If you find yourself in love…

If you find yourself in love with someone who does not love you, be gentle with yourself. There is nothing wrong with you. Love just didn’t choose to rest in the other person’s heart.

If you find someone else in love with you and you don’t love him/her, feel honored that love came and called at your door, but gently refuse the gift you cannot return. Do not take advantage, do not cause pain.

How you deal with love is how you deal with you, and all our hearts feel the same pains and joys, even if our lives and ways are different.

If you fall in love with another, and he/she falls in love with you, and then love chooses to leave, do not try to reclaim it or to assess blame, let it go. There is a reason and there is a meaning. You will know in time.

Remember that you don’t choose love. Love chooses you. All you can really do is accept it for all its mystery when it comes into your life. Feel the way it fills you to overflowing, then reach out and give it away.

Give it back to the person who brought it alive in you.

Give it to others who deem it poor in spirit. Give it to the world around you in anyway you can. There is where many lovers go wrong. Having been so long without love, they understand love only as a need. They see their hearts as empty places that will be filled by love, and they begin to look at love as something that flows to them rather than from them.

The first blush of new love is filled to overflowing, but as their love cools, they revert to seeing their love as need. They cease to be someone who generates love and instead become someone who seeks love.

They forget that the secret of love is that it is a gift, and that it can be made to grow only by giving it away.

Remember this, and keep it to your heart. Love has its own time, its own seasons, and its own reason for coming and going. You cannot bribe it or coerce it, or reason it into saying.

You can only embrace it when it arrives and give it away when it comes to you. But if it chooses to leave from your heart or from the heart of your lover, there is nothing you can do and there is nothing you should do.

Love always has been and always will be a mystery.
Be glad that it came to live for a moment in your life.

The Ripple Effect…

The Master was walking through the fields one day when a young man, a troubled look upon his face, approached him. “On such a beautiful day, it must be difficult to stay so serious,” the Master said. “Is it? I hadn’t noticed,” the young man said, turning to look around and notice his surroundings. His eyes scanned the landscape, but nothing seemed to register; his mind elsewhere. Watching intently, the Master continued to walk. “Join me if you like.”

The Master walked to the edge of a still pond, framed by sycamore trees, their leaves golden orange and about to fall. “Please sit down,” the Master invited, patting the ground next to him. Looking carefully before sitting, the young man brushed the ground to clear a space for himself. “Now, find a small stone, please,” the Master instructed. “What?” “A stone. Please find a small stone and throw it in the pond.” Searching around him, the young man grabbed a pebble and threw it as far as he could. “Tell me what you see,” the Master instructed. Straining his eyes to not miss a single detail, the man looked at the water’s surface. “I see ripples.” “Where did the ripples come from?” “From the pebble I threw in the pond, Master.” “Please reach your hand into the water and stop the ripples,” the Master asked. Not understanding, the young man stuck his hand in the water as a ripple neared, only to cause more ripples. The young man was now completely baffled. Where was this going? Had he made a mistake in seeking out the Master? After all he was not a student, perhaps he could not be helped? Puzzled, the young man waited. “Were you able to stop the ripples with your hands?” the Master asked. “No, of course not.” “Could you have stopped the ripples, then?” “No, Master. I told you I only caused more ripples.” “What if you had stopped the pebble from entering the water to begin with?” The Master smiled such a beautiful smile; the young man could not be upset.

“Next time you are unhappy with your life, catch the stone before it hits the water. Do not spend time trying to undo what you have done. Rather, change what you are going to do before you do it.” The Master looked kindly upon the young man. “But Master, how will I know what I am going to do before I do it?” “Take the responsibility for living your own life. If you’re working with a doctor to treat an illness, then ask the doctor to help you understand what caused the illness. Do not just treat the ripples. Keep asking questions.” The young man stopped, his mind reeling. “But I came to you to ask you for answers.

Are you saying that I know the answers?” “You may not know the answers right now, but if you ask the right questions, then you shall discover the answers.” “But what are the right questions, Master?” “There are no wrong questions, only unasked ones. We must ask, for without asking, we cannot receive answers. But it is your responsibility to ask. No one else can do that for you.”

Little Things in Life…

I ran into a stranger as he passed by,

“Oh excuse me please” was my reply.

He said, “Please excuse me too;

I wasn’t watching for you.”

We were very polite, this stranger and I.

We went on our way saying good-bye.

But at home a difference is told,

How we treat our loved ones, young and old.

Later that day, cooking the evening meal,

My son stood beside me very still.

As I turned, I nearly knocked him down.

“Move out of the way,” I said with a frown.

