out with the old; in with the new

the t-ls annotated version of the better known part of "auld lang syne" (out with the old; in with the new!)

"should old acquaintance be forgot, & never brought to mind?" i'd say forget 'em in 2011 if they were acquaintances who were bad influences & brought you down! if they were acquaintances who are possibly positive friends waiting to happen, look 'em up & forge a connection in 2011!

"should old acquaintance be forgot, & days of old lang syne?" as for the latter part of this rhetorical question, don't forget your days gone by or where you came from. the past is a teacher; learn from it. remember it. don't relive it. revolutionize it. renovate it. restore it. recreate it.

"for auld lang syne, my dear, for auld lang syne, we'll take a cup of kindness yet, for auld lang syne." for old times' sake past, & for goodness' sake present, & heaven's sake future, remember you're not an island unto yourself. this line says "we'll." not you. not me. not them. not us. we. you can take the cup of kindness & you will have done exactly that…taken the cup of kindness that could have been, should have been shared. just ask scrooge what taking the cup of kindness meant for him. luckily he had a chance to make it right; you might not, so do it right the first time. be inclusive & open to relationships built on kindness & just watch the year you’ll have in 2011!

happy new year & all the best in 2011 indeed! out with the old; in with the new!


for more see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auld_Lang_Syne#Lyrics
(ps: i know wikipedia isn't the most reliable source for a link, but i think it does a good job presenting the variations of this poem/song...and the 1st column is beautiful, imho)

don't get bitter, get better

tonight i was thinking about getting hurt. it happens. unless you're a masochistic person, you generally don't let it happen on purpose. getting hurt is usually beyond your control. people don't typically choose to get hurt.

let me briefly qualify this idea. you might make a series of bad choices that result in getting hurt, but you probably didn't choose to get hurt. for instance, you see that your shoe is coming untied. then you see that your shoe is completely untied. then you step on the untied shoelace and trip, landing on your hands and knees which will be scraped and bruised. you got hurt, not because you chose to get hurt, but because your choices led you down that road. it was bound to happen.

or maybe your the kind of person who would die for someone else, or at least soften a blow. like, if your parent, or your significant other, or your sibling, or your friend was in harm's way, you would instinctively reach out, step in, grab for...you would react on behalf of someone else, but in so doing, jeopardize yourself. someone else was about to fall down the stairs, but you intercept and avert disaster for the other person. however, you lose your balance in the process and go tumbling down. you chose to put someone else's safety first, getting hurt in the process, but you didn't actually choose to get hurt.

so, practically speaking, hurt isn't a choice. we don't choose to get hurt. but it happens. physical hurt is my rather obvious metaphor for hurt that isn't physical, but is often just as deep, if not more so.

really, i can't control when i get hurt. i can't control who hurts me. i can't control how or why i get hurt. i might be able to take steps to limit or minimize hurt, but hurt happens. and sometimes from the people we'd never imagine, at the times we'd never expect, and in the ways we'd never fathom.

the way i see it, what we can control is the healing. we can chose to let healing come. and we can even take steps to expedite, rather than aggravate and interrupt the process. think about it. you didn't choose to sprain your ankle, but you did chose to immobilize it, rest it, ice it, wrap it, elevate it, etc. you didn't choose to get hurt, but you did chose to let healing come.

i don't need to spell it out here, so i won't. just let me say that healing is a choice. it's a choice that the one who got hurt makes. if you don't, it will destroy you like cancer that goes untreated, or gangrene that eats away at you.

choose to let it go. choose to forgive. choose to turn the other cheek. choose to be bigger. choose to not get bitter. choose to get better.

