Condemn nation...

"These figures emphasize how soft people's commitment to God is. Americans are willing to expend some energy in religious activities such as attending church and reading the Bible, and they are willing to throw some money in the offering basket, but when it comes time to truly establishing their priorities and making tangible commitment to knowing and loving God, most people stop short."
-George Barna

Equality is defined as the belief that all people should be treated the same.
Together with Freedom, Equality has been, since the beginning, one of the fundamental beliefs of democracy.

Why can't we let equality define our 'land of the free'?

To pay taxes, we are the same...
To be sued and judged, we are the same...
To have rights, however, ah...that's a different story.


Sadly, one of the biggest obstacles in the history of equality(in every sense of the word) has been Christianity. The light that shines on us can also blind us.
Why can't religious zealots allow same-sex couples marry if they choose to? How does it affect them? Guess it's hard to see others happy when you're having an unhappy life...

Religious fanatics are people who want to feel they have ultimate control of 'something'. They look for followers and thrive the most amongst a crowd of ignorant beings. That is how they feel valued. It's how their mindset(which they are quick to attribute to 'God') can be appreciated.

Funny thing, that the God of Hate they preach is the God of Love in their sacred books. The Judging Tyrant of a God they believe in is The Forgiving Martyr that their Holy Bible describes.
While religious zealots turn their backs on gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people the Lord they follow opened his arms to all, even dining with thieves, prostitutes and all 'scum'. He even told his followers: he who is free of all sin, cast the first stone; and Jesus himself didn't cast a stone because he chose to love.

Christ tells his followers to be like Him, to imitate his behavior. Christians, however, choose to ignore their master. Their Bible expressly condemns such behavior...but surely they don't see this, because it's as inconvenient to see as their own hatred and their playing judges of the World(when their own God forbids it).
In their fanaticism they forget about their own God's way, as they pave their own convenient interpretation of His way.

One day, any Christian can say their Bible reads, there will be surprises in Heaven. maybe we'll all be surprised these Christians aren't there.

Lesson learned: Christianity is not the problem. The problem is Christians. Such similar words, yet so different from one another.

School zone...

'You live you learn...'
-Alanis Morissette

Take a single moment to think: If your life's learning process could be compared to the growth of a tree, what type of tree would you compare it to?

Will it be a palm tree resisting the worst of hurricanes?
A strong oak?
A small bonsai tree shying away from others?
Or even a mighty redwood?



If you chose a tree you limited the amount of learning you can acquire, even with the largest one of them all. There's a learning experience for each one of us in every small event we live through.
Sometimes we're just too busy to see them, or we may choose to become stagnant.
But even animals avoid stagnant water...

We, and only we, limit ourselves.

Just think of at least one or two things you've learned today.

You may have learned a new skill...
May have learned something after reading this blog...
Or maybe you have learned to ignore it...
All in all you have learned, and that's what matters.

Lesson learned: Only death will ever satiate my hunger for learning.

Wicked ways...

Because I knew you, I have been changed...
-Wicked

The last five days I have lived through what I deem perhaps some of the most stressful moments in my entire life.
I have walked deserts of anger, rivers of tears, cliffs of hurt, plains of forgiveness, valleys of love, torrentials of worry and ultimately sailed through oceans of terror. But having survived through a hurricane of feelings in a world of uncertainty I've come to finalyl feel the joy of victory.

As hard as it was to chain the werewolf I had become and hold back from letting that fierce beast loose to ravage my life I was able to. Despite the scars that will now mark my soul I am happy, for I did it, I was able to.

Today I have to thank all those who have knowingly(or unknowingly) sought to do me harm in the past, for even if their names and actions are not worthy of credit or mention those have helped me grow.
With all certainty I can say I am a better man today than yesterday. Today I smile a brighter smile.

There's no worth in hurting others or be indifferent because of what someone has done to us in the past. Those feelings shoud die with the past.

And I quote the wise words of Elphaba and Glinda: Because I knew you I have been changed for good.

Lesson learned: We are all bigger than our pasts...if we want to be.

Comfort zone...

"It is not necessary to change.  Survival is not mandatory."  ~W. Edwards Deming 

How much do we have to adapt to be happy?
After some consideration I came to realize that was not the right question.
I had to ask myself: How much am I willing to adapt in order to not long for happiness, but let happiness into my life?

The formation of our 'being' starts since our early childhood. These experiences give us strength, help us choose and form our fears. One of the greatest wonders of life is that we can choose how to manifest the marks left by these.
We animate all this data and manipulate it so that the character each one of us is can come to life.
Some believe these data have been collected, organized and 'it is what it is, and nothing more'.
As with the dinosaurs, one meteor will cause a catastrophe and leave their known worlds devoid of any chance to make it.


