Author Topic: Anything  (Read 492138 times)

Certain Hope

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Re: Anything
« Reply #825 on: September 20, 2006, 12:05:03 AM »
lol...  :wink:  GS... I thought you and Tt might like this one  :D

Sela

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Re: Anything
« Reply #826 on: November 15, 2006, 11:34:47 AM »
Hahhahaha!  That was a funny one CH!  I liked it too!!

Just been reading here for awhile.  It's a good thingy for me, I think.
Hope you are mainly feeling well and things are getting better!  :D

I found this and wanted to share it:

The Cookie Thief
By Valerie Cox

A woman was waiting at an airport one night,
With several long hours before her flight.
She hunted for a book in the airport shop,
Bought a bag of cookies and found a place to drop.

She was engrossed in her book but happened to see,
That the man beside her, as old as he could be,
Grabbed a cookie or two from the bag in between
Which she tried to ignore to avoid a scene.

She munched cookies and watched the clock,
As this gutsy cookie thief dimished her stock.
She was getting angrier as the minutes ticked by
Thinking, "If I weren't so nice, I'd blacken his eye!"

With each cookie she took, he took one too
And when only one was left, she wondered what he'd do.
With a smile on his face and a nervous laugh,
He took the last cookie and broke it in half.

He offered her half as he ate the other,
She snatched it from him and thought, "Oh, brother!"
"This guy has some nerve and he's also so rude!
Why he didn't even show any gratitude!"

She had never known when she had been so galled
And she sighed with relief when her flight was called.
She gathered her belongings and headed to the gate,
Refusing to look back at that thieving ingrate!

She boarded the plane and sank in her seat,
Went back to her book that was almost complete.
As she reached in her bag, she gasped with surprise!
There was HER bag of cookies in front of her eyes!!

"If mine are here," she moaned with despair,
"Then the others were his and he tried to share."
Too late to apologize, she realized with grief,
That SHE was the rude one, the INGRATE, the THIEF!



This story really got me thinking about some stuff.
Here are some questions I asked myself, after reading it, which you may wish to ask yourself and either talk more about it here, if you feel like it,  or keep what helps and discard the rest......whatever works.

How did you feel after you read this story? 
What do you like about this story? 
What did you not like?
What can you relate to and not relate to in regard to this story?
What would you say the moral of the story is?


Have a great day all!

 :D Sela
« Last Edit: November 15, 2006, 11:52:18 AM by Sela »

moonlight52

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Re: Anything
« Reply #827 on: November 15, 2006, 02:45:20 PM »
Hey Sela ,

Glad to see you back  :lol:
I love the story.

It tells of sharing , a misunderstanding and self discovery.
I sure do love it when the woman sees her mistake and wants to make it right.

The best part I think is when the older man broke his last cookie in half so they could enjoy it together.

Thanks Sela for this story

love to you ,

moon

gratitude28

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Re: Anything
« Reply #828 on: November 15, 2006, 09:28:20 PM »
Hi Sela!!!!
I've never heard it in a poem... but I remember this story being part of Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker series :)
Love, Beth
"There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable." Douglas Adams

Sela

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Re: Anything
« Reply #829 on: November 16, 2006, 09:51:40 AM »
Hey Moon:

Thanks for saying you're glad I'm back.   I missed your kind encouragement.  Thankyou Moon.

I love the story too.  When I read it, it grabbed ahold of me and I fell right in with the woman.

Quote
It tells of sharing

I liked that at the end too but what I really related to was the part about stealing....being stolen from....being ripped off......

Quote
a misunderstanding


Yes, it was wasn't it?  One that was unlikely to be rectified to boot.  Very unlikely.  Not like some misunderstandings that stay that way because of choice, but a misunderstanding that will stay that way because of circumstances.

Quote
and self discovery.

Well it sure was for me.  Oh!  You mean for the woman?  Yes.  Definately self discovering going on.  :D

I really like it.  It's so simple but so complicated.  I love stuff like that!

Thanks for the love Moon.  Sending some back to you!!

Hiya Beth!

Get this.....I never heard of Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker series ( :oops: ) but check out this mini- film version of the story (which is about 7 or something minutes long....hope I post this link properly):

http://www.atomfilms.com/af/content/atom_453

(Click the yellow button over on the left to watch the little movie).  I watched it right up to and including the credits at the end and thoroughly enjoyed it!  The facial expressions are something else!  (although this little flick puts a different spin on it).

