HOPE IN THE HORIZON

Courtesy of : Lavi Singh

From a distance ..
while the rays of the sun kiss the skyline, 
the wave of hope starts to smile 
as it touches the shoreline. 
Beneath a bright blue sky,
is a patient man standing by... 
Is he waiting for something? 
or a moment?
Staring at the ocean,
He is whispering hope at the rising sun!
                             
            -Moonrose-

 “I just wait for that moment which I can say 'this is mine and only for me'. I’m not selfish but how long can I smile for others? This only makes me a “double face person”.  All the people around me always expect me to smile. Smile is good, but what if I would be in difficult times and I feel like I am in a dry desert which badly cries for a single drop of water? Who is with me to quench my thirst? The sea? The sky or the clouds above?  How sure am I that they’re always with me? Whom to trust? We all see people give big promises to others like “we are always here for you" and yet, they left, leaving nothing but broken promises. It’s all nothing.. and (take note) nothing stays forever (even  the word “nothing”). Should I stop trusting then? Should I just be casual, just shake a hand, feel the touch and never trust?”   -Lavi- 

It’s too easy to put our hope in the things of this life. We tend to fall in love with this life - Career, money, possessions or position, pleasure, achievements - so on and so forth.

When we lose all that the world offers, we are confronted with the hopelessness of it all. We set our own goal, try hard to achieve it for ourselves and loved ones, only to find out that it simply doesn’t work. It’s like we are chasing on something and wasn’t able to make it at the end. 

So what would happen?

There are two things. It’s either we start losing our confidence or we start looking at it as a challenge.

Most of us like to choose the latter. We like challenges. We’re facing it day by day. 
Life after all is a challenge. It's full of mystery that brings either happy or sad moments.

If sadness knocks at the door of your being, dismiss it right away. It only leads you to hopelessness.

However, when happy moment greets you then embrace it.. treasure it! Happy moments are special & unforgettable and always show us the way to being hopeful.

We see a lot of people every day. Some are just happy with nothing while others are sad despite they have everything.   At some point, a businessman is quite sad because he ranks only no. 2 in the market, while on the other side, one person is just praying for a single day work, because his family will be hungry if he has nothing in his kitchen to eat.  One decent meal was all he asked for, he doesn't care for more, just a decent meal and it would be happiness to him, a priceless moment to those like him who are able to understand the pain of hunger. How many people are like him who can appreciate the little blessings they have in their hands, those who always experience hunger and yet never become hopeless?

One time, one good man has taken a night walk alone after having a nice dinner. He saw one person sitting alone, looking so hopeless and broke. His face tells a story about his messy life. The man tapped the person’s shoulder and asked “What happened, are you lost or you’re looking for something?” the person replied, “I’m a failure and I can’t face myself, I lose everything and nothing left except my miserable life.” The good man smiled at the person and said, 

“You call yourself a failure when in fact you’re lucky! Look at you, and look at those disabled people who never lose their hope, rather contentment registered in their face as they live life moment by moment.

Look at those blind people who can never see life's beauty. They lose eyesight but did they become hopeless and broke? 
Did you lose your leg or eyesight too? 

If not, then shame on you for saying you lose everything. You only lose your capacity to think well, because you welcome self pity and negativity. You’re still complete. You still have the capacity to stand up, pick up the broken pieces and use it to build yourself up”. 

The person stood up and said, “That kind of thing only happen in fairy tale. In real life we are born to die. That’s always the truth”.

This is not just a story for nothing. It is a story of faith and interest. 

We always stand for blood, but what about those who, we never meet in life yet could stand for us. In most cases we close our mind to those people who could help us open our eyes to see the truth. We tend to believe what we see but never give chance to believe the truth we've never seen (that oftentimes the most valuable one). We easily ignore little things and get attracted to extra bling from far away.

So often people cry out at life wondering why they have cursed. Why no opportunities have been given to them. Why they must continue to lead the lives they so desperately want to change. The truth of the matter is, the opportunities that they’ve been seeking have always been there; only in the unrecognizable form of their problems.

Come to think of it. Life has handed us numerous opportunities in a silver platter. This platter (where opportunities reside) is inside an ugly box covered with crumpled gift wrapper. You couldn’t see the opportunities inside that ugly wrapped box until you open it. Most of us, if we see an ugly box, we judge that the thing inside is also an ugly stuff.

