why beautiful messages sometimes don't sink

yes...isn't this picture amazing? beautiful? ...imagine the water in his hands slowly pouring, like magic eh? that's how it first looked to me when i saw it in an email (sent by my favorite aunt)...the booo-side is, it's followed by this:

QUICK PRAYER
Please do not break.  Just 27  words - "God, our Father, walk through my house and take away all my worries and illnesses and please watch over and heal my  family in Jesus name, Amen."

now what happens when you get a beautiful prayer (in an email) but they make it look like a chain message and to make things somewhat a turn-off is adding this up: 

This prayer is so powerful.  Pass this to 12 people including me.  A blessing is coming to you in form of a new job, a house, marriage, finances, or maybe an answer to something  (a prayer, a request) that you have been waiting for.  Do not break or ask questions.  Does God come first in your life? If so, stop what you are doing & send it to 12 people now.  Watch what He does!


i'm sure you'd agree with me that a prayer like that is powerful in itself and it would certainly work with the sincerest of heart and intentions... not because you have chosen to pass it to a specific number of people and semi-force them to do so (read last 3 lines in the quote above). i mean, no offense meant to those who send me messages such as this; curious and ever-wanting-to-learn as i am, i open almost everything and share if it's worth sharing. oftentimes, i opt to remove the 'chain-directions' that follows it 'coz i know it will sink better that way. am i right or not wrong? LOL. a blessed easter to you all!

lessons from japan

1. THE CALM - 

Not a single visual of chest-beating or wild grief. 

Sorrow itself has been elevated.

2. THE DIGNITY - 

Disciplined queues for water and groceries. 

Not a rough word or a crude gesture.

3. THE ABILITY - 

The incredible architects, for instance. 

Buildings swayed but didn't fall.

4. THE GRACE - 

People bought only what they needed for the present, 

so everybody could get something.

5. THE ORDER - 

No looting in shops. 

No honking and no overtaking on the roads. 

Just understanding.

6. THE SACRIFICE - 

Fifty workers stayed back to pump sea water in the N-reactors. 

How will they ever be repaid?

7. THE TENDERNESS - 

Restaurants cut prices. 

An unguarded ATM is left alone. 

The strong cared for the weak.

8. THE TRAINING - 

The old and the children, 

everyone knew exactly what to do. 

And they did just that.

9. THE MEDIA - 

They showed magnificent restraint in the bulletins. 

No silly reporters. Only calm reportage.

10. THE CONSCIENCE - 

When the power went off in a store, 

people put things back on the shelves and left quietly.
Now that is a good example of an evolved nation.

***this piece was taken from a group email, 

just thought this is really worth sharing***

my life according to tracy chapman

as inspired by www.gandaeversomuch.com


here's how this works: using only song names from ONE ARTIST or GROUP, cleverly answer these questions. pass it on to people you like and include me (presuming i'm someone you like of course :) ). you can’t use the band or artist i chose. try not to repeat a song title. yeah, it’s a lot harder than you think! re-post as “My life according to (band or artist name)”…


Artist:
Tracy Chapman

Are you a male or female:
Across the Lines
Describe yourself:
The Only One
How do you feel:
Broken
Describe where you currently live:
Behind the Wall
If you could go anywhere, where would you go?
Baby Can I Hold You
Your favorite form of transportation?
Fast Car
Your best friend?
The First Person On Earth
Favorite time of the day:
In The Dark
You and your best friend are…
Less Than Strangers
What’s the weather like?
It's Ok
If your life was a TV show what would it be called?
She's Got Her Ticket
What is life to you?
Talkin' 'bout a Revolution
Your Relationship:
Mountains o' Things
Your fear:
The Rape Of The World
What is the best advice you have to give?
Remember The Tinman
Thought for the Day:
All That You Have Is Your Soul

Your motto:
Heaven`s Here On Earth



my my my, this is cool! (rock) mabuhay tracy chapman!

HOW TO STAY YOUNG ---------- [wisdom from spam :)]

i usually get spam emails. sometimes, i bother read them...and each time i do, i find one more reason to 'not regret' having read them at all...and oh, today is my younger sister's birthday. it's been 23 years since anna marion died of leukemia. i still miss her. i guess, the only thing i could do for her memory is TO LIVE' and try stay young...

here's how, says the spam mail :

1. Throw out nonessential numbers.
This includes age, weight and height.
Let the doctors worry about them.
That is why you pay 'them' .

2. Keep only cheerful friends.

The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning.
Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever.
Never let the brain idle. 'An idle mind is the devil's workshop.'
And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud.
Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen.