He walked away, his little heart broken.

I didn’t realize how harshly I’d spoken.

While I lay awake in bed,

God’s still small voice came to me and said,

“While dealing with a stranger, common courtesy you use,

But the children you love, you seem to abuse.

Go and look on the kitchen floor,

You’ll find some flowers there by the door.

Those are the flowers he brought for you.

He picked them himself: pink, yellow and blue.

He stood very quietly not to spoil the surprise,

And you never saw the tears that filled his little eyes.”

By this time, I felt very small,

And now my tears began to fall.

I quietly went and knelt by his bed;

“Wake up, little one, wake up,” I said. “

Are these the flowers you picked for me?”

He smiled, “I found ’em, out by the tree.

I picked ’em because they’re pretty like you.

I knew you’d like ’em, especially the blue.”

I said, “Son, I’m very sorry for the way I acted today;

I shouldn’t have yelled at you that way.”

He said, “Oh, Mom, that’s okay. I love you anyway.”

I said, “Son, I love you too,

And I do like the flowers, especially the blue.”

Are you aware that if we died tomorrow, the company that we are working for would easily replace us in a matter of days? But the family we left behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives. And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than to our own family an unwise investment indeed, don’t you think? So what is behind the story? Do you know what the word FAMILY means?

A sister’s poem and a Brother’s response…

(I saw this and decided to share…enjoy)

Do you qualify to be the man I need you to be?
Will you be able to recognize the things you need to see?
Will you be able to understand,
that I’m a good woman and in my life I need a good man?
Do you qualify?

Do you qualify to fertilize my unproduced seeds?
Can you fulfill, as I can, all of my needs?
Can you put me in my place if you see I’m slipping?
Can you talk to me wholeheartedly, not
Constantly trippin??
Do you qualify?

Do you qualify to be called all mine?
Can you leave the other women and temptations behind?
Can you come to me with your problems and not wait until its too late?
Can you stand up and admit of you made a mistake?
Do you qualify?

Do you qualify to be the honest ebony man I
would want you to be?
Would you be able to look me in my eyes and
Admit your feelings to me?
Could you take me in tour arms and make love to
me all night long?
Can you be sensitive and still be strong?
Do you qualify?

Do you qualify to be my friend as well as my
Lover? Can you put our love before any other?
Can you cherish me as if I were diamonds and
Gold? Can you make me feel like I’m the last
woman you’ll ever hold?
Do you qualify?

Do you qualify to be called a good man?
If I have doubts can you reassure me and understand/
Can your love intoxicate me as if I were high?
To be in my life I need to know….
Do you qualify?

The brother’s response:

You ask, do I qualify?
Can I fulfill your needs and become the man you need me to be?
My sister, are you prepared for what you’ve asked for?
Can you handle the responsibility?

Can you accept that, by GOD, I am the chosen one?
The authority, the comforter, and the head?
Will you submit and willingly follow my path?
Or will you fight with me instead?

If I am your king, will you treat me as such?
Will I get the best of your beauty and poise?
Or will I be subjected to an appearance
Neglected, and checked with some serious noise?
When I talk, will you listen?
I mean wholeheartedly and feel me?
Or will you rush me just to make your point too?
Can I be the man at all times? Even when it hurts?
Or is it just when it’s convenient for you?

Can you love me and not for what you wish I could be
Will you see the strong black man within?
Or will you always remind me of all
The past brothers behind me and make me pay for their sins?

If I don’t send you flowers the day your co-worker
Received some, will you know that I love you still?
Or will my good name be uttered along with those doggish brothers!
Will you question if my commitment is real?

Will you be patient and teach me to understand you,
And allow my knowledge of your needs to grow?
Or will you shut me out when I ask, Baby
What’s wrong?
Or will you respond with “Well a real man would know!”

When we first met what was it that caught your
eye? Was it my mind, my heart, my personality?
Or was it my suit, or my job, or do you love
what I drive, instead of what drives me?

Yes I can, and I will, make love to you from midnight to the dawning of the sun
But, if I tell you I’m tired will you trust
I’m sincere or believe there must be another one?
My sister, I love you and my heart can be yours.
No woman could lead me astray.
But like you, I have needs so I beg of you please,
In this love thang, meet me half way.

In life’s tough times I’ll hold you, in the rough times I’ll mould you;
Your simplest wish will be my command.
My life is yours if need be
Yes, you can fully bleed me, and when hell comes, in your place I’ll stand

A good relationship is a powerful institution that must be
Built on a foundation of two
So to answer your question,
YES sister, I do qualify

Now, more importantly….Do you?