ON THE 9TH FLOOR OF MY HEART

HOW SAD!!!

          The man died but did not decay, he resides in a tomb on the 9th floor of my heart.
          On that fateful day of his demise, the day was faithful but only to its cruelty. I recall the blood-stained sledge which was said to have shattered his soul to pieces- small, tiny, pieces. It was reportedly said that as he climbed to the top of a ladder to fix a mechanical fault, he lost his balance like a pole vault and fell on the edge of a sledge. (He became the mechanical fault that was fixed!) Although his wounds were unimaginable-the slize in his head was like a butcher's cut - but his wounds are nothing to be compared to the wound I have right now in my heart.
          On that fateful day, he ended his peregrinations in a gruesome way, and now he resides with me on the 9th floor of my heart.

ETHICAL QUESTIONS

In the world where does power flow from-

Skill or destiny or divine right?

In a government where does power flow from

The president or the people?

In a forest where does power flow from

The hunters or the hunted?

In a home where does power flow from

The husband or the wife?

In a human where does power flow from

The body or the soul?

In a gunman where does power flow from

The gun or the man?

In reality where does power flow from

The chicken or the egg?

In you where does power flow from

Life or death?

These questions are trickery

After thinking, think again!

THE ANTEDOTE

        Many people are selfish and egocentric.They refuse to accept that each person is entitled to their intellectual rights on their opinions and views.  

       It doesn’t make any sense to some people that a tree does not make up a forest and a man does not make up a community. 

        (The right to live is a universal entitlement that no one should steal from another!)

       There are several ways you can steal the life of another. Weaponry of outrage and fatalism is surely one way, but indeed, it is the least ubiquitous of ways. The several ways that are overlooked by many are the most debilitating and callous of ways. Starving someone of love is the most acrimonious of ways; refusing to listen to someone else's views is another; starving somebody of happiness is yet another...there are so many. We tend to overlook them, may be, because the victim does not die physically but who says the victim does not die in spirit or in soul?

         The neglect of many of these silent killers is what makes the world a terrifying place to live in. A world where parents want to have it their own way, not caring about what their children have to say, ( they feel they have biological rights to control the lives of their children); A world where employers don’t care about the feelings of their employees,( they see themselves as humans and their employees as machines!); A world where leaders don’t care about the feelings of their followers, ( they are quick to chop off the hands that cast the votes)...

       Making the world a better place does not only mean dropping our guns and ammunition- that will be one way, but most importantly, we have to annihilate our selfishness and hardheartedness, afterall guns do not shoot themselves and bombs do not throw themselves! We need to be perceptive to the feelings of others bearing in mind that we all are co-inhabitants of the world. We need to start showing appreciation to others, genuinely. Even when we correct, let us do it with love, lets not do it with slanderous or denigrating vocabulary. We need to offer our ears and hands to others, lets be others' ears and hands. Lets love until it hurts. A wise man once said "If i love until it hurts then there will be no more hurts, only love". Lets love until it hurts.

      When we start living a healthy life- a life of love, we won’t need to visit any physician, we won’t require wrinkle removers, we won’t need psychologists, we won’t need pain killers, we won’t need these any more.

       Let’s start today always bearing in mind that no one is too small or too big or too rich or too poor to be loved. 

       Lets make love our legal tender today.

YOU ARE A GIFT

I have discovered through my endless voyage that our worries will be few and numbered if we become less critical about life. The truth is that life is not inscrutable; it only requires time and lots of patience.

           At a point in time, my life was on the reverse gear, on the fast lane, and I had lost grip with the brakes. I had so many problems with life that my whole world seemed to crumble around me. I cavorted endlessly through life and every attempt I made was a nose dive into a precipice. My life was bleak and bedevilled with the arrows of regret and every step of the way was yet another back slide into a landslide of regrets. Every passing day I was on a life slide and every prospective thoroughfare was always another road block. I went on grumbling and mumbling and fumbling and tumbling through life, I dangled like a swinging pendulum that was in dissonance with simple harmonic motion. I argued with every notion that life and people began to lose value for me...

             But then, after so many toils and struggles, I finally was able to swim against the evil tide to the shore and this did not occur until I apprehended some basal truths about life. It took me time, but I had to come to terms with the fact that a problem is not a predicament and a predicament is not is problem. I discovered that i had to start attaching value to my life, i had to start seeing my life as a gift.

         Life truly is a gift.

         A gift is accepted not because of its size or glamour or anything else but because of the intention behind the giving. After all, you will prefer a flower from a trusted friend than even a car from a slanderer. The value attached to a gift, amongst other things, is a function of the role or significance it plays and the hole it occupies in the receivers heart. In a time of famine, a richly filled bag of food is a better gift than a well filled bag of riches. 

          If you start looking at your life as a gift, you will stop having problems with life and life will reciprocate your kind gesture.

       A gift brings smiles; start putting smiles on the faces of people wherever you go.

       A gift serves a purpose; start serving a purpose in the world.

       A gift connects the giver and the receiver; start connecting the world to the creator.

       A gift beautifies; start beautifying the lives of people around you.

      A gift adds value; start adding value to the world.

     

        The truth therefore is that life is a gift and the value you attach to your life will determine the value that the world will attach to you. Moreover, the creator keeps watching you to reward you according to how much you love his gift.

DESIDERATA

As was said in old Baltimore in 1692 in old saint Pauls’ church in Baltimore, so must I today say to you:

            Go placidly amidst the noise and remember what peace there is in silence. As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and ignorant; they too have their story.

            Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter for always there will be greater and lesser persons that yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your career, however humble; It is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

           Exercise caution in your business affairs for the world is full of trickery, but let this not blind you to what virtue there is. Many persons strive for high ideals and everywhere is full of heroism. Be yourself, do not feign affection, neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all disenchantment it is perennial as grace. 

          Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. Do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness, beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.

         You are a child of the universe, no less that the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive him to be, and whatever your labours and aspirations are. In the noisy confusions of life, keep peace with your soul. With all its shame, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be careful and strive to be happy.