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ps: wanna see a footnote that was recently written about this post? go to http://suzie-k.blogspot.com/2011/01/footnote-to-httpmy-point-o.html

anticipate and facilitate

this will be short and sweet, because the message can't be any clearer...

if you expect something to happen, you will probably go out of your way to make it happen. i mean, if you want something bad enough, you will find a way to get it or make it happen.

think about the kid saving every penny of chore and special occasion money to go toward some new toy or gadget. or the teacher who sees so much potential in the teenager who just needs a goal. or the guy who has found the girl of his dreams, who's about to pop the question. or the bride trying to find the perfect dress. or the pastor who has a vision for the people he leads. or the student who wants to go on to post-secondary education on scholarships, instead of loans. or the real estate agent looking for the perfect home for his client. or the mother who wants to make her new little one's nursery perfect before her arrival. or the athlete who won't stop training and trying until he wins gold.

inventer doug hall said, in part, "don't make excuses. make things happen..." and then there's the proverbial saying that some people make things happen, some watch things happen, while others wondered what has happened.

it's that simple. if you expect something, take steps to make it happen. don't expect silver linings if you aren't willing to deal with the clouds. your castle in the air will stay right there if you aren't willing to improve your situation in the here and now. and your pipe dream will remain impossible to achieve if you don't replace dreaming with doing. don't be that person who dreams armchair dreams for others, while making lame excuses as to why you never get things done. believe in yourself. if you had the courage to think it, have the courage to realize it. make it happen.

that thing you want to see fixed, changed, obtained, shared, developed, improved, made real, or laid to rest is waiting for your undivided attention. expect that it's going to happen. and get out there and make it happen. go.

offer accepted!

hello! welcome back to me. it has been ages, i know...i kept getting competing and better offers than sitting and writing and sharing my thoughts :-)

which brings me to this...

there's an expression that generally carries a derogatory connotation. if you get this title, it's generally not a good thing. it's "king or queen of the better offer." i've been guilty of this on more than one occasion. it's one thing to get 2 offers at once and have to choose one or the other, or neither; it's something else entirely to definitively accept an offer, only to turn around and accept another offer. sometimes it can't be helped, and the second offer takes precedence because of utter importance. but sometimes favourtism is the clear impetus.

i got thinking about this the other day, given the time of year it is. let me cut right to the punch line. we're all guilty of accepting the better offer, if we've accepted that Jesus actually is Emmanuel, God with us, who came to save us from our sins with the sacrifice He made on Calvary...if we accept that He actually did what Abraham prophetically told his son Isaac He would do..."God will provide Himself a Lamb" (gen. 22:8), and if we apply that sacrifice to our lives by choosing God's offer: abundant life here on earth, followed by eternal life.

don't kid yourself, or take a chance and hope you were born perfect. why take the chance, and wind up being wrong? i dare you to recognize and acknowledge that you were born with free will, with the opportunity to choose the better offer. we all have set before us "life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life" (deut. 30:19). take the better offer that comes with christmas, the life Christ lived, and the sacrifice that He made to save us. accept that He is Saviour, and wants to be your Saviour. accept the better offer of salvation, by having Christ's death, burial, and resurrection applied to your life by following the biblical, apostalic plan of salvation found in acts 2:38. accept the better offer! being king or queen of the better offer isn't that bad, spiritually speaking :-)

once we've accepted the better offer of life over death, because of the nature of free will and choice, we are often presented with tantalizing offers that can put us in compromising situations that look good in the moment. for those who've accepted the better offer of salvation, but perhaps are struggling with other competing offers for your time, or your attitude, or your attention, or your commitment, or your faithfulness, or whatever, let me remind you of some of what your initial acceptance affords, which you would sacrifice by going back on the offer you first accepted. hebrews talks about the many better things that accompany salvation. here are a few: a better hope (7:19), a better covenant (8:6), better promises (8:6), a better reward in heaven (10:34). be resilient. you've already accepted the better offer. don't be tempted by something that masks itself as being a better offer. remind the offerer you already accepted the better offer, and your mind can't be changed. you've already accepted the better offer; everything else pales in comparison, is dull competition, and doesn't stand a chance of being accepted. let this verse ring in your ear as a reminder once you've already accepted the better offer, that accepting any other puts you in jeopardy: "for if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins" (hebrews 10:26). in other words, don't change your mind about the offer you accepted in Christ, in favour of what will invariably be fleeting, empty, and resulting in ultimate loss.

so, be king or queen of the better offer. it's why Christ came. He wants you to accept His offer and He's relentless in His pursuit of your acceptance. don't disappoint Him by accepting any other lack luster offer...He "offered one sacrifice for sins for ever" (hebrews 10:12), and He did it for you. and if you've already accepted life over death, live each day in a way that affirms and makes accessible all the better things God has for you.