Category: Personal Musings

Posted in Life, Personal Musings, Quotes, Stories Around the World, Work

Finding the Peace

Posted on by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

“As we all know, there is inner beauty and outer beauty. If we examine inner beauty, to me there is nothing more beautiful than inner peace, in a man or a woman.” Alice Greczyn

Nature has always withstood the test of time, surviving amidst the chaos and regaining the inner calm from the storms. Likewise, we humans are always in a constant silent battle between the external influences and the inner being in order to preserve one’s harmony, peace and quiet. As the outer forces try to knock us off our track; staying true to oneself echoes to the world that each one rules oneself. Even in the midst of the chaos, true inner peace still rules us as long as we remember to acknowledge, nourish and cherish its’ existence.

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The parable of peace

Once a rich man wanted to hang a picture in his room, at one glance at which he would feel at ease in his soul. And for the most “quiet” picture, he promised to pay one million. Learning of this, artists from different parts of the country began to send him their work. After reviewing thousands of paintings, the rich man chose only two, which seemed to him the most successful.
The first was bright, rainbow and peaceful. On it, the artist depicted an absolutely idyllic landscape: the crystal clear blue lake glistened brightly under the rays of the summer sun, the trees standing around stretched towards the water with their branches; majestic white swans cut through the watery surface, and on the horizon could be seen a village and graceful horses grazing in the meadow.
The second picture is radically different from the first. On it, the artist depicted high cliffs, at the foot of which the sea raged. The storm waves were so high that they reached almost the middle of the cliff. Low dark gray clouds obscured the sky, and at the top of the cliff were frightening silhouettes of trees, illuminated by flashes of lightning.
To call this picture calm even the language did not turn. But, if you look closely, you could see a small bush that grew out of a gap in the rock. On it was a small nest with a tiny bird inside. She hatched out her chicks with a proud and imperturbable air, without worrying at all about the insanity surrounding her.

What picture do you think the rich man chose? Of course, the second. Because it radiates peace of mind much stronger than the first. After all, real peace is manifested not when everything is quiet and serene around, but when, in spite of everything that happens around you, you continue to keep calm inside yourself!

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Posted in Daily, Family and Society, Personal Musings, Quotes, Stories Around the World

Cleaning the House

Posted on by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

With the season of spring soon approaching, it would be time to give the house a thorough clean up from top to bottom sorting out the old and the new, the torn and the goo as well as removing the dirty and useless articles. The entire act of “spring cleaning” takes time to bring in the final finish of being fresh, new and neat.

“The face is the mirror of the mind, and eyes without speaking confess the secrets of the heart.” St. Jerome

While many of us may engage in “cleaning the house” , few of us actually invovlve ourselves in the spiritual, mental and emotional cleaning. While these latter aspects are difficult to do and hence avoided, doing them would give us a fresher outlook on life.

“We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy follows like a shadow that never leaves.” Buddha

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It is in these moments that I recall to mind, a story forwarded in my social network pages. It has been translated, yet the essence is “cleaning should be the best where it is the least visible”.

I remember how quite as a child I had first washed the floor in my grandmother’s village house. I had tried very hard and washed out till the boards shone in the sun. After I had completed, I had called my grandmother. Grandma came, looked and then silently went to the bed, raised the bedspread, which almost hung to the floor, knelt down and quietly called me. I walked over, sank down beside her and wondering, peering under the bed. There, among the fluffy clumps of dust and dried blades of grass, from a newly dried clover, lay my sock lost a couple of days ago.
“If you clean, always clean so that where it was not visible cleaner than anything! Good?” she asked softly.
– OK, Grandma.
Many years have passed since then and today there is no grandmother next to me. The village house is abandoned. But still, remembering my grandmother’s words, I often think of the “dark corners” of our souls and the “brilliant surfaces” of our lives, exposed. In those moments a quiet, gentle and strict voice as an audible, unearthly echo comes like my grandmother’s voice, “Well?”

