Noddy says No!

Ever watched the cartoon show on Noddy?

If you haven’t then Noddy is a little boy in Toy World, who is a Taxi driver who delivers packages to toys in toy town. Noddy is a good natured, pleasant, nice young man who is always helpful and kind. The little town also has two goblins who are always up to mischief and Noddy often comes to the rescue of Toy town!

I am way over the age of watching cartoons, but still enjoy ‘em ... wait a minute, is there an age limit for cartoons? (Chuckle)

Anyway in this particular episode I watched, the goblins ask Noddy for a ride in his car. Noddy agrees and gives them a ride. But the Goblins begin to demand more of him. They ask him to take him from one place to another and refuse to let him go. Finally Noddy is tired, hungry and to make matters verse his fuel tank is almost empty.

He finally gets rid of the goblins after a long ordeal but his tank has no fuel to take him back to town and Noddy has to walk back to get some fuel.

An old gentleman who is a good friend of Noddy meets him on his way and asks him what is wrong. Noddy explains. His friend tells him he needs to learn to say “No!”
“But, But... they said please and thank you...” says Noddy.
That does not mean you have to do all that they say explains the old man.

The nest day, the Goblins come around to find Noddy again, but Noddy says No. He explains that he is busy and has other things to do and would just rather not hang out with them! His old friend is pleased and says, “Noddy, you are now growing up!“
And Noddy breaks into a little song, which ends with “You can say No, and still be Nice!”

Why do I narrate all this?
Well, I for one have a lot of trouble saying No. I tend to associate it with being offensive, rude or impolite and many a time end up messed up because of just that. A family friend of mine came over and she was talking about the same sort of thing too... I think in some ways we all struggle with saying No in different situations and to different types of pressures.

But many a time, we need to say No. To protect ourselves sometimes if not for anything else - Just like Noddy did!

So this is a reminder to me and the world (including toy world!) – No is a small but powerful world. Use it when you should to yourself (when fighting temptation) and to others (when need arrises).

Dear Mister God, this is @ina talking . . . Just as you say No, as so good Father should, Teach me to say No as a wise child should.

All The World Is A Stage

Quoting William Shakespeare, If all the world is a stage and we are the actors and actresses, then have you ever wondered who is the audience? Ever wondered if someone was watching you?

I for one believe with all my heart that there is an unseen world out there, watching our every move. Applauding our achievements, crying when we are hurt and cheering us on in the course of life.

So getting back to the question, Ever wondered if there is an audience out there, and if so who the audience is?
There are only two possible answers. Yes, there is and No, there isn’t. And the answer rests quite squarely on faith.

But think about it . . . if there is no one out there then, Life sure seems pretty pointless. But if there was, and that too an esteemed audience, I'll sure want to put the best show I can!

Dear Mister God, this is @ina talking . . . Glad I am being watched!

Phases Of Life

A good friend of mine and I were talking about the next phase in life over breakfast.

Almost every decade of our life comes with a lot of changes. The first ten, are the years of our childhood, the next ten is full of ups and downs as teenagers and then almost suddenly we reach adulthood... followed by marriage mostly, and then motherhood/fatherhood - okay, right now I can't think much beyond that, so I'll stop there! ;-)

I was expressing my apprehension about moving on to the next phase as I am just getting comfortable with this one!

But my friend had a diffrent perspective. She said something like, "Hey! Enjoy every phase, make the most of it while you are in it and keep moving on!"
I know it is true about her life. She makes the most of her everyday, living out her life, enjoying it all the while.

The conversation helped me see things in a different light. So to you who are reading this - Enjoy the phase you are in, whichever it might be, 'coz none is better than the other but they are all beautiful.

And my friend, if you ever read this, which i hope you would, Thank you! :-)

Dear Mister God, this is @ina talking . . . You are the unseen person in every conversation and I bet you were listening to it all saying "Spot on!".

Time and Space

An interesting extract from a book I read . . .

"On the night of February 23, 1987, an astronomer in Chile observed with his naked eye the explosion of a distant Super Nova, a blast so powerful that it released as much energy in one second as our sun will release in 10 billion years. It was spectacular!

But did that event actually occur on February 23, 1987?

Only from the perspective of our planet. Actually the Super Nova exploded 170,000 years prior to our 1987, but the light generated by that far away event, traveling almost six trillion miles a year, took 170,000 years to reach our galaxy . . . "

It is a little mind blowing, to me. The extract defies my normal understanding of time which is limited by the perspective of our planet. (Think about it)But I let this limited perspective of mine, dictate my understanding o the universe, my understanding of life, and my understanding of God!

Dear Mister God, this is @ina talking . . . I sometimes limit you by my limited understanding. Try to put you in a box so to speak. It's awesome to remember that you are not limited by my limitations of you though.

'Nice, Nice'

My little niece who is almost two now is such a bundle of joy. She is an easy going child and can captivate any stranger with her big eyes and smile. We took her out to the beach for the first time. Intially I thought that she would be afraid of the waves. She is hardly two feet tall and the waves are much higher out here.

