Tag: thoughts

Posted in Family and Society, Musique, Personal Musings, Random Thoughts, Reflections

More than Paper Chains

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Although winter is approaching, the autumn flowers still linger in the fields. As a part of the Sunday church community service, the youth group along with the children had visited the old-age centre in the nearest town. While spending time with the elderly age group; among the reading aloud to them, unraveling the knitting and helping in general, few children had taken with them crepe paper to start on the Christmas decorations. As paper chains of flowers and simple artwork were being done, the Lyrics of the “Chain of Love” came to mind, one of the popular songs during my school years.

“‘You don’t owe me a thing
I’ve been there too
Someone once helped me out
Just the way I’m helping you
If you really wanna pay me back
Here’s what you do
Don’t let the chain of love end with you'”…
( “The Chain of Love” is the third single from American country music singer Clay Walker’s album Live, Laugh, Love (January 2000). Lyrics were written by Rory Feek and Jonnie Barnett.)

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This mid-tempo song , “The Chain of Love” narrates the story of three characters who, by helping each other in some way, form a “chain of love” amongst them. While hanging up the paper chains, each design was a reminder of the chains of love that we build amongst ourselves. One can chose not to make any chain, repair the torn chains with glue or make new designs everyday. Yet as the chains grow, they connect each one of us in a special way. While it may true that “what goes around, comes around”; know that life is not lived as a lone island. The gift of life, involves finding beauty in the world around us, sharing the joy and laughter and lending a helping hand, when felt or as required. As the chains connect us along the years, it brings to mind what life, time, love and kindness are all about.

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The Chain Of Love
Clay Walker

He was driving home one evening
In his beat-up Pontiac
When an old lady flagged him down
Her Mercedes had a flat

He could see that she was frightened
Standing out there in the snow
‘Til he said ‘I’m here to help you, ma’m
By the way, my name’s Joe’

She said ‘I’m from St. Louis
And I’m only passing through
I must’ve seen a hundred cars go by
This is awful nice of you’

When he changed the tire
And closed her trunk
And was about to drive away
She said ‘How much do I owe you?’
Here’s what he had to say

‘You don’t owe me a thing
I’ve been there too
Someone once helped me out
Just the way I’m helping you
If you really wanna pay me back
Here’s what you do
Don’t let the chain of love end with you’

Well, a few miles down the road
The lady saw a small cafe
She went in to grab a bite to eat
And then be on her way

But she couldn’t help but notice
How the waitress smiled so sweet
She must have been eight months
Along and dead on her feet

No, she didn’t know her story
And she probably never will
When the waitress went to get her
Change from a hundred dollar bill

The lady slipped right out the door
And on a nakpin left a note
There were tears in the waitress’ eyes
When she read what she’d wrote

‘You don’t owe me a thing
I’ve been there too
Someone once helped me out
Just the way I’m helping you
If you really wanna pay me back
Here’s what you do
Don’t let the chain of love end with you’

That night when she got
Home from work
The waitress climbed into bed
She was thinking about the money
And what the lady’s note had said
As her husband lay there sleeping
She whispered soft and low
‘Everything’s gonna be alright
I love you, Joe’
(Source: Internet) 

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Posted in Daily, Family and Society, Personal Musings, poetry, Random Thoughts

Let Bygones be Bygones

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

“Fall has always been my favorite season. The time when everything bursts with its last beauty, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale.” Lauren Destefano

Although the first week of the last month of the year has started, the world around me still echoes a bit of the autumn; with the splash of colours, cold winds and rains still adorning the landscape. As the trees reach their near bare point and the faded colours slowly come down in numbers, the end of autumn echoes the inner part of letting go.

“You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself. That is something you have.” Jim Rohn

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All of us have our own set of circumstances. Amidst them, each one of us have felt the good, the bad, the difficult, the trying and the anxious parts of life. While good memories bring a sense of warmth, contentment and nostalgia; there are those memories which have them but are tinged with regrets, poignancy and a certain amount of remorse. Each one of us have had “those moments”. Sometimes on a later date, they may echo the regret and the sadness, other times they bring to heart the joy and happiness of those days.

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As one goes through the remembrances of those negative parts, one must not forget that one was lucky to experience them all. No one is guaranteed happiness. One has to make the best of the worst, better their days and learn from the regrets. Just as autumn shows us the antithesis of spring, one needs the “downs”, not just to learn from them but to appreciate the “ups” as well.

“Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all.” Stanley Horowitz

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Autumn

The thistledown’s flying, though the winds are all still,
On the green grass now lying, now mounting the hill,
The spring from the fountain now boils like a pot;
Through stones past the counting it bubbles red-hot.

