Weakness is a state of mind - a choice.

Taking my own advice

No matter how bad the situation seems at first....
There is always a solution, or at least one that seems better than the others.

Assess

Re-assess

Evaluate

Re-evaluate

Then formulate.

Thinking is an illusion
Remember this when you're freaking out.

stupid book

I don't usually have time for fiction.

At all.

But let me tell you the sheer beauty of letting yourself get lost in a series of books that you never thought you'd consider for one second.

It's not so much that the book is great - it is.

It's that once again I've surrendered to another small corner of a prison that this play-it-safe girl has spent most of her life living behind.

And as it turns out, this corner was bigger than I thought, as I found myself rampantly defending myself when it wasn't even necessary.

"I'm allowed to read garbage - don't laugh at me - yeah? so I joined the hype and it pisses me off but let me allow myself for a short while to be affected by someone else's art, their dream, their 'fake story'."

I'll continue to live 'firsts' if it feels like this, like getting lost in someone else's dream.

To have 'aha!' moments on a daily basis because I've shot down my-self-enemy.

Turns out this fake story is a very real truth in my book.

(((shadows)))

Will we ever truly accept who we are or what we look like?

Should we ever become that comfortable? What is that like?

Is there a right or wrong answer for this? 

pay attention to what you don't think about....

TRY TO WATCH AT LEAST ONE DOCUMENTARY A MONTH!

This is real life...what's happening on this Earth. 

It's the non-fiction, no-joke-truth about what we don't usually think about.

Try this one...

Urbanized

A film about urban design, 

Why some cities struggle and why others work,

The challenges of space, population, economics, and environment that are faced every day.

Did you know that in Mumbai (which is almost bigger in population than Tokyo) there is only one toilet per every 600 people? One bathroom per ten families is considered 'adequate' in Mumbai (can you even imagine that??) 

Denmark and Bogota are two of the most successful cities in the world in terms of public space, transportation and overall collective happiness. 

Find out who is behind the reason for this and that yes, in fact, there is a strategy behind it.

While your'e at it, here are a few others that are a must-see, a few of which I've already mentioned..

...About human suffering and enlightenment

...About two men on a cross-continental journey,

exploring different cultures on their motorcycles

...About a rare look inside this absolute tragedy that is still taking place in North Korea, even after the death of Kim Jong-il.

There are a few. Do yourself a favor and get on this train...

beginner

I love this.

I saw it and smiled because it really never is too late to begin.

People begin every day at every hour. 

Babies are born by the thousands every second.

A woman begins at 3 am after she has hit rock bottom on her bathroom floor.

A child begins a new life without his mother; a mother meets her child for the first time.

Today I began to re-learn patience.

Yesterday I began a new adventure by committing to get a diver's certification.

Tomorrow I want to begin....period.

The best gift of all is the awareness that no one can take your 'attitude' to 'begin' away.

Even in the worst of circumstances...

When was the last time you began?

thought train on trust

It's amazing what happens when you open yourself up to the possibilities of new relationships in your life...new friendships...The new opportunities that emerge from these experiences create a snowball effect of living your life to the fullest potential.

It's like my last post about 'firsts'. Every time you meet a new friend it's a 'first' and it's so exciting getting to know each other - if you open yourself up to let someone else in. It's thrilling, interesting, provoking, inspiring.  You discover first what you have in common as if you were meant to have met and then you realize that it's the good in you - the hope in you - that wants to find common ground - that doesn't want to see what's not the same.  Because it feels good to be the same when you're used to feeling different.

I have never felt so alive by trusting in others (as they deserve to be) - whether they earn it slowly or whether you take a leap of faith in doing so.  Before, I so much as looked at another and immediately did not trust them. Still, I keep a healthy guard. But I'm knee deep in the lake of trust.

And it feels good to be in this lake.

what's your last first?

There's something about the first time

...for everything.

The first this or the first that, 

is still always that new exciting feeling.

And whether it's pure joy or pure fear,

it's still 

an image that will stay with you forever..

May we have firsts every day.

prove me wrong

You know what?

I smile at the fact that some of the best friendships that I have 

Are the ones that I pre-judged at first meet - and was way off.

I sort of love it when I'm wrong

And when the one who's correcting me is myself :)