Highest potential

Can everyone reach their highest potential of functioning in this world?

Right now, this may be not be possible!

 

Will it become possible in the future? 

I am a believer of "yes" to that question. We do need however a critical number of people believing in unconditional love and kindness. Right now this simple truth that the highest level of happiness lies in unconditional love and kindness, does not reach the mind of so many people. Not yet.

 

Let us all think about it thoroughly today:
What is bringing REAL happiness?

Kindness without expectation of any favor return.

How can we practice more of it?

How can we make it a daily part of our life?

How can we spread it to as many others as possible?

 

Give and take

 All my life 

I have learned 

to give and take

Whenever I took

It made me happy 

for a few moments

Whenever I gave

it brought Happiness 

that seemed to be never ending.

 

 

Benevolence

 

  A homeless man admitted to the hospital asked me where he could get a deck of playing cards. I answered him that he could try the convenience store within the hospital compound. Somehow I knew the likelihood of the convenience store selling playing cards was quite low and even if they would sell them there, there was no way the man had money to buy them. When later, I drove home, I thought about my day in the car and became aware that I had been not nice. I think it was guilt that made me search and find a deck of playing cards and go back to the hospital and give it to the man. 

 

Actually this was such important event in my life. On my way home after giving the cards to him, I felt like being afloat. I felt so good inside. The smile on his face was priceless.This is the reward of benevolence, a happiness of supreme quality, top notch happiness, grade 1 happiness,...

 

I was aware of the feeling that simple act of kindness, of benevolence was really giving to me. I loved it and I could not remember a time when I felt so good about something. I took some time to think deeper about it. Society around me thought happiness is to be found in going out to cafes with friends. Society felt that happiness was generated by getting material things and showing them off. Society felt....

Society has been wrong! Some comfort and good feeling may be found in all the above but supreme, grade1, top notch happiness is found in kind acts. I am now fully aware, the more simple extra things I do just in service of others, the more I get true happiness. And the quality of my life is supreme on days I manage to several random kind acts. On days when my soul seems weaker and I have mainly ego driven achievements, I feel some pride but it is so different from the true happiness that lies in benevolence.

 

 Benevolence is the desire to do good to others. That desire resides in its highest form in the wisest of people.

 

Can we all get on that path?

That path,

That path of kindness, caring and helping.

That path of beauty, peace and flowing friendliness

That path of doing the extra thing just to make one happy

That path of endless joy and happiness

Can we all get on that path?

Are you seeking?

Seeking joy and happiness

Seeking truth and harmony

Seeking to be free and be loved

Please consider to get on that path.

Let us get all on the path of kindness.

Is it difficult to get on the path?

All we need to do is think some kind thoughts

Look for the good in another

Talk and act friendly

Perform a random kind act

It is easy to get on the path.

Come and get on that path.

The difficult part is to stay on the path.

We have so many distractors

We deal with unfriendly people.

Not easy to remain kind all the time

But it is OK to get off the path on and off.

Just come back as soon as you can

To that path of kindness...

That path of joy and happiness.

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Really good poetry https://aufiezophypoems.blogspot.com/

some beautiful inspirational quotes:  https://quotesfromhans.blogspot.com/ 

a fantastic short story: https://afishwithawish.blogspot.com/2020/08/a-fish-with-wish-whole-story.html

or look at some beautiful skies: https://hansvro.wixsite.com/mysite-1/skies-seen-by-hans 

or beautiful flowers: https://hansvro.wixsite.com/flowersbyhans

or simply some essays about good things: https://abcofvirtues.blogspot.com/

A straight road.

True happiness is hidden in a thick curtain of smoke.
The media and all the adds we see want to make us believe
that happiness lies in things; in getting drunk; in smoking;
that happiness lies in controlling others; in getting power,
and as such, they create a lot of smoke on the highway to happiness,
causing many of us getting stuck on the sideways, on the premature exits.

