(Under age 40? You won't understand.)
You could hardly see thru all the snow,
Spread the rabbit ears as far as they go.
Pull a chair up to the TV set,
"Good Night, David. Good Night, Chet."
Depending on the channel you tuned,
You got Rob and Laura - or Ward and June.
It felt so good. It felt so right.
Life looked better in black and white.
I Love Lucy, The Real McCoys,
Dennis the Menace, the Cleaver boys,
Rawhide, Gunsmoke, Wagon Train,
Superman, Jimmy and Lois Lane.
Father Knows Best, Patty Duke,
Rin Tin Tin and Lassie too,
Donna Reed on Thursday night! --
Life looked better in black and white.
I wanna go back to black and white.
Everything always turned out right.
Simple people, simple lives...
Good guys always won the fights.
Now nothing is the way it seems,
In living color on the TV screen.
Too many murders, too many fights,
I wanna go back to black and white.
In God they trusted, alone in bed they slept,
A promise made was a promise kept.
They never cussed or broke their vows.
They'd never make the network now.
But if I could, I'd rather be
In a TV town in '53.
It felt so good. It felt so right.
Life looked better in black and white.
I'd trade all the channels on the satellite,
If I could just turn back the clock tonight
To when everybody knew wrong from right.
Life was better in black and white!
Friday, April 9, 2010
Life was better in black and white!
The Awakening - A MUST READ
The Awakening
A time comes in your life when you finally get it ...
When in the midst of all your fears and insanity you stop dead in your tracks
and somewhere the voice inside your head cries out - ENOUGH!
Enough fighting and crying or struggling to hold on.
And, like a child quieting down after a blind tantrum, your sobs begin to subside,
you shudder once or twice, you blink back your tears and through a mantle of
wet lashes you begin to look at the world through new eyes.
This is your awakening.
You realize that it's time to stop hoping and waiting for something to change or for happiness, safety and security to come galloping over the next horizon. You come to terms with the fact
that he is not Prince Charming and you are not Cinderella and that in the real world there aren't always fairy tale endings (or beginnings for that matter) and that any guarantee of "happily ever after" must begin with you and in the process a sense of serenity is born of acceptance.
You awaken to the fact that you are not perfect and that not everyone will always love, appreciate or approve of who or what you are . . . and that's OK. (They are entitled to their own views and opinions.) And you learn the importance of loving and championing yourself and in the process
a sense of new found confidence is born of self-approval.
You stop bitching and blaming other people for the things they did to you (or didn't do for you)
and you learn that the only thing you can really count on is the unexpected. You learn that people don't always say what they mean or mean what they say and that not everyone will always be
there for you and that it's not always about you. So, you learn to stand on your own and to
take care of yourself and in the process a sense of safety & security is born of self-reliance.
You stop judging and pointing fingers and you begin to accept people as they are and to overlook their shortcomings and human frailties and in the process a sense of peace & contentment
is born of forgiveness. You realize that much of the way you view yourself, and the world around you, is as a result of all the messages and opinions that have been ingrained into your psyche.
And you begin to sift through all the crap you've been fed about how you should behave,
how you should look and how much you should weigh, what you should wear and where you should shop and what you should drive, how and where you should live and what you should
do for a living, who you should marry and what you should expect of a marriage, the
importance of having and raising children or what you owe your parents.
You learn to open up to new worlds and different points of view. And you begin reassessing
and redefining who you are and what you really stand for. You learn the difference between wanting and needing and you begin to discard the doctrines and values you've outgrown,
or should never have bought into to begin with and in the process you learn to go with your instincts. You learn that it is truly in giving that we receive. And that there is power and
glory in creating and contributing and you stop maneuvering through life merely as
a "consumer" looking for your next fix.
Your learn that principles such as honesty and integrity are not the outdated ideals of
a bygone era but the mortar that holds together the foundation upon which you must build a life.
You learn that you don't know everything; it's not your job to save the world and that you can't teach a pig to sing. You learn to distinguish between guilt and responsibility and the importance
of setting boundaries and learning to say NO. You learn that the only cross to bear is the one you choose to carry and that martyrs get burned at the stake.
Then you learn about love. Romantic love and familial love. How to love, how much to give
in love, when to stop giving and when to walk away. You learn not to project your needs or
your feelings onto a relationship. You learn that you will not be more beautiful, more intelligent, more lovable or important because of the man on your arm or the child that bears your name.
