This thing called: LIFE!

When you slowly rise from the deep mists of sleep and slowly become aware of yourself and your environment - your thoughts are slowly pulled through the fine filters of coherence as you become aware of yourself - it is almost like a computer coming online.

In the mist of this boot up sequence you might be unfortunate to load those pesky files we refer to as the baggage of yesterday. You know what I'm referring to of course: those problems or challenges in your life that seem to stick to you like a leech on skin - they are obvious and painful and often unwanted (except of course you fall into that peculiar category that love "leeches")

Often times the greater challenge for us is the WILL to face the day and give it the "rude finger" - this is of course not to say that our problems magically disappear after this so brief moment but rather that we generate the attitude required to stay ahead of our problems and situation.

I love to read quotes of people who have defined their fates and destinies and have a few words to say on the subject - each has demonstrated a personal philosophy that seems to summarize the "ATTITUDE" required to hold life by the short and curlies regardless of how it seems to look to you right now.

By way of introduction, i give to you a few wise words from: Maya Angelou (pronounced /ˈmaɪ.ə ˈændʒəloʊ/;^[1] born Marguerite Ann Johnson on April 4, 1928)^[2] is an American autobiographer and poet. (quote from: Wikipedia)

(Once again these quotes are not mine and i make no claim to them except as a means to buttress my point of view)

Find below a few of her quotes - find in them something that resonates within you and maybe this will set you towards that which we all seek - freedom to be as we are destined to...

• We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.
• I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.
• There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.
• There is a very fine line between loving life and being greedy for it.
• The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.
• Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.
• I want all my senses engaged. Let me absorb the world's variety and uniqueness.
• If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude.
• Courage is fear that has said its prayers.
• Talent is like electricity. We don't understand electricity. We use it.
• One isn't necessarily born with courage, but one is born with potential. Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency. We can't be kind, true, merciful, generous, or honest.
• I know why the caged bird sings.
• "I've learned people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel".
• History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, however, if faced with courage, need not be lived again.
• When you learn, teach. When you get, give.
• The need for change bulldozed a road down the center of my mind.
• Life loves to be taken by the lapel and told, 'I'm with you kid. Let's go.'

The crime is not when we stumble and fall for without stumbling/falling where would we be on the ladder of life's experiences - the crime is rather when we stumble/fall and chose to stay down in defeat - take as much time as you need while on the ground but when you get up - PLEASE GET UP!

when you are not "YOU"

Funny title but one that rings true in alot of our lives.
When do we cease to really be ourselves?

Is it when the expectations made on us by circumstances and situations cause us to live outside our comfort zone - how do we even know "WHO we are"?

How can we tell what we really represent - what we really desire?
When is the you who you are currently not the real you?

Why do we wear so many faces? What are we really here for?
What do we really want in our quest to live life to the fullest?

In this regard I will introduce you to an note sent to me by a colleague (for the fear of legal action: I AM NOT the author of the attached piece and make no such claim) - the words of wisdom spoken in true context - to be taken in the dose required.

Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio.
"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me.
It is the most-requested column I've ever written.

My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first pay check.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will this matter?'
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

I hope this means something to you - particularly as we live through this journey we call life.

and then there was silence....

for so long... these pages have stood as a testament to my wandering thoughts.
They mark the ramblings that pursue me or that make an entry into my thoughts like a familiar stranger.

I am occasionally lost as i wonder on what to write about. My past? My present? The future?
All questions that await an answer.
I miss the ability to quickly throw my words down and watch their impact.

The joy of expression is with the attendant reactions but after penning so many words a few thoughts have been formed as some sort of conclusion - temporary at this stage...

people connect mostly to stories that resound with their lives, emotions or memories.
We are shaped by what we read and our thoughts on those words. We are a sum total of our experiences as these provide the blue print that most of our decisions are based on...

what would happen to me and you without words? Would we wilt and die or simply find that one of the many facets that define us has been terminated.

What would the ensuring silence mean? Would i be less of me?

Each word; spoken or written is a nugget of power a means to entrench your ideas in someone's mind.

A means to propagate your visions and ideals - thus silence would be seen as "death"