Hello Past, it is me...goodbye!

Hello past, it is me. I have been thinking about you a lot these past few years. With every year that goes by, the year gone is added to my mental thoughts and consumes my present moments often suffocating me with a range of overwhelming feelings I have attached to you. I have to say you have driven my life and I have allowed for you to dictate many decisions I have made in present moments. Often not understanding that it has been you that has been my influence and contributor to my mental agitation. I have come to realize it is time for you and I to accept each other. It is time we shake hands and for me to leave you there....in the past. I accept you as you are because you were a part of my journey. I am grateful to you for making me the person I am but I no longer need you to haunt my my mind; to feel as if I could go back and fix all that I did wrong or relive all that I did right. You will forever be a part of me, but one that I should not carry on my back, but in my heart. In order to do so, I will leave all the guilt, the sadness and the anger with you. If I do think of you, I will be able to see you only as a reminder to continue to appreciate the present and to kindly dismiss you with only love. I will give you credit for every lesson I have learned and have applied and continue to apply to my journey. It is time to continue my chapters, so I will flip the page to the next ones with contentment. Hello past, it is me....goodbye.

10LE's "journey and the horizon"

Jesus Part II

...my opinion stands....Jesus was an enlightened man who should be admired for his teachings. The idea that he died for our sins so we will have eternal life is not enough of a statement for me to believe that statement as is. With that said, I would like to suggest "he died for our sins" is a metaphor. A metaphor that symbolizes he came here to teach us all how to approach ourselves, others and God to deliver us from the negativity we ourselves create like fear, hate and judgement. During my research, I have also found the story of Jesus' life  is not only original to the bible, but also to the Hindu religion with the birth and life of Krishna, in the Buddhist religion with the story of Buddha, the story of Odysseus, the story of Romulus,the story of Dionysus, the story of Horus and a few more. This is not to try to take away anything from Christians, but to simply become a well rounded informed being. As I have mentioned many times before, I am not one to put a limit on what God is and I feel if we all limit our thoughts and do not expand our knowledge, we will do ourselves an injustice and reject all that God wants for us to learn. Although I do not have anymore questions about Jesus, I will continue on my journey to learn more about his teachings, as I have continued to learn about Gandhi's teachings and Buddha's teaching. I have found they are all very very similar. In fact, Gandhi himself believed the similar suggestion I have made about Jesus: "What, then, does Jesus mean to me? To me, he was one of the greatest teachers humanity has ever had. To his believers, he was God’s only begotten Son.* Could the fact that I do or do not accept this belief make Jesus have any more or less influence in my life? Is all the grandeur of his teaching and of his doctrine to be forbidden to me? I cannot believe so....http://www.sacred-living.org/gandhi-what-jesus-means-to-me" my feelings exactly as Gandhi best put it.

10LE's God paints pretty pictures

The Bullshit Artist

Do you know one of those? You know, that one person who always tells you what you want to hear while knowing very well they have no plans of following through with what they are saying, are lying to you or just want to get a reaction out of you for entertainment purposes? You know, kind of like those politicians we see on TV or read about and all of their (empty) promises to the people. You know, kind of like that guy you adore who is just using you for sex. You know, kind of like that girl you adore who is just using you for your money? You know, kind of like that employee you have who always finds the best excuse for not meeting a deadline?

I have to admit I admire their artistry. Bullshit artists are master manipulators. They can lie without one ounce of remorse. They usually victimize themselves and blame shift every negative aspect of their lives to people who are blinded by their manipulation. They know which people to prey on and latch on to like leeches until all the blood is sucked out of their veins and the leech is big and fat but stays hungry and jumps on to the next weak soul. They are great poets and master archers who know which words to use to beat a person down and where to throw their arrows to finish them off. They don't know love for others, they only know love for themselves where their love for someone is only defined by how much that person loves them. Never genuine and always calculating....the Bullshit artist.

