VINELA MOTI

Speak thoughtfully

Speak thoughtfully

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once an old man spread rumors that his neighbor was a thief. As a result, the young man was arrested. Days later the young man was proven innocent. After being released he sued the old man for wrongly accusing him. In the court the old man told the Judge: "They were just comments, didn't harm anyone." The judge told the old man: "Write all the things you said about him on a piece of paper. Cut them up and on the way home; throw the pieces of paper out. Tomorrow, come back to hear the judgment." Next day, the judge told the old man: "Before receiving the judgment, you will have to go out and gather all the pieces of paper that you threw out yesterday."  The old man said: "I can't do that! The wind spread them and I won't know where to find them." The judge then replied: "The same way, simple comments may destroy the honor of a man to such an extent that one is not able to fix it. If you can't speak well of someone, rather don't say anything." "Let's all be masters of our mouths, so that we won't be slaves of our words."

The Power Of Focused Thoughts

Positive Healing

***I have been using this in my meditation for all whom were affected by Hurricane Sandy. Knowing love and healing know no distance.***

When you focus your thoughts in a positive healing way it can be used very successfully to aid in the healing of yourself, another, an animal, a plant, or even a situation!

All you have to do to start is find a quiet spot, no phones or disturbances. Now quietly listen to your breath, slowly and gently allow a sense of peace to come over you. Begin to fill yourself with a prevailing feeling of joy.

(An easy way to do this would be to think of something that fills you with unadulterated love, such as holding your own child, or maybe think of a puppy, use a thought that fills you full of pure compassionate love).

Feel this love and appreciation bubble up inside you. Now as you hold onto this feeling turn your thoughts to your chosen subject. In my case it is to all whom were affected by Hurricane Sandy.

Shower them with love.

You don't even have to spend a lot of time on this, just 5 minutes helps and this can be done while close to your subject, or from a distance, and no distance is too great.

Wishing everyone a safe and healthy holiday season.

Peace and Rain boots,

--- Copyright © 2012 Cynthia Farina

5 Tips To Stay Positive

Have you noticed how the small things in life affect your everyday living?

Did you get a cheery "good morning" at the breakfast table this morning or just a grumble? Did you give a warm smile and happy greeting in return? Do you look people in the eye and give them your undivided attention when they speak? Do you really listen for a reply when you ask someone a question? Do you really care or do you insulate yourself from the negative views you hear each day?

I hope your response was positive to all the questions above, for none of us wants to be that negative person in life. How do we remain positive, when so many negative things happen around us each day?

1. Make enthusiasm a daily habit. Wake up happy. Be thankful for the day ahead. Think positively early in the day. It can carry you through the hardest days. Don't let negative people predetermine your worth.
   
   
2. Don't be a grudge collector. We can all recite incidents in life when we felt slighted by someone, turned off by one's negative actions, or even insulted by someone. It's easy to rekindle a negative attitude if we continue to remember those occasions or react to them. Forget them. They're not worth reliving.
   
   
3. Don't brag. Get high in doing good for your own self-worth, not for recognition. If you seek to set yourself above others by your deeds, you could quickly find that you are inadequate instead of proud.
   
   
4. Have a positive support group. Make friends of those who have this same attitude about life. You'll find the mutual support of each other the reward you need to keep the proper positive attitude.
   
   
5. Give God the glory for what you have. Make everyday the best day possible. Once the day is gone, it is gone forever.

Live in the today. Keep hope for tomorrow. Live on His promises and keep the faith. But, live this and every morning with a Godly heart and your days will be filled with His blessings. 


--- Copyright © 2012 Bob Stoess
Bob Stoess is a Retired CEO, prolific writer and wonderful mentor.

The Night Before Christmas

It was the night before Christmas in Ghana and I was very sad because my family life had been severely disrupted and I was sure that Christmas would never come. There was none of the usual joy and anticipation that I always felt during the Christmas season. I was eight years old, but in the past few months I had grown a great deal.

Before this year I thought Christmas in my Ghanaian village came with many things. Christmas had always been for me one of the joyous religious festivals. It was the time for beautiful Christmas music on the streets, on radio, on television and everywhere.

