Fortress of Solitude

One of my fondest memories as a child is going by the river
and sitting idly on the bank. There I would enjoy the peace and
quiet, watch the water rush downstream, and listen to the chirps
of birds and the rustling of leaves in the trees. I would also watch
the bamboo trees bend under pressure from the wind and watch
them return gracefully to their upright or original position after
the wind had died down.

When I think about the bamboo tree’s ability to bounce back
or return to it’s original position, the word resilience
comes to mind. When used in reference to a person this word
means the ability to readily recover from shock, depression or
any other situation that stretches the limits of a person’s
emotions.

Have you ever felt like you are about to snap? Have you ever
felt like you are at your breaking point? Thankfully, you have
survived the experience to live to talk about it.

During the experience you probably felt a mix of emotions
that threatened your health. You felt emotionally drained,
mentally exhausted and you most likely endured unpleasant
physical symptoms.

Life is a mixture of good times and bad times, happy moments
and unhappy moments. The next time you are experiencing one
of those bad times or unhappy moments that take you close to
your breaking point, bend but don’t break. Try your best not to
let the situation get the best of you.

A measure of hope will take you through the unpleasant ordeal.
With hope for a better tomorrow or a better situation, things may
not be as bad as they seem to be. The unpleasant ordeal may be
easier to deal with if the end result is worth having.

If the going gets tough and you are at your breaking point, show
resilience. Like the bamboo tree, bend, but don’t break!

There may be days when you get up in the morning and things aren’t the way you had hoped
they would be.

That’s when you have to tell yourself that things will get better.
There are times when people disappoint you and let you down.

But those are the times when you must remind yourself to trust your own judgments and
opinions, to keep your life focused on believing in yourself.

There will be challenges to face and changes to make in your life, and it is up to you to
accept them.

Constantly keep yourself headed in the right direction for you.
It may not be easy at times, but in those times of struggle you will find a stronger sense
of who you are.

So when the days come that are filled with frustration and unexpected responsibilities,
remember to believe in yourself and all you want your life to be.

Because the challenges and changes will only help you to find the goals that you know are
meant to come true for you.

Keep Believing in Yourself

One of the best things we can do in our lives is this:
Begin again.

Begin to see yourself as you were
When you were the happiest and strongest you’ve ever been.

Begin to remember what worked for you
(and what worked against you),
And try to capture the magic again.

Begin to remember how natural it was when you were a child –
To live a lifetime each day.

Begin to forget the baggage you have carried with you
For years:
The problems that don’t matter anymore,
The tears that cried themselves away,
And the worries that are going to wash away
On the shore of tomorrow’s new beginnings.

Tomorrow tells us it will be here every new day of our lives;
And if we will be wise,
We will turn away from the problems of the past
And give the future — and ourselves — a chance
To become the best of friends.
Sometimes all it takes is a wish in the heart to let yourself ..
Begin again.

One day Solomon decided to humble Benaiah ben Yehoyada, his most trusted minister. He said to him, "Benaiah, there is a certain ring that I want you to bring to me. I wish to wear it for Sukkot which gives you six months to find it."

"If it exists anywhere on earth, your majesty," replied Benaiah, "I will find it and bring it to you, but what makes the ring so special?"

"It has magic powers," answered the king. "If a happy man looks at it, he becomes sad, and if a sad man looks at it, he becomes happy." Solomon knew that no such ring existed in the world, but he wished to give his minister a little taste of humility.

Spring passed and then summer, and still Benaiah had no idea where he could find the ring. On the night before Sukkot, he decided to take a walk in one of he poorest quarters of Jerusalem. He passed by a merchant who had begun to set out the day’s wares on a shabby carpet. "Have you by any chance heard of a magic ring that makes the happy wearer forget his joy and the broken-hearted wearer forget his sorrows?" asked Benaiah.

He watched the grandfather take a plain gold ring from his carpet and engrave something on it. When Benaiah read the words on the ring, his face broke out in a wide smile.

That night the entire city welcomed in the holiday of Sukkot with great festivity. "Well, my friend," said Solomon, "have you found what I sent you after?" All the ministers laughed and Solomon himself smiled.

To everyone’s surprise, Benaiah held up a small gold ring and declared, "Here it is, your majesty!" As soon as Solomon read the inscription, the smile vanished from his face. The jeweler had written three Hebrew letters on the gold band: "gimel, zayin, yud", which began the words "Gam zeh ya’avor" — "This too shall pass."

At that moment Solomon realized that all his wisdom and fabulous wealth and tremendous power were but fleeting things, for one day he would be nothing but dust.

Maybe God wants us to
meet a few wrong people before meeting the right one so that when we
finally meet the right person, we will know how to be grateful for that
gift.

When the door of
happiness closes, another opens, but often times we look so long at the
closed door that we don’t see the one which has been opened for us.

The best kind of friend
is the kind you can sit on a porch and swing with, never say a word,
and then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you’ve
ever had.

It’s true that we don’t
know what we’ve got until we lose it, but it’s also true that we don’t
know what we’ve been missing until it arrives.

Don’t go for looks; they
can deceive. Don’t go for wealth; even that fades away. Go for someone
who makes you smile because it takes only a smile to make a dark day
seem bright. Find the one that makes your heart smile.

May you have enough
happiness to make you sweet, enough trails to make you strong, enough
sorrow to keep you human, enough hope to bring you joy.

Always put yourself in another’s shoes. If you feel that it hurts you, it probably hurts the other person, too.

The happiest of people
don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most
of everything that comes along their way.

The brightest future will
always be based on a forgotten past, you can’t get on well in life
until you let go of past failures and heartaches.

When you were born, you
were crying and everyone around you was smiling. Live your life so that
when you die, you’re the one who is smiling and everyone around you is
crying.