Disqus - Latest Comments for EGrace

Re: Quote of the Day

EGrace — Fri, 29 May 2009 01:23:41 -0000

I agree with this statement. I feel like a person must distinguish when it is appropriate to act and when it is appropriate to let the universe take over. I have had to pause and wonder why a particular thing is not working out how I think it should. I sometimes then decide it is best to just accept what is happening and learn from it and wait to see what I should do.

Re: Today’s Question by the reader : Stina

EGrace — Sun, 10 May 2009 01:08:49 -0000

I have thought of this passage from Corinthians often this past year. I find it equally as important as the rest of the chapter that everybody always quotes. It is so true. Without love even a martyr is wasting his time. He can have his principles but misses the point. He forgot how to listen to his heart and therefore does not love.

Re: Quote of the Day

EGrace — Fri, 01 May 2009 03:07:32 -0000

I put this quote into my PDA in the "about me" section today. I always get sick of seeing my contact info on the front screen. Now I can remember that I need to follow the signs and be who I am not who I "think" I am. Knowing this gives me freedom from fear.

Re: In search of my Island - Part 1

EGrace — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 23:49:36 -0000

I just read Savita's post. I feel the same way right now. I am currently starting over in all aspects of my life. I have one foot in/one foot out of banking right now. I don't know how I am going to pay all of my bills coming up. I need to do something. My company is closing. I have to decide if I want to search for another banking position or do something else. I am confined to what I can do without moving at this point in time. I wish I could just be pointed in the direction I would be happy with. I have been praying about it. I wonder to myself if I am supposed to get the "glass shop" job or the "dream job." At this point I am thinking the glass shop. Even if it is banking... I know my post isn't about writing. I can say that I used to want be a writer and even have stories that I wrote and illustrated as a child in my long forgotten "hope chest" at my parent's house. I never had the grammatical skills to be a writer and only took English 101 in college. I sound like I am full of excuses and am reconsidering hitting "submit."

Re: In search of my Island - Part 1

EGrace — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:54:49 -0000

I love to think of things in term of the ocean and love this story. I like to know what my favorite author thinks when he is writing and the process that he goes through. I loved reading The Zahir for this reason.

Re: Association of the Week : The Hand

EGrace — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:36:54 -0000

I am also left-handed. I think being left-handed has given me the ability to always work around barriers and be flexible about things. I find that there is always more than one solution to any problem. The answer is rarely no. I believe that I figured this out by always having to adapt to the world being built for right handed people. One early example would be to turn the scissors upside down to be able to cut paper left-handed.

Re: Your Space in my Blog: 21th of April 2009

EGrace — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 03:12:25 -0000

I have had the same experience with Paulo's books. I find it amazing how I have felt like the books fit so perfectly with what I need to know at a given point in time. In July it will be a year since I have discovered them. I purchased the Alchemist because it was a listed as a favorite from a guy I was interested in. Veronica Decides to Die was also at the bookstore. I actually cried when I first started reading the Alchemist. I felt like it just "fit" with my situation and my life. After reading the Alchemist in a day, I started the other and could not believe how much I could relate to Veronica. I knew about bitterness and giving up. I have read many of the books and they seem to go along with my path. I made a decision to trust God and follow my heart and then read The Fifth Mountain and really struggled with the idea of what Elijah went through. I actually felt myself being mad a God. Something I can't say I have ever been brave enough to do. The book was a great testament of someone who struggled beyond anything I could imagine, but still managed to give it up to God. I have been putting down the Pilgrimage and picking it up again. I have wondered why it it has been something I am not in a hurry to finish right away. I have a feeling that I will find out...

Re: Forgiving and Forgetting

EGrace — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 13:56:36 -0000

There are some injustices done to me that I have not accepted and can't have possibly forgiven. I somehow have been able to delude myself into thinking that I have forgiven the act but in reality I have just chosen not to deal with it. I am learning that when injustice is done the only true way to forgive (this is the goal) is to acknoweledge it, feel bad about it, forgive the act, and move on.

