The Brilliant Teacher

Starry Night by Alex Ruiz

 

 

The Mag #234

 

 

 

"When it is dark enough, you can see the stars." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

 

 

 

Every soul is a brilliant student and teacher

 like the stars in the midnight sky.

Each endeavor we undertake

 is a shimmering example

be it wrong or be it right.

 

All the decisions one man can manufacture
are a beacon for those willing to truly view
and they become a bright lesson of guidance
of what another man should never do.


For our lives are a monument on display
 like a planetarium or chalk board at school,
and our actions profess the truths
that speaks for both scholars and for fools.








One thing I have learned over the years watching people and taking a closer look into my own mirror is this:


We all are teachers in this life.  We advise others not just in our triumphs but also in our mistakes.   Like stars in the midnight sky we shine bright when it is dark.  Adversity and how we handle it can be the most brilliant teacher of all.  It enlightens understanding much faster than the way of complacency for both the individual and the onlookers.   The clergy teach us, but so does the criminal.  They each have a message to share.   For this world is one big classroom, and we are not just the students we are the teachers as well. 






What is the brightest lesson your life has taught to someone else in your sphere of influence?
Has someone in your life taught you a valuable lesson you would like to share?






Reaching for Wisdom with Foolish Hands

Drawing Hands, 1948 by M.C. Escher

 

 

The Mag # 180

 

 

 

"Men are made stronger on realization that the helping hand they need is at the end of their own arm." ~Sidney J. Phillips

 

 

 

I define my own ways at the sketching of my own hand,
drawing my own lines of reason like heritage defines a man.
The view that lies before me is a photo that only I can snap.
I can choose to capture the future or get tangled in the past.
All the expectations I hope to have unfold within my own arm's reach,
are not given by this world but earned painstakingly by only me.
For life is a pilgrimage of perspectives that I alone can observe and utilize
no other soul can grant it, my own hands must reach out and truly try.




 

The Battle Scars of Inconvenience

Verdum, 1917, by Felix Vallotton

The Mag #143

If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, then you got a problem.  Everything else is inconvenience. 

 ~Robert Fulghum



Life is full of paper cuts that sting but leave no mark.
A thousand aggravations that attack us in the dark.

So we hide in a bunker trying to avoid every trap.
Dodging annoyances like bullets we lay low on our path.

Craving no resistance we march forward with closed eyes.
Soldiers on a mission to find oblivian at any price.

The battle for a perfect life is a stuggle that will never cease.
for this life is a journey of imperfections that simply serve to teach.

 

Beautiful Free Bird



"He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has."  ~Epictetus

Linking with lovely Emily at Imperfect Prose.

Life with all its struggles and frustrations has a way of weighing us down, like mud from a landslide knocking us to the ground motionless in a stagnant place.  Then it becomes difficult to see ahead or even move forward from there.  I have found myself wallowing in this condition more times than I care to admit.

A while back I was there once again, stuck in a mound of self pity, facing another situation uncertain what direction to go next.  As I wondered why life always seems to be so hard, out of the blue something amazing happened.

Being an avid blogger, I occasionally receive random e-mails from people that I do not know.  Usually, commenting on my blog, or asking questions, but on this day it was something different.  I opened an e-mail from a young lady with a story that could move any heart from complacency to inspiration.

Her name is Rubi, and during her junior year in High School, she was in a devastating car accident.  The vehicle she was riding in hit a guardrail, flipped 3 times, and she was ejected out the window.  Both her back and shoulders were fractured, and her neck broken.  Now she is paralyzed from the chest down.  Her trunk control is very weak, and using her hands is difficult.  She can barely make a fist.  All the things that we do and take for granted everyday are a struggle for Rubi, yet like a beautiful free bird that always sees the horizon, she never looses site of hope.  She has been improving with therapy, but it is her artistic jewelry making that has strengthened her hands and her beautiful heart. 
She creates a lovely array of leather beaded wrap bracelets, and they are amazing.  Making the jewelry is a wonderful outlet for her to express herself.  You can take a look at her Etsy site for yourself.  You will not be dissapointed, I know I was not. 

Yes, life with all its struggles and hardships can weigh us down, like a heavy shroud we can barely see through, yet there are glimmers of inspiration that can penetrate the barriers that we undertake in our lives.  People like Rubi whose life is a message of inspiration and hope, like a carrier pigeon in flight.  I hear her beautiful message loud and clear, and I want to share it with the world.  We can choose to be defeated in our adversity or we can rise above it and defy the odds and statistics of this world.  We all have problems to deal with in our daily lives, some are more massive than others, yes, but we also each have hope that can carry us through.  Just ask Rubi, she knows this hope and holds it close with all the strength in her heart.

Meet Rubi and her beloved dog Koco.


These are my favorites!

Rubi site is called Beautiful Free Bird.


Callused Hands

Magpie #46

"You cannot help but learn more as you take the world into your hands. Take it up reverently, for it is an old piece of clay, with millions of thumbprints on it." ~John Updike

Life grabs and pulls us through with the strength of callused hands

never holding faintly with gloves to prevent weathers mark

it cradles opportunity and then thrusts it within our palm

 in time and symmetry we learn to hold on with all our might

wisdoms brilliant sting progressively seeps in and also spills forth

its evidence like braille to the blind cannot be hidden only shared

for the rough hands of an old man

always serve to remind us

he has survived

life's storms

and so can

we.

No Stranger At My Door

Magpie #43

You can't run away from trouble. There ain't no place that far. ~Uncle Remus

Trouble rides a fast horse, I once heard a famous cowboy say. 

So I tiptoed like a snowflake, and flew the other way.

I traveled passed missed opportunities, and stumbled over the loss.

Holding regret, like a firearm, with pockets empty from the cost.

I grew weary running, so I turned to hiding behind my own locked doors,

never allowing trouble to dance upon my hardwood  floors.

Yet, all the avoiding, and escaping was at no avail,

for trouble would always find me through my own paper trail.

It is a cold hard lesson, like falling off a horse in the snow.

To learn that dodging all life's troubles also loses some blessing we could know.

Trouble rides a fast horse, I once heard a famous cowboy say.

So now I sit at my own doorstep, and simply welcome all that comes my way.

To read more Magpie Tales prompts click here.

The Winds of Hardship Blow In All Directions

Magpie #31

We are not that different you and I

I can feel it in your gentle sway

you can see it in my weary eyes

like a high flag we must face the wind's blow

with a lumber strength deep in our soul

I might shift and you may bend

but we both stand up to what life blows in

side by side or worlds apart

each soul has hardships and storms at dark

we are not that different you and I

for we all long for acceptance and peaceful skies.

Click here to see Willow's Magpie Tales...you will be glad you did. :-)

May there be peace on earth for EVERY man,woman, and child...no matter where they live, or what they believe.