But Oh no! The minute her tiny feet hit the sand she ran towards the water and the next hour and half we spent in the sea playing! It was fun! Eveytime a wave hit the shore and covered her feet she broke into a loud laughter.

Little while later she discovered that sand + water = Mud, which is also equally exciting! So then we had mud puddle games and so on... till finally I had to wrap her in a towel and carry her out distracting her attention.

As we walked out she began to sing a little song. It's what she says when she likes something. It's a two little words chorus, two little words stanza and two little words song, sung by a two year old!
It's actualy quite easy to catch, and goes something like this... "Nice, Nice","Nice, Nice", "Nice, Nice" . . . Sung in a ding, dong kinda tune! LOL.

Well, I write songs too but I must tell you this : I put a lot of thought into it, play with the words till I confuse myself at times, trying to express the way I feel - She did not have any of those problems but expressed herself perfectly well!

Ah! Kids. Wish we could be like 'em sometimes. ;-)

Dear Mister God this is @ina talking . . . 'Nice, Nice'. Just felt like singing that to you!

When Good is'nt Wise

Ahem . . . I dunno if this is just me but I am hoping that someone who reads this will relate . . .

So I did this thing today. It was a *good* thing to do. No strings attached – Just a simple good deed, done out of a simple good motive. But only after doing it I realized, it was not exactly or perhaps not at all WISE.

I felt awful realizing that. Just awful.

That’s also because I take myself way too seriously and overreact but that apart, this has always been one of my biggest problems.

Knowing –
One, When is something that’s Good not Wise.
Two, When to do Good even if it is not wise, (like when you sometimes have to follow your heart and not your mind) and when not to.

There are times I jump into doing something Good, not thinking it over at all, like today and then I realize it isn’t wise. Sometimes I play it over in my mind so many times and then don’t do something Good even if I should have done it!

End Result: I feel awful.

Solution (?) : I don’t know if I’ll ever find one, because Life is about taking chances and doing things the best you know how. Full Stop.
Btw, I guess it will really help if I don’t take everything I do so seriously and in giving *Good* a chance – perhaps it’s better to do so more often than not, wise or unwise, for better or worse.

Dear Mister God, this is @ina talking . . . Which to do when (?), give me divine wisdom, dear God.

My Best Vs The Acclaimed Best

I along with others have been putting my effort into this something for awhile. Turns out however that we missed this tiny detail and yes, that detail was important and could have been avoided if we were a little more careful.
So we get told off! And sadly all the efforts put into it was not acclaimed as it should have been.

I guess it’s more or less a cliché circumstance in life.

So what do I do? Well, I get all upset, all unhappy and blame myself for being such a careless klutz, such a dunce, such a . . . All the while missing one tiny detail (again) - I’ve put in ‘My Best Efforts’.
Yes, it ain’t good enough but I believe it is reason to rejoice. Don’t you think so?

My best may not be, or may even never be the acclaimed best but all the same knowing I’m doing the best I can matters more, much more than the acclamation.

So Hey! I choose to be happy after all! :-)

Dear Mister God, this is @ina talking . . . Guess you are looking beyond the situation into my reaction. You know something you are right. That’s what matters more.

Finding the Best in the Worst

Things turned out all awfully wrong today, in something I am working with a team on. One after the other things began to fall apart and it was one of the longest and hardest days we have faced together. Just felt like the ‘worst’ had happened.

I'd rather not elaborate.

But through it all I have discovered something – It is in the ‘Worst’ circumstances do I discover the ‘Best’ both in myself and those around me.

It's true. It’s almost magical.

Just wanted to share!

Dear Mister God, this is @ina talking . . . Am grateful for it all. :-)

Ultimate Victory

Imagine . . .

I was amongst those witnessing the crucification of Jesus on that dark day.

There were a mob of people - tough looking men shouting harsh words, women crying and children running hither and thither. All their attention was on one man called 'The King of the Jews'.

I had been eagerly anticipating the coming King, waiting year after year for His reign and longing for the power of the promised messiah to be displayed among us like in the days of Moses. All the signs and miracles He had performed caused me to believe that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. I had come to love and adore Him.

Seeing Him being nailed to the cross now, however made me feel like a fool. My hopes were crushed. The person on whom we, I had pinned my expectations to change history forever had failed me miserably. The Man, who performed so many amazing signs and wonders in His lifetime, now refused to perform a miracle, and accepted his fate like a lamb.

All I could feel was defeat, darkness and a depression. And it lasted three loooooong days.

At the end of it however there broke a Son-Light like none other before or none other since. It made it all worth while.

I did not know back then that the plan of God was unveiling right there, in the midst of all of the confusion, agony and uproar. Apparent and utter defeat was all I could see; the world could see. But ultimate victory was His plan; His word.

