zaterdag 30 juni 2012

... Not the destination


What is the key to our happiness and success in this physical world? That question has been asked for thousands of years, but the answer is so obvious we never see it.

To be successful in the physical world we live in we know, we must dream and look to the future ... create goals for our life’s path. Yet when we reach these goals we often feel unhappy, unfulfilled and miserable ... Why is this?

The reason is simply, we plan for the future, set goals, but we must live in the moment!

That means we learn to love the journey,
because happiness is found in the journey,
not the destination.

Jezelf zijn


Je zal ooit moeten kiezen,
voor waarheid of voor schijn.
want je kunt je zelf verliezen,
door nooit jezelf te zijn.

Toon Hermans

Pleasure of love lasts but a moment,
Pain of love lasts a lifetime.

"Sometimes love is for a moment.
Sometimes love is for a lifetime.
Sometimes a moment is a lifetime"

All I really need to know I learned in kindergarten


Share everything.

Don't hit people.

Put things back where you found them.

Clean up your own mess.

Don't take things that aren't yours.

Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.

Wash your hands before you eat.

Flush.

Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.

Live a balanced life -
learn some and drink some and draw some and paint
some and sing and dance and play and work everyday some.

Take a nap every afternoon.

When you go out into the world,
watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together
Be aware of wonder.
Remember the little seed in the stryrofoam cup --
The roots go down and the plant goes up
and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.

Goldfish and hamster and white mice
and even the little seed in the styrofoam cup --
they all die. So do we.

And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books
and the first word you learned -
the biggest word of all - "LOOK."

Robert Fulghum

vrijdag 29 juni 2012

How to stay young


Youth is not a time of life - it is a state of mind; it is a temper of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions, a pre dominance of courage over timidity, of the appetite for adventure over love of ease.

Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years; people grow old only by deserting their ideals.

Years wrinkle the skin,
but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.

Worry, doubt, self-distrust, fear and despair - these are the long, long years that bow the head and turn the growing spirit back tot dust.

Whether seventy or sixteen, there is in every being’s heart the love of wonder, the sweet amazement of the stars and the starlike things and thoughts, the undaunted challenge of events, the unfailing childlike appetite for what next, and the joy and the game of life.

You are as young as your faith,
as old as your doubt;
as young as your self-confidence,
as old as your fear;
as young as your hope,
as old as your despair.

So long as your heart receives messages of beauty, cheer, courage, grandeur and power from the earth, from man and from the Infinite, so long you are young. When the wires are all down and the central place of your heart is covered with the snows of pessimism and the ice of cynicism, then you are grown old indeed and may God have mercy on your soul.

Based on a poem originally entitled "Youth"
written by the late Samuel Ullman of Birmingham, Alabama.

Reading


Is everyone’s life really that different,
or is there a thread that connects us all?
The experiences we have seem oddly connected,
you’ll understand my friend at the end of the long haul.

You say to yourself "What a coincidence"
you’re asking yourself "Is this just a clue"
All things that have happened before this moment,
are connected correctly … spooky, but true!

To get to a place that you want to be,
set your thoughts on it and then magically…
This place in your mind suddenly appears,
as long as you’re not just plain insincere.

It’s mind over matter at work in your life,
irony and destiny but hopefully not strife.
Mind over matter is a powerful tool,
use it correctly and follow the rules.

You’ve got to know where you are trying to go,
you’ve got to know why or the answer is no.
But all things are possible through mind in this life,
from money & fame to the spiritual life.

Just decide on the things you want as your goal,
use mind over matter and bring shape to the whole.
You’ll see life’s connections in all that you do,
re-living the future … it’s like deja vu.

But you’ve got to hold on to that feeling inside,
of wanting and striving and direction and pride,
or mind over matter becomes words on a page,
and life in this miracle becomes lines on the stage.

Viktor Kahn

Als we de eeuwigheid niet zien als een eeuwig voortduren in tijd,
maar als tijdloosheid,
dan behoort het eeuwige leven toe aan hen,
die in het moment leven.

