giving: you take, in order to give.

Ask, therefore, nothing in return; but the more you give, the more will come to you. The quicker you can empty the air out of this room, the quicker it will be filled up by the external air; and if you close all the doors and every aperture, that which is within will remain, but that which is outside will never come in, and that which is within will stagnate, degenerate, and become poisoned. A river is continually emptying itself into the ocean and is continually filling up again. Bar not the exit into the ocean. The moment you do that, death seizes you.

Be, therefore, not a beggar; be unattached.

–Swami Vivekananda in "Work and Its Secret"

The Ripple Effect

Drop A Pebble In The Water, Just A Splash, And It Is Gone;

But There’s Half A Hundred Ripples Circling On And On And On,

Spreading, Spreading From The Center, Flowing Out To The Sea,

And There Is No Way Of Telling Where The End Is Going To Be.

Drop A Pebble In The Water : In A Minute You Forget,

But There’s Little Waves A Flowing, And There’s Ripples Circling Yet,

And Those Little Waves A Flowing To A Great Big Wave Have Grown;

You’ve Disturbed A Mighty River Just By Dropping In A Stone.

Drop An Unkind Word, Or Careless Tirade : In A Minute It Is Gone;

But There’s Half A Hundred Ripples Circling On And On And On.

They Keep Spreading, Spreading, Spreading From The Center As They Go,

And There Is No Way To Stop Them, Once You’ve Started Them To Flow.

Drop An Unkind Word, Or Carelessness : In A Minute You Forget;

But There’s Little Waves A Flowing, And There’s Ripples Circling Yet,

And Perhaps In Some Sad Heart A Mighty Wave Of Tears You’ve Stirred,

And Disturbed A Life, Was Happy Ere You Dropped That Unkind Word.

Drop A Word Of Cheer And Kindness : Just A Flash And It’s Gone;

But There’s Half A Hundred Ripples Circling On And On And On,

Bearing Hope And Joy And Comfort On Each Splashing, Dashing Wave

Till You Wouldn’t Believe The Volume Of The One Kind Word You Gave.

Drop A Word Of Cheer And Kindness: In A Minute You Forget;

But There’s Gladness Still A Swelling, And There’s Joy A Circling Yet,

And You’ve Rolled A Wave Of Comfort Whose Sweet Music Can Be Heard

Over Miles And Miles Of Water Just By Dropping One Kind Word..!!

Author Unknown

WHERE THE MIND IS WITHOUT FEAR

– Tagore (Gitanjali)

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;

Where knowledge is free;

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls;

Where words come out from the depth of truth;

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;

Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;

Where the mind is led forward by thee

Into ever-widening thought and action–

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

POEM FOR SPIRITUAL HEALTH

Be Thankful

Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire.
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?
Be thankful when you don’t know everything,
for it gives you the opportunity to learn.
Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.
Be thankful for your limitations,
because they give you opportunities for improvement.
Be thankful for each new challenge
because it will build your strength and character.
Be thankful for your mistakes.
They will teach you valuable lessons.
Be thankful when you’re tired and weary,
because it means you’ve made a difference.

author unknown

Life’s Little Lessons – Mother Teresa

People are often unreasonable, illogical

And self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you
Of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some
False friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank,
People may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone
Could destroy overnight
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness,
They may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today,
People will often forget tomorrow;
Do well anyway.

Give the world the best you have,
And it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis,
It is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway.

The Art of Start

– Charles Ghigna

Don’t search for inspiration when

You have a task to do;

Just start your work and you will see

That it will soon find you.

In Spite of War

by Angela Morgan

In spite of war, in spite of death,

In spite of all man’s sufferings,

Something within me laughs and sings

And I must praise with all my breath.

In spite of war, in spite of hate

Lilacs are blooming at my gate,

Tulips are tripping down the path

In spite of war, in spite of wrath.

"Courage!" the morning-glory saith;

"Rejoice!" the daisy murmureth,

And just to live is so divine

When pansies lift their eyes to mine.

The clouds are romping with the sea,

And flashing waves call back to me

That naught is real but what is fair,

That everywhere and everywhere

A glory liveth through despair.

Though guns may roar and cannon boom,

Roses are born and gardens bloom;

My spirit still may light its flame

At that same torch whence poppies came.

Where morning’s altar whitely burns

Lilies may lift their silver urns

In spite of war, in spite of shame.

And in my ear a whispering breath,

"Wake from the nightmare! Look and see

That life is naught but ecstasy

In spite of war, in spite of death!"

The Man Who Thinks He Can

Walter D. Wintle

If you think you are beaten, you are;

If you think you dare not, you don’t;

If you’d like to win, but think you can’t,

It’s almost a cinch you won’t.

If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost,

For out in the word we find

Success begins with a fellow’s will,

It’s all in the state of mind.

If you think you’re outcasted, you are;

You’ve got to think high to rise.

You’ve got to be sure of yourself before

You can ever win a prize.

Life’s battles don’t always go

To the stronger or faster man;

But soon or late the man who wins

Is the man who thinks he can.

If there’s a remedy when trouble strikes,

What reason is there for dejection?

And if there is no help for it,

What use is there in being glum?

– 8th-century Indian Buddhist scholar Shantideva of Nalanda University

Invictus

– 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.

In my opinion, a very wonderful poem on managing life

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

The courage to change the things I can,

And wisdom to know the difference.

– Reinhold Niebuhr

Take time to think;
it is the source of power.

Take time to read;
it is the foundation of wisdom.

Take time to play;
it is the secret of staying young.

Take time to be quiet;
it is the opportunity to seek God.

Take time to be aware;
it is the opportunity to help others.

Take time to love and be loved;
it is God’s greatest gift.

Take time to laugh;
it is the music of the soul.

Take time to be friendly;
it is the road to happiness.

Take time to dream;
it is what the future is made of.

Take time to pray;
it is the greatest power on earth.

– Author Unknown