This is what happened if life give us hard times. We become hopeless and forget to see the opportunities behind that hardships. We lose hope and lock ourselves in that dark room of depression.

Hope (like love), is just a "four- letter" word yet it has big power that could defeat the "ten-letter word depression" or the "twelve-letter word hopelessness". It has its own power that lights up everything. It transcends positive energy which help us out in killing bad powers (negative vibes). 

How?

How to defeat them in this kind of state we are now, where everything seems powerful? We are but human who are prone to the so-called “bad breaks” of life. We work hard yet lose our car, house, money.. even relationship.  Then we blame it to God or we gonna say, we’re just having bad luck.

Darn! Its not about luck! It’s about FAITH! It’s about HOPE! Have the faith to conquer bad breaks and let the ray of hope shine upon your entire being. Have faith to open that ugly box of problems and keep hopeful that the opportunities inside is intended for you. No one could do that for you but ONLY YOU. If you feel discourage and stop helping yourself because you get drowned into the ocean of hopelessness, then NO ONE would help you to get out from there. You'll get drowned, not even a CPR could revive you.

Everything stands on hope. If you see no hope, you’ll have no tomorrow. Does anyone know about what lies ahead? We may sleep tonight and tomorrow we could no longer wake up. 
Scared? 
If we keep this mentality, then we would surely get scared of sleeping. Why get scared to die when you say your life is in a mess? Or okay, lets put it this way, you choose to die rather than living a miserable life, would you allow to die just like that? die in hopelessness? It’s useless! You should have wished you were not born in the first place. It’s a big shame! I don’t want to sound mean. All I want to say is appreciate everything that comes your way and stay strong. Keep fighting from all the bad breaks and be positive. A positive mind conquers everything. When we close our eyes with a positive mind, we will be able to wake up with a fresher feeling, rather than worrying if we could still wake up or not. Is it difficult to view things on the positive side despite of all the bad breaks? I guess not.. if beginning today, you let this four-letter word “HOPE”, (which is as powerful as the same four-letter word “Love”), resides in your heart.

 Be positive

 think positive

 always look at the horizon 

where the sun rise up...

 promising hope.

Live your life with a hopeful heart. 
Always keep HOPE for a change.
...a change for the better.

LOVE CONFESSION: TOO CLOSE BUT STILL TOO FAR

by: Lavi Singh

Possible and impossible

Two contrasting words... both are valuable
                      

Most often, we primarily think the impossibilities of a situation before we recognize its possibilities. This is quite common in life, in love in particular. We think that a certain situation is quite impossible but we could make things possible, for we believe that love works in mysterious ways and love is able to make impossible things ... possible.

I may not be a writer who could easily express my thoughts into words…

but I have a heart that feels, listens and speaks with another heart (hoping your heart would listen).

                        

We have a much valuable person in front of our eyes but we keep on searching for others. Why am I telling this? Simply because at this point in time, I know someone who has just touched my life with a smile - a kind of smile that is so captivating, pure and electrifying, and with a positive attitude that transcends all the negatives. 

This someone has taken my mind. The more I think about her, the more I feel like crazy and my brain doesn’t step up. I simply can't ignore her presence in my entire being as if I am held captive by her simplicity and charm.

She knows she’s in love with me, yet I try to keep adding one step backward to distance myself away from her so I couldn’t hurt her. She is too cute and sweet, and I hate holding back my feelings but I’m afraid because I don’t want ever she get hurt or my bad luck would bring sadness to her face. I love her so much but there are things I couldn’t change. I don’t know what to do. It’s like I am giving a clear plain paper and a pencil to a baby. Now it’s just a matter of time and wait of what she gonna draw on that paper, so she could have an ample time thinking of what kind of person I am.

I didn’t sleep tonight. Every time I close my eyes, I've seen her face and heard her voice. I don’t know what’s happening to me, (don’t I really know? or I just hide?). I hate to admit, I’m in love with her. It’s very possible to love her but I make it impossible because me and her couldn’t be together plus the fact that she's from hundred miles away. I know she’s sad thinking that I might not love her. Oh God I can't stand to see her sad, it pains me inside..if she only knows how I am dying to be with her. It's like a torture… Sometimes, I am in the verge of giving in, telling her how much I love her, get closer to her just to see her smile again and take pride for I am the reason of that smile… but I stopped myself because it’s the only reason I know not to hurt her.

