The sky is of no limit

I truly enjoy taking photos of the sky, everywhere I go. I see so many possibilities in the sky and to be able to capture such beauty is beyond me. I see peace and calmness in the sky and the colours it bring to many lives. Often we see beauty in things around us, but how many times have you look up and cherish the beauty of the sky; what it has to offer you?

These are only some of the few photos taken of the sky while I was walking in Melbourne's Brunswick area during the winter's twilight in July.

Touched by an angel

I realised I've given tribute to many of my fave authors whom are male. So today's post is to offer tribute to Maya Angelou, an extraordinary woman. She was the first black woman director in Hollywood, Angelou has written, produced, directed, and starred in productions for stage, film, and television. She wrote this beautifully composed poem titled "Touched by an angel".

We, unaccustomed to courage
exiles from delight
live coiled in shells of loneliness
until love leaves its high holy temple
and comes into our sight
to liberate us into life.

Love arrives
and in its train come ecstasies
old memories of pleasure
ancient histories of pain.
Yet if we are bold,
love strikes away the chains of fear
from our souls.

We are weaned from our timidity
In the flush of love's light
we dare be brave
And suddenly we see
that love costs all we are
and will ever be.
Yet it is only love
which sets us free.

Life should be a 'beach'

People say a picture paints a thousand words...so for this post it's all about beautiful scenes I've been so lucky to witness and capture with my humble little Lumix. These are some of the photos taken in Penang during a short break; a week before my birthday.

Happiness is an inside job

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said "Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not".

Happiness in life comes from the inside. It does us little good to sit back and wait for it to come from outside sources. This is an important lesson I'm learning everyday.

I remember reading in Richard & Kristine Carlson's book, Don't Sweat the Small Stuff in Love this very interesting piece of advice:

Many popular songs on the radio carry the message "You make me happy, I would be lost without you; you are my world". This way of thinking takes away all the responsibility to make yourself happy and gives it to someone else. That is an enormous amount of pressure to put on another person.

Staying Focused

It's been rather difficult to stay focused today, especially since I found out some unpleasant things that were said about me by some very ungrateful people yet they seem nice in front of me.
Why do I keep attracting those horrible people to my life and Why am I even being kind to those undeserving? I wonder how much can a person take before they break. I pray that God just take away all these unpleasantness from my life. All I ever ask is to be happy. I need to develop thicker skin to handle these situations....I have such a weak heart. It gets broken easily.

Anyway, I tried to focus on my reading today...to seek some sort of intervention from how I'm feeling today.

An interesting short story about staying focused on the things that you want in life.

As a little girl, I often tackled a task full of enthusiasm, only to become discouraged quickly. One bright summer day my father showed me an experiment with a magnifying glass and a newspaper. When he moved the glas over the paper from one place to another, nothing happened. But when he held it motionless in one spot for a while, focusing the sun's rays, a hole appeared.

I was fascinated, but didnt grasp the significance of the procedure. Father explained that the same principle applied in everything we do: That to make a success of our lives we must learn to concentrate all our efforts on the undertaking in hand until it is finished.

Random thoughts on the other man

It's been one of those long days which feels like it will never end. You get a feeling deep in your gut that life is nothing but a routine everyday, and there seems to be nothing to look forward to...

So to keep my spirits up, I've re-read a book on the other fave author in my life: Kahlil Gibran, Lebanese American poet, artist and writer. Most of Gibran's work deals with Christianity, especially on the topic of spiritual love.

Gibran's best-known work is The Prophet, a book that composed of twenty-six poetic essays. Since it was first published in 1923, this book has never been out of print. Having been translated into more than forty languages, it was one of the bestselling books of the twentieth century in the United States. And I'm so proud to say I owe a beautiful hardcover copy of this book which was given to me as a X'mas gift two years ago by my sister and Jackson.

Some of my fave Gibran's random yet, beautifuls words:

1) Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity.

2) Advance, and never halt, for advancing is perfection. Advance and do not fear the thorns in the path, for they draw only corrupt blood. All that spirits desire, spirits attain.

3) An eye for an eye, and the whole world would be blind.
If the other person injures you, you may forget the injury; but if you injure him you will always remember.

4) Keep me away from the wisdom which does not cry, the philosophy which does not laugh and the greatness which does not bow before children.

5) I wash my hands of those who imagine chattering to be knowledge, silence to be ignorance, and affection to be art.

6) And ever has it been known that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation.
If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. And if they don’t, they never were.