The highway to happiness is kindness.
Simple kind acts, simple loving deeds alight the happiness from within.
Living a life of love and beauty of kindness and creativity lights up flames inside.
It lightens our mood; gives us peace of mind, peace of heart, peace of soul

The highway to happiness: Let us stay on the highway,
no matter how much smoke unscrupulous industries blow over the road
with deceiving advertisements

The highway to happiness:
A straight road filled with kindness

 

 

New world view

The need to win and compete
and the need for greed
are the old world view. 

We are moving into a new world view. 
People sticking to greed in the hope to get happiness, 
tend not to find true happiness.
They just tend to want more and more and 
their chase for more and for happiness becomes a frustration.. 

The new world view is sharing. 
No compulsory sharing like in communism 
but voluntary sharing for the sheer happiness 
and peace of mind that it brings. 

Some people cling to the old view 
like an old grumpy typist sticking to an old typewriter. 
But soon everyone will see the truth 
and typewriters and greed will be a thing from the past. :)

I wrote this up in a small rhyming poem. 
please visit the poem at: Aufie Zophy 


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! this post was very much inspired by Michael Beckwith
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Note:Visit the Dutch translation, juweeltjes voor de ziel, by clicking here (hier:))

The story of Mr. robot!

Imagine you create a robot. 
It is so important that the battery gets charged on and off.
So you program Mr. robot to feel low if the battery is low
and to experience some pleasure when the battery is charged.

The purpose of Mr. robot is that he helps people 
and that he is always friendly and good. 
So you program the robot to feel very good when he does that.
He feels great satisfaction and a superb peace and happiness
if he helps, is friendly and good.

Then you start up the robot and you have big expectations.
The robot is starting his 'life' and to your big frustration,
he is spending almost all of his time 'running' after the small pleasures
you had installed when he did the things necessary for maintenance.
He completely ignores his main purpose and 
remains most of the time ignorant of the huge benefits for him
you had installed when he would be helping people. 

Stupid Robot!

Weren't we humans created in a similar way?
Our small short lasting ego-pleasures to help us sustain ourselves and our species!

Our great satisfaction, peace of mind and true happiness depending on our altruism!

But perhaps everyone on Wall Street and so many of us with them, remain focused on, and believe that happiness is to be found in, the transient ego-pleasures that were meant to help us merely survive. It is high time that we become fully aware and act continuously on the firm knowledge that a much bigger  happiness and peace of mind is lying in a life of purpose, a life of altruism, goodness and kindness.

Happiness, fulfillment, peace, love and kindness are waiting for us.
Let us choose a life of purpose and finally see the small pleasures for what they truly are!   


Small quote:
When we chase happiness (through chasing pleasures) it tends to flee and fly away
When we choose a life of purpose, happiness tends to come and sit on our shoulder

Back to a simple belief

When I was small, one evening, my auntie and me were sitting in front of the front window of our house. it had been a hot day and now the skies were quite dark with one huge grey dark cloud. My auntie had the newspaper on her lab and was reading about the story of a thief who had been captured by the police in the act of stealing. 
I remember so clearly asking myself, how can it be? Why not everyone is just good and happy? Why for goodness sake do people decide they want to go stealing?

Growing up, my simple goodness suffered confrontation with a real world. I got to understand why people were stealing, why the world was not as good as it was supposed to be. My ideals suffered with it and my belief in a world that was intrinsically good was crumbling. 

Now in the (early😉) autumn of my life, I seem to move back to my belief that soon the world will be uniformly good. Now I see that we were made in such a way that true peace of mind and true happiness lies so strongly and so permanently fixed in selfless altruism. Anyone performing a random kind act without the expectation of getting something back from that person, can confirm the great feelings that random kindness, selflessly done, bring. 
So the most selfish thing, one can do, the most logical thing one can do in order to feel good, is to render selfless service. Attempting happiness through other means seems only to fail time after time. Sure enough, we need our primary needs (like hunger, thirst and need of a stable relationship) to be fulfilled; we need a certain level of comfort; but then it is only madness to go and seek happiness and peace of mind in more and more, or in crazy senseless partying, or in acquiring stupid levels of power over others.
If we reach a critical  number of people, understanding this truth, soon the number of people needing to fight  in order to get primary needs met and to reach a certain level of comfort will tumble and the exponential growth of the group, understanding what brings true peace of mind, will soon engulf the world as a giant wave of kindness. 

