however, maturity will never show up before immaturity takes its place upon the stage; only after immaturity’s agonizing, self-indulgent prancing and whines, then will the spot light move over to maturity.

i don’t know if i should even be pissed at him, or show him sympathy. it is amazing how some people assume that a past success resulting from circumstantial factors, would make them skilled planners of events. it is even more astounding that he would consider himself the expert, when he is being mocked behind his back for inability.

but yet, the irony of saying all these is, who am i to say that he is poor in ability? who am i to consider myself above him? ah, isn’t the pot calling the kettle black then?

sometimes i walk around and examine why..out of all the pains that a man can have, i have to suffer one that none of my friends go through.

sometimes i sit and ponder why..out of all the trials that a man can go through, i have to trudge through one that seems the darkest of all.

so i looked at the setting sun behind the drifting clouds, and asked why God, why?

why can’t i have the joy that everyone else is having, and not the one that seems so trivial?

why can’t i endure the same pain that everyone else,  but the one that i am feeling so real?

why can’t i persevere in the same race as my neighbor, instead of the winding road so draining?

and He said to me, “nothing I have done is ever without a purpose – the earth was never formed through random explosions of energy. animals were never created through the evolution of simple cells – creation is the purposeful intent of a Creator.”

and then i knew i had my answer – that behind it all, there is always a plan.

That is why I love the following quote:

To know how to grow old is the master work of wisdom, and one of the most difficult chapters in the art of living. – Henri Feredic Amiel.

Jaded thoughts on a friday that is good.

comes in friend number 2, who quoted “the denominator of our problems are usually our own selves” meaning to say that most of the problems that we face really come from who we are, and how we perceive things.

so today, i had some sort of an epiphany.

the denominator determining the impact of our situations is our character. was re-reading a book that held too many concepts within a chapter, and it reminded me of how i had prayed and asked for trouble to come my way (you can literally tell me in the face “you asked for it”). but i sincerely believed in James 1:2-4.

2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

let me explain – many times we face situations and issues that might seem out of our control, and the first time that we face them, we can feel overwhelmed. but as we take these problems head on, we learn and grow – becoming more mature by the day. the more mature we are (or in other words – having more character), the lesser the impact of negative situations. our maturity helps us to re-frame problems and situations, and has the potential to act as a thrust towards the future.

have a big problem to handle today? enlarge your character and you will find that it isn’t as big as you think. denominators are powerful.

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1. peek-a-boo

babies enjoy the game of peek-a-boo because it challenges their perceptions about the existence of the parent. at that young tender age,  they are still learning about the presence of objects, things and persons. what they can see, they believe to be there. what they cannot see, they believe it to be absent. it is over time that the baby learns to understand that there are more ways of determining if his mum is in the room or not. he learns to perceive his reality, when to muster up his diaphragm for that loud wail to garner attention, or when to stop his crying because his wants are already fulfilled.

2. story telling

story telling is a profession that will never fade away; all that has changed is the medium through which it takes place. we see folklore that transpired down the generations, where parents recount what their parents told them. “never do this” a child is told, because something bad might happen. while it might just be a tall tale, the child learns to avoid those behaviors because he perceives it to be true. it is only much later on that he discovers the true moral of the story.

the man who has memorized the story by heart sits by the corner of the street. he weaves a tale of the spirits and their mischiefs, where human beings have been tormented by their misdeeds. the frustrations of the actors in the story lead to injustice rising within the hearer’s heart. as insurmountable problems accumulate, the protagonists enters into play, pummeling the evil-doers into the ground. “take that!” leaps the heart of the audience with joy. for a minute there, the listener lost himself in the world that the story teller has so cleverly constructed.

today, the story teller has been replaced by the television, internet, books, videos, radios, and whatever form of media you can think of. the news today, helps us to perceive what is really happening halfway around the world. the internet draws us to perceive the days of a blogger. books enable us to gain the perspective of the writer, on how he perceives reality to be like for him.

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don’t mean to leave you high and dry by writing halfway, but i got stuck on section 3. will be back soon.

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music numbs a long and boring journey. tempting it might have been, the urge to plug in was forlorn. the quiet bustle of the street called out in a tantalizing manner – cumulative whispers become audible before fading into the background. he strummed his guitar hard and sang his lungs out to a crowd that was thinning faster than the hair on his head, determined to strut as much as possible before being ushered off the platform. an alien stands in between statues created with frozen chains of carbon and hydrogen, while calling out to his comrade to aim the flash light towards him. song birds offered their voices up to the gods hoping that they would hear their plea, so that the upside down umbrella would be filled with pennies from heaven. the tinkling of a few dimes led to their outbursts of gratitude.

it felt like a tunnel coated with layer of birds – even dolby could not have recreated the dimensions of the chirping. ever so often, one would stare up wondering if a pepper of unfortunate blessings would rain down the next moment. groans of gears and pistons bounced off the buildings, their boundless energy held back by the calmness of a trickling river. an anomalous honk disrupted the calm belt, indicating impatience over the lack of movement. the cumulative whispers took front stage again, proclaiming the arrival of the tin can.

i boarded the bus, and plugged myself into mono, for the lush orchestra ended. my walk down orchard road wasn’t so long and boring after all.

a mighty surge of energy rushes to the blades, compelling them to move. as each one slices through the stagnant air, they cause movements proportionate to the effects of genocides. the disarray is met with extreme resistances, loud voices are heard throughout the streets. “revolution! revolution!” they shout along the pebbled roads. but waves after waves of violence are poured upon them, sweeping their injustice away like a mighty river. hopes are lost, righteousness devolved from morality to survival. pain is numbed, purposes dulled. they no longer move according to their own desires, but are moved by what is dictated. over time, what once was an inhumane atrocity, is now a modus operandi.

and my ears got dulled to the sound of the wind, fading into the background.

true – we started with mobile phones, then to wifi, then now we have mobile internet and stuff.

so i thought hard about it.

really hard.

and i thought to myself – we can never really go totally wireless.

as long as you don’t have the extension wire or power cable – you can’t even turn on your wireless devices. =)

it started from toast box, to sushi tei, to bala. people all around were talking about relationships too. it seemed as though the whole world decided that the conversation topic of the day was relationships – broken, dissatisfied, dysfunctional, unfulfilling. getting home, it didn’t seem that the conversation would even let up.

“this era of globalization will not be spear-headed by countries or companies – it will be spear-headed by individuals” – Thomas Friedman

if we put one and one together, that might explain the success of facebook, twitter and every other social internet function. we started with feeling empowered by friends “poking” us on facebook, that we are worth his or her time, logging on, and clicking on that “poke” link. we now feel empowered by the number of people who are following our tweets – that we are in direct influence over their information needs. their “wall posts”, “pokes” and “fan-ship” gives us a sense of being requited for our efforts. now doesn’t that beat being in a relationship where love isn’t requited?

so i say, social media is here to stay until this era of globalization evolves, compressing the world on top of flattening it.