Paradox, Humor & Change

I made this music player at MyFlashFetish.com.


Paradox, Humor and Change...

Life's three simple rules,

that keep you from simply going insane


Giving everything you have,

leaves you so exhausted and deflated.


Ripping marijuana plants out of children's homes,

gets you attacked and very hated.


Life is a mystery,

don't waste time trying to figure it out.


A warrior's life is about right action,

and not about appreciation.


Life is change,

know nothing stays the same.


And when the world is an ugly place,

Don't let it come inside and make you crazed.


Instead have a sense of humor,

especially about yourself and your foolish pride.


Then change the world by closing your eyes,

and playing the music you hear on the inside.


Play it so loudly,

until it drowns out the noise on the outside.


And one day,

depending on how long and loud you can play,

you will open your eyes,

to a more beautiful and brand new day.

- Adam Stuart (December 2007)


*Katie and I celebrating her new day, going from an "F" to an "A" on a science test a few weeks back.

It took all my morning, all my patience, all of my love and ability....she was crying in the beginning....but I have to think that giving all of yourself to others can mean something more than just being taken for granted and used, which is what I've experienced so much of in my past.

It can mean creating a better day. And with enough better days.....better lives. And with enough better lives.....a better world.

And that day is the today when we close our eyes and begin to play the beautiful music we hear inside....





DON'T BE AFRAID TO LIVE

YOU'VE GOT THE MUSIC IN YOU!













DON'T GIVE UP

THIS WORLD IS GOING TO PULL THROUGH!








When the night is falling, and you cannot find the light. When you feel your dreams are dying....Hold tight

**My children keep me going. I trust their love. And no, it's not my little gymnasts' home or any of my current students I've gone into to remove drugs. But life has picked me up, shaken me, and thrown me against the wall more than once these past few weeks. To tell you the truth, I want to give up, even in spite of the victories (including the class having the highest science growth again and going from the lowest scoring regular class to the highest).

It's just taken a lot more giving than getting......You can't keep driving the car without gas or oil, or the engine will blow. Giving unconditionally, to honestly give versus get, is the right thing to do, but it means being vulnerable to a world that can be very taking...

This whole world, can fall apart. It'll be OK, follow your heart. You're in harm's way, I'm right behind. Just say you're mine....

.....It's OK though, because I have the dreamer's disease.....and I can't stop dreaming of this world pulling through. Go back and look at the children's faces as you listen to the lyrics of the song, "You Get What You Give". Tell me it's not true, that if we stop dreaming, we start dying....



DON'T GIVE UP

YOU'VE GOT A REASON TO LIVE

ONE DANCE LEFT

WE ONLY GET WHAT WE GIVE

Just One Minute Longer

Sometimes people need us. They need us to be there for them and believe, to hold on and to hope, to enlighten and to encourage.

No one can ever make it alone. And in the times when we're down, we need people. Sometimes to rescue us, as in a newborn baby fighting for his life or a student in a hospital (I know you'll make it Kaleb and Patrice).

As we get older we don't need to be rescued. And when we are looking for someone outside ourselves to do that it's the beginning of a very unhealthy relationship (the victim - rescuer- persecutor cycle). Been there, done that, and only in the beginning is it "romantic". After that it's drama.

Real romance is in resuscitation. Relationships are not difficult among healthy people. It's easy to be a hero to your husband by telling him you believe in him when you'd rather criticize him. It's easy to be hero to your wife by listening to her and what she's really saying when you'd rather just fix the problem and criticize her for how she's saying it.

Real love shows up when you're not feeling very loving, when you're tired and grumpy, when you're too busy to take the time. It's not about not having problems, but in handling them together in a loving spirit.

Tonight my daughter needed me. Sparky and Cotton Cake were missing. And she couldn't possibly go to bed without them. This was a big deal to her, so it was a big deal to me.

We searched high and low, over and under, and over and over again. But without luck. I told her I needed to get back to my research. I had dozens of journals I needed to look through before I went to bed.

I didn't want to keep looking, but she did. I wanted to look for the creator of these web-kinz dolls my children are crazy over and give him a piece of my mind. She just wanted to find her "children" and have "grandpa" tuck them in beside her and say prayers.

So we kept looking, together, believing, hoping, holding on, encouraging each other, and "seeking enlightenment" as to where in the world they could be, until we found them.

Being a hero isn't about saving the world. It's about being there when we'd rather not be.

Continuing to believe when it'd be easier to doubt.

Holding on when we'd rather let go.

Hoping when all seems hopeless.

Encouraging when we feel discouraged.

And finding enlightenment out of darkness and confusion.


I read a Danish proverb in college that said, "A hero is someone who holds on one minute longer."

I've held on to that thought since then, and keep holding on to the idea that the world is full of heroes, if we could just hold on to our dreams, and the dreams and needs of others, just one minute longer.

I told Kaleb's mom tonight how inspired I am by her and her husband, and little Kaleb, who have all been holding on and hoping just one minute longer, just one minute longer.....

You can have all the muscles you want on the outside. It's our inner muscles that measure our true strength, and give us the ability to hold on, just one minute longer, until we find what we're looking for.