IN THE END

TODAY'S QUOTE: In the end the only faults we will be asked to answer for will be our own; any others are not ours to either censure or correct. GLENDA ALEXANDER

Missteps and screw-ups litter every landscape we ever stumble through... ignoring them doesn't make for ease of travel. Making excuses won't alter the terrain. Pointed fingers always lead the way to senseless drama, but even the most sensible among us has either given directions or taken them. Wagging tongues make for such ugly faces; natural beauty melts like candle wax when gossip, true or not, comes spilling out over ruby red lips. 

It may seem easier to focus on someone else's shortcomings than to work on limiting your own, but what do you gain? A judgmental tongue in an honest person will tell facts as they see them and give unsolicited advice as if it were law. A judgmental tongue in a dishonest person will add layers of fiction to a bit of fact and spread it like icing on whoever feeds on dirty linen. The ones who fashion and repeat are quickly surrounded by people more than eager to listen, add their own flair, and retell never caring who gets hurt or what they destroy.    

Too much in our society has traveled lightning years past the, "if you can't say something nice, simply say nothing at all" portion of our evolution. Social media gives unlimited space in which to complain and criticize. At times it seems that we glory in the ugly side of life, while the beauty barely gets a glance. All negatives are noticed, reported, relished, and digested, leaving any positives in the dust to be trampled underfoot. I don't condone, support, or add an ounce of credit to what I find to be one of the most counter-productive practices that too many waste their precious time on... and you shouldn't either.

Tend to your own biscuits before you go trying to tell someone else how to make their own... or everyone is apt to end up with a filthy kitchen and an empty bread box. Let God do His job and you do yours. Maybe if we stop judging each other there'll be more visible reasons to love them. The sea gets rough enough without having others randomly adding rocks to your pockets so your drowning is certain. Think about it... let it ride... then YOU decide!!!!          

THE HUNT FOR HAPPINESS

JUST A THOUGHT: Things of real and lasting value do not cost green paper produced in a factory. Real happiness cannot be manufactured, but it can be grown. The only way to find what we seek is to reach our core... tend it gently... and harvest its bounty. GLENDA ALEXANDER

Donating your free-will for the price of love is always a heart-breaking, soul-shrinking rip off. Handing over something truly precious to gain what is falsely portrayed as priceless is a brutal life-lesson. Don't get me wrong... I know true love exists.  I also know that real love will never shrink you until you fit snuggly up under someone else's thumb. If you're made less in any fashion then think a bit deeper before you sign on the dotted line. If you use less heart and more brain you'll have a more than fair chance of avoiding being left emotionally bankrupt no matter what happens.

The beginning is where the tone is set for all that follows afterward. Dropping the ball during the dating negotiations is easy enough to do.  You forget one plus one makes two. In the haze of rosy delight all you notice is the answer and the equation is totally disregarded. Love is in the air... hearts and flowers blind us into believing that giving our all will finally guarantee our happiness. I speak from dire past experience when I say that's a fairytale of the most dangerous sort.

Lasting happiness doesn't come from the outside; we don't absorb it from the atmosphere. There isn't a patch we can wear... no injection to get... or any pill we can swallow will reproduce what our soul hungers for. There are people who bring joy to our lives, but they can't
make us whole if we're broken. And all of us are flawed in one fashion or another. Putting the responsibility of our happiness on anyone else's shoulders simply guarantees failure on two fronts. Of course they'll fail no matter how hard they try and after a time they'll simply stop trying. And our disappointment will inspire resentment so that all too soon our unhappiness becomes their fault. The end is never far behind. But that's not altogether a bad thing.

Some endings transform quickly into precious gifts, even though at the time they seem tragic. Sometimes it takes a bit of space to grieve for what is lost before you can see what's been found. Endings push you into change and force your focus inward. And more times than not that is a most wondrous thing. Finding yourself suddenly alone is overwhelming if you've spent a long time gifting someone else with all that you own. They may have taken your precious gift and twisted it beyond repair then tossed it back to you in a condition you don't even recognize. If so simply begin anew;   
 
Truly owning your three feet of personal space never comes cheap, but it's always worth any effort necessary to keep or regain possession of what's rightfully yours. Never allow self-doubt to render you helpless when the only way to achieve success is to simply act until it becomes  fact. Fight until you win, then protect what you own as if your very life depended upon it... because the quality of your life most certainly does. You won't cease to exist, but you'll ONLY exist. You'll simply be a warm body with a lukewarm life.

There's not a chance in hell, of freedom or happiness unless you're first willing and then able to risk it all to possess it all. I've been at both ends of this mindset or lack thereof; if I wasn't certain that it's possible to find peace and silence of the soul I wouldn't bother saying it so many times, in so many different ways. But you have to look in the right place or all your efforts will be as useless as looking for dry land at the bottom of the ocean. All the tools are core deep and if you haven't found them yet it's because you haven't dug deep enough. Think about it... let it ride... then YOU decide!!!