As I browse through the catalogue
of our enchanted moments,
I cast my mind back to that first kiss:
Bliss! So chaste and pure, yet shot through with
the promise of much more
So happy we have come this far:
have come to this
Road of Hope
Is this the road I should be on
the path I ought to follow?
I feel as if I’ve lost my way
caught up in toil and trouble.
I’m looking for a brighter path,
one filled with joy, not sorrow.
I place my hand upon the gate
but still my heart is hollow.
So many years meandering
I’ve drifted week to week,
but maybe if I enter here
I’ll find the place I seek.
~~~~~~~~
Image credit: Keith Hardy @ Unsplash
The image shows a wrought iron gate with the words “the way” written on it. There’s a path beyond the closed gate leading into a tree-lined lane
The thing is…
The little things that capture life,
snippets of songs, echo all night.
Some words can cut just like a knife,
yet those same words, can bring delight.
The smallest things at times grow big,
if no one ever handles it.
A strong green branch still carries twigs,
light sees the dark, while dark is lit.
The trivial things that haunt a mind,
can bring confusion and great strife.
A good heart may feel so unkind,
swallowing lessons throughout life.
The true things carried deep inside,
joys or sorrows, cause teary eyes.
A lie or truth that tries to hide,
is someday destined to arise.
The best things can come well disguised,
while in a growth test, hearts may cry,
yet that same heart may be surprised,
to learn it is prepared to fly.
The mistakes that at times feel right,
allow laughter to glow its shine,
so that the dull can become bright,
opposites dance until entwined.
– Phenomena Adeniran Mathew
When religion is resulting to hatred and violence
There are those who would say that since I am not a Christian, I have no right to comment on the religion or its adherents. In most cases, I would agree with them, but … it seems I just cannot keep my nose out of this one. In no way am I criticizing Christianity or its followers as a whole, but rather certain elements that are doing more harm than good to this entire nation, and that are giving Christianity overall a bad image, a reputation that Christians won’t find easy to live down.
While I find ‘evangelicals’ to be particularly narrow-minded and offputting, my current target is two specific evangelical pastors, men of the cloth who are supposed to be preaching peace, love, and all that sort of stuff, but instead are promoting hatred and violence. I might not care if they were one-offs, if nobody much was listening and most people took their rantings with a grain of salt, but as it is, both seem to have a fairly large following and thus they have the potential to inflict great harm in this nation. And in that, I find justification for offering my two cents worth.
The first is Pastor Mark Burns who is running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina’s District 4. Now, I have a problem with Burns’ platform, with some of his recent statements such as …
- “We need to replace God at the center of American politics. The separation between church and state was not designed to keep the church out of the government, it was designed to keep the government out of the church.”
- “I will fight to restore law & order, election integrity, secure our borders, protect our God-given & America 1st agenda!”
- “Life begins at conception, marriage is defined as between one man and one woman, our right to keep and bear arms is INHERENT, given to us by God almighty — NOT by any man.”
Feeling sick yet? This is the type of rhetoric that is often used by the Republican Party these days to rile the uninformed masses, to play to their religious beliefs, and as I said, if he only attracted a handful of people, I wouldn’t waste my time writing about him. But he has a fairly large following and he has the support of the former guy which, sadly, counts for a lot among some fools.
Mark Burns lied through his teeth about both his military service and education, lies that were easily disproven and he later admitted to them, but used the pathetic excuse that he was attacked because he is “a black man supporting Donald Trump for president.” Oh yeah … minor detail, he still claims to believe that the election was stolen and that Trump is the rightful president.
But what raises my hackles is that he is urging his supporters to commit violence. Our friend Scottie did a post on this with a couple of relevant videos a week or so ago, but in summary, Mr. Burns, while speaking at a rally in Oregon, told the audience to smash the car windows of anyone they believed was ‘antifa’. Now, I am 100% against fascism, so that makes me an antifascist, but I am not a member of any group called antifa, and from everything I’ve read, it is a very small, unorganized group that gets far more credit than it deserves. But to the point, when a candidate running for office advises violence, he should be removed from the ballot. When a religious ‘leader’ calls for violence, he should be thrown out on his ear. Instead, the crowds love him. There is something pathetic about that.
