Change.
But start slowly, because direction is more important than speed.
Sit in another chair, on the other side of the table.
Later on, change tables.
When you go out, try to walk on the other side of the street. Then change your route, walk calmly down other streets, observing closely the places you pass by.
Take other buses. Change your wardrobe for a while; give away your old shoes and try to walk barefoot for a few days - even if only at home.
Take off a whole afternoon to stroll about freely, listening to the birds or the noise of the cars.
Open and shut the drawers and doors with your left hand.
Sleep on the other side of the bed. Then try sleeping in other beds.
Watch other TV programs, read other books, live other romances - even of only in your imagination.
Sleep until later. Go to bed earlier.
Learn a new word a day.
Eat a little less, eat a little more, eat differently; choose new seasonings, new colors, things you have never dared to experiment.
Lunch in other places, go to other restaurants, order another kind of drink and buy bread at another bakery.
Lunch earlier, have dinner later, or vice-versa.
Try something new every day: a new side, a new method, a new flavor, a new way, a new pleasure, a new position.
Pick another market, another make of soap, another toothpaste.
Take a bath at different times of the day.
Use pens with different colors.
Go and visit other places.
Love more and more and in different ways. Even when you think that the other will be frightened, suggest what you have always dreamed about doing when you make love.
Change your bag, your wallet, your suitcases, buy new glasses, write other poems.
Open an account in another bank, go to other cinemas, other hairdressers, other theaters, visit new museums.
Change. And think seriously of finding another job, another activity, work that is more like what you expect from life, more dignified, more human.
If you cannot find reasons to be free, invent them: be creative.
And grab the chance to take a long, enjoyable trip - preferably without any destination.
Try new things. Change again. Make another change. Experiment something else.
You will certainly know better things and worse things than those you already know, but that does not matter. What matters most is change, movement, dynamism, energy.
Only what is dead does not change - and you are alive.
(Taken from "Warrior of the Light, a www.paulocoelho.com.br publication.")
a b c d e f g h i j k l m N O p q r s t u v w x y z
Notice the two middle letters of the alphabet. Learn to use it. Learn to say "NO" … because you cannot always please everybody.
One always has to know when a stage comes to an end. If we insist on staying longer than the necessary time, we lose the happiness and the meaning of the other stages we have to go through. Closing cycles, shutting doors, ending chapters - whatever name we give it, what matters is to leave in the past the moments of life that have finished.
Did you lose your job? Has a loving relationship come to an end? Did you leave your parents’ house? Gone to live abroad? Has a long-lasting friendship ended all of a sudden? You can spend a long time wondering why this has happened. You can tell yourself you won’t take another step until you find out why certain things that were so important and so solid in your life have turned into dust, just like that. But such an attitude will be awfully stressing for everyone involved: your parents, your husband or wife, your friends, your children, your sister, everyone will be finishing chapters, turning over new leaves, getting on with life, and they will all feel bad seeing you at a standstill.
None of us can be in the present and the past at the same time, not even when we try to understand the things that happen to us. What has passed will not return: we cannot forever be children, late adolescents, sons that feel guilt or rancor towards our parents, lovers who day and night relive an affair with someone who has gone away and has not the least intention of coming back. Things pass, and the best we can do is to let them really go away.
That is why it is so important (however painful it may be!) to destroy souvenirs, move, give lots of things away to orphanages, sell or donate the books you have at home. Everything in this visible world is a manifestation of the invisible world, of what is going on in our hearts - and getting rid of certain memories also means making some room for other memories to take their place. Let things go. Release them. Detach yourself from them. Nobody plays this life with marked cards, so sometimes we win and sometimes we lose. Do not expect anything in return, do not expect your efforts to be appreciated, your genius to be discovered, your love to be understood. Stop turning on your emotional television to watch the same program over and over again, the one that shows how much you suffered from a certain loss: that is only poisoning you, nothing else.
Nothing is more dangerous than not accepting love relationships that are broken off, work that is promised but there is no starting date, decisions that are always put off waiting for the “ideal moment.” Before a new chapter is begun, the old one has to be finished: tell yourself that what has passed will never come back. Remember that there was a time when you could live without that thing or that person - nothing is irreplaceable, a habit is not a need. This may sound so obvious, it may even be difficult, but it is very important.
Closing cycles. Not because of pride, incapacity or arrogance, but simply because that no longer fits your life. Shut the door, change the record, clean the house, shake off the dust. Stop being who you were, and change into who you are.
- By Paolo Coelho -
(Thanks to Che Ingles)
Time really flies so fast. One indicator that proves it is when you realize that the children around you are no longer the fragile newly-born infant. I never thought of it until this morning while cleaning-up my cellphone's picture files. These kids always make my day …
Now, we have gotten through
one more fall,
I can just admit I’ve got it all
’cause I do
’cause I’ve got you.
We’ve crossed these battle lines too many times.
It passes through the heart.
But it never leaves a mark.
‘Cause your love just keeps on healing me,
no matter how I bruise.
If I just trust you,
your love just keeps on dealing me
one more cure, one more chance
that wasn’t there before,
In your arms, no pain can harm the way I’m feeling
Lord I know that your love is healing.
I kicked around these lines in my head
but I never listened to the words that you said.
See where it’s lead.
Well, I know I have it now
‘Cause you’ve showed me how
And all I had to do was just to keep my eyes on you.
‘Cause your love just keeps on healing me,
no matter how I bruise.
If I just trust you,
your love just keeps on dealing me
one more cure, one more chance
that wasn’t there before,
In your arms, no pain can harm the way I’m feeling
Lord I know that your love is healing.
(Latest rendition by Jed Madela)
I was chosen to be one of the possible contestants in 1 Versus 100. This is the newest primetime quiz show in ABS-CBN that is aired every Saturday. Here is the exact sms:
From 2366:
MOB: May chans ka 2b a 1 vs. 100 contestant! Ur invited 2 come 2 ABSCBN QC on WEDNESDAY 9/05/07, 10am for screening. Bring valid ID & ballpen. Dnt erase ds msg.
Dramatically, I have to forbid myself in going for the screening. I just do not want to waste their time and effort on me. I will be leaving the country anytime soon and I might not be able to make it to the taping day in case I passed the screening. It was a luck in a wrong time. (Toink!)
I remember that during my college days, I had two exposures in the defunct noontime show - Lunch Date. My first is a contest sponsored by Palmolive shampoo. It was my sister who registered my name as part of her entries. Luckily, my name was picked instead of hers. Well enough, I was able to make it to the final round and almost got the jackpot prize of a 21" Sony television. My second exposure is a contest sponsored by Aurora calculator. I was also included in the final round but ended up second place. I went home with some hundreds of pesos and a new calculator.
Now I'm thinking if I was really made for TV. Hhhmmmmm…