A tree grows with might, deep roots keeping it firmly in place. Time passes and roads are built and the tree it is cut down without pity, for its greatness and strength has become just an obstacle to progress.

An unyielding conch keeps many predators at bay with calcified spikes. It seems eternal. One day it is abandoned, for that same conch can't accommodate the growth of its inhabitant.  
In order to grow and evolve, we must be able to move away from that comfort zone that, many times, has become more than a stone tower where we are protected. Sometimes we can't see that the same has become our prison from which we can look out to observe the beauty around, the same beauty we will never be a part of.

Lesson learned: If we don't ever have to venture out of our protective conch, we're either not growing, or we're dying inside.

Freedom's shackles...

'Without freedom from the past, there is no freedom at all, because the mind is never new, fresh, innocent.'
-Krishnamurti


Doesn't it feel ggood when a burden is lifted off of our shoulders? Isn't it great when a small, hidden detail that can(in our minds) 'doom' us is erased or forgiven?
Many times this burden's weight is a product of our own actions. In these cases we, and only we, can free ourselves.

Last night I had a dream of being in a stage, a colisseum with thousands of people waiting expectantly for my words: 'What, in your lives, if brought to light, would affect your happiness and steal your goals from within our reach?'
No one clapped.
Morning came, and I woke up knowing to truly be happy I had to get rid of some of those little mines in the field I would be walking. Otherwise they'd blow my foundation to pieces one day.

So I chose to free myself. What an exhilarating feeling!

Open your mind...
clean your heart...
Free yourself...
...and experience life's blessings fully.

Lesson learned: There is no use in struggling to make ourselves free from the shackles when we hold the keys in our very own hands.

Child's play...

'You must dare to disassociate yourself from those who would delay your journey... Leave, depart, if not physically, then mentally. Go your own way, quietly, undramatically, and venture toward trueness at last.'
-Vernon Howard

'You are'
'No, you are'
'YOU are!'
'YOU!!!'
Tears roll, arms flail...kicking, screaming, and everyone looks around for their mommy and daddy in this seemingly beloved kindergarden world of drama. It's the world they live in, the World they know, the world it's so scary to move away from.
Now why do people revel in so much drama? If you study these lives you'll see, without much effort, these people's lives are otherwise bland. They lack talent, the brains, wits, or charisma. What option do some people have other than reccur to a childhood defense mechanism, that of accusations, to feel back in the comfort of daddy's arms.
The more we decide to look at this as comfort the more we'll continue to grow backwards while our hearts age prematurely until we stunt our growth with the poking of our very own eyes.
Instead of blaming someone, open your eyes to see what you're contributing to this pathetic performance sometimes worthy of an Oscar. STOP doing it. Swat it like a fly, get it out of the way, and move on.

By seeing your part in the problem and quitting this possibly 'award winning movie role' we'll be able to grow up while our hearts and souls stay young.

Lesson learned: If drama is the way to be in the spotlight I'd rather stay behind the curtains.

Wrong date...

'There is a time for everything...'
-Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

What happens to a cake that's prematurely removed from the oven...to a letter sent before it's finished...to a baby that's born before its time?

The same thing happens to relationships solidified over a foundation of fleeting passion which, like mud, swallows and stains it all in the blink of an eye.

Time can often be seen as an enemy, but it is not. Time is actually our biggest ally, as it lets things come to fruition. From romance to forgetfulness, from forgiveness to healing, they are all gifts adequate time in waiting gives us.

Are we talking? Dating? Together? Separate? Enemies? What the hell are we?
What does it matter? It's only a word, a fleeting word...what matters is the feeling behind it.

Patience is a virtue that brings happiness, peace, and love. It fuels desire and strengthens it.
Patience gives a blacksmith the time to create the most solid of armors and the strongest of weapons.

Lesson learned: Never again will I force a castle's door open, lest I forget how beautiful the entrance can be.

Wine's taste...

Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. ~Samuel Ullman

One more year passes by and we look at our own reflection, searching for a gray hair, a fine line, a couple extra pounds, a wrinkle or any other small imperfection. The crude reality is we are aging...
Funny thing is we strive to 'look' younger, to satiate society's perception of vigor.

Vigor is defined as physical or mental strength, energy or force. It is also the capacity for natural growth and survival. Many times we strive to attain more vigor through shakes, exercises, make-up and classes.
Botox, a hair dye, muscles or breast implants will not renew your spirit. They may temporarily help you feel better, nothing wrong with that, but you have to freshen up your essence to truly gain strength. Vigor is within our grasp every day, you just need to reach inside of you for that which will keep you going against all odds.