The second is Pastor Greg Locke whose message is one of hate rather than peace and love. Locke is a white supremacist and pastor of Global Vision Bible Church in the small town of Mount Juliet, Tennessee. He participated in the events of January 6th at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., and the Proud Boys white supremacist organization often provide security at Locke’s events, if that tells you something. To me, it speaks volumes, but even more so are Locke’s words. He is against the COVID vaccine, saying …
“If you’ve had the covid-19 shot, I’m telling you you’ve got poison in your veins. We call out the covid-19 vaccine out right now. Keep that demonic spirit out of you right now in the name of Jesus!”
Just words, you might say, but when words are believed, as Locke’s often are, they can cause great harm. How many people, listening to Locke’s words, have died of COVID because they believed his spiel? He has a large online presence … he claims millions of followers, but even if it’s only thousands, he is a dangerous firebrand. Two months ago he held a massive book burning, throwing in copies of such beloved books as the Harry Potter series among others. He promotes hatred against the LGBTQ community and against people with mental disabilities.
I find it disturbing that according to an article in The Washington Post …
“Locke has a social media following of 4 million across multiple platforms, and attendance at Sunday services has grown from 200 before the pandemic to more than 1,000, spilling out of the church building and into an enormous climate-controlled tent, which Locke calls a ‘canvas cathedral.’”
Again, the real danger is that so many people, for whatever reason, listen to and hang on Locke’s words – words of hate, words of dissent, words that incite violence against any and all who view the world through a different lens than Pastor Locke.
I don’t know the solution to counter the hate of both of these men, Mark Burns and Greg Locke. I only know that they are a threat to us all in one way or another. The 1st Amendment that guarantees free speech enables them to spread their message of hatred and violence unchecked, and those without the ability to think and reason may well become their private army against the rest of us.
Religion and politics
Photo from Canva
Many of us grew up with the comic strip Peanuts. The characters were part of our lives. We looked forward to the weekly stories that cartoonist Charles M. Schulz crafted. He understood us, and we loved him in return.
I had forgotten about Peanuts until I saw the above quote. Who doesn’t remember little Linus desperately longing to see the Great Pumpkin? But why did Schulz include it as a never-to-discuss topic along with religion and politics? Let’s explore this a bit.
Linus wanted to see the Great Pumpkin much like children who wait for Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. The Great Pumpkin held magic, wonder, and dreams. But what does this have to do with religion or politics?
While Schulz avoided outright political and religious references, he used his comic strips to address both themes. They were as elusive as the Great Pumpkin. Through his unique approach, he got readers to laugh and even think about their beliefs more consciously.
Because of my musings, I searched Wikipedia for a quick look at the world’s religions. To my surprise, I found that 85% of the overall population claims a spiritual identity – 6.7 billion people. After I hurdled my astonishment, I thought about my writing. Did I include this spiritual aspect in my characters? The short answer is not as well as I’d like.
For the past couple of weeks, I’ve done some soul searching. The journey has taken me through my hesitancy and into some clarity about both religion and politics. Today I will share a few suggestions about religion, and next month, my post will risk the same for politics.
Prescott, AZ
Here are five suggestions for introducing religious sentiments in your characters. I hope you’ll find them useful.
- At the core of all religions is love. Practices and beliefs differ, but love is universal. A person can hold a yoga position and pray, while another might kneel to do the same. Love motivates both. It’s just the form that is different. If writers can focus on the underlying love that drives their characters’ spiritual lives, a reader could easily relate.
- Faith transcends the boundaries of religious fervor because it is a quality of the heart. One’s faith may be in the Universe, a loving God, or in Love itself. But in all cases, faith is heart-driven and rests in trust. Again, if our characters manifest trust in the unknown, a reader will connect.
- We all wonder about different religious expressions. We’re curious and our characters are curious. Questions about another’s beliefs are acceptable if they are innocent of judgment.
- Research is essential if we decide to introduce religious perspectives in our stories. As writers, we need to set aside our assumptions and approach the topic with respect and openness. Research will help us do both and avoid bias.
- Finally, if we can accept that we are one family, our characters will communicate that reality.
That’s it for me today, dear friends. I’d love to hear if or how you write about your characters’ spiritual life. My list of suggestions is brief, and your suggestions will deepen the conversation.
How should a romantic relationship looks like
Good day, my dear reader!
How are you? How are your loved ones? I hope everybody is more than ok!
