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Archive for the ‘Spirituality’ Category

Many people go through life pursuing happiness, some get involved in politics and go to great lengths in achieving change in many areas of how their country or community stands to their citizens, others choose to enjoy the most out of life by living a lifestyle of self enjoyment, sex and instant gratification,  while others turn to religion and its more extreme faces of fanatism and fundamentalism.

nevertheless the vast majority of the above examples turn out to be the best exponents of unhappiness; how then can human beings be happy? how can we enjoy life without hurting ourselves, the ones around us, those we love? there are things you can do to obtain true happiness.

Being optimistic, never thinking that the future is dark and hopeless, even though you might be walking barefoot through rough terrains there’s always better times at the turn of the road, avoid reading or watching too much negative news, do not talk too much with people that are very negative or pessimistic, everything passes in life, nothing is eternal, eventually you will get out of that hole you are in, a brighter future awaits you, keep that on your mind and truly believe it, if you do so, you will find yourself less frustrated and less depressed.

Take notice, yes, literally write down every good thing that happens to you every week, even those small details; people who realize their blessings are definitely happier, perhaps great things will not happen to you every week there’s however always positive aspects of every situation, remember things can go wrong, but they could have gone even worse and they didn’t, it doesn’t matter if you fall, what’s important is to stand up and keep walking.

Search for and be aware of what your advantages as an individual are, then use them in new ways, for example, perhaps you know you are good joker, why not start with the practice of cracking a few jokes everyday at work? your co-workers will laugh and feel a connection with you because you made their day’s work easier, and you yourself will find out the day went by sooner, you will feel great when you make others laugh, you know you are good at something, we are all good at things others are not, take it from there and shine among others, try new ways to use your own inner resources.

Be grateful to others, yes you might think everyday that someone is very nice to you, and be very appreciative of what they have done in your life, but have you ever told them? do they know you hold such a great level of appreciation for their good did? telling others how much you value their good works to you will give you a sense of inner fulfilling and will increase your internal peace. 

Have fun, take a walk in the park, see children playing, go to the beach at sunset, watch with attention how the waves break against the sand or against your feet, practice a new dance, learn a new language, play a game, buy a camera and take pictures of things you like during your boring day, as the hours progress you would have turned it into a not so boring day after all, how about reading a holy book? bring spirituality into your life.

Get involved in acts of kindness, it turns out that helping others also helps ourselves, donating time and money to charities or people in need, assist others with whatever it is you can do for them, doing this and the above examples continuously will bring improvements in your own happiness, stop waiting for happiness to arrive, like a car waiting for the road to move, go and bring it into your life, a lasting increase in happiness depends on you and how you relate to and appreciate others, that’s the secret to a happy life that’s hidden in plain site, now you know it.

Would you like to live for ever? One of the hardest things to accept for those who don’t trust God or the Bible is the idea of eternal life, they say that it is impossible for the human body to live eternally, that we are not designed like that, however often times when presented with that reasoning the ones who do believe in creation realize the fact that even our cells constantly rejuvenate in our body, what scientists cannot comprehend or explain though is why at some point in our lives that process of constant cell rejuvenation suddenly stops leading us to our irreversible and eventual death.

Recently another discovery has proven that for a small sea creature the jellyfish that possibility is a reality; The jellyfish known as the Turritopsis Nutricula has the remarkable ability of ‘growing young’ after it mates…And it is able, at least theoretically, to mate  and then revert to its juvenile state an unlimited number of times, as a matter of fact scientists are actively studying this tiny creature to determine how exactly it goes around this.

They have come to the conclusion that the Jellyfish does this through a process called “transdifferentiation” in other words, when older cells are replaced with new ones, scientists believe this creature only dies when it is eaten or killed in the tropical waters off Florida where it is native.

So there you have it, God gave the Jellyfish eternal life, maybe we did also had it at some point but lost it, just as the bible says? you decide.

I’m not political, however not being into politics does not stop me from appreciating poetry wherever it might be, today was a historic day for America and the world and as I watched in amazement like everyone else how the first black president of the United States officially took office, some special moment occurred as poet Elizabeth Alexander recited a beautiful poem which in my opinion portraits what America is today, I loved the poem and I hope that you will too, so if you missed the moment here it is:

This year has been remarkable in many ways, so many things have happened in the world, and so many things happened to me,  I found some good friends, and lost some friends, I found love and then lost it, for the first time I wrote some poetry which later on I disliked, my bank failed, but I didn’t loose my money, the US got a black president despite the saying that racism would never allow such a thing to happen on this nation, I started exercising and happily lost some pounds, I read some good books but didn’t get to finish another good one, I received some good news from mother land, but the news made me uncomfortable, Why is it that some good things happen sometimes at the wrong time? 