Join the group who understand today. No one will ever regret joining early.
Sincere selfless kindness....  a joy, a happiness, a giant peace of mind.  


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Hope you enjoyed this reflection by Hans Van Rostenberghe
Feel free to share it, use it in any positive way.
If you share, please mention the link http://reflectionsbyhans.blogspot.com/

If you have time, please take also a look at
the inspirational quotes page connected to this blog
some of my poems published under my pen name Aufie Zophy.

Flow...

Completely getting absorbed in something.
Have you had that feeling?

Seeing something of such great beauty, that it is as if you get completely absorbed by it?
Doing something that is so nice and worthy, that it is as if you get completely absorbed by it?
Hearing a piece of music that is so majestic, that it is as if you get completely absorbed by it?

What a feeling!

I think that the more we strive to be unconditionally loving to all people and to the world,
the more often we can see so many things and situations that mesmerize us and
give us this state of flow, of feeling completely absorbed by beauty.

Working in my garden this morning, i stopped for awhile and had such moment of flow.
The sun was playing such a wonderful game of light that I felt like being in a state of flow,
a state of extreme awe and gratitude, a magical moment of amazing beauty.
Please my friends, go out in nature with a loving heart.
Allow yourself to be amazed...

The path

The path!

This morning, at 6.30 AM, I could see that the very early morning skies carried the potential to erupt into a wonderful sunrise. I walked down the path of my garden. Step by step I reached the front gate and there I was in a beautiful place facing an amazing sky.

Sometimes I wish in life it would be a bit like this too. We wake up, see exactly where to go and what to do and end up in the most beautiful place thinkable. But life is a bit more complex.

However, it is still worth waking up on time and take a brief look into the future with all potential paths we can walk that day. Try to guess which one will bring us to the nicest place, not so much the nicest place physically, but the nicest place emotionally, mentally, spiritually. I think believers, ask the help of our Creator to find that most beautiful path. But you do not have to be a believer to take the time to think and plan our day in the best way.

I think the place we arrive at the end of the day is usually in bed or just before bedtime in a relaxing chair, either doing some reading, some computering or watching TV. If we take also at night a few minutes of our time, to look back at the path we took and how much true joy it brought us, we will enjoy the beautiful things not only once but twice.

Doing the evening or nighttime reflection, it usually are the smiles we could bring on the faces of other people that create most beauty beauty in our mind, in our heart and in our soul. It usually are the small kindness, the small random acts of love, that make us inside joyful.

Thinking about that path in our life, that path we took and the path we will take tomorrow or later today, can make so much difference in the true joy we experience. :)😉😃




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Hope you enjoyed this reflection by Hans Van Rostenberghe
Feel free to share it, use it in any positive way
Will be grateful if you mention the link http://reflectionsbyhans.blogspot.com/

If you have time, please take also a look at
the inspirational quotes page connected to this blog
some of my poems published under my pen name Aufie Zophy.

How many people?

How many people will we make happy today?
I wanted to start my day with this wonderful question.
Can we make a positive difference in the life of some people today?
At least give a smile to someone?
Or find a lonely soul to make small talk with?

How many people will we give a smile to today?


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 Hope you enjoyed this reflection by Hans Van Rostenberghe
Feel free to share it, use it in any positive way.
Will be grateful if you mention the link http://reflectionsbyhans.blogspot.com/

If you have time, please take also a look at
the inspirational quotes page connected to this blog
some of my poems published under my pen name Aufie Zophy.

Reflection

A sip of my cup
of pure Brazilian Coffee;
late at night,
thinking about my day.

The afternoon came first to mind:
the beautiful face of KakWan
A retired matron, still caring,
caring for the most miserable people
with a heart so full of love
with a soul so full of spirit.
Is there anything more beautiful
than the sweet satisfaction
shining on the face of a person
who cares and does so much good?

