Let Them Close

I came to a conclusion this Christmas season: there are too many things in this world. In the Western world for sure.

There are Christmas villages, Christmas fairs, Christmas stores, and than every other store has Christmas line of products as early as November, some October. Not as bad as in other places where it starts in September... like Philippines for instance. I'm not aware if things start earlier in any other place, but I wouldn't be surprised.

Merry Christmas

As I browsed various stores, the creativity, the variety, and the number or things on display is endless. And you know what? Looking at all there is, it occurred to me that there are not enough people to buy them all. Even discounted. Shoppers were scarce and some shops were quite empty day after day despite all the cute, beautiful ornaments and gifts offered. If anyone made money it was surely the venues renting out the spaces. Made money...

And it's not just at Christmas. It's a fact of life here: everything in excess. I find it somewhat amusing how people nowadays seem to rely so much of studies and research, as if you need "scientific" proof of everything before stating it. Yet, if you pay a bit of attention you will see with a naked eye what's happening. Here is the latest: it turns out someone did a study and found that 14 shops per day are closing on high streets in the UK. And if you do a search "stores closing down" you will find name after name of retailers big and small downsizing or going under completely. 

A Snippet of Gourmet Gifts

As far as I see, there are way too many clothes, shoes and things around here. For all to sell you'd have to have people shopping full time. Is this what we are made for? Shop till we drop? Get more things? 

Or is Christmas about that and giving gifts, or getting drunk, getting into fights, or going home crying, as observed on Christmas Eve streets?  

Don't get me wrong. I'm not against gifts. It's a beautiful thing - a "better to give than receive" thing. A gift it's given out of free will by definition, but I wonder if it's often felt as an obligation. I think it often puts pressure on people. And how come Santa doesn't bring one gift, but many? Aren't we letting the marketing industry, pushing a consumer culture, lullaby us into taking that as a norm? Like zombies, we go thru the motion to match the images broadcasted on the big screens, without stopping to ask whether that manipulation does us or our children any good.

Christmas is rather about giving the gift of love and good quality time with loved ones, reaching out, talking about the reason for the season and the difference it has made; leaving the worries and the bad behind, being thankful for what we've got, and forgiving, so that healing of mind and soul comes.

The Little Things in the Morning

So I'll say, let them close. Let things come into balance and let joy flow from above in and out of hearts full of gratitude. Than the New Year might be happy indeed!

What is your take on that?

My Failure at Failing

You’ve heard of Max Lucado? Considered one of the best writers of our times, he's got this amazing writing style where his prose flows like poetry. Beautiful.

Yet here is one striking fact about Max Lucado: as great as he is, nobody wanted to publish his first book. Do you think he gave up? Obviously, no. But he had to send his manuscript to fifteen publishers before one finally said yes.

John Maxwell, the famous leadership expert, asked him if he felt discouraged and ever considered giving up. Here is what Max Lucado replied: "No. Every time I got the manuscript back, I thought: Well, I’ll just try another publisher”.

Good thing somebody said yes before he ran out of publishers. J

Thumbs up for Lucado. This is what Maxwell calls: the ability fail. I wish I could say I’m good at it, but I’m not. Why? Maybe because nobody likes to fail, me including, and even less people want to admit it. We are geared towards success and we want to tell everyone about our successes. We want people to know us for our successes, don’t we?

Look on Facebook, Instagram or other social media venues. Everyone posts exciting vacation trips, happy family pictures, romantic moments, best shots. Nobody knows that on that trip they had the worst fight and most of the time they were bored; that that family is on the brink of divorce; that although smiling that apparently successful man is in deep depression, about to lose his job, or considering suicide. Many cringe inside, comparing their deepest feeling of misery to others’ most exciting moments, while still hitting like. 

Comparison. The biggest enemy of self-image. The birthplace of a failure mentality, for that matter. But is failure such a bad thing after all?

I’m learning that failure is not failure unless you fail to get up and try again. This is how unsuccessful people think. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit. After all, if life is a journey it is ok to hit potholes and bumps, to run out of gas, to get lost, but quitting gets one nowhere.

I’m learning that every successful person has failed many times and that there is value in failure. The founder of Honda Motors said: “Many people dream of success. To me success can be achieved only through repeated failure and introspection. In fact, success only represents 1 percent of your work that results from 90 percent of that which is called failure.”

I’m also learning that there is a difference in failing and seeing yourself as a failure. “I have failed” is different than “I’m a failure.” Somebody said that making mistakes is like breathing. But if you regard yourself as a failure you will never be successful, or hope for an improvement, because you’ve made failure your identity.