Denken


Ik denk te ik
Te weinig jij
Te weinig gebonden
Te weinig vrij.

Denk ik te rap?
Denk ik te snel?
Denk ik te slap?
Ik denk van wel.

Ik denk te zuur
Te weinig zoet
Dat komt, men heeft mij nooit geleerd
Hoe ik denken moet.

Toon Hermans

Op Arturo Toscanini’s 80ste verjaardag vroeg iemand aan zijn zoon, Walter, wat zijn vader beschouwde als zijn meest belangrijke realisatie.

De zoon antwoordde: " Voor hem bestaat er zoiets niet.
Wat er ook dient te gebeuren op een bepaald moment
is op dat moment het belangrijkste iets in zijn leven
- of het nu gaat om het leiden van een symfonie
of het pellen van een sinaasappel".

Ardis Whitman 1905-1990

donderdag 28 juni 2012


God slaapt in de stenen
beweegt in de planten
droomt in de dieren
en ontwaakt uiteindelijk in de mens

Vedisch gezegde

Sigmund

Sigmund

Tijd



Moeder liefde

Waarom?


Waarom hebben wij elkaar ontmoet
in de avondschemering van ons leven?
En niet in de dageraad van ons bestaan,
Zonder herinnering, zonder verleden?

Jong, onervaren, puur en nog zo zoet
Wij hadden samen veel kunnen beleven.
Aan elkaar wennen, overal samen gaan,
Een mooie toekomst voor ons smeden.

Tijd kunnen we spijtig niet terugdraaien
Laat ons dus genieten van elk moment.
Elkaar beminnen, kussen, zacht aaien
Naar elkaar luisteren, liefdevol en attent.

In solitude, when we are least alone


It takes time to fall in love with true solitude. And it takes practice. To spend more time with yourself, be out in the world alone and not rush to meet people every weekend. It takes time and practice. But once you get out of that dependency that need for socializing, the bliss of all the things in the world await us.

What is true solitude one would wonder. True solitude is when you achieve true awareness, sensing the presence of that which is forever ignored. The shape of my finger tips and toes, the fine lines on my palms, the shape of my footprint, the tiny squirrel family in the tree outside my house and their daily tik tiking sounds, the whiskers of my cat and his claws, the direction of the breeze that hits me, rustle of the trees I live around.

I can go on n on n on ...

Solitude is beautiful.

Pas als het verlangen doorleefd is
en het verlangen is verdwenen,
pas dan is een mens vrij.

"Als je gehecht bent aan het concept van vrije wil, ga dan je gang en breng het in de praktijk: Kies voor de komende twee weken alléén maar gelukkige gedachten en gevoelens. Welke waarde heeft de vrije wil als we die niet in de praktijk kunnen brengen?"

Stephen Wingate

The three little pigs


The animal I really dig,
Above all others is the pig.
Pigs are noble. Pigs are clever,
Pigs are courteous. However,
Now and then, to break this rule,
One meets a pig who is a fool.

What, for example, would you say,
If strolling through the woods one day,
Right there in front of you you saw
A pig who'd built his house of STRAW?

The Wolf who saw it licked his lips,
And said, 'That pig has had his chips.'
'Little pig, little pig, let me come in!'
'No, no, by the hairs on my chinny-chin-chin!'
'Then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in!'

The little pig began to pray,
But Wolfie blew his house away.
He shouted, 'Bacon, pork and ham!
Oh, what a lucky Wolf I am!'

And though he ate the pig quite fast,
He carefully kept the tail till last.
Wolf wandered on, a trifle bloated.
Surprise, surprise, for soon he noted
Another little house for pigs,
And this one had been built of TWIGS!

'Little pig, little pig, let me come in!'
'No, no, by the hairs on my chinny-chin-chin!'
'Then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll blow your house in!'

