If You Want To see The Rainbow, You Must Endure the Rain.
Into every life rain will fall, of that it guarantees us. Some will have sprinkles; some will have torrential rain. In either case, If You Want To see The Rainbow, You Must Endure the Rain. To endure the storm, we must remember that it will eventually pass. Nothing will last forever in your life. Except the memory of the rainbow at the end.
It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die, than to find those who are willing to endure pain with patience.
Pain is a reminder to us we are alive. That we can still feel. That there is still blood flowing through our veins. It tells us something went wrong. It tells us something did not work. It is our greatest enemy, yet it is our greatest teacher.
When we first learned to walk, we fell. A lot. I remember watching my son fall for the first time when he discovered that he had the ability to stand on his wobbly legs. He hung onto the coffee table, pulled himself up, turned around and looked at me, and fell. Oh, how he cried.
It hurt trying something and failing. With an assuring tone in my voice and an encouraging gesture, he tried again. And fell again. Until he didn’t. each time he cried less. Each time he learned that with each attempt he learned something new. A different way to hang on, a different way to place his feet, a different way to stand. And then he stood. Proudly. As if he had accomplished the greatest feat known to man.
In those first steps, life taught my son that If You Want To see The Rainbow, You Must Endure the Rain. We forget that sometimes. It’s hard to see hope sometimes when all you can think about is surviving. It’s hard to see hope sometimes when all you can think about is the pain. It’s hard to see hope sometimes when all you can think about is……… Fill in the blank.
It’s hard to see hope sometimes when all you can think about is surviving.
In my recently published book titled You Matter, even if you don’t think so which you can purchase on Amazon here Amazon You Matter, even if you don’t think so I discuss If You Want To see The Rainbow, You Must Endure the Rain.
I discuss how where you are now is not based on where you have been. It’s where you choose to be now. Right now, you feel pain. Pain from a choice or decision either you made, or someone else made for you. In your pain, it’s easy to play the blame game and beat yourself up. If only I had not…… If only I did not…… If only.
Life doom’s those who do not study history to repeat it, however studying the past does not mean you park there for any length of time. You visit. You do not move in and camp on the couch. You have your own place to be and it is not in the past.
If you find something wrong with your life, fix it.
— Joseph Binning
In your pain, it is easy to feel like a failure. Peoples biggest fear, in every age group, is either failure, or a direct result of the feeling of failure.[3] Yet every time you failed when you learned how to stand up made you smarter, stronger, and better.
In my chapter titled Regrets: Why They Are Harmful, I go over how we should live a life with no regrets. Living a life with no regrets has great responsibility attached to it. To live a life of no regrets means that you must contemplate every action you make in your life BEFORE you commit it. You can read more about Regrets here:https://www.josephbinning.com/regrets%e2%9c%b5why-theyre-harmful/
We, as people, make rash decisions without thinking of the potential consequences until after we have decided. This is a recipe for disaster. Think first, act second. Ask yourself if your action will serve your highest good. If the answer is no, don’t do it.
If You Want To see The Rainbow, You Must Endure the Rain means that you must change your perceptions of how you look at things.
If you change the way you look at things, you will change the way you see things.
— Joseph Binning
When you experienced the first pain of falling as you learned to walk you did not stop, you kept going. From it you learned. You became better. Lost money can be re-made. We can find love again. Just because your situation has brought you pain does not mean that it will not end. It will, in the end, make you smarter, stronger, and better.
This too shall end.
Just because your situation has brought you pain does not mean that it will not end. It will, in the end, make you smarter, stronger, and better.
If you have enjoyed this article, please visit me at www.JosephBinning.com for more helpful tips and articles.
Life can sometimes be hard, ridiculously hard. It was designed to be. If it weren’t, we wouldn’t appreciate it when it’s not. It’s in the hard times that we develop our character. Shaped into the person who it meant us to be. How to Find Happiness in Hard Times can sometimes be a challenge unless you know where to look.
We’ve all been there. Stuck in feelings of self-doubt and inadequacy. When times get hard, these feelings leave us overwhelmed, unempowered, and out of control. It can leave you unmotivated to move forward. How to Find Happiness in Hard Times is when, despite yourself, you push forward. You give it just one more try.