I felt totally different after watching it, than I did after first reading the poem.  Hmmmm.  Leads to more thinking........... :shock: :roll:......I might wear my brain out!   :mrgreen:

Thanks and love back to you too Beth.

 :D Sela

gratitude28

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Re: Anything
« Reply #830 on: November 17, 2006, 04:04:23 AM »
You should read some of D. Adams books... they are hilarious and deep at the same time... like the poem. Now that I am older, it takes me too long to read them as I seem to get stuck on how cool just about every sentence is. Much the same way I feel about Oscar Wilde. Also reading Roald Dahl's adult stories now and some of them freak me out.
Love, Beth
"There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable." Douglas Adams

Sela

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Re: Anything
« Reply #831 on: November 17, 2006, 11:57:07 AM »
Thanks Beth!  Adding those to my list of stuff  I'd like to read.

One of my weaknesses is that I am not the quickest reader.  I don't spend enough time at it either, which would likely help.  There just doesn't seem to be enough time to do everything eh?  That's what it's like for me anyhow.  Thanks though, I think I would enjoy those books and will check next time I'm at the library for one.


Here's something else to think about:


Lessons from Geese
 
Fact 1: As each goose flaps its wings it creates an "uplift" for the birds that follow. By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock adds 71% greater flying range than if each bird flew alone.

Lesson 1: People who share a common direction and sense of community can get where they are going quicker and easier because they are traveling on the thrust of one another.

Fact 2: When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone. It quickly moves back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird in front of it.

Lesson 2: If we have as much common sense as a goose, we stay in formation with those headed where we want to go. We are willing to accept their help and give our help to others.

Fact 3: When the lead goose tires, it rotates back into the formation and another goose flies to the point position.

Lesson 3: It pays to take turns doing the hard tasks and sharing leadership. As with geese, people are interdependent on each others' skills, capabilities, and unique arrangements of gifts, talents, or resources.

Fact 4: Geese flying in formation honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.

Lesson 4: We need to make sure our honking is encouraging. In groups where there is encouragement, the production is much greater. The power of encouragement (to stand by one's heart or core values and encourage the heart and core of others) is the quality of honking we seek.

Fact 5: When a goose gets sick, wounded, or shot down, two geese drop out of formation and follow it down to help protect it. They stay with it until it dies or is able to fly again. Then, they launch out with another formation or catch up with the flock.

Lesson 5: If we have as much sense as geese, we will stand by each other in difficult times as well as when we are strong.

No author listed.



Honk!!  8)  (hope you felt the quality of that one!)

 :D Sela

moonlight52

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Re: Anything
« Reply #832 on: November 17, 2006, 12:12:05 PM »
HONK

Hopalong

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Re: Anything
« Reply #833 on: November 17, 2006, 12:16:18 PM »
honk HONK!

(((((((((((((((((Sela))))))))))))))))))))))))

SO glad you're back.

Hops
"That'll do, pig, that'll do."

gratitude28

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Re: Anything
« Reply #834 on: November 18, 2006, 07:14:17 AM »
Honk...
Very cool.

As for reading, alas, I am doing it a bit at a time... inthe bath and all. I used to reead tons, but life keeps getting in the way :)

Love, Beth
"There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable." Douglas Adams

Sela

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Re: Anything
« Reply #835 on: November 18, 2006, 11:18:28 AM »
 :D :D :D :D :D

I love all this honking!!  It feels good!  Thankyou, Hops, for the gladness.  I'm glad you're here!  So very glad, actually!

You too Moon!  Nice one!

Hey Beth!  In the bath?   :shock:  Good for you!  I'd drown myself and my book, I think.  :?  Soak the pages or get bubbles all over them!  I read for awhile every night before going to sleep.  Gotta squeeze that reading in somewhere.  Glad you've found such a lovely way to do that!

Here's some more for pondering.  I love all the quotes in this one: 


Just Kindness, Please

"Write injuries in sand, kindnesses in marble." ~ French proverb

Whatever we praise, we can cause to flourish. We can choose, moment by moment, where to put our attention, emotion, and intention. "Our visions begin with our desires," wrote Audre Lorde. "Comic vision often leads to serious solutions," wrote humorist, Malcolm L. Kushner. "If you think you're too small to make a difference, you've obviously never been in bed with a mosquito," wrote Michelle Walker.

