smudged glasses

I sat in a full auditorium looking through dirty glass. I pulled off my glasses and saw many smudges and even some tear stains. Usually you just clean them off with some cloth and some steam from your mouth if they're that dirty, but this particular time, looking through those dirty glasses seemed so profound. I never noticed the accumulation of all the dirt and dust from the day before, but there it all was to the point where the glasses were pointless to wear. All those dust particulars, tear stains, and fingerprints are the mark of the past. Our lives are like a pair of smudged glasses. We can clean them off as much as we can in an auditorium full of people, but they won't be the same as the day before. New smudges and fingerprints, new lines of where they had just been cleaned off. Looking back on the dirt, you can always see better after you've cleaned them off. Your life will never be the same after one day, but we can always clean off the dirt of the day, learn how to keep our glasses even cleaner, maybe by bringing a glasses case or a better cleaner. We can make our glasses perfectly clean ourselves, but there is a optician who can clean our glasses and make them like new. But we can never forget the mistakes we've made when we've dropped them in the pile of mud or left them setting out to collect dust. No matter how dirty we make our glasses, that optician will always be willing to clean.

it's all in the way you view it...

Honestly, we've all had those days where everything seems to go wrong. We've all had those times where we just want to make it to the end, to survive through it. Sometimes life can just be so hard to get through. This morning I was riding in the car and my dad asked "What can we be thankful for right now?" Being one of those times in my life, nothing really came to mind. I had to ponder the question a while, but the main answer I came up with is life itself. I could have my life taken from me, but then it would have been wasted. I'm thankful for another chance to make things right that are wrong. I'm thankful for the support I have from my family and friends. When things go badly or seem down, focus on those blessings you have in your life. It makes a world of a difference. Cause no matter how bad things seem, there's at least one person who will support you now matter how big a mistake you've made, how badly things go, and how much you rejected Him. He is always there for you. It's all in the way you view it.

Being. Truth. Goodness. Beauty.

Being defines Truth.

Truth defines Goodness.

Goodness defines beauty.

Beauty attracts us to Goodness.
Goodness attracts us to Truth.
Truth attracts us to Being.

What is Truth? 

"Truth is that which corresponds with reality." - Steve Whigham

What is Goodness? 

“Goodness is the right response to reality” - C.S. Lewis

What is beauty?

 “Beauty is that which when seen pleases.” - St. Thomas Aquinas

Beauty is a derivative of truth and goodness

If all this is true, what does beauty have to do with your life? When you see beauty, how does that affect your life?

Beauty impacts the world so much. Art, music, theater and dance attracts people because it can lead to goodness, if used properly. Take beauty away from truth and goodness, it is no longer beautiful. What attracts us to a good painting, piece of music, drama, ballet, etc. is is the truth that it could lead to. 

To make true beauty start with being, find truth, and realize goodness. If you do that, you can lead people to truth.

I love you.

I'm sure every blogger posts about this day, and I'm sure they all say similar things. Valentine's day is either fantastic or it sucks, depends on whether you have that special someone. I'm on the side of people who don't enjoy it all that much.

I was just thinking about ways to enjoy it while you're single. Who said Valentine's day has to be for a boyfriend/girlfriend, fiance,  or spouse? It was a tradition in my family to celebrate it all together. It is the day of love, but who made it romantic love? If you don't have that special someone, show someone special in your life like a parent, best friend, or anyone you love that you love them, even if you just shoot them a facebook message.

Make someone's day today

unexpected

Yesterday was a crazy day for my family. For weeks my dad was planning a trip to Chicago, and everything that could go wrong did. First of all, my brother swerved off the road and wrecked our car pretty badly. He was sent to the hospital, and thankfully he was perfectly fine. We started to think he couldn't go on the trip, and neither could my mom. Someone had to take care of him. Secondly, people kept signing up for the trip up until we left. We eventually started to run out of room on the buses because my mom was supposed to drive some people. Miraculously we found enough room. And lastly, after we had already left, we stopped to eat dinner at Panera Bread, and the ground was really icy. On my way out to the car, I slipped landing directly on my arm. We had to call an ambulance and I was sent to the hospital only to find out that I had fractured my arm. Well, after that, my family just went home.

As I type this with one hand, it's amazing how no matter how much you plan, everything can change in two minutes. It doesn't matter what happens. What's important is how you respond to those unexpected things. As for me, I'm thankful for a weekend off...

Enjoy your day, and make the most of whatever happens today...

Cette vie. Cette que nous habitons.

Life is an amazing thing. You never know whether this day will be good or bad, but sometimes you don't even care how it goes. We've all heard each day is a blessing, one of the many cliches we hear in the world, but how many actually consider it a blessing. I take this life for granted, waiting for days to pass like they're nothing. We all know we could die tomorrow, but it's the culture to live as though we have forever. Life is an amazing gift and it only gets more amazing the more you appreciate it. I look at my dog who lies on the floor all day and barks at nothing and wonder how she perceives life or if she perceives it all. Sometimes we can be like that dog lying on the floor just wasting away the hours because it can't take advantage of the day. We've been given a perception of what this life means to us and to others, what a waste to just wait for days to pass.

C'est la vie! Amuse-toi.

Homeless. Please, help.

A homeless man on the side of the street begs for money from pedestrians on their way to work, or to shop, or to go have lunch, a meal which he may not have today. On average he makes at best a dollar an hour. He is always overlooked by the busy people of the world.

A marketer comes by the man and reads his sign: "Homeless. Please, help." He asks the homeless man how much he makes in an hour. After the homeless man answers, the marketer says, "I'll give you ten dollars for you to let me rewrite your sign and another ten if you tell me how much you make in the hour that I'm at lunch." The homeless man let's him rewrite the sign and then the marketer goes off to lunch.

An hour passes, and the marketer comes back to the homeless man. The homeless man thanks the marketer for rewriting his sign and gives the marketer the ten dollars back plus a ten dollar tip. The homeless man made sixty dollars in the one hour.

The sign read: "Imagine if you were in my place."

True story. What does this say about humanity?