Be Painfully Aware

Be painfully aware of your blessings. I say painfully because the reality is the best things in life don't often come gift wrapped in a box with ribbon on top, nor in little balls of fur call kittens and puppies. No, often times the things we need most are endowed under the worst circumstances possible. Blessings are usually proportional to the hell through which we must go through to attain them. Just as we calculate the worth of something by assigning how much it will cost us, blessings are often valued by how hard it takes for it to come to us. 

To be aware of your blessings is painful, because often times we are bowed down by circumstances. It takes great strength and character to be able to take a step back, straighten our backs and regard the silver lining in the clouds that constantly rain hail upon our backs. It is easy for us to succumb to depression when things aren't going right, after all we are always on a mission for the betterment of our lives. It is only natural to take it personal and feel like we are failing when things don't go right. Yet it is dangerous to be so gung ho about the bad, that we neglect the simple pleasures that can be amplified should we choose to give it more value. 

It takes a lot of conscious effort to be able to step back and rejoice... the law of thermodynamics dictate that we will always move toward chaos as energy has a tendency to flow loosely. But, it is through the input of effort that we pack energy together to make something beautiful by giving it order. Its like a library, the beauty of the library resides in the fact that its content is accessible in an orderly fashioned. The upkeep of its beauty requires the constant dedication of the librarians in ensuring that the books are re-shelved, and materials categorized correctly. It is a mindless droning process, but librarians get a sense of pride when they can step back and realize just how beautiful their work is - that after hours of bending and stretching to put the books on the right shelves.

Memories

In the end all you have got are the memories that you have made along the way. Hopes, dreams, faith, love - these are mere abstracts that serves to motivate you onwards to making better memories for yourself as you trudge uncertainly upon this mysterious life. Life is uncertain, it is meant to be this way. It is meant for you to explore and experience it, to create for yourself memories that you can go back to from time to time. Think of your stay here on this transitory earth as a scrapbook project whereby you create testimonies and witness accounts to present to yourself one day when everything else is gone, and you are standing naked before your Maker. The proverbial heaven and hell are not as they say places you enter postmortem based upon merits... but rather everlasting viewing rooms of your life in constant replay- and you are the critic who has to sit through it over and over again. 

You are the cameraman, lighting specialist, producer, director and actor all meshed into one. This is your production with the green lights from above... it is up to you to determine the camera angles, the lighting effects, and dialogs which will shape the course of the movie that you will be watching in the "afterlife", or during those special 15 seconds of clarity before you breathe your last. 

Make life worth your while, go out there and start making beautiful memories that will warm your hearts in cold times. Be willing to expose yourself, and be vulnerable in hopes that you can cloth your born nakedness with a rich tapestry of love and joy. Knit yourself a cozy quilt by blending varying patches of colorful moments. This is life, even though you drawn constantly by what lies ahead, you are actually propelled in a direction by what is behind you.