What shall I do?

Shall I tell her about my feelings?

Or shall I wear a mask and pretend I don’t love her?

My life is so busy but still I waited for her like a kid. Her simple “hi” is like a river that quenched my thirst. It’s like I don’t feel hungry once I receive her text. Whenever I get sad or mad, her simple message works like a hug. I don’t know who she really is but she has this power of love that touches every single veins of my precious heart, and keep me thinking about her naughty, sweet, pure and happy nature. If I have to choose my last wish I would choose to watch her from a distance when she laugh because her smile is the only thing which makes me stop on her door steps.

I waited fair enough. Now I need to stop worrying about what would happen in the future. We can’t change the past and the future is yet to come. All I have to do is live the present, try to make a difference and don't mind others. 

Is it about time to tell her how much I love her?
Do I need to go close and hold her, hug her tightly , and tell her...
“Please don’t say anything today, just feel me and my breath, it speaks all about my feelings and my wishes ”.

Today, I decided to stop holding back. She may be far from me but she is so close in my heart. She has that special room inside me. Who knows what would happen next. I laid down my cards. I must admit that I love her. I don’t like to see any impossibilities now. Everything is possible. Things may not happen today, but someday, somewhere, somehow we would meet and magic happen. Love never comes with warranty for anything but all hold on hope. Now my hope is telling me to tell her how much I love her. Moon and earth never meet each other but when the moon is full grown, it makes the earth more beautiful. Even if he gets that light from someone else, still people don't care because all they see is the bright light which comes from the moon. 

I don't care what people say now. I care only of what my heart is telling me.

Please listen...

"no matter how far is the distance 

between you and me,

 I love you. 

I love you so much straight from the heart".

SKY (see the reflection of dreams)

by: Lavi Singh

One sky.                  

One world.

It takes all kinds of people to make a world

Easy or difficult people dealing with heaven or hell day by day…

under one roof, the sky.

When we were young, we were taught like, “If you do good such as being nice to your fellow kids and being respectful to parents and adults, God and angels in heaven will reward you, but if you bully kids around and disrespect elders, you’ll be thrown out to the fire of hell”.

In our young and innocent minds, we start to develop the fear of hell (not knowing that we will be experiencing it as we age). Getting scared on the idea of being thrown to the blazing fire, once we disobey the elders, we try to behave, believing that angels would be pleased in heaven.

One kid asked, “where is heaven?”

Another kid points a finger upward, “heaven is up there, the SKY”

Then another one asked, “where is hell?”

Few kids made a chorus saying “It’s down there” (below the ground)

One smart kid uttered, “ We’re standing on hell”.

Too young to understand about hell and heaven, our innocent mind adopt the notion of benevolence. We act according to what we believe is right and just, based on what others told us.

As grown ups...

                 

We believe in heaven and hell, though technically, no one has ever seen it yet. No one could prove if it does really exist, or if it’s just a story being pass- through from generation to generation.

Many explanations came out, biblical, philosophical, theoretical, etc..

But my understanding about heaven and hell is based upon my own story.

At some point in life, we’re going to be hit hard. We all do. Pain is unavoidable. If we stay long in pain our life is somewhat in hell, because we are suffering. It’s like we are in a blazing fire of grief, discomfort and agony.

Once we’re going through hell, we stop walking. We’ll get stuck. Every time we bump into some hard times, we stop walking and drowned ourselves to loneliness, close all doors of opportunities, lock ourselves in a room with nothing but darkness inside. In that state, we are definitely in hell.

Every person - regardless of age, color and religion - got the same heart or emotion. It means to say that they too get hurt and experience pain.  It is up to the person on how to deal with his feelings. Many hide it, just don’t even tell about it because they think that no one here would like to listen to them.

Since we are living in a time when material possession has become a kind of god to people, we are prone to distractions. Our relationships are affected – family, work, business, friends-

Now I wonder, what state are we in? 
Is there really such a place like heaven or hell?
or is it just a reflection?

