I love this quote so much, mainly because it's so honest. It's a metaphor, but it has a lot of truth in it. What this quote is conveying is that in life, there will be many struggles you'll have to endure... but they don't break you, how you handle these struggles is what either makes or breaks you. As anyone who reads this blog a lot probably knows, I'm an advocate of always trying to find the silver lining in situations... no matter how miserable. Naturally, I have a few things to say on this quote.
There are plenty of really shitty situations in life. But, I think there is good to be derived from everything, if you look for it. I have friends who share this opinion with me... and friends who don't. Oddly enough, a situation has been around for awhile with one of my friends and I wound up thinking about it a lot last night. This particular friend is a constant complainer- and constantly depressed. It gets to be a drag. You can try to help this person constantly, but they'll turn you down and it's almost as if they want to be sad. I personally dislike it. Why would you ever want to go through life so miserable? There's absolutely no reason for it. There's always a bright side to things, you just have to want to see it. Things can always get better with the right attitude. However, if you go through life being negative and never trying to let others help you or help yourself... you're bound to just break and waste away. Don't let your burden break you; and don't be afraid to let others help. --Maddie
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Jungle Book was the coolest movie! King Louie sings ''Now I'm the King of the Swingers whoa! The Jungle VIP. I've reached the top and I had to stop and that's what's bothering me! O! ooby doo ooby doo! I want to be like you oo oo ooby dooby doo doo, I want to walk like you, talk like you oo! oo! oo! And that is all I know of the song. It is so cool!
Ashleigh Today I'm writing about ''Panda Bear Cub''. The little panda was pink and could not see when she was born. Soon she was black and white but still could not see. When the cub was six weeks old, she finally could see. And the first thing she saw was her Mother. One day they went looking for bamboo to eat. Mother let cub wonder about. But, when cub was exploring she got lost! But Mother found her. Cub is sorry she wandered off.
Ashleigh I may get around...I may laugh alot... Now you'd think that I'd be happy with the life I got Nobody knows...nobody sees Ain't nobody really knows the inner side o'me... I may seem secure...I could have it made... You might think you see a lucky man who made the grade Nobody knows what dreams I see Ain't nobody really sure just who they wanna be... Those are lyrics by Billy Squier. I used to listen to him a lot when I was in high school and college. I thought about that song for the first time in a long while last night. My daughter and I were coming back from the movies and we were chit-chatting about different things. Somehow, we got to a conversation where I brought up we all wear many masks... a bastardization of Shakespeare's "All the world's a stage" quote meshed with Andre Berthiaume's "We all wear masks, and the time comes when we cannot remove them without removing some of our own skin." quote. She mentioned to me that while it's true we all play many parts, she tries to keep on the same face and be the same throughout. Very admirable, but also nearly impossible to do (at least to me, anyway). I thought about my own life, and where I need to keep parts of me in check. Not in major ways mind you, but just in little ways where decorum calls for a different attitude. In church for instance, where I find it is better to sit quietly rather than kid around with my daughters and try to make them laugh... or at the dojo where I try to just focus on my workout. Those are just basic examples. There are others too. But our talk brought those lyrics to mind after so many years of not thinking of them. It was weird, because what we were talking about barely touched upon what I think about when I read those lyrics. For quite a while when I was younger, I felt misunderstood. Not so much about what I said, but about what I didn't say. Oftentimes, I would hide my true inner feelings away figuring people would just know from looking at me or the way I acted. And to some extent, that was true. Those who knew me really well, DID know somethings about me. But not all things. You see, we all do wear masks that we hide behind. Sometimes we don't even realize it. They have become so comfortable in some situations that we put them on without even realizing it. Our friends and lovers, those that know us best, have seen many of the masks... and they can still recognize us for who we are. They may even chuckle when we put on a mask we may not have worn in a while. But I doubt anyone knows all of our masks... including