Your Space in my Blog: 14th of January 2009

ENDINGS ALWAYS BRING NEW BEGINNINGS

Starting over after losing James was probably the most daunting task I ever had to do in my life. James and I had planned a dream future and we knew exactly how to get there. But just like that, without any warning at all, he was suddenly gone… and so were our plans and our dreams.

How do you cope when you lose the most important person in your life? I wanted to wither and die behind the door that James closed on his way out of my life. Had there been a grave for him, I would have thrown myself in and joined him. Nothing else really mattered at that time. My life was over, or so I felt, and no amount of kind words from friends and family- not even from my own kids- could comfort me and erase my pain. I was totally lost in my grief.

The painful part was that there were people who could not relate to my pain and, instead of lending support, criticized me (that reached me, of course) either for healing “too fast” whenever I went out with friends or for getting “stuck in my grief” on those extended periods that I preferred to hibernate.

It is true that everyone grieves at his or her own pace. I took my time and that made a lot of people uneasy (maybe because there were those who were afraid that I would eventually become a burden to them). I stayed in that rut for 2 years and 3 months… until I decided to paint a new picture for my life and turn my grief into a new hope for the future. I suddenly realized that all the blessings I counted and thanked God for everyday for the last 2 years would be wasted if I did not put them to good use.

It was uncomfortable at first when the pros started to outweigh the cons of not being in a relationship anymore. I began to appreciate being able to decide on my own without need of conferring with anyone else to seek his approval. I found the true meaning of independence and that was so liberating for me.

Moving on does not mean that I have not loved him enough. It was a decision not to get stuck in the past. When James entered my life, there was no guarantee at all how long he would stay. So instead of wallowing in self pity, I focused on how fortunate I was to have experienced James’ unconditional and unfailing love in all of 22 years of my life.

Now I am able to laugh again. I have rebuilt my life and my strength. The blessings have taken a new meaning simply because I have learned to fully appreciate, enjoy and share them with others. And best of all, I have learned to love myself again.

P.S. Thank you so much for sharing with us this space for our thoughts. You are and will always be one of my favorite writers. More power to you, Paulo Coelho!!!

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It´s so needed for us human beings to wake up to our beingness – our beingness that is beneath our thoughts our feelings, who we think we are or were thought to be. We need to wake up and become conscious of the love that we are and live our lives spiritually conscious – now.
Here bellow is a short excerpt from one of Eckhart Tolle´s books. He is spiritual teacher that carries truth and love. Reading his books can bring about the shift in the reader´s consciousness that can wake one up.It´s from one of his books and http://www.eckharttolle.com

“When you are present in this moment, you break the continuity of your story, of past and future.
Then true intelligence arises, and also love.
The only way love can come into your life is not through form, but through that inner spaciousness that is Presence.
Love has no form.”
 
- Excerpt from Eckhart Tolle’s Stillness Amidst the World”

with love and respect.

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Human beings exist to learn what it means to dedicate themselves to the truth and confront the lies or illusions they have created. This revelation encourages a constant process of learning what it means to love and respect oneself. This also implies a willingness to self-monitor in order that we think and feel as accurately as possible the truth or reality as we perceive it at a given moment. When we lie to others, we also lie to ourselves. It is possible for every being to develop their capcity for openness and truthfulness. Witholding the thruth in favor of protecting a lie never serves you.

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olá Paulo

Tenho 44 anos sou mãe de quatro filhos e tenho uma história de vida bastante conturbada,porém muito voltada para a espiritualidade e respeito ao próximo…Vivo à procura de minha alma gêmea,em pensamento apenas,pois não gosto muito de sair de casa…(mas tenho ‘alma cigana”)gostaria de ser inspiração para um próximo livro seu,talvez se me desse oportunidade para lhe contar minhas histórias,vc me entenderia o porque desse ousado pedido…Sucesso,te admiro muito e a leitura de seu livro “O alquimista” mudou minha vida para sempre…

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I wrote a letter to President elect Obama and I am including the letter so you can read it:

Dear Mr President:

In July 25, 1898 U.S. Troops invaded Puerto Rico, a possession of Spain at the time, during the Spanish-American War. In December 10, 1898 the Treaty of Paris was signed and the relationship between the U.S. and Puerto Rico began. The relationship has not been easy at times, but we have come a long way after over 110 years of Puerto Rico being a U.S. colony. You might ask yourself why is he calling Puerto Rico a U.S. colony, if the United Nations in their Resolution 748 (VIII) of November 27, 1953 established that: “the people of the commonwealth of Puerto Rico…Have achieved a new constitutional status.” According to the United Nations we are not a colony of the U.S. anymore, but there are several reasons why I believe we are still a colony. Consider these:

