The blessing of being grateful!

It'a amazing and yet frustrating! People seem to ask for more and more each and every day! They ask for more and more money, for better and better cars, for more and more material goods. So far away from the real meaning of life! That's the root of all evil; wars are declared for oil (money), happiness depends on the size of the house and car (money), hunger is fed by huge portions of food which presumably make you happier; the bigger the TV screen the better you feel (money); and the list goes on....

Is this the real human nature? Is this the truth of our existence? No - this is the reality we are taught to live in, this is the statuses we learnt to accept. And in the middle of this material hurricane, humans forgot to be humans!

Sit back for a while and think about the following: how grateful are you? How blessed you feel? What are the blessings for you, the measures of happiness and compassion, benevolence, brotherly love? You know, life isn't meant to be a bunch of material things surrounding you! Life is about being deeply happy with what you have! No matter how big or small, no matter of how many of this and how much of that! Life is about gratefulness and gratefulness is a feeling of awareness! 

Are you healthy? (I wish you, so!) Do you enjoy seeing things, feeling the sun on our skin, smelling the flowers, listening to birds singing, walking in a park in the springtime, touching and feeling the skin of your pet, tasting your favourite ice cream flavour, dancing to the music, sharing thoughts and ideas, hugging your beloved ones? Gosh, you are so much blessed! Can you feel the blessing? Can you really utter a deep "thank you" for all those privileges you are given?

You have your family? Either your parents' or your own's? Do you feel lucky to have them in your life? Do you celebrate each and every moment you spend with them? Have you told them how much you love them, how much they mean to you, near or far from you? Call them to chat with them! Call them just because! Hug them for no reason at all - and for every reason in the world! Kiss them good morning or good night! Do you have kids? See the world through their eyes! Feel the happiness every time they accomplish something! Tell your spouse "thank you" for being themselves! Tell yourself a big "thank you" for what you are! Thank the universe, nature, God, Buddha, Allah, whomever, for the so beautiful people your family is composed of! They are a part of you and you are a part of them! Whomever you were, are and will be is because they are influencing you (well or not, you always learn from them!) 

You have your friends! You have shared so many experiences with them! Good and unpleasant, you have so many in common! Do you feel lucky for having them in your life? Do you tell them? Friends from the past, present or future, you learn things from them! For every person passes by your life, there is a reason why! Think twice! Isn't this true? Thank them for their support! Feel gratefulness filling your body and soul when telling them a simple and yet so deep "thank you". Most of all, feel this magic feeling! Say "thank you" from the bottom of your heart!


If you open a dictionary, next to the word "material" as an adjective, you'll find the word "nonspiritual". Exactly!! People's nature is spiritual, by no means material. All good we possess are our servants - we do not serve them. At least, this is the way it should be! And yet, in the middle of a global crisis people are dealing with, it seems as if  their lives are following Dow Jones' ups and downs!

Do you have a home to live in, a car to drive, clothes and shoes to wear, money to spend, a job to develop your mind, an internet connection to learn all the news around the world? Do you have electricity at your place, a fridge which is full of food, water to drink and wash, heat for the winter? Are you educated? You read books, you travell, you can use your mind properly, you can attend a uni class you want? It does not matter at all the size of the house, the car, the TV set, the brand of your clothes, the name of the school you went to! These are simple material things that serve the fake image of the world and serves interests. I recently read something I found very clever: "Some people are so poor, the only thing they have is money". 

Yet, if you do own the above, you are so blessed! Why would you think they are for granted? Who says so? Feel the "thank you" each and every moment you are alive! Start your day with a sincere "thank you" for the brilliant day ahead of you! Before going to bed, say " thank you" for all the things you did and learnt today! Start thinking about true happiness in your life! You and only you is responsible for the life you choose to live; material or not; interesting or boring. You and only you is responsible for how you use the incredible power of your brain; you decide who you serve and be served by!

Connect with your real you! Connect with your spirituality, by only saying "thank you" for what you are and what you have! Connect with the truthfulness of your life, by feeling blessed and happy!
Bare in mind the important things in life:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=choOYBFZBVA

Thank you all!

Carrots, Eggs and Coffee beans

A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed as one problem was solved a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water. In the first, she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs and the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil without saying a word.

 

In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners. She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.

 

Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me what do you see?"  

"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," she replied.

She brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. She then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, she asked her to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled, as she tasted its rich aroma.

 

The daughter then asked. "What does it mean, mother?"

 

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity—boiling water—but each reacted differently.   

The carrot went in strong, hard and unrelenting. However after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.   

The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior. But, after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.  

The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water they had changed the water.

 

"Which are you?" she asked her daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?"

 

Think of this: Am I the carrot that seems strong, but with pain and adversity, do I wilt and become soft and lose my strength? 

Am I the egg that starts with a malleable heart, but changes with the heat? Did I have a fluid spirit, but after death, a breakup, a financial hardship or some other trial, have I become hardened and stiff? Does my shell look the same, but on the inside am I bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and a hardened heart?

Or am I like the coffee bean? The bean actually changes the hot water, the very circumstance that brings the pain. When the water gets hot, it releases the fragrance and flavor.  If you are like the bean, when things are at their worst, you get better and change the situation around you. When the hours is the darkest and trials are their greatest do you elevate to another lever?   

How do you handle Adversity? Are you a Carrot, an Egg, or a Coffee bean?

Seek for happiness, it will preserve your sweetness! Deal with challenges, they will make you stronger! Welcome your sorrow, it will keep you human! Hold your hopes high, they will make you happy!

