"There is a wide world out there, my friend, full of pain, but filled with joy as well. The former keeps you on the path of growth, and the latter makes the journey tolerable."

Montolio Debrouchee, The Dark Elf Trilogy

Nescire autem quid antequam natus sis acciderit, id est semper esse puerum."

"Not to know what happened before you were born is to be forever a child."
~Cicero

Our Mind of Brain - The Greatest Asset from God!

Hamlet: What is man,
If his chief good and market of his time
Be but to sleep and feed? A beast, no more.
Sure, he that made us with such large discourse,
Looking before and after, gave us not
That capability and god-like reason
To fust in us unused.

HAMLET, Prince of Denmark
Act IV, Scene iv

Loving and Forgiving

God's Love for theThirsty - The Real Drink =)

A Reflection:

O jesus, sometimes we are o thirsty! We thirst for your love, but seek to quench that thirst through human relationships that never completely satisfies us. We thirst for good things, so we buy and acquire, but they all perish. We thirst for excitement, so we go to the movies, or travel, or seeks whatever thrills our culture and finances allow, only to thirst for more and more.

c/r John 4:5-42

To live life willingly

Only when we make a choice of our own willing, and not out of fear, urgency or adrenaline, can we live a fulfilled and happier life.

c/r: 1 Peter 5:1-4

The Seven Wonders of the World

1. to touch...
2. to taste...
3. to see...
4. to hear...
5. to feel...
6. to laugh...
7. and to love.

From a short story.

Suffering from the resistance of a temptation or negative (addictive) habits as an offering of Love to the Lord, in always obeying His will to the best of our abilities, is in my opinion, as important as attending church services or reading the Bible regularly.

To Zanarkand

Handling insults and profanity *wink*

Autobiography in Five Short Chapters by Portia Nelson

I

I walk down the street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk
I fall in.
I am lost ... I am helpless.
It isn't my fault.
It takes me forever to find a way out.

II

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I pretend I don't see it.
I fall in again.
I can't believe I am in the same place
but, it isn't my fault.
It still takes a long time to get out.

III

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I see it is there.
I still fall in ... it's a habit.
my eyes are open
I know where I am.
It is my fault.
I get out immediately.

IV

I walk down the same street.
There is a deep hole in the sidewalk.
I walk around it.

V

I walk down another street.

Friendship

Belwar reached into a deep pocket and took out the light-giving brooch. "take this, dark elf," He said softly, flipping it to Drizzt, "and do not forget me."

"Never for a single day in all the centuries of my future," Drizzt promised. "never once."

- The Dark Elf Trilogy

Spirit

Spirit. It cannot be broken and it cannot be stolen away. A victim in the throes of despair might feel otherwise, and certainly the victim's "master" would like to believe it so. But in truth, the spirit remains, sometimes buried but never fully removed. ... The physical powers of the body cannot be separated from teh rationale of the mind and the emotions of the heart. They are one and the same, a compilation of a singular being. It is in the harmony of these three - body, mind, and heart - that we find spirit.

Spirit. In every language (in all the Realms, surface and Underdark), in every time and every place, tbe word has a ring of strength and determination. It is the hero's strength, the mother's resilience, and the poor man's armor. It cannot be broken, and it cannot be taken away.

This I must believe.

- Drizzt Do'Urden

The Builders by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

All are architects of Fate,
 Working in these walls of Time;
Some with massive deeds and great,
 Some with ornaments of rhyme.
Nothing useless is, or low;
 Each thing in its place is best;
And what seems but idle show
 Strengthens and supports the rest.
For the structure that we raise,
 Time is with materials filled;
Our to-days and yesterdays
 Are the blocks with which we build.
Truly shape and fashion these;
 Leave no yawning gaps between;
Think not, because no man sees,
 Such things will remain unseen.
In the elder days of Art,
 Builders wrought with greatest care
Each minute and unseen part;
 For the Gods see everywhere.
Let us do out work as well,
 Both the unseen and the seen;
Make the house, where Gods may dwell,
 Beautiful, entire, and clean.
Else our lives are incomplete,
 Standing in these walls of Time,
Broken stairways, where the feet
 Stumble as they seek to climb.
Build to-day, then, strong and sure,
 With a firm and ample base;
And ascending and secure
 Shall to-morrow find its place.
Thus alone can we attain
 To those turrets, where the eye
Sees the world as one vast plain,
 And one boundless reach of sky.

