Reflection 15 (beauty)

Beauty


I remember a Pakistani man coming to my house
He had spots all over his face, white and dark
My first impression: what an ugly man

But then he started to talk
His inner beauty was so great.
When he left, I thought he was a real beautiful human being.


I have written this real story also in poem format:


Back in 1998, a Pakistani man came to my place.
Large white spots all over his pigmented face,
Scarce hairs on his cheeks; so ugly, did he appear
I let him in but not without some fear

He sat down, i gave him a drink and he talked to me
About good deeds and what they were meant to be
About the peace of mind that a good act brings
about this immediate reward for all kind things

He talked about the people returning many times favours
for many of our well meant and kind hearted endeavours
and then also about that peace and beauty
that for all of us may well last into eternity

Mesmerised by the great wisdom he had come to share
I sipped my coffee and became suddenly aware
that this wise Pakistani man in the end
was not ugly but the most beautiful friend

I had come to realise that true beauty does reside
not in the looks we have, but somewhere deep inside

read more of my poems here


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Reflection 14 (the world is full of good ideas)

Good ideas

The world is full of good ideas.
We just have to take the effort to find them


We need to read more
There has been written useful things about virtually anything
Whatever task at hand, we should read first.
I have seen people chairing meetings, who have for sure never read anything about chairing meetings. I have seen people giving talks, who have for sure never read anything about giving talks. And so we could go on with an endless list of people performing task without reading about,  without preparing themselves for the task at hand.

Even for our daily life and how to deal with day to day difficulties, the world is full of good ideas. Robin Sharma for example has written a wealth of books full of bright ideas
So many other wonderful quotes are to be found on internet, in books and even on calendars.


The world is full of good ideas
Let at least find one today and every day thereafter....






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Reflection 13 (hurt)

Hurt


If we hurt our finger, we put some oil or bandage on it, so it can heal faster
We will never do anything that will keep the wound open, do we?


If we are hurt emotionally, let us put the healing oil of love, of love and forgiveness on it
We do not keep the wound open by hatred and grudges and worries, do we?


Sounds simple, may be difficult, but still simple...





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Reflection 12 (circle)

Circle


When the need for privacy causes loneliness in parents
let's break the circle of privacy

When a ferocious appetite for freedom induces intolerance
let's break the circle of freedom

When rational thinking makes your ideals look naïve
lets break the circle of rationalisation
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Perhaps I need to explain a bit.
Sometimes we are so attached to things we think are always good.
But if our hunger for things that in our mind are almost by definition good,
causes us to do and feel things that are not good
it may be best to thoroughly reflect on how we apply good things in our life.


Perhaps a bit deep as a reflection,
If you disagree, or want further clarification, please comment.


All the best,


Hans






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Hope you enjoyed this reflection by Hans Van Rostenberghe
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Reflection 11 (leaking)

Leaking

I really like the story of the leaking pot.
I am sure most of u have read it somewhere; here is a synopsis.
There was this servant who had to get water for his master everyday.
One day the servant was scolded by his master for not bringing enough water.
The servant explained that one of his pots was leaking.
The next day the leaking pot felt so guilty and bad and cried on the way back from the lake.
The servant consoled and said: even though you have been leaky for quite a while, look what beautiful flowers have grown on your side of the road. That is thanks to your leaking.


So many of us have minor or major leaks.
Today I encouraged my nieces to think about this story
and to find in their school tomorrow a leaky pot
and try to see the flowers she leaves behind.
I truly hope they can become friends with at least one unpopular kid.


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Reflection 10 (second chance)

Second chance


If our children make major mistakes or go astray,
sometimes we feel we have to dissociate ourselves from them.
'You are no longer my child'...


Our egos are hurt, our disappointment is high.


But is that the best for our children and ourselves?


If we reject them in some of their biggest crises,
If we distance ourselves when they need us most
If we give up our huge responsibility at difficult times,
this may be indeed not the best.


Our children are responsible for what they do
But aren't we a bit responsible too?
At least a bit?
If had just known them a bit better, made a bit more time
pampered them a bit less or pampered them a bit more
perhaps the outcome would have been different.
Or taught them a bit more or spent some quality time with them a bit more...


