Clearly unclear...

"A lack of clarity could put the brakes on any journey to success"
                                                       -Steve Maraboli

As the year approach it's fated end we can't help it but look back to analyze everything we've been through. It has been a journey filled with sadness, joy, pain, miracles, and many more innumerable adjectives.

Not just part of, but that whole year contributes to the person we are today, and every single experience, big or small, has become one more stepping stone in the long, mysterious staircase we call life. 

Just as we look at the past we wonder about the future...

   Will I be successful...

      ...will I see him/her again...

          ...will I fall in love...

              ...will I get a house...

                    ...will I get pregnant?

It can be very stressful to come think of these. But why do we have to stress about something that can actually be very thrilling? Instead of thinking so much about what the future holds why don't we spend all that energy in the realization and creation of that badly desired future. 

Make that dream palpable, so that you don't have to look back, perhaps next year, and wonder what could have been. 

Lesson learned: 'Everything is clear, we create the uncertainty with our own doubts'

image taken from: http://www.beckoncallservices.com/why-do-my-inside-windows-get-so-dirty/

NO MERCY

Aiming high...

Aim for the highest star you can…

 -Anonymous

We just came fresh out of graduation…

 We come back from a much needed vacation with new energy…

  Or we even wake up one morning with renewed vigor…

…ready for a new venture.

 The air is filled with excitement and perhaps a little bit of dread, which is natural (we tell ourselves), because every new venture involves a little risk.

What is that new goal you have set for yourself? What is that new dream you have pictured?

Throughout our entire lives we are told to aim high, to dream big. It is healthy to do so, of course, but it is healthier to remember that realism (different from negativism) is an important tool we’ll need if we are to succeed. There's a big difference between aiming high and being high, aiming.

So I say:

Aim for the highest star you can…

…but make sure your rifle has the range

Aim fir the highest star you can…

…after making sure there’s bullets in your gun

Aim for the highest star you can…

…and make patience your greatest friend

Aim for the highest star you can…

…and realize it may take more than one shot to hit it

Aim for the highest star you can…

…and remember  not to stall, shoot!!

Lesson Learned:  Success lies in the perfect balance between picturing a dream and reaching for it.

Winning hope...

A strong mind always hopes, and has always cause to hope.
-Thomas Carlyle


Chemotherapy hasn't worked...
You lost your job...
The account is almost drained...
Another illness...
They left you for someone else...

So many bad news, and so little light at the end of that tunnel...if there's even a tunnel.

What do we do? Who do we talk to? Is there something we could take?

It's funny how some, in a better position than us, tell us 'there is hope, hold on'. Isn't it easy to say 'don't worry' when the advice giver has nothing to worry about? It is very easy to hear 'stay strong' from the lips of someone who's never had a reason to lose strength...

But that's the way we see it. We all have our problems, we all have our demons and fears. Not all those who give advice have no idea what they are talking about. As a matter of fact, some of those have actually lived worse things than us and therefore their advice is true.

Now that is not what matters the most. What really matters is that when things seem bleak and hopeless the lights shine brighter. The more hopeless things seem the more glorious the victory will be in the end. We get too busy searching for the light at the end of the tunnel that we don't realize we may not even be a tunnel. Sometimes we can't find that light because it is already shining on us.


Lesson learned: In this I will always stay selfish, I will never give up hope.

Moon's faces...

One shining quality lends a luster to another, or hides some glaring defect.
-William Hazlitt

When that chaos raises its fiery reins there are those who stand firm, driving their sword on the ground and holding to it. There are also those who, in an attempt to avoid being the target of the stern gaze of scrutiny, would stab one's hand and hold on to one's sword because they know it was planted well.
Some survive and thrive by being parasites to others. There are those who i call 'Moons' who can't shine with their own light, and their only desire is to take the credit for other's work. Consumed by low self esteem, their own inability to achieve things can only be hidden by acts of betrayal, lies, or by pointing fingers at others. A funny thing to watch is how much initiative they have whenever there's credit to be taken for something they didn't really do.

What makes this even worse is that when these 'moons' lose their brightness, they will need another scapegoat, another victim, another 'sun' whose light they must steal, and they will not rest until they get it.

Remember who you are, and work hard for what you want. Fight bravely, give your last ounce of strength and then bathe in the shining light of your achievement. Be watchful, wary, for there are those who live to steal your work, and will do so without hesitation, for that alone is the goal they fight hard for.

Lesson learned: "Your glory, little moons, is not eternal. Keep flying and shining above all those who you have wronged. Bask in the glory that's not yours, and dance to the songs of wolves but be warned...they don't sing to you, they sing to the light you stole, and when you fall, they'll tear you to shreds."