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Posted in Christian, Life, Personal Musings, Quotes, Work

Echoes of Praise

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“Not to be cheered by praise, not to be grieved by blame, but to know thoroughly one’s own virtues or powers are the characteristics of an excellent man.” Satchel Paige

“Praise” is one of the more dangerous attributes even when given free of choice has the potential to destroy a person, settling on one slowly and like rust begins to erode. Then a person who was once mentally and emotionally strong becomes dependent on praise, craving for it.

“You can’t let praise or criticism get to you. It’s a weakness to get caught up in either one.” John Wooden

When the “words of praise” are not heard; one begins to look for them everywhere, at times compromising on one’s standards, abilities and perfection just to hear those words. Then efforts are made to hear those words to boost the self vanity, to the extent that one fails to acknowledge the actions, consequences and reality behind the empty words of praise.

“The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism.” Norman Vincent Peale

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When there is no praise, the mood then deteriorates, things get worse; all because “no one appreciates me.” As a result, the person is not working from the heart with the fruits of the Spirit in mind. Work, interactions and character becomes a need to appease one’s self-esteem, accumulate more pleasant opinions about himself and not an honest reflection of one’s true being. The opinions of other people though momentary, changes our essence.

“The biggest challenge is to not be affected by praise because a lot of it is not from the heart. Being true to yourself about your strengths and weaknesses, when everyone out there has a strong opinion and wants to give advice, is another challenge.” Tena Desae

It is sad if we do good deeds only for the sake of this short flash – “I was praised.” For woe beckons to the man who spends his strength, effort and energy to earn the approval of others. One of the terrible sins is vanity, because after vanity and praise is lost a person is left with nothing.

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Posted in Life, Personal Musings, poetry, Quotes, Work

Facing the Days On

Posted on by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

Into the next year, some of us have already started and gone ahead on our dreams and projects while the rest of us have yet to begin or refine the procrastination that we often find ourselves in. However there may be a few among us, for whom the year had started off on the wrong note like being diagnosed with a terminal illness, death of a loved one, being unemployed, failure of a project to list a few. For them these few months would have been tough.

Never give up, and be confident in what you do. There may be tough times, but the difficulties which you face will make you more determined to achieve your objectives and to win against all the odds. Marta

Looking deeper, each one of us would have gone through this phase at one point of time or other. It would be easy for one to say take heart and that things would be better. Yet from experience, these dark phases will pass and weathering through the storms, we become stronger and tougher. For as long as the earth rotates on its’ axis, nights won’t stay forever nor shall the clouds permanently darken the skies. The more mentally and emotionally we persevere, the shorter the difficult days become and the better equipped we become to tackle life head-on.

“Lighten up while you still can, don’t even try to understand. Just find a place to make your stand, and take it easy.” Jackson Browne

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Take it easy. Take a breath. It’s gonna be all right.
There will be autumn and leaves. And the rain in the hood.
There will be a forest and a cool transparent day,
And the sunset on the cliff of amber yellow …

Take it easy. Take a breath. You know, winter is coming …
And from the gray suddenly white will become at home,
Again holidays, life, vanity and frost,
Ice on the roads, a weathered nose …

Let’s warm up in a cafe, remembering our year,
You will cover from hundreds, from thousands of adversities ,
You will tell about the sun in the rays of a lantern,
I will wrap myself in a gray scarf of January …

There will be tenderness without words and daggers in the back,
There will be a cat dreaming about something at the window …
We are born again with the purest soul.
Take it easy. Take a breath. It’s gonna be all right.

Rus Svyataya

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Posted in Family and Society, Life, Personal Musings, Quotes, Work

Hearts That Support

Posted on by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

“In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.” Khalil Gibran

We all have our own crosses as well as ups and downs in life to bear. Despite the dark moments, we still manage to revive a bit of ourselves and get our footing back on track. In the process of getting up, unknowingly or known to us, we rely on select few who give us their support, strength and the courage to start again.