Too many people give up when it seems impossible, but…
“When everything seems to go against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.
When I was younger, I had the belief that some external source could make me happy. If I just had this thing, or girl, or job, it would make me happy. But it didn’t. I kept chasing after things, physical things, emotional things, spiritual things, but even though they brought about momentary happiness, it never lasted.
One day I was at a conference and overheard a group of ladies talking about the subject. One woman was the wife of a remarkably successful man and was asked by another woman, “how does your husband make you happy? The woman of the successful man shocked the other woman and myself when she answered, “oh, he can’t make me happy, only I can make me happy”.
I was at that conference looking for the answer to being happy and found it from his wife accidently.
Happiness is a choice. Happiness is an internal choice. Happiness is an internal choice with a decision to accept that choice. Once you accept that choice you will begin to feel Happiness in Hard Times and in Good Times.
In my book You Matter, even if you don’t think so, which you can purchase on Amazon here: Amazon You Matter, even if you don’t think so, I discuss a few topics that will help you find Happiness in Hard Times.
Forgiveness
Forgive
In my chapter Forgiveness: Not for the Other Person I explain, you need to forgive both yourself and others. Forgiveness is about you and not the other person. You must get to the place where you ask for forgiveness out loud with a sincere heart.
Forgive yourself for feeling unhappy because you were looking in the wrong place for it.
Forgive others who you burdened your happiness with, who never could have created it for you.
Take back the power you gave your past.
Take back your power
In my chapter Failure: Where You Are: Not Where You Have Been, I discuss how your past does not make you who you are. It only dictates where you have been. Only you have the power to dictate who you are. Many of us associate our happiness with our past and allow guilt or regrets to interfere with it.
Live a life of no regrets
Live a life of no regrets
In my chapter Regrets: Why They Are Harmful I discuss why we should not have any. Mistake are lessons we make so we can learn. Would we like a life with no mistakes? Can you imagine a life never learning?
Choose wisely before you act, own the decision, then move on.
Change your beliefs about yourself.
Change your beliefs about yourself
In my chapter Beliefs: Where Did They Come From? I discuss how some beliefs we have about ourselves and others can sometimes come from worthless information. If you are told for a long time you are not worthy is it no surprise you feel that way?
The truth is you are worthy. You are valuable, just as you are. You are not broken, damaged goods, or a throwaway person. Believe you are worthy, maybe for the first time, and you will see and feel happiness.
Find your Joy.
find your joy
In my chapter Joy: How to Find It—and Keep It I discuss the importance of having Joy in your life. Joy, simply stated, is that which brings you peace. It charges your batteries. It shapes your worldview, and the view of yourself.
Joy is a choice. Joy is both internal and external. Joy does not mean you will never be sad or hurt. But with joy in your life it won’t last. Joy brings about an external feeling of happiness that radiates within you, which brings internal happiness. You feel a sense of happiness. Happiness makes you feel better about yourself. When you feel better about yourself you treat others better. This is how we change the world, one person at a time.
But it starts with you.
Change starts with you
If you have enjoyed this, please visit me at www.JosephBinning.com for more helpful tips and articles.
You Matter, even if you don’t think so by Joseph Binning
As we enter the year 2020, in a world moving exponentially faster, we struggle more than ever to be seen, relevant, and valuable, to quiet the voices in our heads that make us want to give in—to stay alive long enough to make it to the finish line. Yet, we live in an unlimited Universe. Why do we press ourselves into such small boxes? We need a truth powerful enough to lift us up and out of our darkness.
YOU MATTER author Joseph Binning takes our hand, guiding us to find our path, the path within where we discover the answers. Who am I? Am I worthy of the kind of love I desire? Do I have the ability to do work that fulfills and inspires me? Is there a deeper meaning for my life? How can I serve? With a vision even clearer than 2020, Joseph teaches us how to step out of our past and into our truth. Shining the light on our greatness, Joseph is the voice cheering us on to our finish line, “Don’t give up, because YOU MATTER!…even if you don’t think so.”