Laughter is an Instant Vacation Movie - click on the first sentence below

Laughter is an Instant Vacation Movie: Studies show we need 12 laughs a day to stay healthy. Consider this movie a gift of good health! I'll venture to say if you don't get your "day's quota" of 12 laughs while watchingthis little movie, then check your pulse...you may be dead! Learn more...

Women's emotional types - find yours!

By Amanda Marqua

(....)
"Would you like to know what the main emotional types are? Over the years I’ve learned that there are at least four emotional types.

1. River Women

River women are emotion in motion.
There is a subtle and constant stream of emotion that flows like a river from one feeling to the next, often seamlessly. They are remarkably even-tempered, with a great sense of playfulness.
If they learn to channel their emotions into positive outlets, everything they touch takes on a certain shine.
Though their emotions aren’t predictable, per say, they have patterns that are known to themselves and their loved ones, which are relatively consistent. For example, a river woman might know that weddings always make her cry. She knows to never leave the house for a wedding without a purse full of tissue.
River women laugh easily, and have great senses of humor, knowing innately how to cheer others and make them smile, just as rivers provide nourishment and sanctuary for all kinds of life.

2. Rain Women

Like the rain that comes and then departs, rain women have feelings that come from out of nowhere, and then dissolve and vanish back into the mystery.
A rain woman can experience sudden emotional outbursts when logically she can’t make sense of why or where the feeling is coming from. (.....)
It’s very important that rain women not judge themselves just because the emotion is so sudden.
Rain refreshes and renews and restores. And then it departs to make way for the sunshine. Rain women can also tend to brood, like storm clouds on the horizon.
Exercise helps them move emotions through. Rain women are often moved by the emotional victories and stories of other people. They will cry or laugh for someone else’s win or loss, even total strangers, just as quickly as for themselves.

3. Lake Women

Still waters run deep. Lake women very rarely show their emotions on the surface.
They feel so deeply and so privately, that their emotions usually remain contained.
They are often referred to as calm or meditative individuals. They express their feelings with a simple warm smile, or a silence that indicates their sorrow. They are most comfortable showing their feelings when they are alone, or with someone they know intimately. They are not women who repress their feelings, but women who reveal very little of what they feel on the surface.
Because they feel so deeply, they are often extremely connected to their environment, and prefer to be out in nature or somewhere beautiful and calm.
They also make great team players, and excel at sports like golf that require significant concentration.
Lake women are also very empathic, picking up the feelings of others and mirroring them, or taking them on as their own. This is the same way a lake mirrors a flock of geese flying overhead.
They receive impressions very easily. Lake women have to learn to build protective boundaries around themselves so they do not absorb the emotions of others.

4. Ocean Women

The ocean is a vast and deep body of water, always changing color and mood.
This is the most complex and rich emotional temperament, and also the most challenging.
Where a river or a rain woman might have one feeling at a time, ocean women can have emotional cocktails, feeling ten ways at once, with many layers of feeling spreading in all directions.
There is a lot to sort through for ocean women. They are often overwhelmed. They are much like the sea. Every day is different. Some days are calm and tranquil. Other days are tempestuous and wild. An ocean woman can wake up in the morning from a night of dreams, and her whole day will carry the emotions from her sleep.
Like the ocean, these women are beautiful and deep and mysterious.
Because their emotions can be so vast and unidentifiable, ocean women need music and dance and art to help them find and feel their feelings fully. Talking with close friends also helps to ground the shape-shifting ocean woman, and help her identify what she feels.
Ocean women who become actors can lose themselves in their characters, completely embodying the role without a trace. They have access to a great reservoir of feeling that informs their lives. (.....)

Which type are you?

Take time to enjoy learning this new and beautiful piece of information about yourself.
Why? Because you’re wonderful, no matter what emotional type you are.
Isn’t it time to stop criticizing the natural you, and start celebrating all the beautiful ways you live and move in the world?"
(......)

Happy Women's Day!

Is the vase full?

"A philosophy teacher once enters his classrom with a carton. Without talking, he takes out from the carton a glass vase and starts filling it with small stones. His students are watching with a big question in their eyes.

When the vase is full with the small stones, the teacher asks:
Is the vase full?

His students answer:
Yes, it is.

The teacher smiles and takes out of the carton a small bag with pebbles; he puts them in the vase and starts moving it so the pebbles fill the gaps among the stones. When the vase is full, he askes again:
Is the vase full?

The students answer:
Yes, it is full.

The teacher smiles again and takes out of the carton a small bag with sand; he starts pouring the sand in the vase, so the sand fills all the space among the stones and pebbles. And asks again:
Is the vase full?

The students laugh and answer:
Yes, the vase is full now.

The teacher smiles again and takes out of the carton two cans of beer; he empties them in the vase, so the vase now is full! And asks again:
Is the vase full?

This time the students cry out laughing:
Yes, the vase is full now!!

- Now, I want you to consider this vase as your life! the teacher says.

The stones are the most impostant things in your life: your health, your family, your good friends. They are so important, that even if all the rest is gone, your life will still be full.

The pebbles are the things that come in our lives: our studies, our job, our house, our car, all the material goods. If you put them first into your vase, there will be not enough room for the stones.

The sand is the smallest and trivial things in our life.

If your put first the sand in your vase, there will be not enough room for the pebbles and the stones. The vase is your life; if you waste your time and energy for the smallest things, you will never have the time for the really important ones. Think twice and decide what and who are the most important in your life!

Talk with your parents, play with your kids, enjoy your spouse, look after your health, get together with friends. There is always time to study, to work, to fix your car, etc. Take care of the stones, first. Get your priorities right!

The students are speechless. One of them, asks:
And what about the beer?

- I'm glad you ask, the teacher goes. I'll tell you: No matter how full your life is, no matter how busy you are, there is always time for a couple of beers!"

Cheers!!