Bring back that verse III

"Todo lo puedo en Él que me fortalece."
Filipenses 4:13

"I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."
Philippians 4:13

www.bible.com

What Christmas is all about / El verdadero significado de la Navidad

It's that time of the year (again) and more people than other years seem to be talking and joking about how far we are these days from the true meaning of Christmas. And we are, believe me.

I guess going back to basics, Christmas commemorates the birth of Jesus, which was the present from God to humanity. So in a simplistic way Christmas is about giving to others, right?

Right now, for personal reasons that I won't go into, I feel more like giving out or giving in than giving back. But I need to get over myself, so this is my plea: no Christmas presents for me this year, please.  Enough wallowing in self-pity. I have everything I need. And more.

Instead, please, please, PLEASE, whatever you were thinking of giving me as a present (I know, a bit pretentious asuming you were going to give me a present), give it to someone else that actually needs it. Or donate the amount of money you were going to spend on me to donate to your favourite charity. And if you don't have a favourite charity, pick one. Any. Thank you and... Merry Christmas!

*********************************

Ya vuelve a ser esa época del año (otra vez) y cada vez más y más gente parece hablar y bromear sobre cuanto nos hemos alejado hoy en día del verdadero significado de la Navidad. Y lo hemos hecho, creédme.

Supongo que mirándolo desde un punto de vista básico, la Navidad conmemora el nacimiento de Jesús que ha su vez fue el regalo de Dios para la humanidad. Por lo tanto, desde un punto de vista muy simplístico, el verdadero significado la Navidad es dar a los demás.

Ahora mismo y por motivos personales que no me apetecen discutir ahora, tengo más ganas de repartir leña o de echar pestes que de dar a los demás. Pero tengo que sobreponerme y quitarme la tontería de encima. Por eso os pido: este año no me regaléis nada, por favor. Tengo todo lo que necesito. Y más.

En lugar de hacerme regalos (si, ya lo sé, un poco pretencioso por mi parte asumir que me íbais a regalar algo), por favor, por favor, POR FAVOR, lo que me íbais a dar, dádselo a otra persona que realmente lo necesite. O el dinero que os íbais a gastar, donádlo a vuestra ONG favorita. Y si no tenéis una, escogedla, a boleo, si hace falta. Gracias y.... ¡feliz Navidad!

Note:
My friend Barbarella insisted that the charity she donated to was my choice, so I set up this "What Chirstmas is about" fundraising account for donations, thank you.

Nota:

Mi amiga Barbarella insistió que la ONG a la que ella donara fuera de mi elección, por lo tanto he abierto esta cuenta "What Christmas is all about"para donaciones, gracias.

From me to you... with blood

Yeah, I know, it sounds strange. Specially having just passed Halloween. But it's about donating blood. Ahhhhh! I hear you say.

As many people, I always wanted to do it but I always found an excuse not to: lack of time, fear of needles, not reaching the minimum weight....

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I was too "bloody" thin to give blood. Growing up I wondered why all diets were aimed to loose weight, when I actually wanted to put on some.  Thin my nature and nervous by disposition, I never seemed to manage to stomach bigger portions than the ones I eat.

When I moved countries, changed diet, grew older (and calmer?), I managed to put some weight on. And I reached the minimum amount required (it's 50 kg, by the way - just over 7 st and 12 lb). Then I went back to the original excuses: lack of time, fear of needles... you name it, until I lost the weight again.

To silence my guilty conscience I even became an organ donor. That did the trick for a while.

www.ichh.org

Moved countries once more and started to settle in my life and  recently, fate make me come across the Canarian Institute for donating blood, the ICHH and their campaing "From me to you" (hence the title of this post). So determined not to be deterred this time, I built up enough courage to go and find their nearest mobile unit.

Nerves were relatively under control as I approached the queue standing outside the mini bus type of vehicle. A member of staff approached me with a questionaire.
- Are you here to donate?
- Yes, I am.
- Have you donated blood before?
- No, I haven't.

Then she looked up from her board & our eyes met. I saw her face change. Ever so slightly.
-Would you mind stepping onto these scales?
-Not at all.