Then came to mind
 the sunrise, a thousand colors
in the sky above the sea



Then the dinner with my wife,
the teaching I had at noon
my breakfast outside.

I thank you my God
I thank you my God
I thank you my God

Some days, are filled with so much love and beauty. If before sleep, we reflect on our day, we enjoy twice :)
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Please visit also:  inspirational/motivational quotes from Hans
and Poems by Aufie Zophy

Looking back

Looking back, at my life,
searching for the most happy moments,
somehow they were all moments of love.

Whenever love is strongly present in our life,
we tend to be happy.
We have so many examples of very famous,
very rich people who felt isolated, did not find love
and took their own life.
A life without love may be not worth living (?)

Love seems so important and very few of the 8+ billion people on this world
would disagree with that. Yet love seems so scarce, so scanty in this world.
Why is that?
I am not sure but I think I know at least part of the answer.
Maybe love is so scarce because we all get focused on receiving love
and appreciation without feeling the need to give love and appreciation.
I think there is much more happiness and peace of mind in giving love
that in receiving love. That may seem like a bit idealistic but it is true.

Looking back, the times I managed to give genuine and selfless love,
were really the best moments of my life.
Looking back, I remember times when I just went the extra mile to
do something loving and it brought such big peace of mind
Looking back, even the small gestures of love or kindness on the road,
giving way, gave me a peace of mind far greater than winning a small
battle with another driver to move into a narrow lane first.
Looking back, I think that perhaps people like Mother Teresa are
among the happiest people on earth. Simply giving love and service
without any expectation of getting something back. It fills so much our hearts
and minds with feelings of peace and love.
Looking back, many times when I chose to give love, I received love back
in great multiples. But even the times I did not experience this return of love,
these moments of giving love were still rewarding in big ways.

Looking back at my own life,
I got so much convinced that peace of mind and true happiness
lies in giving, not in taking, not in winning fights, ...
I pray and ask our Creator to help me to focus more on giving
and less on taking, less on winning.

If you have read this to the end,
I love you and let us give some love to others today.
Our heart is full of love and it seems like the more we give away,
the more our heart seems to be refilled with it.

The missing link

Is it better to serve

and be happy

or to reign 

and be upset?

I hear your answer:

You want to reign 

and be happy

But life is filled with paradoxes

Somehow we were made in such a way

that if we serve selflessly

we will get peace of mind

and so much happiness

Somehow we were made in such a way

that if we force something on others

there will be always a bitter taste

to the sweet victory

the more we serve 

the more true power we get... 

the link between service and happiness

the link between  force and bitterness

the secret that will bring happiness to the world

Simple

Simple good deeds:
Happiness is really that simple.

We do simple good deeds
and peace of mind and happiness flow in torrential currents

And yet...
So many people seem to be ignorant of that;
unforgivably ignorant of that simple giant truth
Here comes my simple story from today:

I was in Kuala Lumpur. My car's battery was empty.
I had starting cables in the trunk and asked a few drivers
in the parking the lot, to help me by letting me use their
battery for 10 seconds to start my car.

The first one said he was too much in a hurry.
After he parked his car, he got out and walked to the exit of the parking.
When he saw we were looking at him, he suddenly changed his pace,
was visibly embarrassed and pretended to rush.
We were not helped, the guy missed an opportunity to do a simple good deed.

A few more people we addressed told us other cheap excuses, other people simply ignored us.
Is that the level of development, life in a big city has brought about?
Finally we got helped by a taxi driver, who was perhaps much poorer than the people we asked before. But he helped with a smile and did not ask for anything in return. This guy seemed so much wiser, cleverer and surely he seemed much happier then the stressful faces of the drivers who refused to help or ignored us all together.

I still believe that the world is getting better with time, but we, kind people,
have still a distance to go before enough people will be inspired by our good deeds
to initiate a avalanche-like kindness revolution.
It will come, we just have to be persistent.
Our persistence will bring us the joy and happiness simple good deeds bring.
On top of that, our persistence will slowly but surely change the world for good.