1. United States laws apply to the Puerto Rican people without their consent.
2. United States laws can override provisions of the Commonwealth Constitution.
3. The President of the U.S. and executive appointees negotiate treaties and take other actions which affect Puerto Rico without consulting them.
4. Through the unilateral grant by Congress of diversity jurisdiction, U.S. courts decide cases involving strictly local matters of law.
5. There is no equality of comparability of rights between the U.S. citizens living in Puerto Rico and those domiciled in the States.
6. Congress assumes that it can unilaterally exercise plenary powers over Puerto Rico under the territorial clause of the United States Constitution.
7. The U.S. government contends that sovereignty over Puerto Rico resides solely in the U.S. and not in the people of Puerto Rico.
8. Both the Congress and the executive branch of the U.S. government accordingly act as if there were no compact between the United States and Puerto Rico, and some officials can even argue that none is legally possible. In spite of the statements to the contrary by the Supreme Court of the U.S. and the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, both Congress and the executive branch of the U.S. treat the Commonwealth in practice as if they were no different than any other territory or possession of the U.S.
9. Even if the courts eventually hold that there is now a binding compact and that this compact encompasses the Federal Relations Act, the consent extended by the Puerto Rican people in 1950 when accepting Law 600 in a referendum is overboard. Consent to the unrestricted application to Puerto Rico of all federal laws, past and future, does not thereby erase the colonial nature of such an agreement. A slave’s consent to bondage does not make him a free man. The realization of such a weakness in the Commonwealth structure has been, together with the insistence that Congress is vested with plenary powers over Puerto Rico, what has fueled Puerto Rican attempts in the past forty-odd years to enhance or improve Commonwealth status.
10. Puerto Rico plays no role in the life of the international community, either directly or indirectly as a participant in the decisions taken by the United States.
11. Commonwealth status as it is as present does not meet the decolonization standards established by the United Nations.
12. There is no known non-colonial relationship in the present world where one people exercises such vast, almost unbounded power over the government of another.

Given these facts I think it’s time, after over 110 years of colonial relationship between the U.S. and Puerto Rico, to decide what will become of Puerto Rico. In 1991 all parties in Puerto Rico petition Congress to authorize a plebiscite among the status formulas that Congress is willing to offer Puerto Rico. The bills failed. We have had the opportunity in November 14, 1993 hold a new plebiscite to decide what status formula we preferred for Puerto Rico, but without the approval of Congress this is a futile effort. We need for Congress and the executive branch to take action and decide what status formulas they will approve and let the Puerto Rican people vote on which one they prefer for their “island of enchantment”.

I am certain that a president with a new vision like you could be the one that finally see the importance of this matter to the Puerto Rican people and also the U.S. The U.S. has been a beacon of freedom and democracy in the world and the fact that the U.S. is one of the last nations that still hold colonies gives the world the wrong kind of message.

Thanks for your attention in this matter,
Manuel E Matos

If my letter gets enough votes it will be forwarded to Obama. You can vote for it here: http://citizensbriefingbook.change.gov/ideas/viewIdea.apexp?id=087800000004sVI

Thanks for your help!
Manolo Matos

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Excerpt from my blog:

2008 ended with some momentous shifts in my relationship with my parents. If you’ve been following the saga, you know that my relationship with my folks, who are still Jehovah’s Witnesses, has had its challenges since my leaving the “faith” three years ago. I am blessed in that my parents have never shunned me, as their religion would have them do, but it was obvious that our relationship was strained once I no longer held the same beliefs. This was more an issue with my mother, who has tended to be more hard-line in her devotion to the religion (somehow it feels strange to call it a cult now…not sure what that means).

Life gave me plenty of opportunity in 2008 to heal my hurt around my upbringing and move into greater love and acceptance of myself and my parents. I recognize that it is their journey and, as adults, they have the right to choose their own path. The child in me still wishes I hadn’t been dragged along for the ride, but it’s okay. I’m stronger for it. All of it.

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…

I’m not in school, I don’t follow any study. After I finished high school I went on to the Art Academy, but quit after two months after I had started to realise what kinda crap it actually was… The course of life: school, school, study, big job, death. Oh yea, and a side option of traveling for a year after high school, before attending a study.
Freedom: free to choose the study you wish to take, free to choose how to get the fundings for it. Free to choose your subjects, free to choose what job you want afterwards, free to decide what to spend your money on, free to choose how many kids you wanna have and how you are gonna raise them. Free to choose your life within the lines given to you. What about the Freedom to choose to cross these lines? Or to take another turn?