I couldn't refuse, I wasn't there to cause  trouble, was I? While I was doing the whole "do-I-need-to-take-my-shoes-off? what-do-I-do-with-my-handbag?" routine, I could feel the eyes of the other donors in the queue drilling the back of my neck. I held my breath while the electronic scales did their job.

-I'm sorry, lady, you don't reach the minimum weight.

Thump!

No, I didn't faint. But I felt like I was punched in the face, or my heart being was reaped out of my chest or a bit of both. I should be relieved, I thought, I wasn't really looking to having a needle stuck to my arm. Instead, I felt disappointed.

I was so embarrassed I forgot to ask if there were any other requirements that I potentially didn't meet. Some nervous jokes were make on both sides. "You 'bloody' lucky cow" I almost did hear someone think. Anything but. Sadly.

I walked away looking for the closest bakery place where to drown my sorrows with a coffee and a pastry. Then I though, no, this is not the way. I kept walking in a bit of a haze. Then I started to think how I could gain those few little pounds that separated me from both overcoming one of my fears and fulfilling a dream.

So I have a new goal: how to put on weight healthyly to be able to donate blood.

So keep tuned, I'll tell you how I'm getting on.

In the meantime, I "liked" their facebook page, which is promoting blood donations: www.facebook.com/ichhcanarias (sorry, it's in Spanish!). It's all I'm allowed to do for the time being. So why not?

Why don't you look up your own local donation agency?

Thank you!

Related blog: Thought for food... or not - my easy to follow recepies for non-cooks.

Bring back that verse II

"Mira que te mando que te esfuerces y seas valiente: no temas ni desmayes, porque Jehová tu Dios será contigo en donde quiera que fueres."
Josué 1:9

"Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest."
Joshua 1:9

"Echando toda vuestra ansiedad sobre él, porque él tiene cuidado de vosotros."
1a. Pedro 5:7

"Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you."
1 Peter 5:7

http://www.bible.com/

Related posts: Biblic fencing ;-), Recurrent topics

Your heart's desire

"No linen, no lace, no porcelain face

could ever be my heart's desire

but for your soft-mouthed kiss

I would cross the deepest mile"

These are some of the words of one of my favourite songs at the moment  "No Linen No Lace" by Gráda from their disc "Natural Angle" (2010)

What is your heart's desire?

Biblic fencing ;-)

As a child I attended regularly Sunday School and my favourite part by far was the Bible Quiz, specially because I was really good at it, I guess.  It was called "esgrima bíblico" in Spanish. Hence the joke title of this blog post.

Basically this is the way it works: the teacher says the book, chapter and number of a Bible verse and the first student to find it & read it out loud, wins a point.

Also, back in the day, at the end of the month the overall winner won a book. Which is another one of my passions. Well, another two of my passions: books and reading. Just because you like books, physically, doesn't mean that you enjoy reading them. Or maybe it's just me. Well, yeah, I'm weird that way.

Not being the sporty type, I loved teasing my schoolmates on a Monday morning saying that I had won a fencing competition at the weekend. Now that I think of it, it might turn out that I was good at sports as a child, after all!!!!

Anywho (not a typo, it's intended this way!), in recent times in my life during this path of self-discovery or whatever you want to call it, those recurrent themes that I'm finding laid before me keep going back time and time to some of those verses that we use to memorise as children. So I decided to start making note of them as I come across them. Because they are striking a chord with me, with renewed meaning. I now I'm getting musical. Another childhood bitter-sweet symphony. Aghghghrrrrr, I must stop this!
;-)

So here it goes, my first "bring-back-that-verse":

"The truth shall make you free."

John 8:32

"La verdad os hará libres."

Juan 8:32

http://www.bible.com/

Related post: Recurrent topics

Jueves 11 de Marzo 2004

Video oficial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KHH9W_Xsbc
Video Laporta http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8R4jCdCX2XI

Si fuera más guapa y un poco más lista
Si fuera especial, si fuera de revista
Tendría el valor de cruzar el vagón
Y preguntarte quién eres.

Te sientas en frente y ni te imaginas
Que llevo por ti mi falta más bonita.
Y al verte lanzar un bostezo al cristal
Se inundan mis pupilas.

De pronto me miras, te miro y suspiras
Yo cierro los ojos, tú apartas la vista
Apenas respiro me hago pequeñita
Y me pongo a temblar

Y así pasan los días, de lunes a viernes
Como las golondrinas del poema de Bécquer
De estación a estación enfrente tú y yo
Va y viene el silencio.