As the title says, today I’ll write my two cents regarding how I believe a romantic relationship should look like!
First of all, just to get this out of my way, I want to let you know I’m not an expert in love. By far. All the relationships I had until this point failed one way or another. And I’m sure I’m partial to blame for that.
Photo by Matheus Viana onPexels.com
Every romantic relationship should start with passion!
If passion is not there in the beginning, when do you expect it to come? Passion and excitement usually appear when you encounter someone new, right? Because as the time goes by, you get used to that person and that passion changes… The question is: passion changes into what?
Passion should transform into love!
Personally, I don’t believe in love at first sight! Why? Because that’s not love. Not the way I see it.
I think love should be the thing that determines you to get out of the bed in the middle of the night to go bring your loved one a glass of water because that person is too tired to do it themselves. And love is what makes you do that with a smile on your face and the desire to make your loved one feel better, not with the desire that you might get lucky the next day (if you know what I mean).
Love at first sight is actually physical attraction and the desire to get your hands and legs and whatever you have wrapped around that person. That’s it. You don’t know that person, so how do you know if you are compatible? Maybe I’m too old and I don’t understand love… Am I?
A relationship should have ups and downs!
Casual fights are inevitable. The two in that relationship have their problems, frustrations, desires, dreams and so on. Sometimes those things are not the same for both members, so it makes sense to argue from time to time. You will probably reach out to a consensus, but there is a process to get to that. Otherwise frustrations will accumulate in time and when it bursts, all hell breaks loose!
My experience was all about accumulating frustrations because people tend to lie. There is such a lack of real conversation because everybody wants to be seen strong and perfect, when the reality is that we are all humans and we are allowed to be vulnerable. But of course, this might go to the extreme where people tend to victimize themselves and complain all day long that they have a crappy life. The thing is that you are part of their life too.
Anyways, love is not that complicated if the two are honest with each other. I think that’s all it takes. Honesty and commitment. If one of the two thinks the things don’t go that well, they should be comfortable having an hones discussion to figure things out. And if they decide it is better to be separated, then that should be it.
Love has so much drama into it. It’s crazy.
These were my thoughts! Looking forward for your comments!
Love,
Phenomena Adeniran Mathew
Real or fantasy
“I’ve lived through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened.”
― Mark Twain
I love that quote. It reminds me of the vivid imagination I have that can turn to darkness in the blink of an eye if I am not vigilant to control it by the power of the Spirit. This report from the Huff Post (formerly The Huffington Post) upholds Twain’s wisdom.
“Five hundred years ago, Michel de Montaigne said: “My life has been filled with terrible misfortune; most of which never happened.” Now there’s a study that proves it. This study looked into how many of our imagined calamities never materialize. In this study, subjects were asked to write down their worries over an extended period of time and then identify which of their imagined misfortunes did not actually happen. Lo and behold, it turns out that 85 percent of what subjects worried about never happened, and with the 15 percent that did happen, 79 percent of subjects discovered either they could handle the difficulty better than expected, or the difficulty taught them a lesson worth learning. This means that 97 percent of what you worry over is not much more than a fearful mind punishing you with exaggerations and misperceptions.”
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/85-of-what-we-worry-about_b_8028368
Here is a short poem about the same topic.
Fears Lodge in Our Familiar Places ©2014 Molly Lin Dutina
The black mark on the tree
is curved, and stark.
It cuts a gash through
solid wood of a twenty-two inch trunk.
Closer inspection reveals it is
but the shadow of a spindly
dead trunk made stark
by bright sun.
The fears we anticipate seem
larger than the reality of life.
How many really come to fruition?
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.“
John 14:27
The value of love band
Too many women these days don’t value themselves like they should, especially women who have suffered past bullying and abuse. And many predatory men will take advantage. Take it from someone who made that mistake when she was young and naive. Shacking up isn’t what it’s cracked up to be.
A woman who prefers marriage over living together knows her value and isn’t afraid of making it clear what she wants out of life. She is confident and a man who is worth her time will respect her and be willing to commit his life to her and make her his wife.
In no way am I telling people how to live. If you’d rather live together than to be married, then that’s your business and I won’t judge you for it. And there are couples who live together and eventually marry but that’s a rare occurrence these days.
Look at the underliers here and know that you’re worthy of so much more.