What have we done in the last 365 days? How do we feel about that which we have done or accomplished? What went wrong? What can we feel happy about? How can we move towards a higher state of being where any physical improvements can be aids instead of solutions?

Live the life like a bottle of red wine.
Live gracefully, and guide the process by which you will become a better 'self'.

Let the World enjoy the best you have to offer.

Lesson learned: I will worry less and enjoy each moment more.

Fast calm...

'Everything you do can be done better from a place of relaxation'
-Stephen C Paul

What ever lies inside the minds of those who protest in a line at the supermarket, bank, or waiting in a traffic jam? How about in those of people who, as soon as a light turns green, honk the horn several times?

What is their desperation? What's so important that they sacrifice their inner peace time and time again to really achieve nothing. They don't seem to be content with their discontent, but they also disturb others with their behavior.

Patience is a virtue. It is defined as 'the state of endurance under difficult circumstances, persevering in the face of delay or provocation without being annoyed'.
In Spanish the word is composed of Paz-ciencia (the science of peace).
Just as a science, inner peace and calm should be studied, understood, cultivated, promoted and practiced.

If you find yourself in a hurry stop for a moment. Stope reflecting that aura of unhappiness to those around. Even better, look at the face of someone else in a similar circumstance and just smile.
Don't take a part in promoting this behavior.

Instead of quickly getting disturbed, quickly reach that state of calmness.

Like a sensei, teach others this powerful lesson.

Lesson learned: When life's light turns green don't rush in. Just relax, take your time, and enjoy the ride peacefully.

Obstacle course...

What one decides to do in crisis depends on one's philosophy of life, and that philosophy cannot be changed by an incident. If one hasn't any philosophy in crises, others make the decision.
- Jeannette Rankin


And yet we face another wall one more time. We have fought so hard to achieve one goal and after so many struggles we see the road closed.
A road closed does not mean there is no way. It just represents a temporary hardship, a delay in our plans.

How do you face a seemingly insurmountable problem?

What is your mindset?

Abortionists: A plan that doesn’t work must be abandoned; they change their mind, choose another way and go somewhere else. In the abortionist mindset this is not cowardice, there’s so much to do it’s not even worth spending energy in an obstacle.

Martyrs: They see every obstacle as a personal affront. Martyrs believe obstacles are there to defeat the martyr. But he will survive, with pain(real or imagined) and let everyone know of his struggle.

Victims: Obstacles were created specifically and only for them, like everything else in the world. Victims will surrender, give up, lie down and cry in waiting for someone to rescue them from the ‘claws of the evil obstacle’.

Survivors: Out of fear of what ‘could’ happen, survivors stand in front of the obstacle. They see in the obstacle what they themselves lack. ‘If you can’t defeat it, join it’ is their mentality. In the end they kneel before the obstacle and worship it, they join its forces and become ‘one’ with the obstacle.

Frat boys: In their mind, the main reason why an obstacle can’t be overcome is because you faced it alone. The frat boys bring along people, sometimes a lot of people. With a combined effort any obstacle can be overcome…and a celebration must follow, of course.

Juggernauts: No obstacle is too big or too strong. Nothing is stronger than a Juggernaut’s strength of will. They will back away and, without fear, they will run towards the obstacle to destroy it.

Knights: The knight may not be able to overcome the obstacle, but he is honor bound to stand his ground and not let himself be overcome by the obstacle either. Even if he stays on a standstill he will wait. One day the obstacle will fall, and the knight will still be standing.

Monks: These ascetics believe there is a reason why there is an obstacle. An obstacle is a part of everything. It should be studied, understood, accepted, and ultimately taught to others.

Preachers: Prechers believe they shouldn't be facing any obstacles. Obstacles are for others. They are very willing to mention it at every opportunity, just as eager as they are to help, guide and even order others to overcome the obstacles they would never face themselves.

Strategists: Sometimes one must back away from the hardship, these believe, only to see it from a distance and contemplate. They then plan, search a way, and they use all their efforts to confront the problem differently. Each obstacle is seen as a challenge, as an opportunity to test their wit.


Who are you? How do you face a problem?
Do you face problems, or do you let problems face you?

Life is full of difficulties. Life is not without struggles. When you are struggling to stay afloat you can think one of two things…I can give up and die, or I can fight on and live…


Lesson learned: A roadblock at the end of our road is not the end of the road.