Skip to content

Tag: Choices

What Lies Within

What Lies Within

A sculptor looks at a piece of granite or stone with either a belief that there is a work of art within that stone that he will uncover. Or he looks at it with the belief that he will create a work of art from where there was none before.Although the creation may be the same in appearance as each artisan finishes toiling with the stone, the sculptures are very different to the sculptors. The artisan who uncovers what is hidden learns that he can see beyond what is on the surface.

He can chisel each sliver of stone to discover that beauty and creation are all around us if we choose to remove those layers which obscure them. He begins to understand that all things have depth and if we do not seek to uncover what lies beneath then we lose what has been hidden for us to find.

The artisan who creates from within to bring about something new understands that the origins of creations are mysteries locked up inside of us. He learns that the surface of the stone is an opportunity to carve, chip and then breathe life into a new creation.

But it is the artisans themselves who learn above all that they are simply a stone for another Creator. One who has hidden beauty and mystery within them awaiting discovery. Through our visions, toils, and patience, we all create and unearth the mysteries in our daily lives only to realize we were always the greatest works of art in the universe.

Leave a Comment
Happiness Is A Journey

Happiness Is A Journey

C.L. Harmon

Happiness is not a choice but a journey. We tend to believe that choices dictate the outcomes of our lives. This is only true to a point. Certainly, there is the cause and effect. But this is only a teacher to help us along as we travel on this journey.

We must learn to love. Then we must learn how to lose that love. Everyone experiences this at least once in their lives. We must learn how to accept that loss and to accept that we must live without it. We must come to the understanding that moving forward opens up new opportunities for us. We cannot simply state that we are happy despite the loss, pain, and misery. We must travel through it and gain insight from the experience.

With each loss, failure, and setback, we are expected to soldier on by our Creator. But more than this, we are required to grow out of the ashes into someone who can open up again knowing the pain of a broken heart or a shattered dream. We must learn to count our blessings knowing even this does not bring instant happiness in the wake of a tragedy.

The key to happiness is gaining the wisdom to understand that learning how to be happy is a journey. We must learn to forgive those who wrong us because what we hold onto, holds onto us. If we do not learn to forgive, then we must suffer the pain of that trespass each day. This is not a wisdom that can be gained without experience. It is, however, knowledge, that can be shared to enlighten us when we finally choose to release the negative we are grasping.

Happiness is not a product we purchase. It is not a word or a gesture or even a belief that can erase that which causes us sadness and depression. It is a journey where we learn patience, acceptance, forgiveness, empathy, and kindness. Life’s experiences culminate in this wisdom which teaches us that without our choice to learn these lessons, we are choosing not to be happy.

1 Comment
Mindset: Free Will Is A Choice

Mindset: Free Will Is A Choice

The concept of free will is simple in its definition, but baffling to many of us since the choices we make do not always lead us to the outcomes for which we hoped and believed. How is it that some make choices to pursue specific goals and make similar choices as others to attain those goals, but do not the achieve the goals while others do.

I believe this is because of the choices we make with the actual freewill we are given. One of the greatest gifts we can give our Creator, who gave us free will, is to trust him so much that we give it back to Him. This action tells Him that we believe so much that His choices for us will be greater than any we could have chosen for ourselves.

However, as a result of this, we are led on a journey that is often blind and appears to make no sense. Others who choose to keep their free will and guide themselves often do reach their goals, but will not attain the greater gifts and understanding in this life He had set aside for them.

It is our choice to trust in our Creator or to only trust in ourselves. This is true free will. However, we cannot serve ourselves and the Creator too. Perhaps the greatest gift He gave us was the opportunity to give our destinies back to him, instead of leaving us to battle the world without His guidance.

Leave a Comment
Mindset: Happiness Is A State Of Acceptance

Mindset: Happiness Is A State Of Acceptance

It’s often said that we are responsible for our own happiness and that we simply choose our internal strength and will of mind to help us find comfort and joy. I don’t believe this to be completely accurate.
Although I do believe that we are responsible for our own happiness to a degree and that choice is a contributing factor in our happiness, I also believe that others play a key role in how we feel as well.
Human beings were not created to be alone or to exist in solitude. We are created to learn, live and love with others. Though it is true that we experience love from our Creator, it is only through others that we can experience intimate love with another, trusting love with a friend or the pure love that is raising a child.
Each one of these types of loves brings happiness and a sense of joy that is unmatched anywhere else in creation. The absence of them will most certainly cause us to feel sadness, depression, and pain. We can only learn to accept this absence with grace and a belief that there is a purpose in that absence. But true happiness only comes through our connections to each other, our will to seek happiness and the choice to make them one.

Leave a Comment
Mindset: Whispers In The Wind

Mindset: Whispers In The Wind

So many actions we do, words we utter and situations in which we are part of are seemingly of no significance at the time which they occur. Often they are as a fleeting thought, gone almost as quickly as they came. But to someone, they have an impact. It may be one that we never even learn of, but someone was affected by that action, word or the situation that occurred.

It is as though a cosmic pulse is formed which travels far into the subconscious of creation itself and the consciousness of those within this creation. It knows not the bounds of time and space. It lives in memories, in bones, in soil and in decisions made by all of us from the onset of that action.

Would our choices matter more if we understand that each one is like an echo heard far beyond reaches we can’t even fathom? That they live in our hearts as hate or love, in our minds as prejudice and equality, in history as brutality or kindness in philosophy as dark or light and in eternity as peace or torment? One seemingly insignificant action can be one thread for someone to hold on to in desperation or one thread unraveled from a blanket of security.

Nothing in life is insignificant. Everything is whispers in the wind. No word, no action, no situation is without cause and effect. Understanding this is how the world changes, one word, one action, one situation at a time

1 Comment

Mindset 7-2-15

By C.L. Harmon

What separates us? What unites us or draws us together? Differences of opinions, belief systems and even traditions distance from each other. This is a fundamental fact of humanity since the beginning. What comes of these when we focus so heavily on what divides us as opposed to what unites us?

There are wars, acts of terror, violence, political upheaval and even attempts at genocide. We are so focused on being right and having our beliefs accepted by others that we lose sight that our opinions are stealing from us what allows us to connect to each other. Love, forgiveness, compassion and generosity connect us all to each other in a way that beliefs and opinions cannot.

Different races, religions, and cultures will live in harmony by simply loving and respecting the other. Harmony and peace need no agreement of like-minded individuals to prosper. They only need acceptance and tolerance. Our world is a reflection of our choices. If this is not the world you hope for, then change it by exchanging an opinion for an act of kindness toward those who feel differently than you.

Leave a Comment
Mindset: Building Bridges

Mindset: Building Bridges

Why is it that we fear those who seem foreign to us? What is it about us that allows our differences to bridge distances between us when that very bridge could be keeping us from reaching that which we need the most?
Overt actions of contempt or the intentional act of ignoring someone simply because that person is different is a grave injustice to ourselves. We are all born with messages to share that develop as we grow. These insights are sent to us by our Creator with the notion that some will be given to individuals and others to the masses to help us in times of need and to become the people we should be.
Those messages are not always sent in packages that make us at ease and without fear because in the Creator’s eye, the package is as much a message as the actual message inside. Once we overcome our fear and close the distance, we have not only learned the insight of others but the fact that it was never difference that separated us but simply what we had not yet learned from others.

Leave a Comment