"The everyday kindness of the back roads more than makes up for the acts of greed in the headlines," wrote Charles Kuralt in *On the Road with Charles Kuralt.*

"Keep what is worth keeping. And with the breath of kindness blow the rest away," wrote English novelist, Dinah Mulock Craik. Here's to making more opportunities to play, laugh, celebrate, and "say it better" in cultivating kindness as life's genuine "keeper."

Life contains few absolutes, and one of those few is that kindness usually cultivates connection, something we yearn for in a time-pressed, ear-to-the- cell-phone, relationship-diminished culture. After all, the heart can be our strongest muscle if we exercise it regularly. Yet being kind is not a guarantee of safety from hurt — nothing offers that failsafe comfort. "Kindness and intelligence don't always deliver us from the pitfalls and traps: there are always failures of love, of will, of imagination. There is no way to take the danger out of human relationships," wrote Barbara Grizzuti Harrison in an article for McCall's magazine way back in 1975.

"When we honestly ask ourselves which person in our lives means the most to us, we often find that it is those who, instead of giving much advice, solutions, or cures, have chosen rather to share our pain and touch our wounds with a gentle and tender hand. The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement, who can tolerate not knowing, not curing, not healing and face with us the reality of our powerlessness, that is a friend who cares," wrote Henri Nouwen in *Out of Solitude.*

Years ago from a college classmate, I heard a Persian proverb, "With a sweet tongue of kindness, you can drag an elephant by a hair."

"Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate," wrote Albert Schweitzer. "He who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love," wrote the Greek religious leader, Saint Basil.

Kindness is often unspoken. "An eye can threaten like a loaded and leveled gun, or it can insult like hissing or kicking; or, in its altered mood, by beams of kindness, it can make the heart dance for joy," wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson. At another time, Emerson wrote, "You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late."

"You may be sorry that you spoke, sorry you stayed or went, sorry you won or lost, sorry so much was spent. But as you go through life, you'll find -- you're never sorry you were kind," said Herbert Prochnow.

"Kindness is more important than wisdom, and the recognition of this is the beginning of wisdom," wrote Theodore Isaac Rubin in "One to One."

"Life is made up, not of great sacrifices or duties, but of little things, in which smiles and kindness and small obligations win and preserve the heart, said English chemist Humphrey Davy.

"We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. As in filling a vessel drop by drop, there is at last a drop that makes it run over. So in a series of kindness there is, at last, one which makes the heart run over," once wrote the Scottish lawyer and biographer, James Boswell.

"We are told that people stay in love because of chemistry, or because they remain intrigued with each other, because of many kindnesses, because of luck . . . But part of it has got to be forgiveness and gratefulness," wrote columnist Ellen Goodman.

From an artist's perspective, ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov once said, "The essence of all art is to have pleasure in giving pleasure."

Author:  Kare Anderson



At last!  Words to explain my alterview of co-dependant:  "to have pleasure in giving pleasure".
The kind of affliction I'm glad to have!  I want more affliction!!  Here sweet elephant!  Come on now!  I will gladly paint your toenails any colour you like!!

 :D  :shock: :D

Reminds me of a joke:  Why do elephants paint their toenails red?



.......................ready?






Answer:  So they can hide in the strawberry patch!! 

Enjoy your weekend all!

:D Sela

Stormchild

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Re: Anything
« Reply #836 on: November 18, 2006, 11:32:08 AM »
Humor helps, too. Just found this gem online at the Post: the link is probably time sensitive so it may only work for a day or so.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/comics/king.htm?name=Bizarro&date=20061117

this just seemed so totally appropriate for VESMB.
The only way out is through, and the only way to win is not to play.

"... truth is all I can stand to live with." -- Moonlight52

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Visitor

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Re: Anything
« Reply #837 on: November 18, 2006, 10:36:24 PM »
Just wanted to pass this poem along.  Maybe somebody will be touched by it as I have.  I don't come on this board often, but every now and then, I come for a visit.  Have a wonderful day.

CLEANSING

Empty yourself of everything you care about, every dream,
every worry, every concern, every ambition, every purpose,
every disappointment, every desire. Gently let it all go.
Then put back in only the things that have real meaning. And
taste the sweet, glorious freedom of being able to bring
those hallowed purposes fully to life.
Are you so intensely concerned with chasing success that
you've made that success impossible? Let it go, and then you
can truly know it.
Do you ache so fervently for love that you drive it away?
Let it go, and it will fill you.
Cleanse your spirit of all the many layers of need to, have
to, want to, and can't do without. Clear out some space to
truly live.
Underneath all those empty artifacts you've been striving to
hold on to, there is freedom and there is power. Cleanse
yourself of the need to need, and free yourself to soar.

