Thank you all for the support and encouragement. The manuscript has been moved forward to the formatting stage, first for the hard copy and then the digital copy. The above and image is another one line, no explanation, and no context from my upcoming memoir > Cowboys Are Not Supposed to Cry.
Sometimes you just need to put your toes in the water, your ass in the sand and let the world go by. #Quote #MotivationMonday #Encouragement #SelfCare #MentalHealth
What are we to make of this? I reckon whether it is righteousness, mercy, justice or punishment we all have it coming. In the film Gladiator, Maximus played by Russell Crowe makes the following statement at the beginning of the film before a big battle scene.
“What we do in life, echoes in eternity.”
Whether this is true or not, whether you believe it or not, I do believe there are things we do in this life that will echo in eternity. The biggest of these is the decision where we will spend eternity after we die. Yes, I believe that decision is left to us, via our own God granted free will.
That is the reckoning we all have coming and it is based on our ultimate choice. And each little choice we make each day and each hour can lead us towards this final choice. Either towards blessings or curses, heaven or hell.
βThere are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done.” All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. Those who knock it is opened.β β C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce
βThere are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done.” ~C.S. Lewis ‘The Great Divorce’ #Quote #Choices #HeavenOrHell
The phrase “Do not fear” in one form or another occurs in the bible hundreds of times from Genesis to Revelation and Jesus says “Do not fear” fourteen times. If I may be so bold as to paraphrase Jesus in the vernacular of today and in relation to our current situation.
“CHILL OUT!”
“I have this all under control.”
There is a peace beyond understanding and I pray this for all who are reading this now in the days to come. It is a crazy, mixed up, shook up world right now and we all need strength to face what this way comes. Treating each other as fellow brothers and sisters, not as political ideologies and social agendas. As C.S Lewis said,
“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to aΒ mereΒ mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations – these areΒ mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit – immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.”
“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to aΒ mereΒ mortal. ~C.S. Lewis #Quote
As I look back over my life, the questions haunt me, βhave I succeeded?β and ‘how do you define a successful life?’
Success by the worlds standards might include the following:
He who has the most toys wins!
Building wealth and showing it off!
Amassing a large social media following!
Having a perfect relationship and a trophy companion!
Launching a billion-dollar business that changes the world!
I am sure you can think of many others things that might apply as well.
If you donβt define success for your life, someone else will define it for you.
What mountain are you climbing?
How do you know if it is the right one at the right time?
When you reach the summit will you seeΒ yourΒ mountain off in the distance?
For me the idea of a successful life has shrunk over the years. Not in terms of impact but in terms of grandiosity and self-serving vanity. The Emerson quote has been a favorite of mine since the first time I read it.
To laugh often and much to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others to leave the world a little better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is the meaning of success.
I have stood at the bedside as a last breath was taken and I have no doubt my presence made that breath a little easier. You can read about this in my memoir to be published in 2021 and an update in a previous post here. I pray that I have also helped others breathe a little easier in times of trouble, strife and pain. For what good is a life that offers nothing of value to other human beings, living things and the world around us?
It’s probably not surprising to paraphrase Emerson this is my definition of success >
Fairy tales do not tell children the dragons exist. Children already know that dragons exist. Fairy tales tell children the dragons can be killed. ~G.K. Chesterton #Quote #MotivationMonday #MondayBlogs
It is time to believe in fairy tales again, for the dragon is at our door. He is real, he exists, we must believe and fight with the faith of a child, always believing he can be beaten. ~M #WarriorPoets #Quote #MotivationMonday
I am currently slaying some of my own dragons having writen my memoir which is to be published in Spring of 2021. You can read the announcement from last Saturday here or by clicking on the image below. π
To paraphrase Soren Kierkegaard, life must be lived forward but can only be understood backwards. Thus, does it not suggest that our lives are in front of us?
We live, we love, we laugh, we cry, we suffer and we grieve, and only afterwards can we understand the meaning behind the moments.
They say each journey begins with that first step, followed by another until we are on our way. To paraphrase Bilbo Baggins (J.R.R. Tolkien) it is a dangerous business going out your front door for there is no telling where you might be swept off to.
Doesn’t the true adventure lie in the unknown? In not knowing what might lie just up ahead, as our nervousness rises our yearning for adventure drives us forward!
Doesn’t the true adventure lie in not knowing what comes next?
My friends, what is stopping you from taking that first step on your own great adventure? #LiveYourDreams #MotivationMonday #MondayBlogs