Christmas had always been a religious celebration and the church started preparing way back in November. We really felt that we were preparing for the birth of the baby Jesus. Christmas was the time when relatives and friends visited each other so there were always people traveling and visiting with great joy from all the different ethnic groups. I always thought that was what Christmas was all about.

Oh, how I wished I had some of the traditional food consumed at the Christmas Eve dinner and the Christmas Day dinner. I remembered the taste of rice, chicken, goat, lamb, and fruits of various kinds. The houses were always decorated with beautiful paper ornaments. The children and all the young people loved to make and decorate their homes and schools with colorful crepe paper.

All of us looked forward to the Christmas Eve Service at our church. After the service there would be a joyous procession through the streets. Everyone would be in a gala mood with local musicians in a Mardi Gras mood.

Then on Christmas Day we all went back to church to read the scriptures and sing carols to remind us of the meaning of the blessed birth of the baby Jesus. We always thought that these were the things that meant Christmas.

After the Christmas service young people received gifts of special chocolate, special cookies and special crackers. Young people were told that the gifts come from Father Christmas, and this always meant Christmas for us. They also received new clothes and perhaps new pairs of shoes.

Meanwhile throughout the celebration everyone was greeted with the special greeting, "Afishapa," the Akan word meaning "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year." Oh how I wish that those memories were real tonight in order to bring us Christmas.

However, this Christmas Eve, things were different and I knew Christmas would never come. Every one was sad and desperate because of what happened last April when the so-called Army of Liberation attacked our village and took all the young boys and girls away.

Families were separated and some were murdered. We were forced to march and walk for many miles without food. We were often hungry and we were given very little food. The soldiers burned everything in our village and during our forced march we lost all sense of time and place.

Miraculously we were able to get away from the soldiers during one rainy night. After several weeks in the tropical forest we made our way back to our burned out village. Most of us were sick, exhausted, and depressed. Most of the members of our families were nowhere to be found. We had no idea what day or time it was.

This was the situation until my sick grandmother noticed the reddish and yellow flower we call "Fire on the Mountain" blooming in the middle of the marketplace where the tree had stood for generations and had bloomed for generations at Christmas time. For some reason it had survived the fire that had engulfed the marketplace.

I remembered how the nectar from this beautiful flower had always attracted insects making them drowsy enough to fall to the ground to become food for crows and lizards. We were surprised that the fire that the soldiers had started to burn the marketplace and the village did not destroy the "Fire on the Mountain" tree. What a miracle it was. Grandmother told us that it was almost Christmas because the flower was blooming. As far as she could remember this only occurred at Christmas time.

My spirits were lifted perhaps for a few minutes as I saw the flower. Soon I became sad again. How could Christmas come without my parents and my village? How could this be Christmas time, when we celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace because since April we have not known any peace, only war and suffering? How could we celebrate as grandmother instructed us to do before she died? Those were the last words she spoke before she died last night.

As I continued to think about past joyous Christmases and the present suffering, we heard the horn of a car and not just one horn but several cars approaching our village. At first we thought they were cars full of men with machine guns so we hid in the forest. To our surprise they were not soldiers and they did not have guns. They were just ordinary travelers.

It seemed the bridge over the river near our village had been destroyed last April as the soldiers left our village. Since it was almost dusk and there were rumors that there were land mines on the roads, they did not want to take any chances. Their detour had led them straight to our village.

When they saw us they were shocked and horrified at the suffering and the devastation all around us. Many of these travelers began to cry. They confirmed that tonight was really Christmas Eve. All of them were on their way to their villages to celebrate Christmas with family and friends. Now circumstances had brought them to our village at this time on this night before Christmas.

They shared the little food they had with us. They even helped us to build a fire in the center of the marketplace to keep us warm. In the middle of all this, my oldest sister became ill and could not stand up.

A short time after we returned to our village my grandmother told me that my oldest sister was expecting a baby. My sister had been in a state of shock and speechless since we all escaped from the soldiers. I was so afraid for my sister because we did not have any medical supplies and we were not near a hospital.

Some of the travelers and the villagers removed their shirts and clothes to make a bed for my sister to lie near the fire we had made. On that fateful night my sister gave birth to a beautiful baby boy.