ourselves! Now don't get me wrong. I am not talking about something sinister here. And mask may be the wrong word for what I am talking about. I guess I am talking about a break in your usual behavior pattern, or facial expression, or way you say something. Verbal and nonverbal cues that you are putting on a facade. We all do it. Whether it is our biggest exaggerated smile for a baby, or the look of empathy that crosses your face when you hear a sad story about a person you really know nothing about. There is nothing wrong with these affectations, unless you let them fool you as well. And this, I think, is where we all fail. We become so used to wearing certain mantles, that we allow them to graft onto our skin, and make us into people who we are not. When your inner feelings differ from your outward persona on a regular basis, then this has happened to you. Don't let this happen to you. When your inner feeling match your outward persona, this is when you are one. It is alright to put on a mask on occasion... so that you don't scare the hell out of children, for instance. Or so that you can sit through the church service without disrupting the Mass. Just don't let any one mask become you. True living comes from a life without masks. Cheers to you Maddie, for inadvertently reminding me of that. (For the record. "Nobody Knows was a great song by Billy Squier. He dedicated it to the life of John Lennon. The last couple of verses of the song are below.) * Photo by Maddie by the way! "I see my future at the rainbow's end
Happy hours...timeless friends And if I ever chance to find my way Rest assured...I will stay... You may see your life as a compromise You may live to find the promise dancin' in your eyes Nobody knows...it's meant to be... Let the magic of the moment say it all to me." "Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated." That is a quote by Confucius. I think he was dead on with this quote. Life really can be simple, we just seem to complicate it all of the time.
Think about it. Life doesn't have to be stressful, yet we care so much about what other people think of us that we run around like chickens without heads to wear the right clothing or to have our hair cut in a particular way. It is almost as if we can't be happy unless others picture us as cool, or witty, tough or bold, or funny and popular. What does it really matter? Your friends will remain friends with you even if you aren't in the latest fashion. And it's likely that your family will never stop loving you. When I was younger, I wanted a big house and antiques. Now that I have that stuff, I could care less about it! No one I know cares that I have it either. For me, it was never about bragging about the stuff. It was more about just having cool things. I think the death of a loved one can really put things into perspective though. My Dad and wife both died within a year of each other. I helped to clean out my Dad's things, and I am still trying to get rid of Sharon's stuff. Neither of them brought any of their stuff with them! And most of it is meaningless to me. For my wife, closets full of clothes and shoes mainly went to the volunteer box... even though I tried really hard to sell the stuff. All of it went at a large discount to what she purchased it for. Believe it or not, I am also getting rid of some of my own things, because I too, have too much stuff. I love to read, and I have hundreds of books. Some I have read, while others I bought so that I could read them at my leisure. I have started to read through those books and give them away. I am almost compelled to do this too. There I go, taking something simple and pleasurable and putting deadlines to it! I do not want to have a lot of stuff when I die for my girls to have to get rid of. I also do not want to just throw them away since I really did want to read them. Thus, I read a little bit each day. I have read through twenty-two books over the past few weeks. I still have at least 100 to read. Keep it simple folks. God put us on earth to enjoy our lives. Don't make them any more stressful than they have to be. And remember, the only things that may go with you when you die is your memories. At least I hope they do! So leave the fancy clothes to others and instead build memories. It is simple really. The smile from your wife. The gigles from your daughters. These are what are important. Store them in your memories. And you will always be rich with your simple life. I love this quote so much. Honestly, it's a metaphor stating that if you don't like the process it takes to change, you'll never really be able to change. I feel that this applies to many changes- but particularly lifestyle changes. An example I'd like to use is when people say they're going to stop drinking or smoking- but then constantly complain about wanting to continue or "just cut back" off of doing it.