I like this passage from The Zahir when thinking about the forgetting part of forgiving;
“If I forget the story other people have told me, I’ll also forget a lot of very important things life has taught me. What was the point of struggling to learn so much? What was the point of struggling to gain experience, so as to be able to deal with my career, my husband, and my various crises?’ “Accumulated knowledge is useful when it comes to cooking or living within your means or wrapping up warm in winter or respecting certain limits or knowing where particular bus and train lines go. Do you believe that your past loves have taught you to love better? “’No, on the contrary. In order to surrender myself to him, I had to forget all the scars left by other men. Is that what you mean? In order for the true energy of love to penetrate your soul, your soul must be as if you had just been born. Why are people unhappy? Because they want to imprison that energy, which is impossible. Forgetting your personal history means leaving that channel clear, allowing that energy to manifest itself each day in whatever way it chooses, allowing yourself to be guided by it.’

Re: Quote of the Day

EGrace — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 12:24:45 -0000

I completely agree with this quote. The sooner we realize and accept that joy is accompanied by great pain the sooner we can accept the feelings all of this creates. Like the other story points out in today's blog about love if we can accept the feelings and deal with them we don't need to understand the measurement of love. I find that it all really does not make “sense”. We don't get to feel how we "want" to feel. You cannot turn the feelings on and off like a faucet. If you try to ignore the feelings they have a way of coming back to you in some form or another and it could be years and years later. You may have been very “logical” about those feelings at the time. You put that love and agony on a shelf and piled things on top of it so even you forgot it was there. You may have picked up and used pieces of it throughout the years to make sense of the rest of the journey.

One day beyond your control it all may come back when you feel like it is a really bad time. You may wonder “why now?” What is the purpose of this? These feelings do not fit in my life. It could be your opportunity to set things right. Because maybe some things have to be said before you can truly move on with your life. There was no way of knowing this until you were standing right in front of it. What you really want to do is scream a couple four letter words and start running again. Starting with Courage and continuing with Faith in God you will get to where you need to be. I pray that I do the right thing with this opportunity and have no fear.

Re: Quote of the Day

EGrace — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 11:03:40 -0000

Savita I see your point about pain. I feel guilt when I am unsympathetic about other people's pain. I really wonder to myself about them just over-reacting.

My parents told me time and again "you are going to live." I got hit by a pickup truck as a child and I heard "you are going to live." What my parents were doing was telling me to ignore the pain. During childbirth I was the quiet mother who opted for no pain relief. Albeit my silent tears, I felt like I could go on without it. I wonder if ignoring pain or teaching this method is a good thing or bad. It is to learn to deny one's true feelings. To numb oneself. Or is it realizing that you can endure much more than you think you can? This is something I have yet to decide.

Re: Trying to control the soul

EGrace — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 10:35:21 -0000

Love refuses to be priced like some piece of merchandise....
When I first noticed that I was in love I wondered to myself why do we place a higher value on certain people? Why is this person my absolute favorite all of a sudden? It is like certain people are more "valuable" to us in terms of love. They help us to see that we are extrodinary and that the world is wide open. These more "valuable" people feel like they have a higher cost when they leave.

Currently, I see that everybody is "valuable" to us. We just have to be willing to pay attention to the lessons that they can teach. This person, "my absolute favorite" is also teaching lessons. We at this time are coming to realize that we love each other deeply. There is no reason to assume anything else about the other. We are realizing that our capacity to love mirrors each other and we are both willing to show it in its fullness. This is something that we both have not done in other relationships. There has always been some kind of "holding back" of true feelings. We both agree that we should be as honest as we can whether it be good or bad. So far there has only been good. It feels very easy. I think we both decided to love the other regardless of the consequences. I did not care if he even loved me as much as I loved him. I am finding that he has chosen to love me in the same way. It is a nice feeling when one realizes that the other is loving you regardless of consequences just like you are doing.