Going back when we were young, we get scared of hell. What can we do now when the situation we’re in is “hell” itself?

It’s like we are living in a spoiled generation where honesty, loyalty and compassion may seem, do not exist. Everything has become instant like in relationship and in friendship. It's like everyone is chasing something, run for money instead of dignity.  Most people these days only make friends for benefit. No benefit, no place for friendship. Money speaks. It has become powerful than faith. It replaces everything, even love and peace.

Before, we always hear this line: “Work hard and you’ll succeed”. Is it still applicable now? I doubt. Because nowadays, the more you corrupt, the more you succeed. No value for love, no value for respect. Again, only money speaks.

Some people born for rules and others just die to follow those rules. why can’t all be equal? Why can’t we treat fairly? 
Here’s another thing, If one person did one little mistake, people always remember that mistake rather than remembering the good ones that person made. Then there goes the judgmental crowd who parade themselves in the facade of hypocrisy. They may seem nice creature, giving you smiles but their pretentious look reflects in their eyes.

We usually judge people by their color and action. Sometimes we do something which looks bad to others, though we don’t have any personal reason or bad intention of doing so, that could hurt someone, yet it just happen, which we can say accident but our modern generation always think different.  If someone talk too sweet, people think he/she need something from us, if someone doesn’t talk much then they think that person is kind of rude or just act special.

This modern world suffocates us. Where to breathe? How to breathe? There’s no choice. Is there any way to get out from this hell? Is there someone out there whom we could share our happiness, sadness and even our flaws? Is there someone out there who won’t judge us, rather understands us and consider us special despite of our imperfections?

I’ve seen no one at the moment, except the sky each time I look up to hold back my tears..
and the earth whose always beside me in my lonesome moment. They are my friends so far whom I know would never leave me in good and in bad times. 
People always make promises… they say “I’ll always be with you like a shadow. Just call me and I’ll be there”, and yet they left. They didn’t realize that when dark comes, shadow disappears and get succumb in darkness. The sky never leaves, always above us forever and beyond.

Poor situation we got. We have no one but we still run every single second like a robot. 
Why we run like that and what we run for? 
If we say we do this for our family, then where is our family? 
If we say we do all the hard work for our better future, then where is the future? When do we have that bright future?

We would never find out unless we try to see the reflection of how the sky touch our passion.

We should stop running because life is more like raindrop bubbles which we don’t know how long will stay, we should live life like today is the last day, without worries and sadness.

When I feel sad or lonely I sit under the comfort of my friend's love ...sky.

NEVER UNDER ESTIMATE THE VALUE OF YOUR PRESENCE

"I was  torn between two feelings-- sadness and happiness. Sadness because we have to depart the old year that leaves us unforgettable memories; happiness because all those memories radiate hope for the new year" 

Setting aside sadness,  join me in embracing a brand new start by  saying...

I always welcome the new year with positive disposition. Before year ends, I do some specific activities or practices such as cleaning my room, disposing much trash and clutter I have accumulated through the years. I believe that clutters attract negative energy, thus I should arrange things and put them in its right place to welcome positive vibes. 

Similar to this,  we also need to organize our aspects in life  -- mental, physical, emotional, social and spiritual. We need to organize our thoughts, need to sort out our emotions, fix some problems, clear minor debts or settle accounts, mend broken relationships and the like, and welcome an amazing  year enthusiastically.

However, there are times that no matter how hard we try to organize things, our plans will not turn out fine (the way we expect it to be). We try to give our best, exert all our efforts in making people around us feel alright. We sometimes pretend that all is well, but deep within, we are suffering from some sort of pain. We commit ourselves in performing all tasks which have been entrusted to us just to prove our worth, until we burned ourselves out... 
...and then we give up? 

"The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak".
This is true about being human. Our mind is too eager to say we can, but our body cannot.

I remember Lavi Singh (Ricky)'s words:

"Even big or strong things  sometimes touch the ground and give up.. then who am I not to, when I'm just mere human?"

Days before new year, I had an incredible pain (in connection with the accident). It made me feel half-paralyzed because I couldn't move my left shoulder and arms. It wasn't easy to be in a situation wherein I couldn't do all the things I used to do. It was like a flashback of the discomfort I had two(2) months ago. I was in the verge of giving up knowing I'm just mere human...

 until someone has helped me reduce the uneasiness I had,

Someone whose simple and natural medical advice has brought a great impact on my part. 