This called for a celebration, war or no war. Africans have to dance and we celebrated until the rooster crowed at 6 a.m. We sang Christmas songs. Every one sang in his or her own language. For the first time all the pain and agony of the past few months went away.

When morning finally came my sister was asked, "What are you going to name the baby?" would you believe for the first time since our village was burned and all the young girls and boys were taken away, she spoke. She said, "His name is "Gye Nyame," which means "Except God I fear none." And so we celebrated Christmas that night.

Christmas really did come to our village that night, but it did not come in the cars or with the travelers. It came in the birth of my nephew in the midst of our suffering. We saw hope in what this little child could do.

This birth turned out to be the universal story of how bad things turned into universal hope, the hope we found in the Baby Jesus. A miracle occurred that night before Christmas and all of a sudden I knew we were not alone any more.

Now I knew there was hope and I had learned that Christmas comes in spite of all circumstances. Christmas is always within us all. Christmas came even to our Ghanaian village that night.

--- Copyright © 1999 Peter E. Adotey Addo

Good one

" Like a river, always finding way round its obstructions, so am I. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is going to stop me from achieving my dreams because in me, God put a seed of greatness. That I know!"

willpower

" Your willpower to overcome every intention in life is a significant gift! Your meaning, purpose and goal will guide you to a better day! Choose to apply your unlimited gifts to others and guide them to the next level of positive encouragement! Fulfillment and satisfaction are yours for the taking! Take them and run with the wind!!! Do it every day and DO IT BIG!!!"

New Year

" The New Year is what you make out of it... it does not come with goodies but with Hope to create Opportunities."

fight what you want

If you don't fight for what you want, then don't cry for what you lost.

चाहतों की हद

चाहतों की हद तक चाहा उसे, सिर्फ अपना दिल निकाल कर उसे दिखा न सके.

ठोकरें

ठोकरें खाकर भी न संभले तो मुसाफिर का नसीब,

वर्ना.. पत्थर तो अपना फ़र्ज़ निभा ही दिया करतें हैं,

भूलने में वक़्त लगेगा

तुम्हे भूलने में कुछ वक़्त लगेगा,

और वो कुछ वक़्त, जिंदगी है मेरी..

कंगाल बने बैठे

बरक्क्तें चाहते तो झोलियाँ भर ली होती अपनी हमने,

किसी एक की चाहत में बस यूं ही कंगाल बने बैठे हैं हम…..

तारीख़ बदली है

तारीख़ हज़ारों साल में बस इतनी सी बदली है.. 

तब दौर था पत्थर का, अब लोग हैं पत्थर के....

बेवफाई का हिसाब

अपनों की बेवफाई का हम भी आखिर, कितना हिसाब रखते,

एक आईना रख लिया है जेब में, उन को खुद का चेहरा दिखाने के लिए.

- मधु गजाधर

खता

खता तो जब हो कि हम हाले दिल किसी से कहें,

किसी को चाहते रहना कोई खता तो नहीं.

रात भर जागने का मज़ा

फ़क्त ख्वाबों से ही नहीं मिलता सकूं सोने का मेरे दोस्त, 

किसी की याद में रात भर जागने का भी अपना मज़ा है...... !!

उम्र मुहब्बत

तू मिला है तो ये एहसास हुआ है,

ये मेरी उम्र मुहब्बत के लिए थोड़ी है.

इज़हार-ए-मुहोब्बत

इज़हार-ए-मुहोब्बत यूं कोई गुनाह तो नहीं है लेकिन,

गैरों से कर के इज़हार इसे, गुनाह उस ने बना डाला 

-मधु गजाधर

खुश्क आँखों से रोना

खुश्क आँखों से रोना ये हुनर नहीं, मजबूरी है हमारी...

तुझे दुनिया की नज़रों में गिराना, हमें आज भी मंज़ूर नहीं 

-मधु गजाधर

इंसान

मुझे देख कर तेरी हैरानी लाज़मी है,

इस दौर में इंसान कम ही मिला करते हैं।

हदें

हदें ही तो पार नहीं की कभी हमने 

और खुद को हद के पार देख लिया