7) If you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work.

8) If you reveal your secrets to the wind, you should not blame the wind for revealing them to the trees.

9) If your heart is a volcano, how shall you expect flowers to bloom?

10) Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need.

11) Faith is a knowledge within the heart, beyond the reach of proof. Faith is an oasis in the heart which will never be reached by the caravan of thinking.

12) Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is its twin brother.

The Fire of Friendship

I read this beautiful story in my fave author - Paulo Coelho's pages. Something to ponder upon.

Once upon a time there was a poor but very brave man called Ali. He worked for Ammar, a rich old merchant.

One winter’s night Ammar said: “nobody can spend a night like this on top of the mountain without a blanket or food. But you need money, and if you can manage to do that you will receive a great reward. If you don’t, you will work for thirty days without pay”.

Ali answered: “tomorrow I shall do this test”.

But when he left the shop, he saw that a really icy wind was blowing and became scared, so he decided to ask his best friend, Aydi, if it was crazy of him to accept that bet.

After reflecting a while, Aydi answered: “I shall help you. Tomorrow, when you are at the top of the mountain, look ahead. I will be on the top of the mountain next to yours, where I will spend the whole night with a bonfire lit for you. You look at the fire and think about our friendship – that will keep you warm. You will manage, and later on I shall ask you something in return.”

Ali won the test, got the money, and went to his friend’s house: “You told me you wanted some payment.”

Aydi answered: ”Yes, but it isn’t money. Promise that if at any time a cold wind passes through my life, you will light the fire of friendship for me.”

Taking Responsibility

I'm sure that no topic has stimulated more interest or more discussion than that of taking responsibility for your life. It is the notion that despite what happens to us, we have the capacity to choose our responses - be it our attitudes, thoughts and actions in our lives.

It's a concept that suggests that on the climb up any ladder of success there is no room for just sitting back and idly hoping for luck or woefully waiting for better circumstances. A recent circumstance at work brought about this thought.

The best way to predict our future is to create them.

As such, the principle of responsibility is one of the most powerful, life enhancing, life changing principles we have at our disposal if we just learn how to master and channel it toward worthwhile purposes.

The more we accept responsibility for who we are and who we can become, the greater will be our progress and responsibility.

As George Bernard Shaw once said " people are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I do not believe in circumstances. The people who get on this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they cannot find them, make them".

My thoughts on philosophy

I've been reading abit on philosophy this week when I should be reading and grading my students research reports; not very productive on the work front but very productive in my critical development as an individual.

This is my discovery from my limited reading on this topic. Greek Stoic philosopher Epictetus (AD55-AD135) once said that "All philosophy lies in two words: sustain and abstain.

First learn the meaning of what you say, and then only speak those words. So very true for many of us; most of the time we say things we don't mean and we say things that are misinterpreted by others which most of the time causes conflict. Think before you speak, bite your tongue if need be; for you will be able to avoid confrontations.

All religions must be tolerated… for every person must get to heaven in his/her own way. Who are we to judge when we are often judged by others.

Be careful to leave your children well instructed rather than rich, for the hopes of the instructed are better than the wealth of the ignorant. We often judge someone's success by material means they have (or we have), but the character and attitude of a person should be the ultimate criteria for judging success.

If evil be spoken of you and it be true, correct yourself, if it be a lie, laugh at it.
Do not seek to bring things to pass in accordance with your wishes, but instead wish for them as they are, and you will find them.

It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.
It is not he/she who reviles or strikes you who insults you, but your opinion that these things are insulting. This is sometime I'm learning everyday and I do find it hard at times. Most often we look at the things that happen to us rather than our reaction towards it.

Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.
First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do, to make it be.

Freedom is not procured by a full enjoyment of what is desired, but by controlling the desire. Is freedom anything else than the right to live as we wish? Nothing else. Know, first, who you are, and then adorn yourself accordingly and do it with humility.

No greater thing is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes or a fig. Patience is indeed a virtue. Nothing is built overnight; not even love sadly to say; it takes lots and lots of hard work and effort. Let it first blossom, then bear the fruit that is ripen.

No man is free who is not master of himself. God has entrusted me with myself. Make the most of it. Do good, be kind, show the world the warmth of your smile, always have a kind word or two & most of all; have humility as it is the essence of life itself. For people will remember you for your humility rather than your material wealth when you die.

Just my Wednesday morning thoughts. And what are your thoughts?