masterwordsmith-unplugged

I am sure you would agree that there have been moments in our lives when we wished that we had done or said this and that and peerhaps even blame ourselves for not doing enough in our lives. In such vulnerable moments, it is easy to martyr ourselves. That self-destruction mode must be put to an end! Life is about living and cherishing precious moments, not about the losses or mistakes we made.

Lately, I have so much time on my hands which is why I am writing twice a day in my blog - a sharp contrast indeed to the period when I wrote like maybe once a month because I was too saddened by the events in my country. During my moments of reflection, I realized that the tendency to accentuate the negative and to put ourselves down can be traced to our Asian culture and the attempt to remain modest.

Well, for this evening's post, I am going to lead you down memory lane to think of those unforgettable moments in your life...and hopefully to inspire and to remind you that you are a unique person in this world who has blessed many others with your words, actions, thoughts and most of all....your life solely because of who you are.

Do you remember the time when you were there to help your brother or sister when they fell down, hurt themselves or were hurt by others? The times when you gave up your favorite candy or eraser or something precious for them just so that they could smile again and then when they did, you smiled?

Can you recall the time when you felt so weak and yet courageous enough to be present during the last moments when your loved one passed away and how you cried your eyes out and willed yourself to be strong? Then, you found the strength to hold on to the beautiful memories even though sometimes these made you cry? In doing so, you found peace within yourself and moved on...albeit without them beside you anymore. Still, you could do it because they will always remain in your heart.

If you are a woman, do you remember when you gave birth and when you went through before and after the birth of your children? If you are a man, can you remember how you held your wife's hand when you were there for your child’s birth? What about how we survived conflicts with our spouses, children and family members and could still continue to love them?

What about the way you dealt with the challenges in your life? Some of us may have been raised with certain negative patterns of behavior in the family but chose not to continue the cycle. Then there could be others like me who have been challenged with an illness and became healthy again. Some of us could be pet lovers so let us not forget how we survived the death of our beloved pet and could continue to have acres of love for new pets.

Then there could be some of us who were always there for our friends, listening to their struggles and pains and doing whatever we could to help them through their divorce or when they lost their bearings in life...

I am sure some of us have lived through losing a job and then appreciating that it brought us on a new path, one which we would not have chosen if that had not happened to us...and then as we breathe again at the memory of it all, we realize so much about ourselves, about people....

Others could have been through very bad times such as a natural disaster or a financial crisis and walked out of that situation with a stronger connection to humanity as we learn to value things and to appreciate people at a different level from before.

Perhaps some of us, through disappointments and failure, have mastered the art of acknowledging others who are better than ourselves, because of humility that we developed along the journey of life. I guess we became greater when we stopped putting the blame on others and taking more responsibility for our own lives and to detach ourselves from toxic characters bent on hurting us.

I guess if we sit down and reflect on the years gone by, we can be more aware of how we have achieved personal growth such as in the area of communication, or even the way we look at life, ourselves and to deal with whatever cognitive dissonance which may occur. Then, as we take stock, we will realize that we charted our own lives, gave of ourselves, love so much in spite of what others say simply because we dared, we cared and we want to love....

At the end of the day, it is all up to us to give a resounding “YES” to life and in doing so, we gain so much for ourselves because we will become much wiser, stronger, smarter with a greater sense of humor and a huge capacity to love ourselves and others.

So dear reader, when there are times you feel down and out, remember the melting moments of your life...how you loved, were loved and the love you leave behind in the hearts of others...Don't forget you have found your way to live, to love, to make a difference and to give back to others because you want to and not because you have to...

YOU ARE SPECIAL!!!! And please don't forget that!

Have a lovely weekend!