Perceivings of our own selves

Being who we wish to be with the contrast of  who we want to be *around* is difficult. Finding who we are and then bringing that into the relationships in questions, letting people value you for who you are is truly wonderful. One of the many methods for determining ourselves, then, is not whether we fit in, but where we fit in and if we like it there.  Change occurs when we become aware of ourselves and our honest position in life and seek to improve it; to remove those things from it that we see as opposed to those things that frustrate our personal desires. Desires gained through much living and experiencing the pains and joys and noise and silence of life. The quantity of these experiences required before change, or the quality, is unique to the individual. Poignance is open to perspective. Life is full enough for all, however, and repentance is a process all must undertake. When and where are variables left to us and our God (Who is fully aware of our needs).
If we consider the difference between the changed (humbled, meek, gracious). And the unchanged, the experiences might be stark or non existent. War, pain, or even dismemberment are not determining factors for such wisdom. Experience is therefore no dictator of greatness. We are fully endowed with the ability to change who we are based on our circumstances and our understanding

Mrs. Carpenter

Within five blocks of the bakery sat an enchanted carpenter. The wood he worked was not magical, but the carpenter himself was. He was the topic of much conversation throughout the town, the bakery included. Customers came and went for their loaves of delicious bread, all with different stories. One or two or five were bound to bring up the magical carpenter.
            The subject of the magic is what held the town's interest. Unlike most spells that bring wealth or fame, riches or power, the carpenter's earned him a reputation in the wood world that equaled his unsurpassed skill. He, and in turn the wood he spent so much time with, smelled like sandals. Not used sandals. Just sandals. Some liked it, some did not. One in particular, however, a young lady of great liveliness and charm, had developed a great love of the scent.
            As she purchased more and more of his fine dressers and cabinets and other wood-works she had the opportunity to fall in a deep and respectful love with the carpenter and his enthralling scent. They were soon wed.
            The carpenter and the young maiden became a terrific duo. With her charm and his skill, his enchantment was soon associated with quality. It became desireable as his and her social standing launched with their success. They began a side business selling select quantities of perfume with their furniture.

They called it...

Sandalwood

If I hadn't

Is a useless statement. You did. Let's look at consequence not merely as a tool for correct choice, but as an actual surety of happenings. We still seem to think that there is some little loophole somewhere, some chance that things will miraculously change at the last minute--and they might--but such a chance is nothing worth gambling on. Go out and live with your best decisions. Make the choices that really matter. Be sure, and if something changes, be sure that it did. The variables are many, but unknown. Let them slip aside for a brief moment.

Fighting this battle

In the hustle of the job we simply don't see. In the pattern of the day we simply forget. But, in the stillness of the night we find ourselves able to further see those edges of our mind that lay forgotten. The front lines of our imagination. The place where all the honorable thoughts run into the dross head on. It is a battlefield of character, a force of self control. The world fights with an army of messages. Some good, some bad. Like Lehonti, curiosity can have a price. So, keep those defenses up. Armor those barricades. Equip those troops with the armor. The armor of god.

A day like any other

A day likes any other, it weaves and wiles it's way about. Sometimes it floods every moment in activity, others it stifles with the lack of activity. Sometimes we are meant a little extra space to make sense of it all. Something like a breath of fresh air can make all the difference. Sometimes we just need a moment that we are fully responsible for, free from other's touch. In my findings I feel responsible for those around me, or at least aware of them. With that awareness comes responsibility. It must, to an extent. This is from the eyes of an introvert who loves you all deeply enough to be his best, and his best needs space. Like a delicious bag of chips, savory in concentrated pieces. And closed and reopened the thousand times. There is meaning here, and just when you think you have it, leave and return to find something new and exciting. Responsibility aside, there is plenty of us to take care of for our own selves, but keeping that in mind with a room full of people can be a challenge.

Stuck in this Haze

A vivid imagination mixed with a pair of eyes and the world begins to have personality. A little self control: consistent stationary object behavior and explanations. People, though? People are not a consistent object. Their behavior is beyond our control (even for the most outgoing persuasives, you'll meet that one who crashes your twists). Simply best just to get over that fact. Or better, embrace it. Tomorrow is definitely yours to seize, but people's behavior (directly) is not. Not happily. Not with any grace.The difference between a centered,  polite suggestion and a manipulative demand is catastrophically great.

For a moment I imagine that we all have a hand in someone else's behavior. Our speech, our actions, our moods, even our thoughts, will affect those around us. But, when we attempt to engineer those things in others which are best left to sincere endorsement, appreciation, or earnest entreatings we spoil our good will and intent. We forget ourselves and delve into something not given, unable to be taken. We attempt to dominate. The insolent fool who tries this may have the best of intent or a noble aim,  but those things are lost in the act of trying to domineer a human soul. If such behavior becomes a habit, becomes accepted as a persons own lifestyle, then friends may seem few and far between. Life begins to be a vicarious haze as a person attempts to read and be another.

The stark realization that one must step back and with sincerity plead ones humanity and encourage ones cause with respect for the individual is a most humbling one. It is also a most necessary one.

To love that person that we are and give up the need to attempt control of others is key. To love another is to respect not only their individuality, but to encourage it for the better.

Leafing you

I remember. The smell was brisk and moist in the chill backyard. The daylight was fast maturing and the last rays formed the twilight. We all joyously ran about in those brief minutes of illumination. Hot humid home left behind and the smells of soup on the stove and bread baking held a promising future. The moment was granted a temporal security. Safely we knew our present. The chill now could be basked in with such bright warmth later. As the piles of wet leaves were flung at rosy cheeks and puffy coats, and yells carried from the game of tag just a short distance, the breath burned in your throat refreshing and the laughter sincerely flowed. Fall trees warmed in the golden rays too high above our heads, wet grass lapped against our shoes, and children hid and sought in the moist wooden structures. When the parents yelled the dinner done we would all be soaked and chilled and happy for a reprieve. But, until then, maple clung to us in our slipping about the grass. "You're it! You're it!"