I’m learning that although many people will measure my success according to how often I have failed, or didn’t succeed, it’s been estimated that most successes failed an average of seven times before they succeed. So, it’s ok. Even if I’m only one step better than last time, I’m making progress.

So, depending on your attitude toward it, failure can make you sink to the bottom or help you along the journey. And a lesson to learn is how to fail forward. 

To do that, I thought to adopt a different attitude when encountering failure, inspired from smarter people, like J. Maxwell:

1.  Not to take it personally – I've messed up. No doubt. I’ll do better next time.
2.  Let it be a learning experience & use it to grow – unwillingness to be stopped by failure & willingness to learn from failure.
3. Not to give up, regardless of what other say – failure comes easily to everyone, but the price of success is perseverance.
4. Let failure redirect my life – it’s just an adjustment, it’s not that I’m bad or wrong. But if the passion is still burning in my heart, the right thing to do is to keep going.
5. Keep a sense of humor – it’s easy to laugh when everything is going great, but it’s important to laugh when everything is going wrong. I love this quote.

There are always possibilities out there. If not, we have the capacity to create them. Look around, everything was created by humans, just like us. Surely, there is a door somewhere. Seek and you’ll find. Knock and it will be open onto you. Even, if sometimes we have to take detours. And when you really want it, someone said that the whole universe will join in to help. I call it the hand of God.

p.s. To the point -  watch and be encouraged.

I Love This Country

That’s right who wouldn’t… Yesterday I went shopping. Initially, I was going to spend 30 min. on it, but what an impractical idea… Why did I think I that I could never spend 4 hours in one store only?  

I used to think the saying “shop till you drop” was made up because it rimes beautifully, but now I know it actually is true. When my friend Ann arrived 5 hours later I was asking her, if she has something to eat. 

After another two hours in the next store I chose two items and was ready to go. Yes, only two. After all that time? Exactly. Whoever thinks shopping is just for fun or a waste of time… not true. I realized this is a way to build up your biceps, gluteus maximus, quadriceps, back, abdominals, cardio, and many more. Not to forget the brain employment that goes into sorting, comparing, analyzing and deciding.

The real fun awaited me in the end. The original total price was $84. But with all the discounts and the coupons the store offered, I ended up paying $1.52. I walked out of that store with the sensation that I got hit with a canister. Really? $1.52? Hah! What a steal!

I love this country. Who wouldn’t?

And listen to this. If for any reason I’m not happy with my purchase I can return it within a couple or three months and get all my money back. This is called the return policy. For that money, why wouldn’t one be happy with any purchase?

Tell me One Thing...

Wow!!! What a great blogger I am. I'm consistently posting at a frequency of one post per year. So impressive. I'm even considering starting a second blog... Uh!

It seems that life happens at such speed and I don't have the time to sit and record it. I'm afraid to miss smth. So many stories I could have written just as great as the others about how "wonderful" life can be.

Sometimes I wonder if anybody really would like my stories, since they all have this sharp cutting edge. Perhaps you are looking for something more inspiring?.. Well, I guess whatever impresses me, I write. And some things I find shockingly impressive. Like for instance, the public minibus driver who calls a 9 year old a "debil", which really means "idiot", "retarded". Should I tell you why? Or does it really matter? Poor kid was struggling to close the door, so when it finally closed, it slammed. What is even more impressive is that none of the adults said anything to that, nobody raised to defend the child... Funny society.

Hot chocolate in the middle of the night (almost like coffee)

Or a friend tells me her supervisor is "chewing" her out. When she complained to higher authorities the response she got was: try to be manipulative, be "nicer" to her (which really meant: 'kiss her butt'). I don't know why I find this hysterically sad. Perhaps I'm pretty naive. When will I grow up finally?!

My Chicken Identity & The Bribe

I'm sitting here trying to write my paper...I picked the Development of Old Age and Related Issues. I'm just curious about this topic. Besides, I don't think anybody else picked it. But, my mind is drifting away...

The statements of the psychology teacher that women have evolved from chicken are echoing in my ears... Yes, she was dead serious about it. She says she saw the comparison between brains and that they look similar. Also, she asks: "Did you notices how chicken are looking at the sun? Tilting their head on one side? Women do the same."

My great great great great great great.... grandma.

I guess there are exception, as with anything... But isn't it just so confidence-boosting? It so builds up self-esteem and helps a great deal, if one is uncertain of his/her identity. It's great to finally know you are kin-souls with a chicken; to feel the connection, when you're about to have it for dinner...