If they are in deep trouble, they need more of assistance.
We should be happy if they give us a second chance to guide them better this time.
But in the mean time they will need our help and support to get out of the trouble they put themselves into. Anger and words like 'go away' are rarely helpful.

Just a few cents of wisdom, I think,

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Reflection 9 (children)

Raising children


Raising children is perhaps one of the most difficult tasks one can imagine
Quite often we as parents are either too strict or too lenient.
We love our children.
Sometimes we pamper them too much
Sometimes we pamper them not enough


Not easy to do the right thing
Perhaps among the surest ways that are right is to often discuss and speak with them
About big things, about small things and on and off do crazy things together.


Life is not easy, but often beautiful, also when dealing with children...

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Reflection 8 (religious arrogance)

Religious arrogance.

Many, perhaps most, religions have a large group of members suffering from a disease, which is called religious arrogance.

Religious arrogance has a wide range of symptoms of which a few examples are listed below:

• We are the chosen people
• Salvation will be only for members of our sect
• All others will go to hell
• Illusions (Delusions) of perfection
• Etc…

Our brain may be just too small to understand the full truth about our Creator. If this holds, then all of us a bit wrong at least. Even though we are convinced that our way is the least wrong and perhaps the closest to the Truth, realising our imperfection will help us to avoid the disease of religious arrogance.

If just people would use a bit less their ego during prayers and a bit more of soul, the incidence of this disease might be a bit lower.

Here is what is meant by ego-prayer:

The ego prayer is our ego, talking. It sees prayer as a sacrifice of our time, so that later we will benefit. I will do something for God, so I can get rewards later. Can you see the huge arrogance already creeping in, in the motives alone. I, my ego, will do something for God. How can we do something for God? God is so great and omnipotent that He is not affected by any of our actions. We cannot affect God. Only God can affect us.

But the ego prayer is still thinking: If I please God now, make the sacrifice and say the prayers I have memorised, I will get my rewards later, while the others deserve their own punishment; - something we may even enjoy to see if the moment arrives, since they have been so stupid not to follow the same rules we believe in. Our ego is always thinking in a commercial way. Superior versus inferior. I do something for you, you do something for me. A mild form of corruption? Only our ego could make us think and act as such.

Here is what is meant by soul-prayer:

The soul prayer is our soul, praying. It sees prayer as a gift of God to us, something sent to us from heaven, something we can do for ourselves. Praying is no longer a sacrifice we make for God, it is a privilege we accept. By praising God and praying with our heart, our mind and our soul, we will immediately experience peace of mind and if even that would be the only reward, it would be already enough for us to keep on praying. But it is not the only reward. In the process we gain insights that help us, live a more complete and happy life full of peace of mind. It will really help us to see God’s plan for us. We will become more alert and try to miss fewer opportunities to do good. We will start to live more as a soul person and less as an ego person.

Living a life according to God’s plan, we may die with great peace of mind that lasts well into eternity. After a soul prayer we will not feel to be the good ones deserving rewards in distant future, while the ones not praying like us are the bad ones deserving punishment; after a soul prayer we will realise all of us are poor sinners and it is our duty to do as much good as possible and in the process inspire as many people as possible to do good with us. This will result in an immediate but lasting peace of mind




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Reflection 7 (life)

Life is not easy


No matter what we do or attempt, we meet obstacles.
Even if we are successful people get envious and will try to undo our successes
Death and destruction around us are shaking us up

Life is not easy
and yet...

Life is beautiful
If in all its uneasiness we make time to look at the beauty of a sunrise
We take the time to say some loving words to the people in our lives
Life tends to be beautiful

Today's short reflection is about life, not always easy but so often beautiful.....


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Reflection 6 (childhood memories)

A short reflection:

If I remember my childhood, I remember the love of my parents and all the nice moments we had as a family. But somehow it was some of the harshness of secondary school that really made me strong and helps me up to today to face quite some difficulties.

I am grateful for the love of my home. It certainly shaped a lot my current beliefs and attitudes to the world. At the same time I am grateful for the challenges i faced in school because somehow they contributed also in a positive way to who I am today.

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Reflection 5 (sadness)

Sadness


Is it dangerous for a doctor to be emotionally involved with his or her patients?

