What's love got to do with?

Love! How can a single word mean so much and so little depending on how you look at it? It means different things to different people. The word is so often misused that it's quite easy to lose track of its true meaning.

Love is patient...... love is about accepting a person for who they are and giving them the opportunity to improve themselves at their own pace.

Love does not seek its own way..... Love is putting the other person's interests first always. Imagine how nice the world would be if we were all considerate of other people's feelings. There would be fewer violent crimes, no terrorism, no wars......

Love keeps no account of wrongdoings....just imagine how many marriages would be saved if this were true.

Love forgives all things....because we are all different individuals we will have differences of opinion or step on each other's toes at some point in time. Love helps us to forgive all wrongs and hurts.

Hurting someone you love should be like hurting yourself. If we all think and act in love, we would be better for it.

Smell the Roses

Welcome to Reflections by Alicia! As the name implies this is basically my thoughts written down. If I sometimes sound like I'm rambling, I hope I'll be forgiven because they are afterall my thoughts.

I am in my late twenties, currently at a loose end about what next do with my life.I think I am very misunderstood by people.When you do not fit into what is considered to be acceptable by society, you are looked at as an oddity. We mock the things we do not understand because it differs from the norm or our expectations. Have you ever felt like you are different? You know, like you dont do things the way people expect or you dont think like people think and every one thinks you are weird. You think it doesn't matter what people think about you but deep down it does matter. Basically, I try to shrug it off but sometimes it gets to me when I least expect.

I am really at a loose end right now. I thought doing another degree would automatically help me get a better job and now I am thinking maybe it wasn't such a good idea.

Funny, isn't it how we say to ourselves, if only I had a better job I would earn more money. If only I had this or that qualification, I would be able to get a better job or if only I was earning more money or if only I was married or had children, I would be happier . So many 'if onlys'. When we do get our wishes they often fall far below our expectations and we sometimes are left worse off than before.

I think happiness has nothing to do with our circumstances or our position. It is or should be a state of the mind. You could be poor and happy (though that would be a rather herculean task), on the other hand, you could also be rich and very unhappy (as seen by examples of celebrities with various emotional troubles).

I guess it's all about accepting your situation and learning to deal with until the situation changes. It is about seeing the good and the positive in every situation.

They say the grass always looks greener on the other side. Many of us spend great part of our lives trying to see into the future, worrying so much about 'what is not' that we have very little time to enjoy 'what is'. Take time to smell the roses is a popular saying. Yes, take time to enjoy the present, accept each new day as a divine gift and enjoy it. Enjoy the small things in life, quit worrying about the big things.

As for me, I have decided to make the Serenity prayer my mantra; to accept each day as it comes with a grateful heart, to deal with the things I can deal with and to accept the things I cannot change with peace in my heart.