You learn to look at relationships as they really are and not as you would have them be.
You stop trying to control people, situations and outcomes. You learn that just as people
grow and change so it is with love. . . and you learn that you don't have the right to demand
love on your terms just to make you happy.
And, you learn that alone does not mean lonely . . .And you look in the mirror and come to
terms with the fact that you will never be a size 5 or a perfect 10 and you stop trying to compete with the image inside your head and agonizing over how you "stack up." You also stop
working so hard at putting your feelings aside, smoothing things over and ignoring your needs.
You learn that feelings of entitlement are perfectly OK . . . . and that sometimes it is necessary
to make demands. You come to the realization that you deserve to be treated with love, kindness, sensitivity and respect and you won't settle for less. And, you allow only the hands of a lover who cherishes you to glorify you with his touch . . . and in the process you internalize the meaning of self-respect.
And you learn that your body really is your temple. And you begin to care of it and treat it with respect. You begin eating a balanced diet, drinking more water and taking more time to exercise. You learn that fatigue diminishes the spirit and can create doubt and fear. So you take more
time to rest.
And, just as food fuels the body, laughter fuels our soul. So you take more time to laugh and
to play. You learn, that for the most part, in life you get what you believe you deserve . . . and
that much of life truly is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
You learn that anything worth achieving is worth working for and that wishing for something
to happen is different from working toward making it happen. More importantly, you learn
that in order to achieve success you need direction, discipline and perseverance. You also learn that no one can do it all alone and that it's OK to risk asking for help. You learn that the only
thing you must truly fear is the great robber baron of all time. FEAR itself. You learn to step
right into and through your fears because you know that whatever happens you can handle
it and to give in to fear is to give away the right to live life on your terms.
And you learn to fight for your life and not to squander it living under a cloud of impending
doom. You learn that life isn't always fair, you don't always get what you think you deserve
and that sometimes bad things happen to unsuspecting, good people. On these occasions
you learn not to personalize things. You learn that God isn't punishing you or failing to
answer your prayers. It's just life happening. And you learn to deal with evil in its most
primal state - the ego.
You learn that negative feelings such as anger, envy and resentment must be understood
and redirected or they will suffocate the life out of you and poison the universe that
surrounds you. You learn to admit when you are wrong and to build bridges instead of
walls. You learn to be thankful and to take comfort in many of the simple things we take
for granted, things that millions of people upon the earth can only dream about; a full
refrigerator, clean running water, a soft warm bed, a long hot shower.
Slowly, you begin to take responsibility for yourself by yourself and you make yourself
a promise to never betray yourself and to never ever settle for less than your heart's desire.
And you hang a wind chime outside your window so you can listen to the wind. And you
make it a point to keep smiling, to keep trusting and to stay open to every wonderful possibility.
Finally, with courage in your heart and with God by your side you take a stand, you take a deep breath and you begin to design the life you want, as best as you can.
- unknown
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Wednesday, April 7, 2010
DailyOM: Just Being There
Just Being There
Acting As A Guardian
One of the greatest gifts we can give another human being is to act as their guardian, to hold space for them.
One of the greatest gifts we can give another human being is to act as their guardian. Whether this gift is related to a specific situation or is representative of an ongoing commitment, we each benefit from the association. To protect someone is to walk with them in challenging times and see them through safely to the other side. In doing this, we grow with them. And those under our guardianship derive confidence from our support and assistance, enabling them to persevere through almost any conditions.
There are many reasons we feel inspired to serve as guardians to those we care for. Sometimes just holding the space for somebody allows them to do what is necessary to grow or heal. We may simply want to see that our friend or loved one is taken care of and equipped to prevail over difficult circumstances. We may also sense that we are in possession of knowledge our loved ones are lacking yet need in their current stage of development. Our offer to serve as a guardian may also be both unsolicited and unrelated to any one situation. Instead of helping someone we care about cope with a specific challenge, we may find ourselves providing them with a more general form of emotional sustenance that prepares and strengthens them for challenges yet to come.
Our ability to empathize with those under our guardianship is our greatest asset because our comprehension of their needs allows us to determine how we can best serve them. Even when this comprehension is limited, however, the loving intentions with which we enter into our role as guardian ensure that our care and protection help others grow as individuals while living their lives with grace.