De pronto me miras, te miro y suspiras
Yo cierro los ojos, tú apartas la vista
Apenas respiro, me hago pequeñita
Y me pongo a temblar.

Y entonces ocurre, despiertan mis labios
Pronuncian tu nombre tartamudeando.
Supongo que piensas que chica más tonta
Y me quiero morir.

Pero el tiempo se para y te acercas diciendo
Yo no te conozco y ya te echaba de menos.
Cada mañana rechazo el directo
Y elijo este tren.

Y ya estamos llegando, mi vida ha cambiado
Un día especial este once de marzo.
Me tomas la mano, llegamos a un túnel
Que apaga la luz.

Te encuentro la cara, gracias a mis manos.
Me vuelvo valiente y te beso en los labios.
Dices que me quieres y yo te regalo
El último soplo de mi corazón.

Escucha a la moneda (listen to the coin)

"Entonces, ¿cúal es la manera más sencilla de tomar una decisión?

Empieza por escucharte a ti misma y pregúntate qué es lo que realmente quieres hacer. Cuando las opciones a considerar son similares, yo uso un método que al principio me pareció absurdo pero que he utilizado mucho:

Coge una moneda (no estoy bromeando, sigue leyendo), prométete que vas a hacer lo que la moneda diga. Lanza la moneda y mira el resultado.

¿Qué has sentido al lanzar la moneda? ¿Qué resultado querías que saliera? ¿Y cuando la moneda cayó? ¿Cómo te sentiste? ¿Aliviada, decepcionada, ilusionada? Todo esto te dice lo que quieres saber. Y te aseguro que funciona, casi sin quererlo te encontrarás pensado “que salga cara” o “nooo, yo prefería la otra” y así te darás cuenta de lo que realmente quieres. De verdad, pruébalo, no estás dejando tu futuro en manos de una moneda sino que estás escuchando lo que verdaderamente sientes. "

Aida Baida Gil - coachaidaarrobagmail.com

Click here to see the whole article.

To want or not to want, that is the question

Two quotes from twitter yesterday...

"You may not know what you want, but you must know what you DON'T want in life"
Paulo Coelho

"Picture what you want, rather than what you don't want (it sounds obvious, but it's amazing how many of us don't do this)."
John C. Parkin

Contradictory?

I don't think so, Paulo's one can be the first step & John's the second.
For me it's quite easy to know what I don't want in life, but even figuring out what I want, never mind to picture it, it's a totally different thing!

What do you do to know what you want?
Any tips?

A very spicy night / Una noche muy gustosa

If variety is the spice of life then last night it was a very spicy night ... musically!

On the way to a classic music concert, I was introduced to some industrial metal by my friend who was giving me a lift & on the way back we stopped at our local for one where we enjoyed the usual pop, rock & Irish music cover versions and originals that I love.

A very varied night indeed!

********************

Si en la variedad está el gusto, anoche fue una noche muy gustosa... ¡musicalmente!

De camino a un concierto de música clásica, escuché por primera vez un poco de "industrial metal" gracias a la amiga que me llevaba al concierto y de vuelta nos paramos dónde siempre a por una copa y dónde disfrutamos del pop, rock y música irlandesa, tanto versiones como originales, de los que disfruto tanto.

¡Ciertamente una noche muy variada!


A small little sample - Y para muestra, un botón:

Contradicción, una herramienta de aprendizaje (Contradiction, a learning tool )

"La contradicción no tiene porque ser necesariamente negativa. Lo que pasa es que toda contradicción tiene una explicación a la que todavía no estamos preparados para enfrentarnos.
Por eso no hay que huir de ella, hay que afrontarla y ver dónde nos lleva. Porque dentro de la propia contradicción está la solución que andábamos buscando.
(...)
Todos somos contradictorios. Es más, necesitamos la contradicción como paso previo para averiguar las cosas que queremos, que ya no queremos.

¿Qué es eso que te condiciona pero que tanto adoras?
¿Qué es eso que adoras pero tanto reprimes?
¿Qué es eso que reprimes pero te libera?
¿Qué es eso que te libera pero te condena?
¿Qué es eso que te condena pero amas?
¿Qué es eso que amas pero rechazas?"

