The Echo of Life

The Echo of Life 

A son and his father were walking on the mountains. Suddenly, the son falls, hurts himself and screams, "AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"

To his surprise, he hears the voice repeating, somewhere in the mountain: "AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"

Curious, he yells, "Who are you?"

He receives the answer, "Who are you?"

Angered at the response, he screams, "Coward!"

He receives the answer, "Coward!"

He looks to his father and asks, "What's going on?"

The father smiles and says, "My son, pay attention."

And then he screams to the mountain, "I admire you!"

The voice answers, "I admire you!"

Again the father screams, "You are a champion!"

The voice answers, "You are a champion!"

The boy is surprised, but does not understand.

Then the father explains:

"People call this ECHO, but really this is LIFE. It gives you back everything you say or do. Our life is simply a reflection of our actions.

If you want more love in the world, create more love in your heart. If you want more competence in your team, improve your competence. This relationship applies to everything, in all aspects of life; life will give you back everything you have given to it.

Your life is not a coincidence. It's a reflection of you!"

Go.........

Go courageously as you pursue your dreams.

Love

       Love is a priceless treasure which does not

       deplete upon giving but increases instead.

Travel ...........................

Travel to appease your restlessness.

Get on with living

Get on with living

Rather than covering up the anger, just let it go. Instead of fighting against the anxiety, move on past it. Why spend time and energy coping with your resentment or jealousy or bitterness when you can simply walk away from them?

Your feelings are yours to control. Yet all too often you let them take control of you. Certainly you have good cause to be angry, spiteful and bitter. But just because you can justify those negative feelings does not inoculate you from the harm they bring.

Let go of the negative feelings and get on with living. Do what is in your best interest. It doesn't take any great strength or skill, just a simple understanding. Realize that you're far better off without them. The energy used to maintain the negative feelings and to fight against them can be put to much more productive use in moving your life forward. Let go, and let yourself be gloriously alive.

-- Ralph Marston

The most important...................

The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother.

- Theodore Hesburgh

You have an ...................

You have an unusual magnetic personality. Just be aware of your polarity.

This is the...............................

This is the true measure of love,

When we believe that we alone can love,

that no one could ever have loved so before us,

And that no one will ever love in the same was after us.

~~Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)

MYSTERY OF LOVE

MYSTERY OF LOVE

It is a mystery why we fall in love.

It is a mystery how it happens.

It is a mystery when it comes.

It is a mystery why some love grows

and it is a mystery why some love fails.

You can analyze this mystery and look for reasons

and causes, but you will never do anymore than

take the life out of the experience.

Just as life itself is more than the sum of the bones

and muscles and electrical impulses in the body.

Love is more than the sum of the interests and

attractions and commonalties that two people share.

And just as life itself is a gift that comes and goes in its own

time, so too, the coming of love must be taken as an

unfathomable gift that cannot be questioned in its ways.

Sometimes, hopefully at least once in your life the

gift of love will come to you in full flower, and you

will take hold of it and celebrate it in all inexpressible beauty.

This is the dream we all share.

More often, it will come and take hold of you,

celebrate you for a brief moment, then move on.

When this happens to young people, they too often

try to grasp the love and hold it to them,

refusing to see that it is a gift that is freely given and

a gift that just as freely moves away.

When they fall out of love, they feel the spirit of love leaving

then try desperately to reclaim the love that is lost

rather than accept the gift for what it was, then moving on.

They want answers where there are no answers.

They want to know what is wrong in them

that makes the other person no longer love them,

or they try to get their lover to change,

thinking that if some small things were different,

love would bloom again.

They blame their circumstances and say

that if they go far away and start a new life together,

their love will grow.

They try anything to give meaning to what has happened.

But there is no meaning beyond the love itself,

and until they accept its own mysterious ways;

they live in a sea of mystery.

You need to know this about love, and accept it.

You need to treat what it brings you with kindness.

If you find yourself in love with someone who does not love you,

be gentle with yourself.

There is nothing wrong with you.

Love just didn't choose to rest in the other person's heart.

If you find someone else in love with you and

you don't love him, feel honored that love came and called

at your door, but gently refuse the gift you cannot return.

Do not take advantage; do not cause pain.

How you deal with love is how you deal with you,

and all our hearts feel the same pains and joys,

even if our lives and ways are different.

If you fall in love with another, and he falls in love with you,

and then love chooses to leave, do not try to reclaim it

or to assess blame.

Let it go. There is a reason and there is a meaning.

You will know in time.

Remember that you don't choose love.

Love chooses you.

All you can really do is accept it for all its mystery

when it comes into your life,

Feel the way it fills you to overflowing,

then reach out and give it away.

Give it back to the person who brought it alive in you.

Give it to others who you deem poor in spirit.

Give it to the world around you in anyway you can.

This is where many lovers go wrong.

Having been so long without love,

they understand love only as a need.

They see their hearts as empty places

that will be filled by love, and

they begin to look at love as something

that flows to them rather than from them.

The first blush of new love is filled to overflowing, but as

their love cools, they revert to seeing their love as a need.

They cease to be someone who generates love and

instead become someone who seeks love.

They forget that the secret of love is that it is a gift,

and that it can be made to grow only by giving it away.

Remember this, and keep it in your heart.

Love has its own time, its own seasons,

and its own reason for coming and going.

You cannot bribe it or coerce it, or reason it into staying.

You can only embrace it when it arrives and

give it away when it comes to you.

But if it chooses to leave from your heart or

from the heart of your lover,

there is nothing you can do and

there is nothing you should do.

Love always has been and will always be a mystery.

Be glad that it came to live for a moment in your life.

If you keep your heart open, it will come again.

The Power of Love

The  Power of Love

The Time to Love is Now

We have a lifetime to love, so we are told. We commit time to grow as a child, to develop as a teenager, and to accomplish as an adult. Time, we think, is always on our side. We reflect too much on what we see or hear and rely too little on what we feel. It takes true skill to understand what we so terribly overlook ... how to love and be loved.

There is no home, school or workshop that guarantees a sincere and deep rooted understanding of love. We must risk vulnerability, embarrassment, and discomfort in order to capture fire from heaven that is called love in the human heart. It is our truest companion when we are alone. It is our truest compass when we are lost. It is our truest purpose when we are clueless. Embrace the gift that is medicine to the soul that heals all hurt and human loneliness. Love yourself, love others, and find the true love that grants you vision that lives an eternity every day.

 - Alfredo "Dante" Rivera

Be where you are

Be where you are

When you stop jumping ahead, when you stop looking back, it is amazing how effective you can be right where you are. Worrying about the future or regretting the past will drain energy away from you.

Set aside those futile efforts and put the power of your being into being where you are.

Focus on the moment at hand, at being your best right here and now. Plan for the future, to be sure, but don't let your considerable energy be drained off by it. Be aware of where you are, and of where your focus lies. If you catch yourself drifting off into the anxieties of the past or the future, gently pull yourself back into the present moment.

There is so much you can accomplish by doing what you can, when you can. Now is your moment to live. Give your attention and your energy to where you are. Make the very best use of each moment as it comes along by living it to its fullest. Focus on being where you are, and you'll be in a great and positive place indeed.

-- Ralph Marston