Hope is the only thing stronger than fear. A little hope is effective. A lot of hope is dangerous. A spark is just fine as long as its contained.
Robert Ludlum
Gimme Shelter — The Rolling Stones
It’s just a kiss away.
Things continue to happen that are beyond our control and comprehension. There are hidden motives, reasoning that happens behind the scenes. It’s not always clear why decisions get made, but once made they must be carried out. The whole structure must possibly collapse otherwise. It never happens all at once. There’s a reason why patience is a virtue. Fools who rush in where angels fear to tread will bring about their own ruin by acting rashly in the face of blind circumstance. Anger is the path to the dark side precisely because of the way it motivates one to unthinkable action. Even righteous anger, when left unchecked, can serve no good purpose. People are easiest to manipulate when they are out of sorts. This is what causes people to become tools.
What pisses you off beyond reason? Something does. You won’t hear anything to the contrary. Where does the anger come from? And why? Think about that for a while.
Your Mission, Should You Choose to Accept It
Soak Up The Sun — Sheryl Crow
I’m going to tell everyone to lighten up.
It’s not easy to be happy in this world. While every moment is definitely precious, the special moments are fleeting and easy to miss. When something terrible and tragic happens, when you lose a loved one, when someone dies, or even chooses to walk away, the unfathomable hurt that accompanies it is so very absolute that all the light in the world just seems to wink out. Time expands and it seems like the pain will never end. These are defining moments for people, these are the times when a person gets tested most. Do you give up and give in to resentment? Do you say fuck redemption? Or do you take the opportunity to make the right choice, no matter how hard it is, and try like hell to manifest your best self? Do you push people away? Or do you accept the help you so desperately need? How do you trust in those circumstances? These are all very important questions.
He was high on intellectualism.
I’ve never been there but the brochure looks nice.
Every Day Is A Winding Road — Sheryl Crow
Everybody gets high. Everybody gets low.
I’d like to just take a moment and say that I make an effort to not use two songs by the same artist in a single post. I’m making a conscious exception here because the current vibe calls for it. There’s something about the combination of these two songs by Sheryl Crow that makes me stop and think twice. That’s worth a mention and a look. A long time ago I got this song on cassette. I didn’t care for it so much at the time, but I would sit and listen to it while reading my Sonic (and Knuckles) comics on our big orange couch. I remember those days fondly. I would sleep there sometimes in the summer. There was such an innocence there. Like all children, I failed to appreciate the true significance of my life at that time. I never realized how good I had it. (Those were lessons that would come later.) Somehow, though, I knew that I would eventually realize what these songs were trying to tell me. I would like to share that with other people if I can. There are simpy things everyone needs to know.
Just keep swimming.
Dory, Finding Nemo
If You’re Going Through Hell — Rodney Atkins
Just Keep Moving
I’m not without my struggles. I do not like to talk about my real problems because it doesn’t really do me any good. I have found that I’m better off trying to make the best of my situation using the tools available to me. Once upon a time I hit rock bottom. I was as good as destroyed. I crawled my way back from my own person hell of my own design. The worst prison in all the world is the one inside your head. I had help, sure. But it doesn’t do to compare one person’s situation to another. The proper metric is yourself today to yourself yesterday. At any time, at any moment, a person can make the conscious decision to stand up and realign him, her, or itself to the proper way. It requires effort and dedication. It requires repentance. But in the endgame, the reward is redemption. I have to believe that everyone has a choice. And I have to believe that everyone can choose the good.
The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God,”
Psalm 53:1, New American Standard Version
They are corrupt, and have committed abominable injustice;
There is no one who does good.
My Sweet Lord — George Harrison
Hallelujah.
In Buddhism we are taught about the Bodhisattvas. These are individuals who have achieved a level of enlightenment that would allow them to escape the cycle of Life, Death, and Rebirth (aka: Samsara) and enter into Nirvana, yet, out of compassion, they choose to delay their exit so as to help ease the suffering of others. In some of the source material, it states that these individuals will delay their escape until every single soul has also escaped. This means forever. (Simple math. Pure Land Buddhism recognizes the existence of an infinite multiverse. Infinity = Infinity. Period.) This makes me think of the ideal, that thing that one must strive for against all odds. Sometimes the fact that it will never happen doesn’t matter in the face of the fact that it could. If you want it bad enough, what should stop you? Think about that.
Those who cannot dance say the music is no good.
Jamaican Proverb
Three Little Birds — Bob Marley
Every. Little. Thing.
That’s all for now.
Until next time,
Thank you;