The ground parched and cracked is like overbaked bread,
The greensward all wracked is, bents dried up and dead.
The fallow fields glitter like water indeed,
And gossamers twitter, flung from weed unto weed.

Hill-tops like hot iron glitter bright in the sun,
And the rivers we’re eying burn to gold as they run;
Burning hot is the ground, liquid gold is the air;
Whoever looks round sees Eternity there.
-John Clare

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Posted in Daily, Life, Personal Musings, poetry, Reflections

“Gains” by the Storm

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

No pain. No gain.

The saying as above, has been drummed into us from childhood and carried over to the adult lives. While the early days may have left us wallowing to it’s reality, while those peers from the rich, social backgrounds get “everything easy” as the rest slogs it out, adult life brings out the saying in its true form. As the years mature, one gives their best shot and bear the fruit of it in due immediate course of time never comes along. What happens to one, when despite all the pain, gain is absent ?

“It is only in sorrow bad weather masters us; in joy we face the storm and defy it.”  Amelia Barr

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Those times, when all the pains seem fruitless and drain us of the mental hope, one needs to keep their inner flame going. Gathering courage to master the raging storm isn’t easy, but once we pull it out from within; surviving the storm would be the gain from the pain. On those days or times, when the pain hasn’t borne fruit; knowing and redefining the “gain” is what keeps the hope going. Though the immediate gain mayn’t be what is as perceived; handling the storm and crossing it is, at times, the biggest gain of all.

“You can be in the storm, but don’t let the storm get in you.” Joel Osteen

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Storms
Margie DeMerell

There will be storms, child
There will be storms
And with each tempest
You will seem to stand alone
Against cruel winds

But with time, the rage and fury
Shall subside
And when the sky clears
You will find yourself
Clinging to someone
You would have never known
But for storms.

“Dig deep & pull the roots of confidence from the ground of your being, standing firm in the raging storm until sunlight blossoms inside you.” Curtis Tyrone Jones

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Posted in Daily, Life, Personal Musings, poetry

Enrich the Journey

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

“Dreams are the touchstones of our characters.” Henry David Thoreau

When the local community centre had opened the next six week course in Spanish cuisine and glass art, eyebrows were set high when a quartet of quinquagenarians had joined the latter course. The speculation had arose not because hey had joined the course, but because they all had their own successful professional lives in the field of bank, education, science and public works. Finding time for “glass art” in the midst of all their busy schedules was what set many talking about their own unfulfilled projects.

“Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential.” Pope John XXII

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Growth is a personal effect. Be it in the chosen field, personal life or social life; each one of us need something to do, in order to develop, dream and achieve to make our lives feel fuller. Whether one be a chartered accountant indulging in salsa classes or a school teacher trying their hand at the canvas or a gym instructor learning a new cuisine, all of us have those cherished wild dreams, desires and targets that area apart of us. While one may go grow professionally, giving room for those extra interests helps us grow in our own potential.

“Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country.” Anais Nin

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Journey’s End

In western lands beneath the Sun
The flowers may rise in Spring,
The trees may bud, the waters run,
The merry finches sing.
Or there maybe ’tis cloudless night,
And swaying branches bear
The Elven-stars as jewels white
Amid their branching hair.

Though here at journey’s end I lie
In darkness buried deep,
Beyond all towers strong and high,
Beyond all mountains steep,
Above all shadows rides the Sun
And Stars for ever dwell:
I will not say the Day is done,
Nor bid the Stars farewell.

– J.R.R.Tolkien

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Posted in Family and Society, Life, Personal Musings, poetry, Reflections

More than Imprints

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

“And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince

These days, while driving for an out of the town workshop ( with attendance made compulsory from the head boss); the hassles faced in mapping out the course or drive isn’t as big as compared to any similar happening, lets say, around twenty years ago. With Google giving the directions, vehicles equipped with navigation, phones that function as maps and better roads; on the whole venturing into a new territory isn’t met with fear of getting lost anymore.

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Rewinding back to those years, one relied on the passerby who were generous with their navigation advice and sense of direction. Many a time, getting on the wrong road resulted in one stepping out at the local roadside shop, asking for specific directions, enjoying a good cup of coffee and then heading back on the road with fresh directions and in better spirits. Those better spirits are in part, from the print left behind by those around us. Though these days, Google helps us to navigate; there are still imprints left behind.

“I am grateful for every precious moment life offers me. It allows me to see the miracle in each experience.” Emmanuel Dagher

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From the numerous social interactions that we all experience, few stay on the mind stronger than before. May be it could be attached with pleasantness, a warm feeling and happiness or peace within; while other imprints may leave a bitter feel. Which ever way, we all leave our imprints in different ways. Just like the fellow passerby of yesteryear, when one chooses to leave behind heart-prints ( not just imprints) it makes life more beautiful. Over the years, as one realizes the more heart-prints one leaves behind, the treasure chest of memories, happiness and peace with contentment can be experienced in every waking hour.

