masterwordsmith-unplugged

During Nelson Mandela's 19 years imprisoned on Robben Island, one particular commanding officer was the most brutal of them all:

"A few days before Badenhorst's departure, I was called to the main office. General Steyn was visiting the island and wanted to know if we had any complaints. Badenhorst was there as I went through a list of demands. When I had finished, Badenhorst spoke to me directly.

He told me he would be leaving the island and added: 'I just want to wish you people good luck'. I do not know if I looked dumbfounded, but I was amazed. He spoke these words like a human being and showed a side of himself we had never seen before. I thanked him for his good wishes and wished him luck in his endeavours.

I thought about this moment for a long time afterwards. Badenhorst had perhaps been the most callous and barbaric commanding officer we had had on Robben Island. But that day in the office, he had revealed that that there was another side to his nature, a side that had been obscured but still existed.

It was a useful reminder that all men, even the most seemingly cold-blooded, have a core of decency and that, if their hearts are touched, they are capable of changing. Ultimately, Badenhorst was not evil; his inhumanity had been foisted upon him by an inhuman system. He behaved like a brute because he was rewarded for brutish behaviour."

It has been said that the eyes are the windows to the soul. And, as much as I believe this is true, I also believe that every window has two vantage points—one for seeing in and one for seeing out.



What is most familiar to a soul is its own image, and it is constantly drawn to what it recognizes as itself. When our eyes stop to gaze on something magnificent, when the view is so magical that it takes our breath away, it is our soul reaching out to touch the miracle of its own reflection.

I have been asked many times why I have chosen to fill the pages of my Web site, Quantum-Grace.com, with nature photography. The answer is simple. Focusing on the beauty around us is a gentle reminder of what we are made of. From the smallest dewdrop to the largest mountain the beauty that surrounds us is who we really are, and it is our choice to see it or not to see it.

If it is majestic mountains our eyes are drawn to, we are being reminded of our own enduring strength. If it is the center of a rose, we are reminded of our tenderness and innocence. Oceans reflect the power, rhythm, and grace of our eternal selves, and a drop of rain, our simplicity.

We are often encouraged to close our eyes and look within. This is something I do myself, every day. But in a world sometimes overflowing with persuasive randomity and magnetic emotion, it is not always possible to maintain the peacefulness of inner vision. The Universe is very practical, however, and sometimes our greatest revelations come when we open our eyes and see all that we are made of right before us.

Free will is having the right to choose what to focus on and what not to focus on, and your choice of focus is your rite of passage. It’s as if we are each holding a camera, and while looking out through a tiny “eye,” we have the freedom to focus on whatever brings us joy.

You don’t have to focus on what doesn’t make you happy―just move the camera a little to the left or a little to the right until you find the awe-inspiring landscape of your soul. These are the pictures worth a thousand words because these are the pictures of your own integrity and beauty, and they’re the only ones worth keeping.

On a daily basis we are surrounded with the energy of millions of people going millions of places doing millions of things. If we allow ourselves to get caught up in their pictures, we are allowing others to determine what we should be looking at and focusing on, and we miss the magical progress of our own natural evolution.

Nature is the mirror of humanity, and it reflects the affirmations of the soul. Within nature are found the same qualities that our own spiritual essence holds. The qualities of strength, courage, passion, patience, trust, and love are within us as well as outside us. And it is up to us to notice them.

We need not hurry as there is no urgency in evolution; and we need not scale Mt. Everest to claim a view of our own endless magnificence. It takes only a moment to look out a window and find the bluest edge of the sky. Honor yourself today, and immerse yourself in what you are made of—remembering that it’s not the room you are in that determines who you are, but the exquisite view on which you focus that is you.

Author's Bio
Heather O’Hara is an award-winning author who encourages us to look beyond the ordinary and find the extraordinary. A contributing editor for various publications and author of two books, AXIS, The Song in the Center of the Soul and Living on Level 7 (Choosing a Life with a View), her passion for inspiring others has evolved into a wealth of empowering articles; many collections of original poetry; and a free, inspirational newsletter that is now received in more than a third of the world’s countries. For more information on Heather O’Hara, please visit her Web site, http://www.Quantum-Grace.com.

Please do not be offended by the following...it is just for laughs and not to insult/offend. Thanks. Have a nice day...

Don't be fooled by the face I wear,

for I wear a thousand masks,

And none of them are me.

Don't be fooled, for goodness sake, don't be fooled.

I give you the impression that I'm secure,

that confidence is my name and coolness is my game,

And that I need no one.

But don't believe me.

Beneath dwells the real me in confusion, in aloneness, in fear.

That's why I create a mask to hide behind,

to shield me from the glance that knows,

But such a glance is precisely my salvation.

That is, if it's followed by acceptance, if it's followed by love.

It's the only thing that can liberate me from my own self-built prison walls.

I'm afraid that deep down I'm nothing and that I'm just no good,

And that you will reject me.

And so begins the parade of masks.

I idly chatter to you.

I tell you everything that's really nothing and

Nothing of what's everything, of what's crying within me.

Please listen carefully and try to hear what I'm not saying.

I'd really like to be genuine and spontaneous, and me.

But you've got to help me.

You've got to hold out your hand.

Each time you're kind and gentle, and encouraging,

Each time you try to understand because you really care,

My heart begins to grow wings, feeble wings, but wings.

With your sensitivity and sympathy, and your power of understanding,

You alone can release me from my shallow world of uncertainty.

It will not be easy for you.

The nearer you approach me, The blinder I may strike back.

But I'm told that Love is stronger than strong walls,

And in this lies my only hope.

Please try to beat down these walls with firm hands

But gentle hands, for a child is very sensitive.

Who am I, you wonder.

I am every man you meet,

and also every woman that you meet,

And I am you, also.

-Author Unknown-