understanding

Thinking Out Loud: There Are Many Paths

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“It’s one thing to feel that you are on the right path, but it’s another to think that yours is the only path.” ~  Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

NOTE: Do you know someone who believes his/her way is the only way? I do. I suffered from that disease when I was younger. Experience taught me, often through painful lessons, that my way was not the only way. When I understood there are as many paths as there are people the world became a friendly place. Instead of trying to argue with them, I began to try to understand them hoping they could teach me something I didn’t know. An open mind opens us up to multiple possibilities.

“Not Understood” A Poem by Thomas Bracken

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Not Understood

Thomas Bracken

Not understood, we move along asunder;
Our paths grow wider as the seasons creep
Along the years; we marvel and we wonder
Why life is life, and then we fall asleep
Not understood.

Not understood, we gather false impressions
And hug them closer as the years go by;
Till virtues often seem to us transgressions;
And thus men rise and fall, and live and die
Not understood.

Not understood! Poor souls with stunted vision
Oft measure giants with their narrow gauge;
The poisoned shafts of falsehood and derision
Are oft impelled ‘gainst those who mould the age,
Not understood.

Not understood! The secret springs of action
Which lie beneath the surface and the show,
Are disregarded; with self-satisfaction
We judge our neighbours, and they often go
Not understood.

Not understood! How trifles often change us!
The thoughtless sentence and the fancied slight
Destroy long years of friendship, and estrange us,
And on our souls there falls a freezing blight;
Not understood.

Not understood! How many breasts are aching
For lack of sympathy! Ah! day by day
How many cheerless, lonely hearts are breaking!
How many noble spirits pass away,
Not understood.

O God! that men would see a little clearer,
Or judge less harshly where they cannot see!
O God! that men would draw a little nearer
To one another, — they’d be nearer Thee,
And understood

Poem of the Day ~ The Little Boy and the Old Man

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The Little Boy and the Old Man

Shel Silverstein

Said the little boy, “Sometimes I drop my spoon.”
Said the old man, “I do that too.”
The little boy whispered, “I wet my pants.”
“I do that too,” laughed the little old man.
Said the little boy, “I often cry.”
The old man nodded, “So do I.”
“But worst of all,” said the boy, “it seems
Grown-ups don’t pay attention to me.”
And he felt the warmth of a wrinkled old hand.
“I know what you mean,” said the little old man.

 

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Something to Think About

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It is better to have questions than to have answers. Questions lead us to greater understanding. Questions open up new pathways of thinking. Questions challenge existing answers. Questions lead to deeper understanding of what is true and what is false. Question everything and put it to the test.

Today’s Poem ~ I Am That

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I Am That

Julian of Norwich

I am that.
I am that which is highest.
I am that which is lowest.
I am that which is All.

 

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Today’s Power Thought ~ The Extra Effort

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Lots of folks may never understand you, the effort you make to understand others will set you apart. 

Today’s Power Thought ~ Understanding What is Being Said

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When listening, check to make sure what is said is understood in the way the speaker intended it to be understood. One can always ask questions to get to a deeper understanding. Lots of problems are resolved through deeper understanding.

Today’s Reflection ~ Relationships

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Relationships are based on four principles: respect, understanding, acceptance and appreciation. ~ Gandhi

The Key to Love ~ Author Unknown

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The key to love is understanding..

The ability to comprehend not only the spoken word

But those unspoken gestures

The little things that say so much by themselves.

The key to love is forgiveness..

To accept each others faults and pardon mistakes

Without forgetting, but with remembering

What you learn from them.

The key to love is sharing..

Facing your good fortunes as well as the bad, together

Both conquering problems, forever searching for ways

To intensify your happiness.

The key to love is giving..

Without thought of return

But with the hope of just a simple smile

And by giving in but never giving up.

The key to love is respect..

Realizing that you are two separate people, with different ideas

That you don’t belong to each other

That you belong with each other, and share a mutual bond.

The key to love is inside us all..

It takes time and patience to unlock all the ingredients

That will take you to its threshold

It is the continual learning process that demands a lot of work..

But the rewards are more than worth the effort.

And that is the key to love.

Today’s Reflection ~ Understanding

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If we could read the secret history of our enemies we should find in each man’s life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

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