The Wolf said, 'Okay, here we go!'
He then began to blow and blow.
The little pig began to squeal.
He cried, 'Oh Wolf, you've had one meal!
Why can't we talk and make a deal?
The Wolf replied, 'Not on your nelly!'
And soon the pig was in his belly.

'Two juicy little pigs!' Wolf cried,
'But still I'm not quite satisfied!
I know how full my tummy's bulging,
But oh, how I adore indulging.'

So creeping quietly as a mouse,
The Wolf approached another house,
A house which also had inside
A little piggy trying to hide.

'You'll not get me!' the Piggy cried.
'I'll blow you down!' the Wolf replied.
'You'll need,' Pig said, 'a lot of puff,
And I don't think you've got enough.'

Wolf huffed and puffed and blew and blew.
The house stayed up as good as new.
'If I can't blow it down,' Wolf said,
I'll have to blow it up instead.
I'll come back in the dead of night
And blow it up with dynamite!'

Pig cried, 'You brute! I might have known!'
Then, picking up the telephone,
He dialed as quickly as he could
The number of red Riding Hood.

'Hello,' she said. 'Who's speaking? Who?
Oh, hello, Piggy, how d'you do?'
Pig cried, 'I need your help, Miss Hood!
Oh help me, please! D'you think you could?'
'I'll try of course,' Miss Hood replied.
'What's on your mind ...?' 'A Wolf!' Pig cried.
'I know you've dealt with wolves before,
And now I've got one at my door!'

'My darling Pig,' she said, 'my sweet,
That's something really up my street.
I've just begun to wash my hair.
But when it's dry, I'll be right there.'

A short while later, through the wood,
Came striding brave Miss Riding Hood.
The Wolf stood there, his eyes ablaze,
And yellowish, like mayonnaise.

His teeth were sharp, his gums were raw,
And spit was dripping from his jaw.
Once more the maiden's eyelid flickers.
She draws the pistol from her knickers.

Once more she hits the vital spot,
And kills him with a single shot.
Pig, peeping through the window, stood
And yelled, 'Well done, Miss Riding Hood!'

Ah, Piglet, you must never trust
Young ladies from the upper crust.
For now, Miss Riding Hood, one notes,
Not only has two wolfskin coats,
But when she goes from place to place,
She has a PIGSKIN TRAVELLING CASE.

Roald Dahl

It is in the silence that you will find God


I’m sitting in a boat,
mist drops, cold breeze, nothing.
It is silent.
The ocean rippled and roared.
I sat silently trying not to wince.

"It is in the silence that you will find God"

I gave up looking, striving, finding, searching
because I don’t know
what I’m looking for,
not sure what I want either.

Perhaps I simply want to find peace,
to be at peace with myself.

Even when the droplets of water start blurring my vision,
storms making me sick and cold,
even when I find myself alone in the boat.

I want to find my soul settled,
when I dip my head into deep waters,
hold my breath and let go.

woensdag 27 juni 2012

Finding God


We need to find God and God cannot be found
in noise and restlessness.
God is the friend of silence.

See how nature – trees and flowers and grass
– grow in silence.

See the stars, the moon and the sun,
how they move in silence.

The more we receive in silent prayer,
the more we can give in our active life.

Mother Teresa

Rust - stilte

Rust — stilte.
Zonder beweging of geluid.

Rust is de toestand, die intreedt, als een beweging of werking ophoudt; stilte is de toestand na 't ophouden van een heftige, van geluiden vergezeld gaande beweging, of wel: de afwezigheid van elk geluid.



Onze stilte

We kunnen niet meer in stilte geboren worden,
we kunnen niet meer in stilte opgroeien,
we kunnen niet meer in stilte spelen,
we kunnen niet meer in stilte naar school,
we kunnen niet meer in stilte verliefd worden,
we kunnen niet meer in stilte vrijen,
we kunnen niet meer in stilte trouwen,
we kunnen niet meer in stilte van de natuur genieten,
we kunnen niet meer in stilte naar muziek luisteren,
we kunnen niet meer ins stilte ziek zijn,
we kunnen niet meer ins stilte sterven.

