Decided to dig out a Bach CD (Bach Violin Concertos, Lara St John) today.
As I was listening to it, it occurred to me that, despite the fact that I never mastered a musical instrument, I have always had a preference for string instruments, in particular the violin, cello and guitar. However, piano was and is still too ‘sharp’ for me.
Has your music been heard?
“A bell is no bell ’til you ring it,
A song is no song ’til you sing it,
And love in your heart
Wasn’t put there to stay –
Love isn’t love
‘Til you give it away.”Oscar Hammerstein, From ‘The Sound Of Music’
“Faith is the confidence that
what we hope for will actually happen;
it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.”Bible, Hebrews 11:1.
It’s always exhilarating to find something that you thought that you’d lost forever: the feeling of loss wiped away with the joy of rediscovered feelings.
It’s equally, if not more so, when it comes to people. Friendships rekindled, and broken ties that get mended.
Finally, perhaps dreams of many, it is a true miracle to rediscover one’s youthful self. One that got buried and discarded as one moves through the trials of life.
Changes are inevitable. Fortunate are those who have the opportunity to effect the changes…
“To ‘let go’ does not mean to stop caring, it means I can’t do it for someone else.
To ‘let go’ is not to cut myself off, it is the realization I can’t control another.
To ‘let go’ is not to enable but to allow learning from natural consequences.
To ‘let go’ is to admit powerlessness, which means the outcome is not in my hands.
To ‘let go’ is not to try to change or blame another, it is to make the most of myself.
To ‘let go’ is not to care for, but to care about.
To ‘let go’ is not to fix, but to be supportive.
To ‘let go’ is not to judge, but to allow another to be a human being.
To ‘let go’ is not to be in the middle arranging all the outcomes, but to allow others to affect their own destinies.
To ‘let go’ is not to be protective, it is to permit another to face reality.
To ‘let go’ is not to deny but to accept.
To ‘let go’ is not to nag, scold, or argue, but instead to search out my own shortcomings and to correct them.
To ‘let go’ is not to adjust everything to my desires but to take each day as it comes, and to cherish myself in it.
To ‘let go’ is not to criticize and regulate anybody but to try to become what I dream I can be.
To ‘let go’ is not to regret the past, but to grow and to live for the future.
To ‘let go’ is to fear less and to love more.”Author Unknown
By chance, was reminded once again of the term ‘legitimate suffering’, coined by Scott Peck, author of The Road Less Travelled. Incidentally, this was the book that I spent a number of afternoons poring over while trekking in Nepal.
“When we avoid the legitimate suffering that results from dealing with problems, we also avoid the growth that problems demand from us.”
M. Scott Peck
When you are at the crossroads in life, take heart.
“Most people don’t know there are angels whose only job is to make sure you don’t get too comfortable and fall asleep and miss your life.”
Brian Andreas, American Artist and Storyteller
When comes the time for decisions,
“Take a chance! All life is a chance. The man who goes the furthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare.
Dale Carnegie
The Chinese has this knack of playing on both sides of the field. I mean, there are always reasonable responses to support actions for and against something. For that matters, probably all ancient cultures with lots of ‘pearls of wisdom’ do this as well. Basically, on any given topic under discussion, the sage can never be wrong!
Essentially, both sides of the coin can be correct!
I have long ago reached the conclusion that a single-minded pursuit for self-improvement/perfection by excluding interaction with people must come to a dead end eventually. These sentiments are echoed again here.
“Human beings only learn and evolve through relationship. The only way we can see ourselves objectively is through the reflection of others. We can go off and sit in a cave and meditate for years, but we only really find out what happened in that cave when we come out and get involved with other people. So we need each other if we want to evolve.”
Andrew Cohen
Happy 2005!
A brand new year, and a time for new resolutions – as usual. Seeing that most of such plans doesn’t often come to fruition, perhaps it’s time to adopt the KISS – Keep It Simple, Stupid – approach?
“If better is possible, then good is not enough.”
Julian Harden.