If a man wants you to live with him but doesn’t want to marry, how much does he actually think of you? Really think about it.
He expects you to cook, clean, and go to bed with him every night, and yet, he doesn’t think enough of you to make it official? Remember that you teach people how to treat you by what you accept. Seriously, don’t you think you deserve better?
Don’t be like the woman in the video!
Reasons why marriage is so much better than shacking up:
1. There’s much more security.
Marriage is more legally binding than living together ever will be. Understand that people who marry make much more of a commitment to their partners than those who only live together.
2. There are higher levels of trust between partners.
The average couple who is married trusts each other more than the average couple who lives together outside marriage.
I know that many will counter me with statistics of a high divorce rate. However, this should not deter you from getting married if that’s what you want.
When my husband and I were dating and the subject came up, I made it absolutely clear that the only man I would even consider living with would be the man I married. I knew what I wanted, and I didn’t fear speaking up about it. And, you know what? Mike loved and respected me for it. He thought a lot more of me, and eventually, he asked me to marry him. And the real kicker is that the first few times he asked, I said no because I wasn’t ready yet.
But he never gave up and eventually, I said yes.
Know your value. You are not free neither are you cheap.
There’s an old saying that was popular when I was growing up and it pertained to the attitudes of those who didn’t want the responsibility of marriage but wanted the perks of it:
« Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free? »
Nothing is free. There’s always a price in some way, shape, or form.
If I perform the duties of a wife, then I’m damn sure going to have the title. If I’m going to wash some guy’s dirty underwear, clip his toenails, or wash his funky feet when he’s sick and cannot do it himself, you can believe I’m going to do it with a marriage certificate and a wedding band.
When two people are truly in love, the chances are high that they will marry.
Realize that you have value. If you want marriage and your boyfriend doesn’t want to step up to the plate after you’re together for a few years, then let him go. It won’t be easy, but don’t be afraid to walk away if your guy isn’t emotionally mature enough for marriage. Then you can make room for a man who deserves you. Trust me when I say that you deserve to be a wife, not a forever girlfriend.
Love yourself enough to walk away from a man of low quality. Value yourself enough to wait for a high-quality man who deserves you and who wants your hand in marriage. You’re worth it, don’t you think?
Benefits Of Marriage: 23 Advantages That Prove Matrimony Is Bliss
The Queen of my heart
I’ve been meaning to do this for a while. Yes, it exposes my vulnerability. I am merely human. I have bad days and good days. This letter is to the so called friend I’ve kept as consul for most of my life.
Dear Anorexia and all the other secondary mental illnesses
I always seem to put this post off. I usually come out with all these things I have to say to you at the wrong times. Like when I am having a bath.
Erm…inappropriate.
Okay, I sought you out. I did.
I begged you to be my friend and you eventually became the only friend I had. I didn’t want to lose everything. So, despite how I felt or how much pain I was in when I hurt myself, I did it. We had a strong bond. Bonds are not easily broken. Not even now, when I don’t want to be friends any more.
I thought you might be a bit more understanding if you understood what you took from me and what I allowed you to take.
You took most of my life experiences and and made me put on a pair of your glasses so that I could only see life through your perspective.I didn’t have strng vision to begin with so I accepted your gift and I still wear them every now and then. I don’t know why you want me to hurt myself,
Life: everything I have ever seen and experienced has been through a filter of your making. You have had the final decision before I get to see anything, so I can then process it and carry on.
You encouraged me to self harm in so many other ways Drugs, cutting, taking chances, impulsive behaviour, getting into trouble. I don’t know if friends should really do that but I only had you. What did I know
You are jealous. I became your reflection..
Your reflection.
I had no life in me for many years. I was an merely a toy- puppet of yours. Attached to strings to dance to your cacophonous melody. Sometimes I still feel you, hear you. Pulling me up. Making me go in a direction I don’t want to go in.
Every interest I had, be it watching a movie or reading or going to a rave and dancing or talking to people to try and make fiends- you stole that from me.
I allowed it. I only see now, how awesome I can be without you. Fucking cool bananas.
You told me I was peculiar , not like other people, special, different.
You did a remarkable job of making me think that no body understood the words, I spoke so I stopped talking. I let your talk for me- everyday, every living moment. Every tick of the clock. Your voice. Sounds so soft to others- barely audible- Invisible. To me it sounds more like a constant shriek in my mind, I feel anything but invisible – I feel I take up too much space.