Change

They say the only guarantee in life is Change. Often times, we may not be ready for it and we are thrust into the whirlwind of life and given no tools (or what it seems to be no tools) to adjust to the change life has decided to present to us. Other times, we create the change for ourselves in hopes to better our situation. Either way, it is never easy. It will send you up, down, make you feel inside out or completely introverted to figure out how, why, how long and what to do next. Fortunately for me (or unfortunately according to some people), I grew up in an environment where things were always changing and I had to learn to adapt fast. Different countries, different cultures, different languages, different male (dad) figures, etc. I learned very early that nothing stays the same and it is always best to not get too attached since things are guaranteed to change. I firmly believe change builds character, it helps the soul grow, it provides for an interesting journey and often times teaches us lessons about ourselves that a stagnant life would not be able to. So why be afraid of change if nothing stays the same anyways?

Breaking up with Facebook is easy to do....

I disabled my facebook account for the second time on February 2, 2012. I had done it once before during the summer of 2011 for a couple of months. Facebook and I have been an item since late 2006. Back then, it was a "college" kids social network. I had a college email account, so I got a facebook. Fast Forward to 2012, the network has become a platform for "hey everyone, look at me! Look at how cool, beautiful, blessed, religious, politically educated, rich, deep, funny, talented, sad, depressed, ignorant, self absorbed...(and so many more things) I am!" It has sucked you in to participate in this superficial world where everyone only shows the best side of themselves and even then, that best side is usually not real at all. It has created the "facebook envy"a phenomena which suggests facebook users feel depressed after browsing through facebook and looking at their "friends'" pages. It has been the platform of gossip, where a new relationship, a break-up,a marriage, a divorce, a coming out or a simple "it's complicated" gets 20 likes in one hour or that "dislike" comment since there is no dislike button. It has been littered with thousands of "duck face" pictures where women (and some men) take self portraits of themselves blowing a kiss at the camera....those are my fave! NOT!

With all that said, it was very easy for me to break up with facebook. It has been a liberating experience this time around. The first time around, it was more so to get me focused on some things that needed my attention. It really worked! A lot of things happened during those 2 months of my facebook separation that allowed for me to center myself again. This time around, I broke up with facebook to center myself again and keep myself centered without the noise of the world and the distractions of the duck faces or who is on what vacation. Post break-up, I have come to realize, facebook and I have run our course and I am moving on to better things ( and no, it is not twitter). Although I am forever grateful to it for reconnecting me with my family overseas, they now have my email and can write or send pics that way....and if I need a good laugh, instead of browsing duck face pics, I just go to youtube and look up random funny videos. Today, I wish facebook and its 500 million + users well. Sending it a "duck face"!

Alone

Does that word sound sad to you? I don't hear sadness when I hear the word alone. I think being alone is a necessary from time to time. Human beings naturally need to have people around, feel affection and love; however, they should also be able to be alone. Alone with themselves without the noise of the world.
I have found being alone has allowed for me to be honest with myself. It has allowed for me to shut the opinions and ridicule of the world out. When I am alone, I am there with my thoughts. I am allowed to ask myself whatever I want and answer honestly, without the consequences of someone having some opinion about it. When I am alone, I recognize myself. I know who I am and I am able to see myself clearly without the pressure of being someone who everyone else wants me to be or what society expects. When I am alone, I am able to hate myself for things that I allow in my life. I am also able to love myself for having the strength and courage to do the things I never thought I could do. When I am alone, I find out new things about my being that I need to work on or that I feel would benefit others.
Be alone from time to time. Get rid of the noise of the world that tries so hard to mold us into these people that we know nothing about. After all, you know yourself better than anyone else.

My God

I have encountered some people who have tried to introduce me to their God, tried to convince me of their religion and tried to force me into their small box of beliefs. Although I appreciate their efforts, it is in their best interest I let them know I am not interested in religion, their God or their small box they fit everything in to. To explain why, here it is:

God is in the sunrise
God is in the sunset
God is in the breeze by the sea
God is every place I choose to be

God is in the highest mountain
God is in the deepest oceans
God is in the greenest land
God is in the dry desert sand

God is in the birds that fly
God is in the worm that crawls
God is in the bear that sleeps
God is in the willow that weeps

God is in my son's eyes
God is in the tears I cry
God is in the smiles I see
God is inside of me

I choose to live with the infinity of what God is. God is not a religion or a theory which promotes arrogance and hate. God is you, God is me. God is our journey and God is our destination.