Life is like a year with its seasons, you go through changes and states of mind, this year I started to  see the world as an old man, and it scared me, I learned that I’m getting experience in life, and I learned that life is really short, I found some Bible truth and it hurt me, I was lied to but I found out, Even though this is something I always knew, I finally realized that the color of the sky can change, that its blue is just an illusion, I learned what it meant to look at the world with different lens,  I’m now making sure ignorance never bites me again, I have learnt that there’s always an angle of the truth which they not always want you to see, just like the hidden side of the moon, there is always this bit of the tell you must explore and find out yourself, and sometimes that bit can change the whole story.

Should we hide and conceal error just for the sake of protecting ideals and teachings we’ve followed through the course of time? Sometimes custom can be a very powerful force, specially if breaking away from it can bring hate, lack of tolerance and ridicule from those you love and who have been with you for years, if you decide to be brave though, know this: Discovering, uncovering and releasing truth into the world has a hefty price.

Aside from that it can prove especially hard at times to advice others against eating sweet when all you’ve been known to eat till this day is candy, but we all have the right to have been mistaken and recover from error, it’s in human nature to change one’s mind, then regardless of how hard this could be, the reward and reachable value of uncovering the truth is fulfilling like nothing else, never then miss the opportunity to show others what really can make a difference, never let someone in the dark just for the sake of protecting their skin, if anything know that armed with the truth, there will be no sun capable of damaging it.

Take for example children, we all love our children, taking away their favorite toy can become quite challenging for any parent, knowing that the toy is made of harmful materials however is enough motivation to avoid and stop the danger, you will go great lengths to prevent your kid from getting sick, even if in the way of attaining it you cause him/her to cry, years later your son or daughter will thank you and appreciate what you did for them, that’s the fruit you will rip from a good did, from doing “the right thing”.

It is no easy task to break free from a pattern which has been hardwired deep within your mind, despite that fact, hard is no synonym of impossible and the greatest barriers can be overcome if there’s something behind them motivating enough to jump and reach far for that goal that will bring joy to your life, that which will make a real difference if the quality of someone’s existence.

Go then and bring whoever you can out from the ignorance in which they have been raised, free them from the lie which blinds them from the truth, illuminate their path with those pearls which really matter; the road to the real knowledge of knowing that they are free from tradition and bundle, never be afraid to teach or show the way to true thinking independence, it will be so rewarding for you, don’t dream it anymore, just do it, it will hurt, you might cry on your endeavor, some will hate you, even avoid you, but that’s life for real men, don’t fear it, at that point you will know it, you’ll sense it, you will be on your way of becoming someone’s hero.

This has been an important, and what many would call historic week, for all of us Jehovah’s Witnesses. The Watchtower society has enlighten us with new light regarding the understanding of the 1914 generation, We also learned from the Discrete and Faithful Slave that one of our oldest weekly meetings (The Book Study) is being eliminated.  Even though these events might pass by unnoticed by many, they are in fact major developments for others who like me have been in truth for a while now, May Jehovah guide us through these changing times, may he also lead us in the right direction from this point forward through our holy faith and toward this our Pursuit of Truth. (Watchtower’s Feb 15 2008 Personal Study Magazine)

 27 “My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 And I give them everlasting life, and they will by no means ever be destroyed, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 What my Father has given me is something greater than all other things, and no one can snatch them out of the hand of the Father. ” Jn 10, 27-30. Those are probably the most important words ever stated, and directed to people of all nations of the earth, they were pronounced by the good shepherd, the ever loving Christ Jesus.

1,975 years ago Jesus Christ finally accomplished the mission his father had commended him to do; that is to lead mankind to its salvation, Jesus was the Logos, the word of God – his God.

No love have ever been greater than that, why? because he proved it by means of offering his own life in exchange for the sins of all men, his poured blood cleaned us in the eyes of God, our transgressions against the almighty, and our wrong doing against our own brothers are all but forgotten because of it, if it wasn’t for Jesus we wouldn’t be worthy of eternal life.  Let us rejoice in peace because of him, Let us scream aloud that he is our hope, let’s be happy for he can resurrect the dead, and because he himself lives for ever!

I invite you to remember the greatest man who ever lived on the anniversary of his death. This year the anniversary of Jesus death happens on Saturday the 22nd of March after sunset. I invite you to visit a location near you where this remembrance will be held, visiting will help you learn why the person of Jesus as well as what he did when he was on earth is so important for us today. at this meeting you will learn answers to many questions related to Jesus, the following questions will be answered: Who was really Jesus? Is there a relation between his death and our possibility to live eternally? If you want to be part of this remembrance let me know by contacting me.

The vision that you glorify in your mind, the idea that you enthrone in your heart this you will build your life by, and this you will become. That’s one of my favorite phrases of all time, James Allen was so right with that one.  Most people will tell you they are happy with their lives, in fact people go to great lengths to hide failures and physical or intellectual disabilities they might have, Yes I said intellectual disabilities, even though this article does not relate to mental disabilities, that’s a whole different sort of thing, I don’t intend to write about people who are mentally disabled or ill, instead the story here is about people with very poor human relations skills.

An Intellectual inability is that which obstructs an individual from taking or exercising good judgment or actions when behaving in public, or within the community in general due to the fact of such individual not having points of reference or in deep knowledge about specific topics or situations, therefore doing things that adversely effect their environment and those within it.

