:)

It Couldn’t Be Done

Somebody said that it couldn’t be done,
But, he with a chuckle replied
That "maybe it couldn’t," but he would be one
Who wouldn’t say so till he’d tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you’ll never do that;
At least no one has done it";
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he’d begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn’t be done, and he did it.

There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle it in with a bit of a grin,
Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
That "couldn’t be done," and you’ll do it.

- Edgar Albert Guest - 1881-1959

Caged Bird

A free bird leaps

on the back of the wind   

and floats downstream   

till the current ends

and dips his wing

in the orange sun rays

and dares to claim the sky.

But a bird that stalks

down his narrow cage

can seldom see through

his bars of rage

his wings are clipped and   

his feet are tied

so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings   

with a fearful trill   

of things unknown   

but longed for still   

and his tune is heard   

on the distant hill   

for the caged bird   

sings of freedom.

The free bird thinks of another breeze

and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees

and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn

and he names the sky his own

But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams   

his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream   

his wings are clipped and his feet are tied   

so he opens his throat to sing.

The caged bird sings   

with a fearful trill   

of things unknown   

but longed for still   

and his tune is heard   

on the distant hill   

for the caged bird   

sings of freedom.

 

--Maya Angelou

Showing Up

Sometimes it seems next to impossible to be able to do all that needs to be done. It's sometimes hard to stay positive and keep moving. In a time like this when I have little energy yet time demands that I give my best -- I am going to try one of my old philosophies -- something that has helped me get out of the deepest of ruts....

SHOWING UP

"Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and do the right thing, the dawn will come".

- Anne Lamott.

I've found that luck is quite predictable,if you want more luck, take more chances. Be more active. Show up more often.

- Brian Tracy.

WITH A SONG OF FAITH IN MY HEART :) TKS

Another Poet's Thoughts :)

Lose This Day Loitering
Lose this day loitering
'twill be the same storyTo-morrow -
and the next more dilatory;
Each indecision brings its own delays,And days are lost lamenting o'er lost days,
Are you in earnest? seize this very minute
Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.
Only engage, and then the mind grows heated
Begin it, and then the work will be completed!

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749 - 1832)

Awesomeness

The earth has music for those who listen - William Shakespeare

The inspiration for this is really something that I saw while driving from Louisville to Chicago 2 weeks ago. It was pitch dark and very close to midnight when I (half dead and half asleep) saw this huge windmill field just over an hour from Chicago. Suddenly out of the blue (or well black of the night!)these red lights were flashing in tandem left, right and as far down as I could see. Everytime a windmill made a turn , there it was the bright red flash . It really has to be seen to understand what I mean > when for almost 6 miles this majestic sight lasted. Really made me wonder about all the awesomeness that man creates.
Talking about awesomeness, it is really everywhere if one chooses to see. The beautiful creek in my apartment complex, the pat on the back from an old patient, the excited wag of my dog's tail, getting an experiment right in the lab, my mom in law's text reminders that she loves me and not to forget my husband's most amazing paneer dishes....the list really goes on.
Thank you God for all the awesomeness. I pray I can see this all the time :)

Perseverance

Look at a stone cutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred-and-first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not the last blow that did it, but all that had gone before. ~Jacob A. Riis

Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use. ~Earl Nightingale

The drops of rain make a hole in the stone not by violence but by oft falling. ~Lucretius

If we are facing in the right direction, all we have to do is keep on walking. ~Buddhist Saying

Sometimes moving on seems harder and all walls appear to cave in. Probably the keyword is appear......facts and dreams are always mightier than fears .

-Guess it's time to just keep on keeping on :)

-------------------------------------TKS-------------------------------------------

:)

“Sure I am this day we are masters of our fate, that the task which has been set before us is not above our strength; that its pangs and toils are not beyond our endurance. As long as we have faith in our own cause and an unconquerable will to win, victory will not be denied us.”

Winston Churchill

LOVE

The Best VIew Is The One That I Share With You
....anonymous
No prices for guessing that this is about SSA :)
SO love happens in the strangest of ways ......I had heard about that a lot but when it actually happened to me , the process was just as amazing. I guess this is one instance where clichés do not hold. The experience is just as magical every time :)
Thank you SSA for becoming a part of my life ....for making it beautiful! Thank you for The little things that you do - even when I am blind enough not to appreciate them . Thank you for your patience : )
I LOVE YOU

FACES OF BLISS

This moment I sit back and wonder,
About the many faces of bliss in all its splendor;
What it means to us differs so,
Through the years as we grow;
The melody from the overhead jingle
In a newborn’s cot so often brings on a dimple;
The flying plane, the lovely doll
Make a little bundle’s joy whole;
So simple yet so complete
As bliss adds color to life’s pictures ever neat.