“I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death.” Leonardo da Vinci

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They give excuses for us, when we don’t explain ourselves. They accept our shortcomings and acknowledge the apologies that we give or turn a blind eye when we neglect to ask for pardon. At our worst, they lift us up, even if that means putting our priorities first by setting theirs aside. They don’t try to flag down when they fall or ask for attention on our busy or light days. They accept us for who we are. Yet what we often fail to realize is that, these hearts are few in number and tend to fail when untended for long.

When we rise up to stand, it would do well to remember these noble hearts for they are helped us to regain ground. For in the due course of time, when these good hearts give up on us; our skies will fail to clear up and darkness will linger on. A heart doesn’t turn need much to stay warm, just a little bit of love and kindness once in a while.

“Life is made up, not of great sacrifices or duties, but of little things, in which smiles and kindness, and small obligations given habitually, are what preserve the heart and secure comfort.” Humphry Davy

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Posted in Daily, Life, Personal Musings, poetry, Quotes, Work

Countering Murphy’s Law

Posted on by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

“Life is simple. Everything happens for you, not to you. Everything happens at exactly the right moment, neither too soon nor too late. You don’t have to like it… it’s just easier if you do.” Byron Katie

If anyone has been subject to Murphy’s law that states that “whatever can go wrong, will go wrong” would know how it feels when things start going out of hand. And when all the wrongs start happening at once, it turns into a huge disaster. The reality is there are days like Murphy’s Law and then there are days worse than them.

Everybody has to deal with tough times. A gold medal doesn’t make you immune to that. A skater is used to falling down and getting up again. Dorothy Hamill

The hilarious part is when we turn back and look over the events after a long period of time, at times the realization strikes that things could have been even worse. These “bad days” are best faced with a heavy dose of humour laced with a tinge of irony. For losing time and crying over them for long, would simply dim the light of the better days to come. The best thing would be to keep going and handling the ball from our court.

You’re going to go through tough times – that’s life. But I say, ‘Nothing happens to you, it happens for you.’ See the positive in negative events. Joel Osteen

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And maybe just stand on the other foot,
And instead of coffee, take and drink juice …
And turn your usual steps
In the direction where there will be more good …

And on this day, do everything wrong:
Put from end to beginning of the number,
And the most insignificant trifle
Fill with kind and high meaning.

And to do what no one is waiting,
And to laugh, where so much wept,
And a feeling of hopelessness will pass,
And the sun will rise where the rain has been falling.

From the circle of fate,
Take and jump out of the station unknown …
You will be surprised – the world is completely different,
And life is unexpected, and more interesting.

Rus Svyataya

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Posted in Daily, Family and Society, Life, Personal Musings, Quotes, Work

Penning the Gratitude

Posted on by Sugar and Spice..... Among Other Things

“Develop an attitude of gratitude and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.” -Brian Tracy

The other day when I had received a “thank you” note, numerous emotions and thoughts had surfaced in my mind. One of the lost arts of modern living is the art of saying “thank you”. To be very honest, the frequency of my gratitude for favours, gifts and time spent with dear ones has been slowly dwindling. To an extent, we are all caught by the crazy melee of the daily hustle that life throws us in. Yet when we scrutinize and retrospect, we realize that time can be actually made when we really want something to be done.

“Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it all into words is all that is necessary.” -Margaret Cousins

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It doesn’t take much to frequently write, text or forward a few lines to dear people that you love them. When there is time, the power of spoken words can balm the soul when tired, weak, drained or listless. We are all masters of our own time. To refer to the fact that we do not have time shows the misplacement of our priorities. It doesn’t take much time, just a few seconds to pen down a few words to our loved ones. It takes few seconds to jot down a few words of gratitude and hope to those who have brightened our day. Take time and write. It will not only please us but also spread the warmth around us as well within us. In these busy times, there are few dear people in our life that we can comfortably lean on and they need to be cherished. Even though we may start off late, infrequently and small, a few worded thoughts of kindness, love and gratitude a day can do wonders to all and can soon turn into a pleasant habit.

“Make it a habit to tell people thank you. To express your appreciation, sincerely and without the expectation of anything in return. Truly appreciate those around you, and you’ll soon find many others around you. Truly appreciate life and you’ll find that you have more of it.” -Ralph Marston

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