Ralph Marston


Sela

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Re: Anything
« Reply #838 on: November 20, 2006, 09:55:28 AM »
Oh Yes!  Humour helps!

And thanks Visitor, for that lovely poem.  It sounds to me like good advice, too.  I think this list is too:



Tasks that Make Life Worthwhile

By Philip E. Humbert, PhD

New Year's is a traditional time to review the past and make new commitments to the future. Below are items that over the years my clients have taught me about making life a wonderful adventure. I hope you find them challenging and useful.

Take time to dream -- it hitches your soul to the stars.

Take time to work -- it is the price of success.

Take time to think -- it is the source of power.

Take time to play -- it is the secret of youth.

Take time to read -- it is the foundation of knowledge.

Take time to worship -- it is the highway of reverence and washes the dust of earth from your eyes.

Take time to laugh -- it helps with life's loads.

Take time for health -- it is the true treasure of life.

Take time for friends -- they are the source of happiness.

Take time to love -- it is the source of joy.


 :D Sela

Stormchild

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Re: Anything
« Reply #839 on: November 20, 2006, 10:25:05 AM »
Well, this is a bit serious for this thread, but if I post it anywhere else it won't make sense to anyone.

At last!  Words to explain my alterview of co-dependant:  "to have pleasure in giving pleasure".
The kind of affliction I'm glad to have!  I want more affliction!!  Here sweet elephant!  Come on now!  I will gladly paint your toenails any colour you like!!

There is nothing at all codependent about giving and receiving kindness in a mutually uplifting and constructive relationship - that type of interaction is one of the very best things that being human has to offer.

Here are some working definitions of true codependency, from various spots on the Web, with links.

Quote
There are many definitions used to talk about  codependency today. The original concept of codependency was developed to acknowledge the  responses and behaviors people develop from living with an alcoholic or substance abuser.  A number of attributes can be developed as a result of those conditions.

However, over the years, codependency has expanded into a definition which describes a  dysfunctional pattern of living and problem solving developed during childhood by family  rules.

One of many definitions of codependency is: a set of *maladaptive, *compulsive  behaviors learned by family members in order to survive in a family which is experiencing  *great emotional pain and stress.

*maladaptive - inability for a person to develop behaviors which get needs met.

*compulsive - psychological state where a person acts against their own will or  conscious desires in which to behave.

*sources of great emotional pain and stress - chemical dependency; chronic  mental illness; chronic physical illness; physical abuse; sexual abuse; emotional abuse;  divorce; hypercritical or non-loving environment.

As adults, codependent people have a greater tendency to get involved in relationships  with people who are perhaps unreliable, emotionally unavailable, or needy. And the  codependent person tries to provide and control everything within the relationship without  addressing their own needs or desires; setting themselves up for continued unfulfillment.

Even when a codependent person encounters someone with healthy boundaries, the  codependent person still operates in their own system; they’re not likely to get too  involved with people who have healthy boundaries. This of course creates problems that  continue to recycle; if codependent people can’t get involved with people who have  healthy behaviors and coping skills, then the problems continue into each new  relationship.

From here: http://www.allaboutcounseling.com/codependency.htm

Quote
Here is a short list of the characteristics of Love vs. toxic love (compiled with the help of the work of Melody Beattie & Terence Gorski.) 
1. Love - Development of self first priority. Toxic love - Obsession with relationship.

2. Love - Room to grow, expand; desire for other to grow. Toxic love - Security, comfort in sameness; intensity of need seen as proof of love (may really be fear, insecurity, loneliness)

3. Love - Separate interests; other friends; maintain other meaningful relationships. Toxic love - Total involvement; limited social life; neglect old friends, interests.

4. Love - Encouragement of each other's expanding; secure in own worth. Toxic love - Preoccupation with other's behavior; fear of other changing.

5. Love - Appropriate Trust (i.e. trusting partner to behave according to fundamental nature.)  Toxic love - Jealousy; possessiveness; fear of competition; protects "supply."

6. Love - Compromise, negotiation or taking turns at leading. Problem solving together. Toxic love - Power plays for control; blaming; passive or aggressive manipulation.