I look at the cross and realize that sometimes God’s ways of working is contrary to what we think or expect. But as I keep flowing along I know I will be amazed as the days unfold.

Dear Mister God, this is @ina talking . . . in eager anticipation of what is to come!

A Beautiful World

I spend most of my waking hours in the center of a bustling city, surrounded by high raised building, in air conditioned rooms. End result: I hardly get to see the sky or any greenery for that matter. :-(

But today was different! I spent the day from dawn to dusk around my home in the suburbs drinking in all that surrounded me. It was a cool day and the sights and sounds, simple everyday ones mind you – just seemed *so* special. I watered the plants around out house, did little chores such like and all the while there seemed so much to take in - the flowers and their colors, the leaves and their shapes, the little butterflies swarming over the lush grass, the cool breeze from the sea side that felt like a wet kiss, the trees swaying in a dance of their own, and oh! I even spotted one little bird I have never seen before . . . :-)
Gosh! I just couldn’t stop myself from saying WOW over and over again!

Dear Mister God, this is @ina talking . . . Wow! All nature declares of your beauty and if only I pay more attention I would be deafened by their sound of praise.

Have you ever met a Turtle?

The turtle is one of those timid creatures with a big, hard shell to shelter her from predators, weather changes and just about anything.

Yeah, the turtle often seems all set to slip into her shell, if ever she senses any danger or an uncomfortable situation nearing her or even at the slightest perception of what could be a threat.

She is comfortable with her own slow speed and slow ways and is thoughtful about everything and anything. She is not exactly adventurous and hardly tries out something that involves a bit of risk. She prefers to slide into her hard shell and pretend there is nothing wrong rather than facing something atypical.

Sounds, familiar?
A turtle is one who will change the subject if confronted about something, or say nothing at all, or jus accommodate with everything and anything to avoid a conflict or ignore things and hope they will disappear... silence perhaps is her safest defense mechanism.

In all fairness, it is her way of protecting herself and pretty effective too!
If you are wondering how I know so much about the turtle, it’s b’coz I see one every time I look into the mirror! ;-)

While the turtle remains in the confines of her protective shell, she misses out on being part of the lives (life) around her. Lives that she could have been enriched by and she could have helped enrich by just being rather than hiding. Now that’s something this turtle needs to remember!

Dear Mister God, this is @ina talking . . . Sometimes I feel I’m the wrong person at the wrong place but help me to remember I was put Here, Now for such a time as This, by You.

Dying without Doing

What’s that one thing that I would not want to die without doing?
Just felt like asking myself that question.
Hmmm...

Dear Mister God, this is @ina talking . . . Lets rephrase: What’s that one thing that you would not want me to die without doing? :-)

Loosing Your Life and Finding Yourself

I was given a gift of a video called “Mama Heidi” recently by a good friend who recommended it as a Must-See. It’s a documentary of a Lady called Heidi who along with her husband moved to the Mozambique on hearing about the condition there after the Civil War ended. The conditions there were worsening and even the Red Cross trucks where not safe. But Heidi and her husband, decided to go there and work with the poor. They adopted a dilapidated orphanage and began caring for and serving the most forgotten children on the streets.

It’s a story that moves you to tears and leaves you amazed at the fact that this one woman has made a difference in so many, many young lives. As she talks about her experiences, her eyes radiate with a special joy and hope. It’s hard to describe.

Moving to the Mozambique meant a lot of sacrifices to this family. They have lost their dreams, hopes, desires, comfort and a lot more and traded it for a life lived in a hot sweaty, mosquito infested part of the world where often their lives are threatened at gun point. You need to be willing to loose your life to find it, she says. And these words have been playing in my mind ever since.

Sometimes we need to loose everything that means anything to us in order to find anything that means everything to us. Loosing your life and finding yourself I call it and I can’t help but think that what I find in the process will far outweigh what I loose.

Dear Mister God, this is @ina talking . . . May my life be one such story.

My brother(?)

Recently I was reading a true story about an X and Y, whose names had not been revealed. Y was very mean to X and did some horrible things to X. As I was talking about this with a friend, my friend said “I wonder who Y is? If only I knew who Y was, I would have . . . (lets not mention the rest)”.In my heart I was in full agreement. Yeah… that’s exactly what I’d have done too given the opportunity!

Later the question came back to me . . . “I wonder who Y is?” And then suddenly I heard the answer in my heart so clearly - “Your brother!”
(??) I couldn’t accept that, given the nature of the story. But thinking about it I realized that it was true. In a strange way we are all “brothers’ n sisters” and yet I could never quite come to terms with being accepting of such a person. The thought itself was a little abhorring.

You know all those battles we fight in the name of religion or race or colour or creed - it just seems such a crime. But you know what's a bigger crime? Practicing those very thoughts in my own silent way, in my own little world, no matter how I may justify it.

Dear Mister God, this is @ina talking . . . My brother, you say - I wish I could really see people the way you do.