Then as the years go by, desires change,
New feelings bring joy to little saints;
Friends make our families complete,
Companionship fulfills our heart's needs;
The search for our soul’s mate soon begins,
It’s just a matter of time before the bells ring;
Some do early, others take time to meet,
The joy nevertheless touches every heart’s beats.

This moment I feel what bliss means to me,
As I lay in your arms under the canopy of palm trees;
stars are shining at their brightest,
clouds attempting to hide them just the slightest;
A beautiful song fills the background,
and with every note, love resounds;
The soothing caress of the ocean breeze,
In this moment time seems to freeze;
Many more magical moments the morrow will bring,
and with this thought my heart sings;
life will bring joy in many more ways,
as love abounds, happiness is here to stay.

-----------TKS----------:)

Kahlil Gibran : On Marriage

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.


Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.


Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow.

Soulmates

From every human being there rises a light that reaches straight to heaven, and when two souls that are destined to be together find each other, the streams of light flow together and a single brighter light goes forth from that united being.
-Ba al Shem Tov

We are, each of us angels with only one wing; and we can only fly by embracing one another.
- Luciano de Crescenzo

My lifetime listens to yours.
-Muriel Ruckeyser

The minute I heard my first love story
I started looking for you,
Not knowing how blind that was.
Lovers don't finally meet somewhere,
They're in each other all along.
- Rumi

Love consists of this, that two solitudes protect and touch and greet each other.
- Rainer Maria Rilke

Optimism

The Merriam Webster dictionary defines optimism as a doctrine that this world is the best possible world or alternatively to expect the best possible outcome. I see it as a win - win attitude:) Just a few thoughts that struck me......

"I've learned that whenever I decide something with an open heart, I usually make the right decision. I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one. I've learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back. I've learned that I still have a lot to learn. I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
-Maya Angelou

“If you realized how powerful your thoughts are, you would never think a negative thought.”
-Peace Pilgrim

“I became an optimist when I discovered that I wasn't going to win any more games by being anything else.”
-Earl Weaver

THE JOY OF FRIENDSHIP :)

An escape from the life's morose drone
it's a treasure that none can clone
the gateway to happiness it opens wide
you wont be alone in it's stride
Such is the joy of friendship!

The mellifluous laughter and shared smiles
multiply the joy a million times
life's numerous temptations and it's killing pace
all is borne as far as friendship stays
Such is the joy of friendship!

The magic that soothes an ailing soul
the feeling that makes each one of us whole
it's music in the midst of life's cacophony
replacing every hurt with Ecstasy
Such is the joy of friendship!

No matter what dreams and lessons life brings
or what new bonds time brings
friends' hearts always keep up with life's pace
the love and joy none can replace
To all my friends that make my life complete
this is an ode to thee.
The joy of friendship!


-------TO ALL MY FRIENDS - THANKS FOR BEING THERE-------------------

........................................TKS.....................................

Looking up!

Seventy percent of success in life is showing up. ~Woody Allen


Here I am writing after a long hiatus. Life changes and how! Lots of good things have happened and yet challenges remain , new ones replacing the old. The ecstasy of being with the one I love yet with the heartbreak of being away from those I have loved all my life. At this time one thought makes me go on - life's events turn out in the direction that one looks....the one choice that is always in our hands. The choice of our vision and our direction. I have already made mine ...Looking up :)

Small steps make way for huge leaps
-TKS :)

The Way You Love Me :)

Every night as I lie down next to you,
Thoughts that cross my mind make me smile anew
Never imagined a love like yours in my life
The kind that lifts me above all strife
There had been times that made me question
The presence of romance and love in my life’s selection
Then u came forth and made me come alive
Awakening once again the joy of my inner child
Clouds drifted away and I could see the sunshine
You brought into my life the music of wind chimes
The peace in my life, the smile in my eyes
Their key my love in your heart lies
Sometimes I think it’s in the way u love me
The way that has been chosen by my Lord above me
Now I know it has been worth the wait
God in His ways is neither short nor late
He asked me to have patience, to wait a while
As he brought u into my life with all the smiles
And so today as I go to sleep
Every night for u still my heart leaps
That every moment my Lord I thank thee
For the way that my love loves me

This one is for SSA .....thanx for being you :)

"With God, All Things Are Possible"

To many of us who recently saw the movie, The Blind Side, these lines would be familiar. Talking of other references, this is also the motto of the state of Ohio.But ofcourse, the true origin of the phrase is:

"But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." —Matthew 19:26

This is surely an inspiration to go beyond the limitations of what is generally thought to be possible. When we choose to sail against the wind, we need to keep our faith through the trying times. Faith is the anchor that helps survive the storm.My friend MS and I have always stood by : Do your best and let God do the rest.So let's just put in the best possible effort and then let go - with God , All Things Are Possible.
The picture depicts Noah's ark.
--------------------------------------TKS--------------------------------------------

A custom-made life :)

One day while pondering over the feasability of goals or dreams as I like to refer to them, it occured to me that all doubts are essentially a fallacy. Come to think of it,each one of us has very unique dreams and very individualistic aspirations. There is a subtle overlap but that ends there. Looking at it from the world's point of view, this is very important. If we were all to have essentially similar aspirations, half the things in the world will not get done. The great achievements in history and even our present would not exist at all. For every breakthrough has seen people achieving great things while following their own vision and their own path. Speaking on a smaller scale, even on a daily basis, things will not get done if we all liked to do exactly the same things and hated exactly the same tasks.
One important corollary of this is that if we have such unique dreams, by default it is safe to assume that we also have the unique abilities matched to achieve these. All doubts whether we will fulfill our aspirations are thus a fallacy.

IF WE WON'T, WHO WILL?

Just to add to this, sometimes we have our desires put on hold by GOD. The waiting period can be tough. But from my own experiences and of those around me, I believe that GOD is custom- making your life. HIS plans are not just great but perfect and sometimes perfection takes time. Plus HE might just be taking the extra time to gift wrap it for you ;)
NEVER STOP BELIEVING :)

The Good Year :)

Time and again one of my close friends and I shared this thought that helped us deal with challenges both big and small- This is a good year and only good things will happen this year--much like Chanchad's philosophy of 'Aal iz Well.'It sure has been a fool proof philosophy, so far so good.
Moreover, I began this year with a resolution to think blissfully, to visualize great things into my life and those around me. Those who know me well are witness to the things this made possible. With folded hands I pray to God that may this good year be followed by better years for each one of us. Over to another year of blissful thinking....Happy New(Even better)Year :)
Amen
---------------------------------TKS-----------------------------------

TAKING CHANCES :)

To dare is to lose one's footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself.
~Soren Kierkegaard

I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it. ~Pablo Picasso

All that is gold does not glitter,
Not all those who wander are lost;
The old that is strong does not wither,
Deep roots are not reached by the frost.
From the ashes a fire shall be woken,
A light from the shadows shall spring;
Renewed shall be blade that was broken,
The crownless again shall be king.
~John Ronald Reuel Tolkien

They say there is nothing more dangerous than an animal cornered. With the fear of death looming over it's head, making a last ditch effort to live....it has nothing to lose. Similarly in the darkest of times in our lives, when we know that the only way things can go now is up, life is often just waiting for us to make a move, the tide is waiting to turn. This is the time when all we have to do is to muster up the courage to take that one chance. To silence the cacophony in our head...what if doesn't work out....to replace it with the magic of ...what if everything works out?
This year I have learned my lessons in taking chances, lots of courage and lots of focus....so far so good.
Take chances ....you have nothing to lose....except despair.
:)

Everything About Something !!

“A soulmate is someone who has locks that fit our keys, and keys to fit our locks. When we feel safe enough to open the locks, our truest selves step out and we can be completely and honestly who we are; we can be loved for who we are and not for who we’re pretending to be. Each unveils the best part of the other. No matter what else goes wrong around us, with that one person we’re safe in our own paradise. Our soulmate is someone who shares our deepest longings, our sense of direction. When we’re two balloons, and together our direction is up, chances are we’ve found the right person. Our soulmate is the one who makes life come to life.”
---Richard Bach----

“You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.”

---Dr Seuss------

“Sometimes you meet somebody and you know that whatever you did before, it must have been right.... nothing could've been too bad or gone too wrong because it led you to this person.”

----------------
“The worst thing you can do for love is deny it; so when you find that special someone, don't let anyone or anything to get in your way.”

---------------
“All I really, really want our love to do is to bring out the best in me and in you too.”

---Joni Mitchell----

“Find a guy who calls you beautiful instead of hot, who calls you back when you hang up on him, who will lie under the stars and listen to your heartbeat, or will stay awake just to watch you sleep... wait for the boy who kisses your forehead, who wants to show you off to the world when you are in sweats, who holds your hand in front of his friends, who thinks you're just as pretty without makeup on. One who is constantly reminding you of how much he cares and how lucky his is to have you.... The one who turns to his friends and says, 'that's her.'”

---------------------
:)
TKS