“Every day in every way we are leaving our mark.” Rachael Bermingham

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Heartprints
Author Unknown

Whatever our hands touch –
We leave fingerprints!
On walls, on furniture
On doorknobs, dishes, books.
There’s no escape.
As we touch we leave our identity.

Wherever I go today
Help me leave heartprints!
Heartprints of compassion
Of understanding and love.

Heartprints of kindness
And genuine concern.
May my heart touch a lonely neighbor
Or a runaway daughter
Or an anxious mother
Or perhaps an aged grandfather.

Send me out today
To leave heartprints.
And if someone should say,
“I felt your touch,”
May they also sense the love
that is deep within my heart.

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Posted in Daily, Life, Personal Musings, poetry, Reflections

As they Bloom

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

“There are so many ways to be brave in this world. Sometimes bravery involves laying down your life for something bigger than yourself, or for someone else. Sometimes it involves giving up everything you have ever known, or everyone you have ever loved, for the sake of something greater. But sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes it is nothing more than gritting your teeth through pain, and the work of every day, the slow walk toward a better life. That is the sort of bravery I must have now.” Veronica Roth

Last evening in lieu of a small thank you meeting being organized, arrangements were being made and the event went as planned. The next day, saw many being greeted by the vases were filled with flowers of yesterday, with their freshness still intact. For once, the atmosphere was brightened by their beauty and their grace. Though over a few days, they wane off and lose their initial sparkle, the memories of their beauty still linger on.

“A life filled with complete certainty is absurdity.” Maxime Lagacé

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Life, on the whole, echoes the moments of flowers in bits and pieces. Over unexpected elements, finding the sunshine rays and the available resources, to grow and bring forth their colours. Though the uncertainty of their survival looms high, whether they being plucked or not, the fodder for the animals and so on, it doesn’t prevent them from colouring the world around them. Such that, their grace and beauty brings forth a smile even on the most dull and tired faces. To be like them, is not difficult but hard, depending on own will and inner peace. When one tries to imbibe and live as the grace of the flowers, then the beauty of life will increase by manifold.

“You can be anything you want to be, do anything you set out to accomplish if you hold that desire with singleness of purpose.” Abraham Lincoln

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The Grace Of Flowers
Sue Coppernoll

Gladiolas in a white vase,
their magenta faces shining
in early morning light
streaming through a windowpane
speckled with last night’s raindrops,
bring me to wakefulness,
adoration, and hope.

Another volley of blossom
unfolds atop their stems,
assuring me that on the morrow
I shall yet have their company.

Breathing gratitude,
I pour cool water from a crystal pitcher
into the vase with a devout prayer:
“May my life also unfold in radiance and in beauty.”

I return the flowers
to a corner of the hearth,
knowing I am ready, now,
for what the day may bring.

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Posted in Daily, Family and Society, Personal Musings, poetry, Reflections

Rainbow of the Day

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

“When I set a glass prism on a windowsill and allow the sun to flood through it, a spectrum of colors dances on the floor. What we call “white” is a rainbow of colored rays packed into a small space. The prism sets them free. Love is the white light of emotion.” Diane Ackerman

One of the most important tasks as mother to a toddler is finding space for the innumerable handiwork with the colours either on the cupboards, kitchen cabinets, door or the refrigerator door (walls aren’t an option). Just the other day, there was a struggle to find space for “the rainbow” which eventually displaced the “dog and cat” on the fridge door.

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Taking a close look at the rainbow, there are more than the scientific seven colours lined up. More than the aesthetic and art sense, what makes it more important is the love behind the drawing and to acknowledge the skills of the child, learning to appreciate them and let them grow by themselves, just guiding them and not pointing out or training them. The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow depends on how one views it.

“Sometimes it’s important to work for that pot of gold. But other times it’s essential to take time off and to make sure that your most important decision in the day simply consists of choosing which color to slide down on the rainbow.” Douglas Pagels

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I’ll Paint You A Rainbow
Grace E. Easley

I’ll paint you a rainbow to hang on the wall,
to brighten your heart when the gray shadows fall.
On a canvas of joy outlasting the years,
with a soft brush of sweetness to dry all your tears.
I’ll paint you a rainbow with colors of smiles
That glow with sincerity over the miles.
On a palette of words I will tenderly blend
Tones into treasures of sunlight and wind.

I’ll paint you a rainbow that reaches so wide,
Your sights and your sorrows will vanish inside,
And deep in the center of each different hue,
A memory fashioned especially for you.
So lift up your eyes, for suspended above,
A rainbow designed by the fingers of love…

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