5.Always 6.On 8.My 3.Mind

An interesting title with numbers & words. This is because I want what has been on my mind lately to really reach your heart. That is love(5683 is the number scheme for love on a telephone dial pad). The reason love  is on my mind, and always has been, is because I feel like in todays society we have lost touch with true love. Everyone is searching for that picture perfect, hollywood movie type, Nashville #1 hit love story they can call their own. But in this rush to find that one true love, we get impatient, we get discouraged, we get deceived. This is because we let our judgement get clouded by emotions. We feel that by just saying, I love you, is enough. I'm here to tell you it's not! In fact those 3 words are being overused, in a sense, to overcompensate for the lack of responsibility love takes. Love is not a word, it is an action. And the perfect way for me to describe it is like a puzzle: Love is NOT finding someone perfect, without flaws, without scars, without past mistakes. Love IS about finding someone who isn't perfect, someone who has flaws, scars, past mistakes. And when you find that person and can love them because those flaws make them who they are, you can then begin to realize that you are not perfect. That your flaws, scars, and past mistakes make you unique as well. The reason it is so important to have those flaws, those scars, and those past mistakes...is because we are human! The flaws, scars, and past mistakes the one you love has, may be the very areas in your life you have strengths in. And the very weaknesses you have, may be her/his areas of strength. And it is when these offset weaknesses and strengths are recognized and not hidden away, that you can begin to fit your lives together and create a true love. Just like the pieces of a puzzle reveal the clear picture you tried to see in the beginning. It is this intertwined strengths that make the foundation for a true love that will last a lifetime and beyond. A love that transcends the grave. A love that the very fabric of life was built upon.
I hope this jumbled mess of my thoughts, and terrible punctuation haha, can be clear enough to help you reevaluate the way you look and approach love.

Stephen

God, Karma, Fruit, and Facebook

We are living in a digital era. And though there are many things we could have never accomplished without technology(space travel, automobiles, music recording, movies, smart phones, social networking, etc.) I feel like we are losing touch with who we are. Losing touch with God, because we feel like we have become gods ourselves. This feeling came to me when saw a status update on Facebook. It stated "Well karma has another person on her list. soon I'll just be sitting back and laughing. suckers." Now normally something like this wouldn't bother me. I see worse things every day, even say worse things everyday. But seeing a person who's profile states they are a true christian, love God, and who's status updates usually have uplifting sayings or Bible verses...really made me step back for a minute and think. Is this how we think the world works? That we are perfect. That we control Karma(If you will) by being "christian" so to speak. I know I have not lived a life closest to the God I claim to believe in and love. I get caught up in moments, let emotions take over, and let things slip. But in today's society, where whatever we feel can be posted the second we think it, doesn't give us time to really filter out the things we shouldn't say. Doesn't give us a chance to realize that whoever hurt us, could just as easily have been in our shoes getting hurt by words or actions we created. In Matthew is says "You will know them by their fruits." It doesn't say by their words, by their Facebook status, by wearing a WWJD bracelet. It says by your fruits. A simple little status update or tweet is not so innocent. In fact I would go as far to say is is our mind working in it's purest state. Unaltered and unfiltered. And though we cannot stop negative thoughts from arising, we can stop them from growing into actions. Stop them from taking a ripe crop and turning it into a spoiled harvest. So wether you do or don't believe in God or Karma...do or don't like fruits or facebook; Take a second to think about the thoughts you so casually throw around. 

"Speak when you are angry - and you will make the best speech you'll ever regret." - Laurence J. Peter

Blog and me, Not meant to be?

I never thought I would be the type of person to sit down and share my thoughts to the world. Not that I feel my blog, which is in its infancy, will reach the masses. It's just that having my thoughts and feelings on public display, through the internet none the less, is kind of frightening by nature. Growing up as an only child taught me how to bottle up my thoughts, questions, fears, and emotions and toss them around in my head until I came to upon conclusions I could understand. There is a quote that says "Sometimes we build up walls - not to keep people out but to see who cares enough to knock them down". And though I feel like this quote paints a perfect description of me, I wouldn't consider myself an introvert. More like a slow-converting extrovert :) So this Blog is going to be a way for me to pull those thoughts, questions, fears, and emotions out and get a little clarity in my life. In my mind. In my heart. And hopefully I will have some relatable stories to share that can help you, the readers,  face some of your own giants. A personal clutter inventory check sheet if you will. That's all for now. Blog and me, I guess we'll see ;)

Stephen