Figure that one out? I can’t.
I lost my family. People thought I had an ego and thought that I was up my own fucking arse.
I only wanted to like me.
I just wanted to feel good about myself. I thought you could help. If I was attractive to others people would get me and see all my awesome qualities and my true personality. You couldn’t stop at that.
You needed to coerce me into changing one small thing , then another small thing. You helped chip away everything that made me ME until I was lost and abandoned in the dark.
A vacant spot in a vast pool of darkness.A world of black and white. If people tried to talk to me you turned up the white noise. I sat there motionless.
Every person who spoke to me or who tried to be a friend to me -you would whisper they were lying to us, they don’t like us.
Always
be on your guard.
Your motto.
You taught me that. I was and I am still on guard.
You know what?
Fuck this ..I’m not wallowing in the past.
What I really want you to know is I don’t want you in my life at all.
I was wrong and made a mistake.
I know better now.
I have a choice – it is my choice who will be in my life. Yes, you are powerful enough to try and come between everyone I love. I won’t let you.
I won’t.
You want to be friends with my daughter.
NEVER WILL I ALLOW THAT.
I know your true face. There is nothing behind that mask. I rip it off and before I can see the true you you dissolve right before my eyes. You need me more than I need you,mate.
You still try to convince me that our friendship is a blessing – that you give me strength to live.
I’m pretty convinced if I could find the cord that links me to you, I would be brave enough to cut it and I would finally start breathing properly again. I would learn how to breathe again. I would succeed.
How many times am I going to have to evict you from my mind?
Why don’t you get it?
I’m done with trying to kill myself.
You have taught me one thing – I am not at your mercy to live or die. You don’t get to choose because : I. won’t. let. you.
You crept back into my life last year.
So cunning, so sly……
Look at you smirking -so sure, so smug.
Like a snake, you slithered and curled around my whole bod. I remember the familiarity of your touch -cold. Cold means thin. Thin means I’m winning. Your charm nearly disarmed me again.
In what seemed like mere seconds,your entire body had coiled itself around my neck -suffocating me. I nearly lost my mind for you again. A couple more months and I could have been back in hospital.
I’m not some new friend of yours that has to be emaciated to believe I have earned your undying friendship. Today, I live in a body and a mind I have created.
To try and cast you out. Of course you weren’t going anywhere. How naive I still can be after all these years.
Why would you go some where else when you have everything you need in me.
Today,
I am healthy.
You tell me I’m fat.
I’m not fat.
I eat and you tell me to pinch my skin, you tell me to loathe it. You yell at me , telling me to grip at my bones.
You tell me the bones have been lost in my womanly body.
How dare I grow up?
How dare I start having periods again?
How dare I have a child?
how dare I put her first ?
How dare I empower myself……
Now,you listen to me. You can make me cry- you know you can.
You know that every living moment I know you are with me, in me.
You won’t even let me be touched and loved by my own husband to be.
I flinch when he touches me because you have convinced me that my body is wrong.
It has taken four years to get to the place I am with my husband to be. You don’t want me to enjoy being loved.
You don’t like affection.
Affection means a chance to be loved.
Your kind of love is like boiling water and third degree burns – plastic melting and merging with my skin -never letting go ;forever scarred and deformed.
All this to make sure you have me forever. You feed on my thoughts.
Why won’t you let me watch a fucking movie with my partner without making me aware of my body?
You are sick. Contagious. A reoccurring infection.
I don’t want to be sick. I know I can’t just get rid of you. For a time I was able to shut you out and started living.
Oh, what a jealous friend you have been. You plotted and planned – ready for your come back .
Always had to be the one who has to take the lead part.
You can’t have the lead part in my life any more. My life is my stage, I am producer,editor, stage hand, actor, writer, graphics producer , costume designer, light technician . You dear friend have been made redundant.
See ,The terms and conditions of our contract?
See this lighter in my hand? Flame jumps from container to paper – it can’t lick up the paper quick enough.
I’m the one who says what goes in the script and what doesn’t
No, I know you don’t like this. You are laughing in my face. What was that?
I have no confidence,
I’m needy lazy, a failure.
You are right,I’m not fucking perfect. How many times have I nearly died doing your bidding?