For instance; someone with little knowledge about a task at work might give a co-worker who just started in the job wrong advice regarding an assignment when unexpectedly asked about it, this person did not give the erroneous instructions with malice, he or she was not wrong intentioned, they however got out of their way and gave advice about something they had slight insight just for the sake of looking good among peers, he or she will not allow others to be under the impression that their old time co-worker knows as little much as an entry level associate themselves and will resort to unfounded baseless tutoring thus causing trouble to the company and the new co-worker himself.

The greatest and most constant feature that differentiates humans from animals is our ability to be self aware, to know we are here and that we have a purpose. Still many cannot find this purpose and strive their whole lives trying different paths to that end; more or less we are all aware of the place we have in society. We all take notice of things such as what a friend was able to accomplish and that we would so much love to attain too. We as humans are clear on what the society establishes in front our eyes as being right or wrong, we fight our whole life following a path that will look good in our eyes and at the same time allows us to have an average civil standing that will fit right among others.

That’s when in my opinion intellectual disabilities as I like to call them play a negative role within the society in general, people trying to fill that gap to fit the standard thinking which that same society imposes often do things that will hurt others or themselves.

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 “LOVE THE WILD SWAN“

by Luis Rogelio Nogueras
Translation by Ely

Do not try to settle your hands on its innocent
neck (even the softest caress would seem to her
like the brutal handling of the executioner).
do not try to whisper your love or your sorrow to her
(your voice would scare her as the thunder in the middle of the night).
Do not touch the water of the lagoon do not breathe
To be yours it would have to die.

Be content with its wild distance
with her foreign beauty
(if it turns the head hide between the grass).
Do not break the charm of this summer evening.
Swallow your impossible love.
Love it like it is, free.
Love the way in which it ignores that you exist.
Love the wild swan.

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Would it be the opposite of lie?  perhaps it means just what we see, but then it  would be different from person to person, then maybe truth is what we perceive as being the truth? maybe there’s more than one truth. would truth be absolute? or is truth relative to the space and time it is on?

Depending on their believes and cultural environments people will have different points of view about specific topics, usually those believes and social-cultural backgrounds will be founded on serious ideologies and centuries old studies of  either sacred books, history or scientific evidence.

The fact of truth being relative then bring us to the conclusion that right and wrong concepts become blurry and obscure, still if that’s a fact then only inconclusive or maybe even wrong answers exist for the meaning of life. so is there any complete and real truth in this uncertain world we live in? That’s a  simple question, however an answer to it is far from simple.

To find out if a truth really exists we would need to have two concepts in mind: “Time” and “Actuality”  now what does Time mean here? to authenticate something as real you would need to see exactly “When” something happened,”How” it happened and “Who” witnessed it.

The second aspect to have into consideration when about to take something as real is “Actuality”. facts, rather than things that people believe or imagine, the state of the given event being real or really existing.

But how does perception effect truth?  in order for truth to be properly defined , it would need to be factually and logically stated. in other words, it would need to be real. There can never be two sets of truths, when one does not come into agreement with the other. Only one can be true, not both. perhaps by digging deeper into a statement or report you could conclude what is not true, truth is not error and is not contradictory. truth cannot be deceptive.

If truth really exists then we should be able to find it, and if it cannot be known then it probably doesn’t exist, but it does exist, for example you know that is true that you are reading this, you know is true that you can see, those are two undeniable truths. it is also truth that your computer display came into existence by means of a creator, the monitor could not have created itself because if something doesn’t exist then it cannot execute an action, ie: creating itself. those are logical and factual truths, they are all absolute truths.

At this point we have concluded by undeniable logic that truth exists, but can truth really exist as factual all the time? does truth change over time? If we are hoping to ever discover an eternal and absolute truth which is beyond our cultural, religious and personal preferences, we must understand that we are looking for a truth greater than ourselves, something that goes above and beyond our native environment, something above our cultural and individual inclinations.

Imagine centuries ago you and me are seating somewhere debating and talking about the universe, I say: “wow how interesting the earth is flat and is seating on these elephants!”  and you look at me and say: ” Well wait a minute, did you know there’s a different concept out there ? some believe the earth is actually round, that it is hanging on nothingness! your statement would had been really hard for me to grasp or even believed as truth, however some centuries later here we are, now we know for sure that the earth is not flat but round and that it indeed hangs in space by nothing but gravity as it circles around the sun.

However did this new understanding of truth change the fact that the earth was round and hanging onto nothing in space centuries earlier? No. truth was always there, it was real, it did not change, it was just our understanding of truth that changed.

So because on this undeniable truth based on logical facts we must conclude that truth indeed exists and that is out there, ready to be found, it is up to us how we look for this truth, what journey we take to find it, how we let our minds to be molded by our cultural, geographical, religious and or scientific studies.

Only with the limitations of the human scientific and spiritual knowledge of our space and time in mind we should be able to truly define what truth is.