I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

- from Invictus (unconquered) by William Ernest Henley

Survival of the Fittest v The Will to Live

Kenshin: There are people waiting for my return!
The will to live is stronger, stronger than anything else!

Shishio: No! I am stronger than anything else. In the end, only the fittest survive in this world. If you are strong you live, and if you are weak you die. I'm the one who deserves to live! Become food for me and die, Battousai!

-Ruruoni Kenshin

The Truth Surpasses Time after Time, Generation after Generation

Yahiko: Hey Kenshin, we won, right? We were the ones who were correct, right?

Kenshin: If you are saying that the victor is correct, we'd be the same as Makoto Shishio, that we would. We fought for what we believe is right, and defeated Shishio. However, Shishio himself was also trying to prove that he was the one who was correct. He acted with faith in his own beliefs, that he did. In that aspect, he is no different from us.

If I were to explain it all, perhaps the age chose our side. What is correct will be determined by the people of the next generation after they learn our history, that it will.

But the idea of the survival of the fittest where the strong live and the weak die, is definitely mistaken. Definitely.

- Ruruoni Kenshin

A Relationship between Master & Disciple (II)

Dux: I'm going to Hong Kong.
Tanaka: You sure you want to do this?
Dux: To honour you means everything to me.
Tanaka: I have poured all my knowledge into you. When you fight, my spirit fights with you. In kumite, you will need it.

- Bloodsport

The Reason to My Absolute Resolve to Live

LOVE OF GOD

Either God exists, or He does not.
If there is no God, then all life is meaningless and without value or purpose.
If God does exist, then all life is infinitely valuable because it is both good and precious in the eyes of our Creator.

my heart earnestly yearns the teachings of wise men.

Human Beings are not of instincts and reactions, though they may choose to be, pitifully. Rather, they are of proactiveness and choice, with the potential to affect their surrounding lives and the world.

Hosea

Come back to me with all your heart,
don't let fear keep us apart.
Trees do bend, tho' straight and tall;
so must we to others' call.

Long have I waited for your coming
home to me and living deeply our new life.

The wilderness will lead you
to your heart where I will speak.
Integrity and justice
with tenderness you shall know.

Long have I waited for your coming
home to me and living deeply our new life.

You shall sleep secure with peace;
faithfulness will be your joy.

Long have I waited for your coming
home to me and living deeply our new life.

Choice: just because you can it doesn't mean you have to.

How Far Are You Willing to Go?

Intention without Action is Dead

I will show you my faith by my works... For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

James 2:18,26

Carpe Diem, even if i die.

The Road Not Taken - Robert Frost

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;	5
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,	10
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.	15
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.	20

No one can boast

Now remember what you were, my friends, when God called you. From the human point of view few of you were wise or powerful or of high social standing. God purposely chose what the world considers nonsense in order to shame the powerful. He chose what the world looks down on and despises and thinks is nothing, in order to destroy what the world thinks is important. This means that no one can boast in God’s presence.

But God has brought you into union with Christ Jesus, and God has made Christ to be our wisdom. By him we are put right with God; we become God’s holy people and are set free.

1 Cor 1: 26 - 30

"Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come.

We have only today. Let us begin." Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

Pray!

Pope John Paul II indicates that people sometimes say they don't know how to pray. "How to pray? This is a simple matter. I would say: Pray any way you like, so long as you do pray." You can pray the way your mother taught you; you can use a prayer book. Sometimes it takes courage to pray; but it is possible to pray, and necessary to pray. Whether from memory or a book or just in thought, it is all the same. See, John Paul II, The Way of Prayer, Crossroad Publishing Co. (1995). See also The Necessity of Prayer, by St. Alphonsus.

Happiness is a byproduct of function, purpose, and conflict; those who seek happiness for itself seek victory without war
- William S. Burroughs

The Books We Read Determine Who We Are.

What Do You Do With the Resources That are Given to You?

The Past Does Not Equal to the Future.

"One filled with joy preaches without preaching." -- Blessed Mother Teresa

Adidas

One Tree Hill...

‘The rest of your life is a long time, and whether you know it or not, its being shaped right now, with the dreams you chase, the choices you make, and the person you decide to be. The rest of your life starts right now."

Haley James Scott

‘It’s my life; I’m taking a stand, is it ok?’

Jamie Scott