Honestly, if you're going to make a change... particularly one like that... you need to make it all the way, 100%. And not complain about it. After all, it's your choice to make the change, not anyone else's- therefor, no one else should have to deal with your complaining. If you complain, you're more liable to also give up or give in... and then your effort is wasted. If you complain about the process it takes to reach your goal, then it's likely you will not ever reach it anyway. In short, I think the moral of this quote is to stick with your goals and know that there will be sacrifice and pain to reach them, sometimes. You just have to decide if the goal is meaningful enough to be worth everything it takes to reach it. Best of luck to you. -- Maddie Today I read Sam Gets Lost. Sam is a puppy owned by Joan and Bob. Joan and Bob drove downtown and Sam was in the back of the car. When Joan stopped for a red light, Sam jumped out of the car to have some fun. She poked her nose into a garbage can, a woman's bag, and a baby buggy. Each time she was told to stay away. This is no fun she thought. ''I'm going back to the car.''
When she went back, the car was not there. She bumped into a boy, a lady, and a man. She ran out onto the street and hands grabbed her. Sam! is that really you? ''Bob.'' she barked and they went home. Ashleigh Today I'm going to talk about FOX ON THE JOB. Fox loved to show off for the girls. One day he wrecked his bike and went to look for a job. He saw a sign that said ''HELP WANTED! NOW!'' Help is here'' he said. The owner was happy and he put Fox to work selling shoes. It didn't work out and he fired him. The work at the haunted house was not for him so he quit. Delivering pizza was not for him. But the best job he had, was taking a nap in a bed in a furniture store. What a sale!
Ashleigh Honestly, I just want to run with this quote a little. Earlier, my dad and I briefly discussed it, and he said he believed everyone has their own prison, that it's simply a different prison for each person. Everyone has a prison they could walk out of by choice- yet they remain there. I truly believe it is out of fear, that people remain in their prisons. Like any prison, at first, the person is trapped. The prison overwhelms them and keeps them stuck there, unable to move forward. But as the person adapts to their prison and learns to cope through it... the lock on the prison door rusts, and before you know it, falls away. And the prison door swings open. But the person by that time is so used to their prison, so used to being trapped... That they either don't notice that they can leave, or are too afraid to face what is beyond their prison.
Their prison has become their comfort zone, something to protect them instead of withhold them... And they won't leave for fear of change. Fear of being their own person. Fear of choices and fear of freedom. Fear of responsibility for their own mistakes. It is this fear, that leaves an invisible barrier barring the open cell door. -- Maddie "I'd rather be a diamond with a flaw, than a perfect pebble!" That's a quote by Confucius. The meaning of this one seems pretty straight forward to me, but many people seem to get confused by it.
Since that is the case, let's walk through it, starting at its simplest meaning and then walk our way up to how I see it. At the base level Confucius is saying that he would rather have something special, yet not perfect rather than something simple and yet flawless. In the instance of a diamond and a pebble, diamond's are more rare and seemingly more pleasing to the eye than an ordinary pebble. In fact, no matter how flawless the pebble, most people would still rather look at or receive the flawed diamond. This holds true for everything by the way. Think about the food you eat. Would you rather have a meal that has some spice added? Or would you rather eat bland, tasteless food? Now think about people. Would you rather meet someone who is very interesting but a little flawed in one or two areas, or a person who is a perfect bore? I don't know about you, but I sometimes think that is our little flaws that make us interesting to begin with. I'll give you a good example. I know a very sweet girl who is pretty and very witty. She is fine holding up her end of the conversation until you look her in the eye and smile about what she is saying. The minute you do that, she'll continue with her story, but her eyes kind of roll up in her head like a school girl reciting poetry! She'll open her eyes again, of course, but the minute she sees you smiling at her story, her eyes just go back up into the back of her head. To be clear here, I called her a girl, but that is in relation to me. She is probably in her mid 30's. Anyway, I find that eye roll very endearing and i find many of her stories amusing in spite of whether or not they really are or not. Sometimes the flaw makes the diamond. So, would you rather have a flawed diamond as a friend, or a perfect pebble? For me, I'd rather have the special with the flaw than the perfect...bore! Today I'm going to talk about Legos. I have a big set of legos. My dad and i play with them a lot. One time dad and I built the highest tower ever! It was taller then me! In fact it was taller than my sister. What fun we had!
Ashleigh |
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