I want to be happy.
No, not your idea of happiness.
I want to forget about being aware of how you want me to feel about my body. I want to enjoy each moment away from the knowledge that my body is just there.
Today, I respect my body. You don’t need a mask to cover up the fact you have no idea what that word means.
I had so many things I had in my head …. to say to you…
I feel you still don’t get it.
I know I eat.
I have to eat . Don’t put the guilt trip on me if I feel hungry.
Yes,I do. I love food. There are so many more types of food I want to try and I am still afraid to try . I am learning though.
Every book or film or conversation I have ever had was drowned out by your voice or because I couldn’t stand to hear your voice again , I drugged myself, tried to take my life
– oh so many times.
Yet, I still stand..
You won’t go because you love a challenge. you enjoy the struggle.
How boring would it be for me to just give up.
Oh don’t get me wrong, love.
I have nearly died for you and you happily appeared to allow it. We both know you became my friend because you knew I would fight you.
Still now, twenty odd years later I fight you.
No – you can’t have increasingly lower digits. I have set the bar for what weight I can live with. I’m not going to stop eating if I go over that weight thresh hold. – I will cope. I will get back to my safe weight.
You hate the fact I exercise to keep fit and on track-to focus -to keep me rational – I have found out the secret you have hidden from me for so long.
I’m not going to binge or take laxatives again. It fucking hurts. 100 laxatives a day for how many years. I’m not buying into that abuse any longer.
You are having so much fun with me at this moment. Forever toying…..
The scales have gone up. I should know I’ve only been there with you over 50 fucking times today on that scale. Willing that 1.5 kilo of weight to go down.
I am not having fun.
I am a woman not a child. My spirit is not a new born. You can’t corrupt it like you did all those years ago.
I get periods. There is a lot of ‘I don’t wants’ that comes with the power to create life.
Fluid retention is one of them. You want me to think that these laws of a women’s body don’t apply to me. Your arrogance never fails to catch me off guard.
You want me to think I have lost control…….
I see all this and I hate you with every thought, every emotion, everything.
Yet, you still won’ t go away
You may be having fun but I’m not having fun and I don’t want to play.
You have brought many foes to my door- snuck them in. Bipolar ,a so called personality disorder, the list goes on and on. All free loaders.
Remember when I was at the height of my career? You wouldn’t let me become more successful. It wasn’t your definition of success so you took it from me.
Remember when I tried to better myself and go to college?
You fucked with my head then too.
Yes, I got my degree, eventually. I nearly died getting it.
I nearly died getting my daughter back too.
You like the fighters. The ones that put up a struggle. The more I struggled the more obstacles you put in my way- one of your finest tricks was the abusive relationship act.
I finally see you are indeed a one trick pony.
Well done, a round of applause.
You are not the master of my mind any more.
You are a bully- deranged.
YOU CAN’T HAVE ME!
I’m getting married and you can’t stop that. Yes, I know I’m vulnerable because I need to fit into my wedding dress.
Guess what?
I am going to have another child and I won’t let your stop me. I am going to nourish life, nurture it like I should have done the first time.
I will be free of the medication I take to stop you from having the upper hand all the time . I don’t think you have realised,
the fight you have with me, does not just end with me alone any more. You continue to take me on -you are now taking me and my family on.
You are a threat to my life- no not a pathetic one,but one full of joy and love and respect. You hate it. I don’t know why you won’t allow me to love.
Where did you come from ? and what made you so malicious?
I can’t be your therapist and provider.
Yes, we are back to fighting again;
I don’t need tarot cards to know the ending to this.
I’m winning.
Yes, I am.
You are strong, I will give you that but I have had four years of some kind of freedom from you –
You ,dear friend let your guard down .
Thank you, because you gave me another reason to live and want to be alive. The devil I know or the glimpses of joy I have found in living ?
you lose,
check mate!
I will continue to rise as the queen of my mind and your whole kingdom built on flimsy lies is going to come toppling down.
If you are going to throw a punch – don’t let your guard down.
Practice what you preach.
Phenomena Adeniran Mathew
No happiness
No happiness where there is no peace.
No peace where there is worry.
The world is not yours, the world is OURS.
Expect, accept and tolerate differences.
Guard your peace by reducing your worries.
Reduce your worries by minding your business.
Debobed 