Endure, grieve, and move on.

The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves.

Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love,
whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music,
plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health:

If it is good, preserve it.

If it is unstable, improve it.

If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips.
Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county;
to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them,

at every opportunity.

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER :


Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take,
but by the moments that take our breath away.

portrait...

tell me not of your dreams and fantasies of how you could change the world for a lovesong; of how you could do better with schemes and sketches of the future for a lovepoem...tell me not of these dear for i have loved you even before i have heard your voice, even before i have known your name, even before i have loved your life...and i love you still.

worry not if sometimes you envision me shed tears not hearing your voice, not seeing your shadows, not feeling you breathe...for those tears are just tears of longing, ready to be blown away by the wind that carries your whisper of sweet love. worry not if you could only smile and think of me as i shower you with words and thoughts and love…for those are just puzzle pieces of the portrait of how i felt…of how i feel for you. true love.i will ask you not of things and expect not of any circumstance...for i (decided to) love - i loved wholly...no ifs...no buts...and i love you still.

one day when this world would make a part of me think of the other side...or a part of me realize that you are not the one, then (i would offer) no regrets. although this is the farthest of possibilities, if it may be so, so be it. it shall be. to THE ONE i would say: i have learned to do your will...i have followed the path you lead and when i learned, i learned deeply and when i followed, i followed completely...and yes, i have learned what you taught best- you have taught me to love. i learned, i followed...i loved. wholly.

just do it...or dont. tis always up to you

i have written a lot in my almost torn notebook by now. i have torn the pages. that may not be the first time that i have torn my writings but i am hoping that that was my last. it happened after the storm last week, some unimportant storm... but i allowed it to get to me for reasons i still can't tell. of all people, it is i that has to be reminded that this world is a jungle and that nothing and no one can ever make me feel bad or mad or even sad without my consent. i am moving on.

no time to waste, i say to myself. no time to waste... 'coz it isn't the thing i did in the past that matters or how it made me feel--- it's the thing i have left undone, and the fact that every morning i wake is a chance to do it. here, have a taste of what i think is one of the best lessons we all have to to learn:

The Sin Of Omission

by Margaret Sangster

It isn't the thing you do, dear;

It's the thing you leave undone,

Which gives you a bit of heartache

At the setting of the sun.

The tender word forgotten,

The letter you did not write,

The flower you might have sent, dear,

Are your haunting ghosts to-night.

The stone you might have lifted

Out of brother's way,

The bit of heartsome counsel

You were hurried too much to say;

The loving touch of the hand, dear,

The gentle and winsome tone,

That you had no time nor thought for,

With troubles enough of your own.

The little acts of kindness,

So easily out of mind;

Those chances to be angels

Which every one may find

They come in night and silence

Each chill, reproachful wraith

When hope is faint and flagging

And a blight has dropped on faith.

For life is all too short, dear,

And sorrow is all too great;

To suffer our great compassion

That tarries until too late;

And it's not the thing you do, dear,

It's the thing you leave undone,

Which gives you the bit of heartache

At the setting of the sun.

PS: today onward, i would do my best to fulfill my mission - to become an inspiration to youngsters by providing them through a kaleidoscopey showcase, the best teachings they could imagine and i could offer in this lifetime; and make them realize that they (have the power to) know as much i do... and that no one will ever mock or belittle or try stop them (they just have to remember to not allow it) for trying to express each little manifestation of those learnings as they apply those in their lives...

yet again, and quite in contrast to the message in the poem above- no one ever should mock or belittle or try stop someone for finding calm in remaining still, for waiting for the right moment, for keeping some thoughts for himself and his god until the needed moment arrives. who knows, by not doing anything at that specific moment--- that "little bit of heartache at the setting of the sun" may be just that: a little bit of heartache. it could have been worse otherwise *winks*. TOUCHMOVE!

i cant be sorry for who i am

oh eff! i don't even know who or what i am as a creature...one thing is for sure: i don't like it when someone says they know me so well or they speak of or write of me as if they have known me for a lifetime. where is this coming from? here--- i stumbled upon a poem and the poem hit me. usually poems hit me but this specific poem hit me as somebody who have not known me for long, believed he/she figured me out based on the fictional or not-so-fictional-whatever-that-is character i playfully projected and somehow ranted about it. why was i consumed by it? maybe because i wanted to cry foul 'coz when i playfully project one side of me to someone, its because i thought that someone is a more-advanced life form and wouldn't look at that side of me that way or...maybe, just maybe... i am loving the drama (we all do sometimes eh?) . oh well. :)