Many of my students answer with a quick yes to this question.
Far too many doctors are afraid of their emotions


If something undeniably sad happens in the ward, it is ok to be sad
Sad is not bad. Our media portray all the time happiness as the only option.
Sadness is a normal part of life.


If we are afraid of our own emotions and keep pushing them away, no matter what happens to our patients, the pushed away feelings will reside somewhere in our subconscious mind and eat bit by bit or our stomach lining, causing us to have an ulcer.


It is far better to accept and live through our emotions. Our patients will truly appreciate it much more as well. If we break bad news and allow ourselves to b genuinely sad about it, it will be noticed and appreciated as such. It will mean support in most difficult moments. The sadness will not immediately stop after breaking bad news. Let it be there for a while. As we go on with our life an our other patients, there will be plenty of reasons to be happy and allow these feelings to happen as freely as we allow sadness.

Sad is not bad.

Of course some people suffer from overwhelming all encompassing sadness, called depression. That is not good and requires someone to seek urgently help. This reflection is not about this kind of all-encompassing sadness.

I wrote small poem about sadness some time ago:

A little sadness


Reflecting on my life at the end of the week
A tear leaves my eye and caresses my cheek
My ego wants to force a smile, but my soul doesn’t feel the need
This little sadness doesn’t taste bitter; it is sweet


My other poems can be found here:
http://www.poemhunter.com/aufie-zophy/


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Reflection 4 (positivity)

Power of positivity


Many books can be found now in book stores on the power of positive thinking, or positive attitudes or the law of attraction

I am not a great believer in black magic or any other kind of magic but positive thoughts somehow make sense


What we think about has an influence on our emotions and on how we behave and act.
Nobody will deny that our actions in turn have a major effect on our life circumstances, our achievements and our successes or failures.


Just thinking in a positive way can influence our actions positively and as such the outcomes of our actions.


I have personally experienced some great things with positive thinking.
It is worth to give it a try



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Reflection 3 (perfect world)

Perfect world

Some men and women consider the cruel events that are happening in this world as solid evidence that an almighty loving God does not exist. How can a good, almighty God allow the massacres in Syria, the suffering in Gaza, the loss of an airplane, a tsunami? Very difficult to answer.

A little imagination about the opposite of a world with cruelties may shed some light on the issue. How would it be to live in a perfect world?

Let us go on this imaginary trip. We wake up in a perfect world. No illness, no war, no theft, no anger, no pollution, just love, sweetness, pure perfection. Anything we would do or any change we make would only make the world worse because it is perfect already.

What would happen to our motivation?

What would happen to our creativity?

What would happen to our drive?

What would happen to our good intentions?

What would happen to our job satisfaction?

What would happen to our peace of mind?

We humans thrive on creativity, on altruism, on making positive changes. Aren’t these things essential components of success and peace of mind? Making a positive difference in our world seems an essential component of our true happiness. Would a perfect world not be endlessly boring? All doctors and nurses suddenly completely useless... Courts, judges politicians, no need...

It looks like we were made not to live in a perfect world. Rather than an animalistic indulgence in good things, it appears that the good almighty God has intended to share the pleasure of endless creativity with us.

Suffering is here and we can do something to relieve it. Wow

People need help and we can help. Wow

Pain is inflicted and we can use our creativity and knowledge to alleviate it. Wow

Hunger and thirst. We were given food and drinks and are capable of sharing it. Wow.

Sorrow and sadness exists, but we can console. Wow

Loneliness exists but we can love. Wow

Sooner or later, all of us slowly come to be aware that true pleasure and happiness lies in relieving suffering, helping, in alleviating pain, in sharing, in consoling and loving. We will appreciate the great gifts of a loving and almighty God.

In our current reality there are people who need help

In our current reality there are people who are helping

We may move from needing help to helping and back and forth

Surely it is better to be in the helping group but with an open mind we will be grateful for help rendered to us when we truly need it.

Just think for a while. Would we really want a perfect world? Or is the world, as it is, not too bad?

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Reflection 2 (loneliness)

Loneliness

When I visit my auntie

I think of the lonely people in the world

So often I spend so much time chasing happiness

Happiness which seems to run faster and faster away

But when I take just 15 minutes to visit my auntie

and manage to reduce a bit of the loneliness

happiness comes and sit in my heart and soul.













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