Re: Marked to die - Part 1

EGrace — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 13:25:16 -0000

I let my son fly alone for the first time this week. Before he left for his trip I was giving him instruction about the gate numbers and if he happened to get lost. He is always asking me "what if" questions. In this particular conversation he asked me "what if at the airport there is a gate to heaven?" I looked at him in shock. Thinking "what do I say to this?" I told him that I would want him to turn around and walk the the other way because I am not ready for him to go through that particular gate. I was then thinking about getting stuck in limbo and if my particular advice could create this for him. I really don't know how I feel about all of that, but it definately made me think again about letting him go. I did in the end let him go. I felt like it was a test for me as a parent. I do not want to hold him back based on my own selfishness. I will be saying some extra prayers for his safe return on Friday.

Re: Quote of the Day

EGrace — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 16:52:24 -0000

I really liked The Devil and Miss Pryn. I discovered the Alchemist last July and have read most of the others in this year's time. They have helped change my perception and this has changed my life. The last couple months I have been stuck reading The Pilgrimage for some reason. The Devil and Miss Pryn is definately at the top of my favorites written by Paulo Coelho. It would be very hard for me to rank then in order of most favorite. I find myself thinking about it when I am facing different situations in life.

Re: The importance of allies - Part 1

EGrace — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 18:56:58 -0000

Sido 66 thanks for posting the link to the video.
Thelma thanks for saying that Sido was amazing and commenting on the video which made me watch it. I needed to watch it today.

Re: Quote of the Day

EGrace — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 16:49:30 -0000

I find that it isn't "necessary" to talk about love. However, at times I find great enjoyment in writing, reading, and talking about love. I think it is one of the great reasons I enjoy reading Paulo Coelho's books. They share a common theme about exploring the mysteries of love. Love is the most important thing in life. It is embodied in everything and therefore it is not "necessary" to discuss. If we are paying attention we can see it all around us.

Re: My Favorite Painters - Monet

EGrace — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:08:42 -0000

I have always been drawn to Monet's work. I love the reflection of the clouds in this painting. Monet is truly brilliant.

Re: The importance of others

EGrace — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 19:29:32 -0000

I like this story. It is a reminder of why church attendance is important. Quite possibly the reason to attend church is to commune with its parishioners. A person cannot choose to stay away from church out of fear of being judged. I find this the scariest part and my biggest reason for not going. I either feel like the members are trying to suck me into their cult. Like they have something to gain by my attendence. Or they are judging me and saying sorry you are not good enough to attend our church. My rational mind says that there is some validity to both of these fears but it is not the ultimate truth or a valid reason to not attend.

Re: Quote of the Day

EGrace — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 11:09:58 -0000

God is love and he gives us strength to perform difficult tasks. Being in love with another person also gives us strength to perform difficult tasks. New love gives us a new perception to everything around us. We are willing to be more open to change and are more willing to better ourselves. Nothing seems impossible at the moment of being in love. In my mind as I am going through being in love I am wondering how I can make this last. I realize I am asking this question after reading my journal from the last time my heart was broken. Twelve years ago I wondered if I could just remove my heart because it was in so much pain. I learned some valuable lessons from my decision to deny love after that. To deny love is to deny life. I choose life no matter what happens. I have to trust in my journey even if that means more heartbreak. Choosing love which oftentimes seems like an impossible task is a big part of the journey.

Re: Quote of the Day

EGrace — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 11:06:21 -0000

I like the last sentence of the novel and completely forgot about it. It makes me smile because the person sending me the letters is the same person who recommended the Alchemist and the whole reason I know this blog exists. Thank you for reminding me that the story is also a love story. :)

Re: Quote of the Day

EGrace — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 10:39:26 -0000

Also, I was thinking about people arriving on the scene of what I like to call my life. They arrive just in time to teach me a lesson or to offer support at that time. They arrived exactly on time. I catch myself thinking, you are supposed to be here.