“I trust you” is a better compliment than “I love you” because you may not always trust the person you love, but you can always love the person you trust…
-Joseph Binning
Love, we all seek it. We all need it. We all desire it. Lasting, fulfilling Love. But to give yourself to another, fully and freely give them all of you, the most important ingredient in Love, is Trust.
Trust is one of the most crucial building blocks of becoming emotionally intimate with another person. It is fundamental for a healthy, close relationship. The building of trust takes time, patience, and work to establish it.
Merriam-Webster defines trust, the verb, as;
to rely on the truthfulness or accuracy of
to place confidence in: rely on.
Trust means trusting yourself, your own judgments, and trusting others. Trust is the foundation for any relationship. Without it, the relationship will not last. Lack of trust is the main reason relationships fall apart.
Why?
Because, if you don’t have trust, it means you won’t feel secure with your partner. Trust means you can rely on your partner, can confide in them, and feel safe with them.
When mistrust comes in, loves goes out.
-Irish proverb
But we must earn trust. It takes time. It’s not automatic. It is essential to a lasting love. The good news–with effort, we can build trust. Even if there have been issues with trust in your relationship, you can change and build a trusting, secure connection. The first step is to recognizes if you have trust issues in your relationship and then work to build trust and improve your relationship.
We fill the beginning with long, laughter-filled dates and passionate first kisses. Afterwards might bring moments filled with doubt—maybe even fear—about your budding romance and where it is going might creep in. People bring all kinds of baggage with them when they enter a new relationship, and a lack of trust can weigh the union down before it even gets started.
We’re all carrying our pasts around with us: Whether we’re scarred by an unfaithful partner from a previous relationship or we’re working through a childhood trauma, learning to trust a new partner and/or moving past old trust issues can be tough. And getting your partner to trust you is no simple task.
Why Trust is vital in a relationship
A relationship without trust is like a car without gas, you can stay in it all you want, but it won’t go anywhere.
-Joseph Binning
In a relationship you cannot give all of yourself to someone you cannot trust.
In a lasting relationship you place your heart in someone else’s hands, freely, without hesitation, and you give all of it. It is a scared rite of passage. Without trust, this is not possible.
Trust promotes healing
I have always said that in a relationship you will either someone will misunderstand you or you will be misunderstood. The trick is to figure out which one it is. In either case, someone stands the chance of getting hurt. Lack of trust will prevent the other person from seeking relief from the pain, either from causing the pain, or receiving the pain. If you can trust that the other person will listen to you, and receive what you said, trust will flourish.
Trust breeds hope
Hope is a powerful thing. If your partner trusts you, there is always hope that your relationship can survive the storms of life. Trust that you won’t leave. Trust that you will listen, intending to hear what you have to say. Trust that they will stand beside you.
Trust keeps your emotions in check
Healthy trust in a relationship will prevent those thoughts in your head of unfaithfulness if your partner doesn’t answer the phone. Trust will prevent the mind from racing out of control when you are not with your partner. Trust will allow you to be honest and open with your partner when you have an issue to discuss.
Trust sets you free
Trusting your partner and being trusted by your partner gives you the freedom to not need to explain your actions and decisions to your partner. It allows you to have personal space without having to worry and allows you to be fully present wherever you are.
For trust to flourish, you must first be trustable
The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.
–Ernest Hemingway
For trust to flourish, we must consistently earn trust.
Each time you earn your partner’s trust by showing them you are trustworthy, you put reserves in your emotional savings account. We draw from this account when situations arise that might otherwise cause doubt. Earning your partner’s trust will create security in your partner, which brings trust to the relationship.
Live with a high level of integrity.
Integrity creates a high level of trust in your partner because they can come to expect how you will act or react in certain situations. When your partner knows that you will do the right thing even when no one is around creates a powerful level of trust in any relationship, but especially with your partner.
Look them in the eyes
Make eye contact. When you speak to your partner, fix your eyes on them, and them only. Avoid the distractions. Make them feel as if they were/are the only ones in the room, no matter where you are. Direct eye contact tells them they matter to you in that moment. Teaching them how important they are to you will build a powerful bond and create a powerful level of trust.