It is not easy to be treated like patient. 
Who wants to lie down in bed all the time or sit on the couch doing nothing? 
Who else want to feel useless?

During the media noche celebration, while everyone is happy sharing gifts and laughter, I feel like I was so isolated. My excitement of the occasion was converted into hostility due to my condition. I feel like I'm of no use at all as if my presence is nothing but a burden.

Fine morning of January 1st (new year), trying to look good despite of my shoulder pain, I strove hard to get up from bed (without the aid of family members), pretending that everything is alright. After chanting a short prayer, I stood up in front of a familiar woman, greeted her blankly saying: "Happy New Year!"

To my surprise, the woman returned a smile as she uttered similar words, "Happy New Year".

Oh darn that contagious smile! A smile which tells a thousand stories reflected from her stealthy eyes, saying "Every morning brings new hope".

How did she do that? How did she manage to smile despite of those sadness hidden from the corner of her eyes? 

It's the first morning of the year and this woman's smile brings hope for the day. She was able to remove the thick cloud of loneliness I had as she tried to stretch out her painful, yet welcoming arms, encouraging me to do the same.. 

oh wait.. she too, had shoulder pain?

Her sweet gesture is quite a relief to my discomfort and I'm sure she had that same relief too, although we have different story behind that shoulder pain.

Well, every person has a story to tell, and only God knows the life, the heart, the loves, the trials, the hopes, the wishes and dreams of everyone.

People have misery and pain greater than mine, yet they still look good. If they were able to make it, then why can't I?

As I looked back at the woman's face, I've seen  some traces of discomfort, but instead of grief or misery reflecting her eyes, I can see her calmness, her peaceful character that brightens up my day.

She has this kind of magic, this healing power that heal wounds, ease whatever pain inside and out...

She has this power in every smile.

A confident peaceful smile that overcomes self pity.

My shoulder pain isn't fully recovered yet, but it's nothing compare to the good things that is bound to happen this year. 

"Her calmness has made me see things on the positive side"

I wanna give thanks to this woman.

     I wanna feel her always close to me.

        I wanna see her smile as often as I can.

           I wanna talk to her anything under the sun.

              I wanna be like her in every way.

Each time I look at her, there is that strong force that pulls me towards her
I wonder why...

Then an inner voice said:

Do not under estimate the value of your presence..

It's not you who need her but SHE NEEDED YOU.
Everything you see in her is "YOU"

...because the one you're talking to is the WOMAN IN THE MIRROR.

"She is the reflection of everything you are, yet you didn't see it because your heart is full of self pity to your condition and your eyes are clouded with tears of inhibitions".

Set the woman free. 

Set yourself free.

NAKED STREET

"There are scenes hidden in an open street until clicked."

                                                                           -Leone Moonrose-

Seeing the invisible.

Notice the unnoticed.

Find the beauty through reality of the so-called natural in a concrete jungle...

The street.

Observe everything on its environment.

What do you see?
Aren't you seeing the naked truth in every lie? 
Aren't you seeing the naked street flashed before the lens of your naked eyes?

"It is not just about who are you seeing,

it is all about what are you seeing,.. and WHY."

One fine morning, with a bunch of self confidence in my pocket, a bag of positive insights and a great desire to capture interesting subjects, I went out, headed towards the concrete jungle.

I was walking along the so-called busy street, with my DSLR camera in my hand, ready to click anything that captures my attention. The usual scenario of people going to and fro from their homes to respective business, works, schools or malls wearing different faces, flaunted before my eyes. 

It's a typical busy street with all kinds of people (masked or unmasked) from different races, trying to make a decent living or try undressing people's innocence - the street children, beggars, the homeless and the societies nobodies that populated the place.

It is ended a jungle where predators control the place and preys try to live for survival.

It is a street where pedestrian oriented safety and navigation feature were removed.. leaving all the unsolved crimes behind.

It is a place where morality issue is left behind the corner.

It is a busy street ...

dressed with nakedness!

I wonder...
Is it the beauty of the so-called "natural" in a concrete jungle?

Where did all the so-called servant leaders go?