Re: Quote of the Day

EGrace — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 10:02:15 -0000

I agree, there is a plan for everything. Letters arrive when they are expected as well. Recently I had been waiting for a letter to arrive that was already a week and a half late. I was so frustrated. Finally it arrived. I happened to receive it on the day of the quote about the star and the oasis. Guess what was written in that letter? This whole section about a star. I had already been thinking about that quote and how it applied to my life and for the letter to say the same thing as what I was thinking really caught my attention. It reminded me that things arrive or happen when they happen. For quite possibly magical reasons. Lately things like this happen quite often in my life and it reminds me to trust and have faith.

Re: Quote of the Day

EGrace — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 13:25:42 -0000

After reading this quote I wondered "What sorts of things are so important that we must discover alone?" It then occurred to me that maybe each individual has discoveries to make alone for their particular journey. It is quite possible that an individual has to walk alone at a particular time in their lives and be able to share the same experience at another time in their lives. There isn't a universal answer for each individual. But then again maybe there is.... Lately I feel like this blog is a classroom. We are collectively learning from our teacher and each other, we as individuals take the information and way of thinking and apply it to our lives. I also find it interesting how well everyone communicates in spite of cultural differences and perspectives. I have learned to use the online translator to read other languages. This has been on my mind lately and I find it fascinating.

Re: Believing in the impossible - Part 2

EGrace — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 17:50:40 -0000

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

I have liked this song for a while. The video raises the question, Would we make a change if social injustice was right in front of us in our everyday lives?
Brett Dennen says; "Love will Come Set Me Free."

Re: Association of the Week: The Key

EGrace — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 17:39:31 -0000

Savita,

These last few weeks I have related to what you have written here. Today I found myself understanding exactly what you were saying. I can say that I was shocked when I got closer to the end. I relate to your words quite well. Thus far I have been unable to write about it as you have. Most things I write end up inside solid concrete walls, with locked doors and no keys because it is all high tech now.

I find the act of loving unconditionally has opened my soul in ways I didn't think existed. I have realized that one must have faith. There are times when I question my role in this whole thing. How I became involved. I question God with the timing.

In October I was alone, staring out my window watching the leaves fall and contemplated why they wouldn’t all just fall at once. I was sick of having to continue with my raking. I then thought; each and every leaf took the time to form into a bud on those branches and grow on their own. It only seems appropriate that each and every leaf gets to choose its day for falling out of the sky. Some leaves fell twirling rapidly while others gracefully floated to the ground. Some fell individually with little company and others fell in large groups. It occurred to me, I cannot control the situation any more than I can control these leaves. Everything is going to happen in the time it is supposed to. The time I get to spend with my beloved is his and my time. The rest of the time is not. Stop mourning for the time that was and is lost because it was never yours in the first place.

I enjoy every moment shared with my beloved. They are all so very precious. I don't know what the future will bring. I have seen very first hand that death can come in a second. We have today. I admit that I have days when weariness sets in and I want just one moment more; I am content with how it must be. I have other pieces in my life that require that piece to be where it is for now. I am amazed with that at times. In choosing to follow my heart, even the most difficult of circumstances can somehow fit. I realize you may have a different take on your situation. I found myself relating to your words. Have a good evening.

Re: Quote of the Day

EGrace — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 15:46:47 -0000

The beautiful writings by people in this post remind me of a movie I recently watched. In The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Benjamin says "nothing lasts forever" to his love when they are together and very happy with their situation. She says "Some things last forever." She was right. Their love lasted forever. The situation did end as they always do(good or bad), but their love did last. Even after the situation did not allow her to express it, she kept her heart open to love and in the end it was very apparent that the love never ended and lasted forever.
I find that we have to cherish the love we receive and be very grateful for its existence. I find that when we start repressing our feelings (good or bad) brought on by loves existence or the lack thereof, we forget how to listen to our heart and make a habit of feeling nothing.