Always be honest
Be yourself always. Never try to be someone or something else, especially when you are together. If something offends you, say so. If your mad, say so lovingly. If something makes you happy, say so. Don’t hide your feeling for any reason. Allow them to trust that they know the real you.
Always show respect
Respect goes a long way. Showing someone the respect they do or don’t deserve makes you the better person and builds trust that you will always act with honor. Honor the relationship and respect the person.
TRUST IS THE OIL THAT KEEPS YOUR RELATIONSHIP BURNING
I’m not upset that you lied to me; I’m upset from now on, I can’t believe you.
–Friedrich Nietzsche
We can liken trust to oil in a lamp. Without it, the fire in your relationship won’t remain burning. And just as oil helps keep a machine working efficiently, trust helps make sure your relationship keeps on working and moving in the right direction. Trust, like oil, should be clean and free of debris. To replenish trust in your relationship, like oil, you need to keep it free from debris which leads to doubt. You can do it by choosing to trust and be trustworthy daily. As soon as you wake up, make a conscious decision to trust and not doubt. Eventually, trusting will become part of your system and one that you won’t have to force yourself into doing.
Trust is the key component of every relationship and should be an intricate part of your relationship. Value it, enjoy it, but protect it, and your relationship will be as strong as a fortress built on a hill.
“The story of the human race is the story of men and woman selling themselves short”.
Abraham Lincoln
Love, we all seek it. We all need it. We all desire it. But to give yourself freely and Love someone, genuinely Love someone, you must first be Lovable. To be Lovable, you must Love yourself, first.
Loving yourself is an important factor to living well. It will influence who you spend your life with and with creating your memories, how you will choose your friends (like attracts like), how you will deal with the many problems life will throw at you, and your own well-being. How you see yourself is how you will treat, or mistreat, yourself.
But how do you Love yourself, first? Loving yourself first does not mean buying it, aka bribes. You cannot get it in a beauty salon or doctor’s office. There is no magic pill or external source that can make you genuinely Love yourself for more than a minute or a moment. There is no external relationship that can fix a sense of a non-Loving nature. These can satisfy you for a moment, but only a moment.
Loving yourself first is not a state of feeling good. It is a state of appreciation for oneself that grows from actions that support our physical, psychological, and spiritual growth. It’s dynamic; it grows through actions that mature us. When we act in ways that validate our Love for ourselves, we accept our weaknesses, and our strengths, accept our short-comings, show compassion for ourselves as human beings struggling to find personal meaning in this life, can live more in alignment in our life’s purpose and values, and can begin living a full life through our own efforts.
I am reminded of a story of when Confucius met Lao Tzu.
Many think Lao Tzu to be the original author of the Tao Te Ching, which has gained worldwide influence since published, being the most published book in history, after the Holy Bible.
The influence of Confucius on Chinese culture over past centuries has also been considerable. His approach to life is opposite to life to that of Lao Tzu, as the following tale shows:
Lao Tzu and his teachings were always a concern of Confucius. It is said that once he went to see Lao Tzu. He was older than Lao Tzu, so he wanted Lao Tzu to behave with manners, as an old man expects. But Lao Tzu was sitting, and he would not even stand to greet him. He would not even say, “Sit down, sir,” and he didn’t pay much attention to him. Confucius became furious. What type of master is this? And he said, “Don’t you follow any manners?”
Lao Tzu said, “If you feel like sitting, you sit; if you feel like standing, you stand. Who am I to say anything about it? It is your life. I do not interfere.”
It shocked Confucius. Then he asked something about the superior man, the gentleman, and Lao Tzu laughed, and he said, “I have never come across any ‘superior’ or ‘inferior’. Men are men as trees are trees and everything takes part in the same existence. Nobody is superior and nobody is inferior, and it is all nonsense and rubbish!” Confucius became very much afraid. And this man Lao Tzu had tremendous silence around him; he was a pool of silence.