Where are the assigned authorities to man the busy street and maintain safety?
Where are the implemented laws (or do they really have laws)?

I didn't hear anything from the "alta-sociedad" personalities and politicians who once stepped down in this concrete jungle to give promises asking support, just to get more votes during election... 
I can't hear them, seriously!
Am I deaf? or their voice are simply not audible to ordinary citizen?

I hear no voice...
I even hardly hear the engine humming, car horns, yells, laughter and alien words from different creatures in the street.
I hardly hear the cries and pleas of people who were victim of stealing, murder and other street crimes which until now remained unsolved.

I heard only one voice...
the voice of survival from injustice. 

I heard it, but my eyes refused to see.

...My lens couldn't capture a thing.

My naked eyes have seen nothing but a "naked street", clothed with uncertainty, false hopes and injustice.

WHAT'S ON THE OTHER SIDE? (try to find answers)

Posted by: Leony Moonrose

Courtesy of: Lavi Singh

Sometimes we have so much going on in our heads that we just go around in circles. We ask too many questions and the rest are left unanswered.
We try to ask others, yet they seemed not to bother at all.

One of the questions bugging my mind is, "Why do we compare ourselves to others?" 

We always complain that our life is not great. We think and believe that other people get better life than us. Consciously or unconsciously, we have this inner desire to acquire what they have and wish to be like them. We disregard the fact that there are many people who are less fortunate than us.

Why do we focus on what others have, instead of recognizing our own blessings and be grateful about it? 
Envy? Jealousy?
Why do we always look at one side?

If we try to look around us, we could actually see the other side, yet we refuse to see. Why? that's one of the many questions.

During our teenage life, we start to realize how our parents trust people. They teach us to be trustful and loving. In return we love them more and with much respect, we find ourselves listening to every single thing they say, -- like never get envious, do good with people because when we do good we will reap goodness. If we show them kindness and make them happy, we will get the happiness we deserve. 
This is their legacy that leaves an indelible mark on us.

But life is tough...
and so are people.
Usually, things won't turn out the way we wanted it to be or the way our parents has pictured it for us.
We cannot expect people to treat us the way we treated them with:
-love
-trust
-compassion

It just all happen on the other side.
So there goes a bunch of questions...

What’s the point of trusting when the people whom we trust aren’t trustworthy at all? 

Do good values work only to family or blood relation? 
Why do we need to be good when there is a choice not to?

What’s the use of making people happy when all they know is hurt? 

Some people show us care and concern when things are smooth but when times get rough do they really care that much?

We sometimes give a promise to someone that we never gonna let them hurt come what may. 
Does this really work? 
Isn’t it like a promise written on water?

I wished things were trouble-free and questions were easy

..that could be handled even by kids of yesterday.

As we grow old, things are getting complicated.
We bumped into wrong relationships, meet wrong people at the right place or right people in the wrong place.
We stumbled into wrong decisions after pure intentions.
Then we start to say, "How I wish things were on the other side".

How I wish there's a rewind...
So I could drive my life simply like a kid and experience back the sweet moments of my youth.. 
picking up every memories meant to be treasured and savor its sweetness with the loving care of my parents.

oh darn!
I missed my childhood.

I missed being a kid..
...having bonding with parents

I missed how they took good care of me and didn’t even sleep because I was in pain.. even simple pain like stomach upset, tooth ache or fever..

I missed those times when I feel safe in their presence.

... those times on how I get relax when they gave me a tight hug, a kiss at my forehead that made me forget all the worries,

I missed those moments each time I have questions and they’re always there to answer me…

I missed my innocence.

Now, I am in the other side of the world..

I am in a complicated world where simple questions are left unanswered

I feel like I am in the other dimension, where simplicity doesn’t exist.

I am in a world where mother or father’s care is almost forgotten because of the influences of someone who came into our lives

I am in a world where sons and daughters couldn’t stay awake all night long just to hold their parents hands..

A kind of world where parents are mostly left unattended and deprived from all sort of comfort,

I am in this side of the world they call…. REAL.

What is more valuable in this kind of world?

If I would be given a chance to choose which side of the world I would be..

I would buy back yesterday and start anew
 ...on the other side

What is that side?

These questions 

will remain unanswered unless 

we continue the journey