…

A few years back, I don’t recall how many exactly, I was with my good friend Fabiola and her mother Erna. We were just talking and it went from this to that, chitchat. I do remember it was one of those difficult times. Eventually Erna said to me “Your life will fall into place, it’ll soon be better and clearer. It won’t happen within one year, but in two or three.” I’ve always been so curious and hungry for more details about this prediction, but eventually I was able to let it go. And just a few minutes ago I suddenly realised that it came true.. That moment is now. I now understand what she meant… Happy tears, here!

And now, let me explain why I use the term Adventurer.
Another few years back, like two, there was a fair here in our building. And there was this lady with tarot cards and I wanted to have a reading. Eventually there were three important cards that would give the gist of the reading. The first card was Rebirth. The second card was Adventure which became my favourite card, because I also loved the picture on it. But I immediately felt a bond with it.
The third card was yet to be drawn. Rebirth and Adventure, together with the other cards, told that I was looking for something, like questing to find something important. That was definately true, for all my life I had felt like there were parts of Me missing and that I was searching for something, but I could never find out what. So I drew the card. It was totally black, just black. And it was called No Thingness.
I always thought it meant that I was looking for something immaterial, just something of which I would only know what it was, when I had found it. But now, only just now, have I come to understand what it truly means.
Rebirth and Adventure: a continuing quest for adventure. No Thingness simply means nothing else. There’s nothing else! There is nothing that I’m missing, because what I have been searching for is Me! And I’ve always had Me, so there’s nothing! I am an Adventurer, I live my life as Me and no one else, and there’s nothing else to it! There’s nothing I have to look for because I already have everything I’ll ever need to create the life for Me! There’s No Thingness in my way. Nothing! =D

…

From my blog.. http://www.pauliensartstudio.com

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Not being authentic, true, even when it might be painful to someone else, serves no one. Being true and authentic not only liberates yourself, it allows others to be liberated.

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All Western countries have gone and conquer the faraway lands, taken all the wealth and gloat about how clever we have been.

Because of our actions in the past and now, we are now faced with a multi-cultural society , whether we like it or not.

Whilst we are enjoying a high standard of living – not for much longer – we are still unwilling to take responsibility for all the devastation that has occurred and that we have inflicted onto these people.(Native Indians, Aboriginals, Black Americans, and many many others victims of wars, bigotry and narrow-mindedness.)

When are we going to realise that unless we change our way of thinking, we are heading nowhere?

A nation that calls themselves multi-cultural is to my mind, one who is going to embrace fully those who have suffered because of our actions. A nation that will respect the rights of these people to exist and that will allow them, through education, to participate fully into that society with the help of the government of that country.
A nation that is multi-cultural is a nation that is willing to teach foreign languages and committed to it and realise the full value of it (enriching and stretching the mind).

It is all in our hands, we have to demand the best.The time is now.

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http://www.grecola.blogspot.com/

Happiness conditions us: Investing without expecting anything in return

The currents of life are different, a sunset days where ideas, emotions and thoughts do not flow. Suddenly you’re wrapped in a black blanket, everything around you becomes a mess, then you examine and order because I think this happens, meditate, you’ll drown in your emotions, and that’s when you realize that something is not happening as you want to happen. And it’s part of life, the unexpected, change, life is not waiting for your decision to flow and your dreams become reality, you can not control the behavior of others, you can not criticize other people’s reality. There are several factors that influence and making life as you want it: 1 – Stop looking for explanations of everything, 2 – Stop criticizing the behavior of others, 3 – Failure to control everything around you, 4 – Enjoy the This 5 – Be as you are, without fear.

Sometimes you wonder why life because our behavior that we expect in the future, is the genetics of our parents and culture gained by nationality, in short patterns learned during your life. What is truth? – The truth is that we are taught from a young age that if we do not get what we want, we cry like babies when things are not happening as we wish we were unhappy, that happiness is a learned behavior based desires completed, trial and error. Then we used the black blanket? – We used to get opportunities to improve as people, to diversify our activities, how to find that happiness is not concentrated in one basket, because if this fails, we would have no happiness. Always have a chance to be happy, but it is a very personal decision, you should know that not everything in life is an investment fund, where such insurance in the future you’ll receive a return, however, there are investments in the near period which have a higher yield, which this call. When you invest you should bear in mind that it is likely that you stay with nothing, so I repeat that it is better to invest in various investment funds and looking for the standard deviation to measure the probability of return, always bearing in mind that everything has a risk and if the investments do not yield the expected result, the only thing you have is worth investing and risk.

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