When I read this tale, it rang true to me in so many ways. For many of my younger years I did not feel Lovable. I felt inferior. I did not feel “worthy” of Love by another, so I would follow unhealthy ways and make terrible choices in life.
When you realize nobody is superior and nobody is inferior, and it is all nonsense and rubbish, and make the active choice to believe it you will stop comparing your life to that of others and you will stop building false scenarios of what you feel your life should look like in order for you to Love yourself.
Loving yourself first is a wonderful adventure. It’s like learning to do something well for the first time. Your confidence grows. You walk with a swagger. You realize that there is nothing in this world that you cannot accomplish.You see your value and worth. You feel you are worthy of the Love you desire. The Love that you were born to share.
Here are 12 suggestions to discover how to Love yourself first, so you may Love someone well:
Give yourself a break
Stop with the negative self-talk in your mind and especially out loud. Every time you beat yourself up and criticize yourself, you affirm in your mind that you are not worthy. Stop it! I know of only one perfect and we are not it.
Change your thoughts and change the outcome
Stop telling yourself that you will fail or that you are a failure. What the mind thinks, the mouth says. What the mouth says, the heart believes. What the heart believes, the body reacts to. Start seeing yourself as worthy and Lovable.
Apologize to yourself for your past behaviors
You are human, so you will make mistakes. A poor decision does not make you a bad person. It only makes it a poor decision. If you hurt someone you deeply cared about, you wouldn’t withhold an apology to them.
Be kind to yourself.
We all have an inner child we live with all our lives. When you berate a child they shut down, withdraw, and don’t grow healthily. When you make a mistake, and you will, don’t berate yourself. Learn from it, try not to repeat it, and do better. But be kind to yourself.
Be patient with yourself
It took me quite some time to change my inner thoughts of feeling unworthy of Love to realizing that I am the person who I was designed to be, not perfect, but perfect for me. Don’t expect change to happen overnight, but don’t let yourself take forever either. Set healthy expectations and bring yourself along at a steady pace.
Remind yourself you are worthy
Just as you used to beat yourself up when you made a mistake, remind yourself when you did something good. Praise, recognition, and to be “seen” is something we all need and desire. Tell yourself regularly that you are worthy, worthy of Love, worthy of kindness, worthy of a fulfilling life.
Allow others to support you
Tell your friends and Loved ones what you are doing, how you are creating a new you. Ask them for support. Find support groups, read books, subscribe to blogs that speak to this. Find like-minded people who will tell you the truth, not just what you want to hear, which will help you grow as a person and help you see the exceptional person you really are.
Care for yourself as you care for other Loved ones
Self-care is the principal cause of a healthy self-esteem and sense of self. You cannot care for others if you don’t train yourself to care for yourself first.
Nurture your body-temple
Your body is your temple, stop treating it like a garage, its holy, its sacred, its blessed, and it’s a reflection of you. What do you do with the old things you don’t care for? You stick it in a box and stuff it in the garage and forget about it. Polish it, clean it, give it what it needs to flourish.
Make Positive self-talk a regular part of your day
When you wake up ask the man, women, or child you see in the mirror each day if they are doing the best they can, to be the best human they can. Hold them accountable. They will doubt. When they do, remind them you Love them, and they are worthy of your Love. Say it until they believe it. They will thank you for it.
Enjoy yourself
Learn to enjoy your own company. Being alone gives you time to spend, bond, and appreciate your new best friend. We develop Love with face time, intimate times, shared moments, not distance. Learn to be still and remind yourself you are worthy of your time, because you are worthy of being Loved.
Love yourself first
I once knew someone who could care so much for others but could not care for themselves. That person was me. Do not let it be you.
The world is constantly changing. It moves at a rapid pace, and if you do not keep up, it leaves us behind. Understanding it is the hardest thing you will ever do. It is easy to think you don’t matter, that you have no voice, no say in things. I’m here to tell you, you are wrong. That You do Matter. Here’s why:
Like preparing for a mega-marathon, it requires more than just knowledge. You need the right equipment, and you need to know how to take care of that equipment to serve you and in case of emergency. You need the right people around you, people who are knowledgeable and willing to train you. And you need to be ready and willing to train, learn, and change. You can only learn when you are willing and ready. When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. Most of all, you need a reason to get to the finish line without quitting—a reason strong enough to quiet the voices in your head that make you want to give in.