7. Love - Embracing of each other's individuality.  Toxic love - Trying to change other to own image.

8. Love - Relationship deals with all aspects of reality.  Toxic love - Relationship is based on delusion and avoidance of the unpleasant.

9. Love - Self-care by both partners; emotional state not dependent on other's mood.  Toxic love - Expectation that one partner will fix and rescue the other.

10. Love - Loving detachment (healthy concern about partner, while letting go.) Toxic love - Fusion (being obsessed with each other's problems and feelings.)

11. Love - Sex is free choice growing out of caring & friendship.   Toxic love - Pressure around sex due to insecurity, fear & need for immediate gratification.

12. Love - Ability to enjoy being alone.  Toxic love - Unable to endure separation; clinging.

13. Love - Cycle of comfort and contentment. Toxic love - Cycle of pain and despair.

Love is not supposed to be painful. There is pain involved in any relationship but if it is painful most of the time then something is not working.

From here: http://www.silcom.com/~joy2meu/codependent2.htm - and if I'm not mistaken, someone else recently started a thread with these items and included the link then, too. [Whoever you are, I'm sorry I'm drawing a blank on your name, and I thank you!]

One more, then I'll paste in my search string for people to go look at others if they like.

Quote
What is Codependence?

This term is an offshoot of co-alcoholic, denoting the overprotective partner of a chemical addict. Though definitions vary, most clinicians agree that the psychological condition (vs. disease or character defect) of codependence is characterized by compulsively sacrificing your own values, preferences, friends, and identity to avoid upsetting or risking rejection by a special adult or child. "Co" notes that the condition involves two people.

Codependents typically deny or rationalize doing this, or say "I can't help it." Usually both people are wounded survivors of low-nurturance childhoods, and don't know this or what to do about it. Because this condition effectively reduces current inner pain and amplifies it long-term, many class it as a relationship addiction. Once codependents acknowledge their harmful compulsion, they can choose to reduce it over time. Project 1 in this site offers one way to do so. There is now much help available because codependence (false-self wounds) affects so many people and families.

From here: http://sfhelp.org/pop2/codep.htm

Here is the search string: http://search.earthlink.net/search?q=Codependence+definition&area=earthlink-ws&FD=0&

I hope it will work for others. If it doesn't, just go to Google and search on the words codependence and definition.
~~~~~
And now a word about elephants...

I couldn't help thinking, when reading the above, about the Ask Amy article where the codependent spouse is pouring wine for her alcoholic husband, all the while complaining about his alcoholism to other family members.

Alcoholism - dysfunction - addiction - are usually what is termed 'the elephant in the living room'. The huge, smelly thing that nobody admits is there. Fine on the African savannah, or in the jungles of India, or well and lovngly tended at the Washington Zoo or elsewhere [here's an elephant cam! http://www.tappedintoelephants.com/asp/index.php ]. But an absolute disaster on the sectional sofa.

I think the kind of codependence that pours wine for an alcoholic spouse - and would defend this as kindness, or as 'taking pleasure in giving pleasure' - is more like a 'rogue elephant'.

Would you believe, there was one in the news last night.

Elephant That Killed 12 Caught in Nepal

November 19, 2006 11:04 PM EST

KATMANDU, Nepal - Nepalese hunters have captured a wild elephant that trampled to death at least 12 people and injured several others in the country's southeast, officials said Sunday.

A team of 15 forestry officials found the elephant on Saturday after a two week search and shot it with a tranquilizer in the jungles of Sunsari district, about 310 miles southeast of the capital, Katmandu, said Ajit Karna, chief forest official in the area.

Karna said the elephant had killed 12 people in the past one month in Sunsary and neighboring Morang districts.

The elephant had also injured several others, five of them seriously and also damaged huts and crops.

The elephant had been terrorizing the area and villagers had been using drums and fire torches to scare it away at night.

Karna said tests were being conducted on the animal and they had cut off its tusks to prevent any attacks.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/N/NEPAL_KILLER_ELEPHANT?SITE=SCAND&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
~~~~~~~
It's not just important to know the difference, it can be a matter of life and death.

I don't think it would be wise to offer to paint this particular animal's toenails... but if it could ask, I suspect it would want them painted red.
« Last Edit: November 20, 2006, 10:40:23 AM by Stormchild »
The only way out is through, and the only way to win is not to play.

"... truth is all I can stand to live with." -- Moonlight52

http://galewarnings.blogspot.com

http://strangemercy.blogspot.com

http://potemkinsoffice.blogspot.com