To cry and aknowledge our weakness is the moment that we are at our bravest
To love even though it hurts
To sing our soul out even though we are bleeding
To stand with dignity and talk with kindness even though we are misunderstood .
And to smile the world around you is confusing
To stand and know that no matter what …. YOU are enough , You are wonderful..
Bravery is embracing the imperfectness in you ..
“I owned my smile , I owned my happiness ” one of my many day to day mantra .
I smile even if the situation is very hurting and confusing for I believed behind the facade of this situation is a rainbow of lessons awaits me . Lessons that would hone me into a better version of me .
I smile even if tears are rolling down from my cheeks for I believed every sorrow that I have walked through will make me stronger .
Even if it will rain I will smile with grateful heart for I know behind that storm clouds awaits the sunshine of joy.
I will smile to lighten one’s soul , to give them encouragement that no matter what, it is going to be okey .
Choose to share your smile , choose to be happy no matter what , choose to be a better You
Diwali is one of the hindu festival that I love ..
No I am not a Hindu . I am a soul who believes in the harmony of everything in the universe with one Almighty that holds the order
I am a kind of person who respects all beliefs , gender and political stand .
Today starts the Diwali festival this symbolizes the victory of light from the darkness, good over evil , healing over illness and Love over Hate..
May I wish everyone of you the Light of Goodness , Kindneas , Love and Good health radiatates in You
You and I we grow up together
You and I we venture adventures
We cried and laugh
Through joys and sorrow we held each others hand .
You and I may grow and walk on the different path ..But my dear be assured that I will be at corner waiting for you .
You and I will understand each other more than those spoken words
You and I are more than just friends .
You and I are sisters for life
❤️
I will not linger on hate , disappointments and hurt
Life is too short
I will embrace challenges with courage in my heart
I will learn from experiences
Like a butterfly in my cocoon I will spread my colorful wings and fly with kindness , understanding and love in my heart .
Life is not mine to keep but to savour ,enjoy the gifts that will offer me.
Day by day I am and will grow
I am kind , I am enough , I am the universe within me
Breath in …. breath out
A friend of mine once told me a story about a hermit crab and how it changes it’s shell once it becomes too small for them .
This story is one of my reminder everytime things get tough , uneasy and change is inevitable . Like a Hermit crab i should be ready to adopt the changes that are coming , let go of attachments and just move on with the lessons that I have learned from my previous experiences .
Life’s constant variable is change . We grow in a space and at times leave people that no longer embraces our new views . We are constantly face with situations that needs for us to be flexible, patience and brave .
I am in a dawn of change …My heart longed no more to the ones that I used to be passionate . She seeks no more the company of those who used to give her a smile.
I am moving forward , I am letting go of something to be able to embrace a much better future ..
Look up , take a breath , whisper a mantra ” I am water , I am air , I am the universe within me” . I am ready …
Giralda Tower and Cathedral
Giralda Tower is one of the iconic tower in Seville. At 104.2 meters or 32 floors it has dominated the skies of Andalusia for 800 years. An impressive Gothic design , it’s beauty does not only radiates outside but as well as inside . After all this is one of the four Unesco Heritage of Seville
JO AND Beth
The have been friends for quite a while now . They have experienced the hardest storms of their lives but still manages to rise up. They are now both enjoying their pension years
My admiration for these two women become more deeper when we have visited Seville ,Spain a couple days ago .
Part of the trip was to explore the Iconic Cathedral and its renown tower . Being a history geek I was very excited to get inside since I have read that Christopher Columbus was buried here . ( that is for later to write about )
The Climb
Jo and Beth roamed around the Cathedral, admiring the gothic / moorish design of walls. Me, being me looked for them and told them to join me to the top of the tower.
None of us have expected that the climb would be so steep.
I went ahead and Edgar the husband of Clair would follow them indiscreet. Beth would just sing a praise song while holding the hands of Jo ..
Jo is a burned survivor. Forty- five percent air capacity of her lungs was damaged during the fire . She has some joints problem too . To be able to climb the Giralda tower would be a great challenge for her. A step at a time …a breath for every rounds she made it holding Beth’s hand .
As they approached the 32nd floor at their own pace tears of joy and contenment flows down into their eyes . While Edgar and myself cheered their conquest!
Reflection
Beth and Jo are the two epitome of women who doesn’t know how to give up . No matter how hard life will treat them they would move ahead at their own paces, carrying the faith within them . It is this faith that gave them hope, the same hope that push them to persevere.
Yes , they have been through the darkest moment of their lives .. but like the climbed that they did in Giraldo Towers they did it at their own pace with faith in their hearts and if things really gets rough they would stop and cry they never questioned God instead they bow down humbly … take a breath and continue with their respective journeys
They have conquered the top , survived the battles now it is time to rejoice, enjoy and be grateful of what life will bring them .
“Courage isn’t having the strength to go on – it is going on when you don’t have strength.”
― Napoleon Bonapart
Special thanks to Edgar who took good care of them
Seventeen years ago I lost my youngest brother due to pancreatitis . He was thirty years old and full of dreams.
His death came unexpected ,his death left a huge hole in my heart . A hole that I have learned to co-exist seventeen years after his gone . Each year stronger than myself I would relived the journey that I have been through , our the last conversations and the emotions.. Seventeen years , I still felt that I have come short as a sister and a friend .Seventeen years.. I still have the “maybe if …I could have .. ”
I have admired the friendship that he have built with his friends seven years after his death Christopher one of the homeboys continue the passion that they all have . He would organize a basketball tournament among group of friends .
This is their way of giving tribute to a friend , brother , playmate .. Every year around this time .. when I would normally shed tears Randall’s cup is born.
Randall’s cup is an ode for my brother .. this is a manisfestion on how he was loved by the people that surrounds him .
At this time of the year . I would look at the pictures of these basketball tournament with a smile in my heart … I would look up thr skies and imagine that He my angel , my benjamin , my brother , my friend is smiling down at us ..
He is gone but never be forgetten .. I will love him till I will see him again
I will always celebrate life
Embrace every moment that comes . I will not wait for tomorrow , today is all that matters .
I will learn to let go of attachments . Accept the fact that everything in this realm of life are borrowed and temporary .
I will love no matter what and I will choose happiness.
Happiness is a choice . It is being grateful on those little moments that matters most . It is the smile of the young man eating his favorite chicken curry ( in his taste pallet this is the most delicious chicken curry in the entire planet 🙂) Or knowing that the children that you have raised knows the importance of Please, Thank you and Sorry.
It is that moment that your child walked into the aisle to recieved his highschool diploma. Or just simply having a good conversation with people that matters while enjoying the sunset .
Happiness is cheap and most of the time it is free . It is at times overlooked by the shimmering things that this world offers .
Look inside you , smile , breath and choose to be happy no matter what the circumtances are .
Today is a better day than yesterday . Today is a day to be grateful for . Today we will find that pulse of joy in our heart
❤️
jee426