In this vast world that moves so fast, we struggle to be relevant, influential, important, respected, loved, and—sometimes—just to be seen. I am the voice who shouts, “You Matter!” because you do, more than you might know. Sometimes you just need a little help to point you in the right direction.
The Tao Te Ching says, “When I let go of who I am, I become what I might be” (emphasis added). I encourage you to be open to new ideas as you read this. I encourage you to let go of your past self and start anew.
I have a saying: “If you don’t like something, change it.” And remember, you are worth every ounce of effort and concentration that you put into yourself because You matter, even if you do not think so.
The real voyage of discovery consists not of seeking new landscapes, but in having fresh eyes.
—Marcel Proust
You are born. You grow. You mature. You become an adult. You go to work. You may have children. You may have grandchildren. You may grow old. You may retire, or you may work until you die. You die. Is that about right?
You are not dead, or you would not be reading this. Yet, how alive are you?
It is so easy to settle in, follow the rules, pay your dues, and then wait for the end in the process of this thing called life—have you become numb? Or maybe you have not noticed. When you were young, you probably had dreams and visions, and maybe a few lofty goals. If you were like most, though, as you grew into adulthood, you abandoned your dreams and lofty goals one by one. Did you do that? Or did circumstances dictate your path? Do you have a suspicion, even a tiny one, that you might have missed out on an original life?
Do people have a hard time “seeing” who you really are? Do you secretly feel as if no one knows the real you or gets who you are deep inside? Is that because you have not let them? Have you created and nourished a wonderful sense of yourself? Or have you camouflaged yourself with habits, behaviors, compromises, possessions, money, or fear- or ego-driven behaviors? Do you sometimes feel that you do not really know who you are?
Following your death, you will have a tombstone or marker, on which will appear your name, a concise epitaph written by someone, and the date of your birth and death separated by a dash. The dash between your birth and death stands for your life. The dash stands for who you were and what others will remember you for. The dash symbolizes your entire life, the mark you left on people and this world, the meaning of your existence.
Life is not merely being alive, but being well
—Marcus Valerius Latin poet/author
Be Well
If I were to ask you what your dash will stand for, beyond the loving words of your immediate family, what would you say? What significant event, purpose, effect, or deed would your lasting impression on the world represent? If you were on trial in a court of law and needed to justify your right to stay in your chosen country of residence by providing evidence of your good deeds and contributions, would you have enough evidence? Or would we find you lacking? What significance or purpose is there to your being on this earth?
You probably have a family and love your family that you love. But your family is not why you are here. Bearing children is the minimum requirement for ensuring the future existence of our species. It is not what keeps you from wondering if this is all there is, or if there is some deeper meaning in your life. Do you sometimes feel that you do not really know why you are here?
When you settled into your current job, relationship, home, marriage, routine, or lifestyle, did you gain weight? Over 60 percent of couples gain at least thirty pounds after settling into marriage and family life. Did you reason that your weight gain was from bearing children, the stress of work, the pressure of a mortgage, two car payments, dental bills, or a health condition?
Were you designed for a greater life, but are too busy to have one? Do you think greatness is only for the talented, the chosen, the lucky few? Do you sometimes wonder what if? What if I had gone to school instead of getting pregnant? What if I had married that girl? What if I had moved to that other state? What if I had started a business? What if I had traveled more before settling down? What if I had never had kids? What if I had stayed in school instead of dropping out?
If you were to introduce yourself to me for the first time, you would likely tell me your name, your age, your status in your family, the number of children you have and their ages and genders, the city you live in, something about your pets or hobbies, and what you do for a living.
News flash! None of these are who you are!
Each one of us must find his peace from within, and peace to be real must be unaffected by outside circumstances.