Want onze stilte is afgenomen,
door gebulder,
door gegier van remmen,
door geronk van motoren,
van de vliegtuigen,
die laag over onze hoofden donderen.

Els Behage

Stilte


Stilte is niet de afwezigheid van geluid,
Stilte is je niet laten afleiden door lawaai.

Geluk


"De weg naar geluk bevindt zich in twee heel simpele principes:

Zoek je interesse waar je heel goed in bent
en wanneer je het gevonden hebt
leg je er je hele ziel in
elk beetje energie en ambitie
en eigen kunnen dat je bezit!"

John Rockefeller
1839-1937

Zij sneeuwt in mij
zij schreeuwt in mij
zij zoent in mij
naar uit
weg
naar binnen
gekeerd
warm ik haar
wil ik haar
troosten
vormen
vullen.

Zo leef ik haar
zacht en krachtig
zij ...
de vrouw die ik ben.

Chris van den Abbeele

God's schepping


De boer krijgt meneer pastoor op bezoek.
De boer toont de hele boerderij en het resultaat van zijn harde werk. Een heel vol veld aardappelen. Je merkt hoe liefdevol de boer zijn land bewerkt heeft. De boer is o zo trots en meneer pastoor zegt: "Mooi beste man, prima werk, maar weet dat aardappelen Gods schepping zijn!"

Dan toont de boer zijn veld vol prei. Ook hier herhaalt meneer pastoor: "Prima werk, maar niet vergeten, we kijken hier naar Gods schepping!" En zo mag de boer weer hetzelfde horen als hij de serre vol sappige sla toont en de tevreden kippetjes met heerlijke eitjes.

Iedere keer opnieuw toont de boer de resultaten van zijn noeste arbeid, het eggen, ploegen, zaaiwerk, wieden. En iedere keer opnieuw hoort hij meneer pastoor zeggen: "Prima werk, boer, maar nooit vergeten ... het is Gods schepping!"

Tot ze beiden aan een braakliggend stuk veld arriveren en meneer pastoor aan de boer vraagt: "En wat is er hier aan de hand?" Waarop de boer lachend antwoordt: "Hier heb ik God Zijn gang laten gaan!"

dinsdag 26 juni 2012

Sigmund



Peter de Wit

Sigmund


Sigmund is een stripverhaal geschreven en getekend
door Peter de Wit.

De strip verschijnt in De Volkskrant. Sigmund is een wat onconventionele psychiater die er zo zijn eigen methoden en behandelwijzen op nahoudt, bijvoorbeeld: wie heeft er ooit verzonnen dat je geen misbruik mag maken van de zwakheden van je patienten? Sigmund is zelden subtiel, maar altijd scherp en actueel en zeer leerzaam ...

Een eenogige psychiater die wrange en cynische commentaren levert op de wereld om hem heen. De naam is afgeleid van de oer-psycholoog Sigmund Freud.



Soulmate


Throughout life you will meet one person
who is unlike any other,
you could talk to this person for hours
and never get bored,
you could tell them things
and they won't judge you ...

This person is your soulmate,
your best friend ...

Don't ever let them go.

Statig zwemt ze, o mooie zwaan
Berustend in dat wat was, is en zal worden
Luistert ze aandachtig
En spreekt, keer op keer:

"Laat los mens, laat het gaan
Klamp je niet vast aan
Wat was, nu is of eens zal worden

Accepteer wie je bent
Ken je kwetsbaarheid
En Transformeer
Naar jouw unieke Zelf"

Veerboot


We zaten op de veerboot naar Helsingborg.
Ik hield de deur open voor een kind.

"I cannot believe you opened the door ... for a man!" zei zij.

"A man? He was fourteen years old, a kid."

"Yes, but he is a man. You do not hold the door for a man."

Ik protesteerde.

"No," ging ze verder, "you have to let the man help you, or you will never find a man. And then you will remain incomplete, like one half, unhappy and unfulfilled."

Bron