Reigning rain...

The rain doesn't mess up things...we do.
 -The Puppet Master

No matter who we are, when we wake up to see a rainy day we can't help it but stop, even if for a single second and admire the weather.
We become mesmerized by the hundreds of thousands of crystalline droplets that fall like diamonds spilled from a heavenly jewelry box.

A rainy day can be the representation of the melancholy we are living. As we stay home we realize we are alone. Immediately and unconsciously we sometimes run to turn the tv on so that its noise can keep us this imagined company.
This time inside a house can help us take time inside our home to reflect and learn, to cry and learn from past mistakes, from pain we caused but were proud enough to not ever admit it.



It can also be seen as the beautiful washing of the world itself from its nuisances and sins. The water drenching our heads allow us to reminisce of our childhood and how simple those times were. It can all feel like a baptism by the heavens that can allow us to start refreshed and anew one more time.

Some, more aggressive spirits choose to 'set fire to the rain', letting everything go to waste and turn to dust before being cleansed.

But dancing in the rain can be a celebratory event, where we laugh and frolic like the fey of legend.

All in all, the rainy day is and can be everything we want it to be.

Next time you are home and find it rains, leave your daily stressful life and just walk out, barefoot, look up and think of all that is good, of how great is to be alive, and think of how you can be not thunder, but refreshing rain in the lives of others, because again, we are and can be everything we want to be.



 Lesson learned: Have you walked in the rain to hide the tears rolling down your cheeks? I know I have...and it has made me a better person.

Having to...

There are three constants in life... change, choice and principles. 
Stephen Covey 





He was late...
 ...I was on time

It was the end of a long, rainy day. As I was about to head out of my office hurriedly a young man stepped in, forty five minutes late to his appointment. As was customary, I slung my bad over my shoulders in preparation for my long awaited freedom.
'Sorry for being late, doc, can you still see me?'

'Sorry, but I have to leave...' the words came out. Now, did I really HAVE to? Life is all about choices, and it is WE WHO DECIDE the course of action to be taken.
 'Sorry, but I HAVE TO say it, I know it hurts'
    'Sorry, but I HAVE TO move away, you can come after me'
       'Sorry, but I HAD TO sell it, I know you wanted it'

Where is it written as an universal law that we HAVE TO do something? 'Should do' and 'have to do' are two very different phrases.We don't absolutely have to do anything, and because we are ashamed of our (sometimes selfish) actions we add an empty 'SORRY' that pleases just our ears, but in reality does nothing else.

So I caught myself in that lie. 'To be honest with you I want to leave, but this time I won't.'
Half an hour later I was hearing the story of this young man, who was late and had made me mad at him for such 'sin'. But he wasn't simply late, his tardiness, my perceived 'insult' because he was at home thinking after a failed attempt to end his life.
And here I was being one of these fools saying 'I HAVE to leave'.

That day, my lack of arrogance, selfishness and dishonesty brought strength to someone else, and gave life to an experience that added experience to my life.


He was late...
 ...thank God, for I was right on time.

Lesson learned: The only thing in life we HAVE TO DO is choose. Choose wisely, for it will affect the future of how we live, laugh, and love.

Nada compara...

Nada compara
Ni las caricias del viento
llevando lágrimas al olvido
Ni la canción de ruiseñor
encantando el alma del viajero
Ni la espuma de una ola
dejando su nombre en la orilla

Ni el fruto jugoso
de un árbol en tierra virgen
Ni el cuerpo perfecto
de una obra hecha en mármol
Ni el sol, ni la luna, ni estrellas comparan
Con tu mirada y tu sonrisa
al despertar en la mañana
Nada compara

-The Puppet Master (excerpt from 'Live, laugh and love: the history between the lines of my story')

Nuevo comienzo...

                                                                        "Metamorphosis embracing Duality" Byron Tik

Mi música es sólo eco
Del crujir al andar
sobre el remanente
de mi caparazón roto
Pues vencido fui
Por mi misma fuerza
Habiendo atravesado
Cual tormentoso mar
En nave esbelta
El corazón con una lanza
para derramar el preciado
Tesoro liquefacto
Lágrimas sanquinolentas
Que alimentan el jardín
Que creí se había perdido
Tiembla el suelo de mi alma
Centella el trueno de mi voz
Quemando todo lo que fue
Dando paso a la ceniza
Que lleva y libera la brisa
Para cubrir mi tierra
De donde crece entre la nada
Donde brota de repente
Lo que nadie imaginó
Florecería entre las ruinas
Y así entre huracán
Lluvia y neblina
Salgo airoso nuevamente

    -The Puppet Master