—Mahatma Gandhi leader of the Indian Independence Movement
Identifying yourself with your age, what you do for a living, or with the members of your family is a response that comes from a lack of knowing yourself. Until you know who and what you are, and why you are here, the dash on your gravestone will have no meaning beyond your job and your family status and sentiments. Your dash needs to stand for something.
So, who are you? Why are you here? Why now? Why this place? What benefit to humanity do you bring to the table and how will the world be a better place because you are in it?
Say out loud with me right now: “humanity.” Like the ripple effect of a stone skipping across a pond, it means we design the meaning of our life to create multiple waves of momentum, radiating outward from your life and into our world, making lasting change for the betterment of humanity. Unless you have no clue why you are here. Don’t feel bad. Most people have no clue either.
In the world, we place much emphasis on our station in life. What we have or possess. Where we live, what we drive, what we wear, who we associate with, where we go. The list goes on and on. It’s easy to think because we have not that we don’t matter. That our lives are insignificant. That we have wasted space. That we don’t count.
Some will or have trained you to believe that life is fair. They are wrong; life is not fair. Why would we have sickness and death? Why do we have floods? Famine? Earthquakes? If they meant it to be fair, we would have none of these. But we do.
He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.
—Muhammad Ali Heavy Weight Champion
Take Risks
When you first learned how to walk, do you remember falling? Do you remember how many times you fell? Most likely not. What you do possibly remember was the feeling of standing strong with a newfound independence, a world opened to alternative possibilities. That was not the teaching moment. It was when you got back up. When you came close to something stable, leaned into it, and pulled yourself up. That was life teaching you how you looked at it.
The teaching moment is in the moment of pulling yourself up, time and time again, until you get what you decided on, not because you deserved it, because you earned it. In life, we deserve nothing. It does not promise us anything. Everything we receive is a gift and we need to look at it that way. When you appreciate everything in your world, it becomes beautiful.
Joy happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are.
—Marianne Williamson, author/ lecturer
feel the Joy
Too many of you feel as if you are insignificant today. That you don’t matter. You have no voice that anyone listens to and possibly you don’t deserve to one. Some of you shout, possibly out of frustration, demanding to be heard. Some of you just fade into the background and don’t get back up.
Some of you feel you are not being seen. That you are not being noticed in life. That it is passing you by. You attract attention to yourself, shouting to the world “Look at me!”.
Some of you don’t feel respected and demand it from the world around you, yet the actions taken to gain respect are not respectful to others. I world will naturally give respect when you are respectful to others.
Here’s the truth. You Matter, even if you don’t think so. You Matter ESPECIALY if you don’t think so.
Take a moment and look at any sunrise. Watch as the sun gently and faithfully rises each morning. Watch as colors slowly engulf the sky, putting on a heavenly light show for you.
Watch as it sets below the horizon at night. Watch as it sets, and the moon rises. Notice the stars as they dance for you, just for you.
Notice the hummingbird as it hovers, passing pollen from place to place so life may grow.
Listen to the wind as it gently brushes against your ears, pushing the leaves from here to there.
Watch the power of the ocean as the waves crash into the shores forever, keeping it in motion.
Know that the sunrise and sunset dictate the tides and seasons perfectly and with the sole purpose to sustain you.
Now know this. Your creator, whoever you worship, believe in, pray to, meditate to, give an offering to, or hold deep in your heart, would still have created this, even if you were the only person on this planet. That’s how valuable you are. The trees, the mountains, the oceans, the deserts, all of it. Just for you.
The lack of or approval of others, the lack of or acceptance of others, the lack of or respect of others, can never change that fact. When you feel alone, when you feel oppressed, when you do not feel valued, when you do not feel seen or heard, remember that fact. You Matter! You Matter to me. You Matter to us as a community. You Matter to the world. This world would not be the same without you. We need you, all of us, and we need each other, every moment of every day of every week of every month of every year.
It’s when we forget that there is only one race, humanity, that we feel alone. When we forget, we are all in this together and you are not alone. You are NOT broken; you are NOT a mistake. We cannot do this without you. You are an intricate piece of the puzzle of life we are all a part of the puzzle is incomplete without you.
That’s why I say and believe You Matter, even if you don’t think so.