En "Gordos", de Daniel Sánchez Arévalo (2009)

A person's day in numbers

Like the song goes: what a difference a day makes? Just 24 little hours...

Here are some of the "numbered" daily recomendations I could come up with:

• 8 hours sleep a day
• 8 minutes meditation a day
• 5 a day - fruit & veg
• 3 a day - good positive thoughts
• brush your teeth twice a day (at least!)
• 1 a day vitamins / supplements
• 1 a day Actimel / probiotic drink
• 1 good action every day
• 1 thing learnt every day
• 1 apple a day
• 1 spoonful of honey
• ...

And then, totally unrelated - except they have numbers in their title, some "numbered" songs:

• 99 problems (Jay Z's song but I prefer Hugo's version)
• 99 red baloons
• 3 is a magic number
• Just the 2 of us
• ...

By no means the list is comprehensive, feel free to suggest your personal own...

S.O.S. - ¡Socorro!

I recently realised one of the reasons why we are better at helping others rather than helping ourselves. It's life's humble way of teaching us to rely on each other.

Do you know any other reasons?

**********************************************

Recientemente me he dado cuenta de uno de los motivos porqué es más fácil ayudar a los demás que a nosotros mismos. Es la manera que la vida tiene de enseñarnos humildemente a apoyarnos mútuamente.

¿Sabes algún otro motivo?

Perception

A beautiful story about perception, priorities & music:

"In Washington , DC , at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, this man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes.  During that time, approximately 2,000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.  After about 3 minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing.  He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.

About 4 minutes later:
The violinist received his first dollar.  A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

At 6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

At 10 minutes:
A 3-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly.  The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time.  This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent - without exception - forced their children to move on quickly.

At 45 minutes:
The musician played continuously.  Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while.  About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace.  The man collected a total of $32.

After 1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over.  No one noticed and no one applauded.  There was no recognition at all.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world.  He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.  Two days before, Joshua Bell sold-out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.

This is a true story.  Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.

This experiment raised several questions:

       *In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?

       *If so, do we stop to appreciate it?

       *Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made...

How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?

Enjoy life NOW ... it has an expiration date."

Source: Soulspring Empowerment Groups for Women

Crazy about movies... or movies about crazy!

A couple of days ago I came across this movie called "It's kind of a funny story" (2010).

Judging by its title I hoped for light-hearted, silly little comedy. I actually did not read the plot or anything. Sometimes I still like to be surprised. And surprised I was. That'll teach me not to judge a movie by its title!

I won't spoil too much for you but it's about a teenage boy with suicidal thoughts that checks himself into a phychiatric ward. Suffice to say that it is a story about human nature, relationships and coping with life.

So this morning I woke up thinking of these other two "mental" movies: obviously, the classic "One flew over the cucko's nest" (1975) with Jack Nicholson's brilliant performance and the maybe lesser known but, in my humble opinion, with an equally brilliant performance from Kevin Spacey, "K-PAX" (2001).

Do you you know any other movies set in mental institutions?

Which one is your favourite & why?

Studio Madelaine - like Aladdin's cave but prettier

Let me introduce you to Madelaine and her Studio...

Studio Madelaine is in the old town, half way up Reina Sofia street, overlooking the mountains and Fuerteventura.  It's like entering Aladdin's cave but prettier. It's certainly worthwhile a visit.

Madelaine, originally from Germany, first visited Lanzarote on holidays, with her parents at the age of 21. Like so many of us, she fell in love with the place.  She came back on holidays by herself 2 years later and within a month she had moved to the island. Initially she worked as a seamstress for 8 years.

As sideline she started painting t-shirts with small designs and this more artistic side eventually took over by she set up Studio Madelaine back in April 1982.

You will find, alongside her own creations, those of other artisans from the island: from cards to painted t-shirts, candles, handmade soaps, ceramics, jewellery, photographs, paintings and knitted goods. With prices ranging from as little as €4.00 up to €45.00 and more for more elaborate but unique pieces you will find an original gift for your loved ones back at home or a treat for yourself.

If you don't see what you are looking for, Madelaine will also put you in touch with the artist so you can commission your own exclusive request. You can even bring your own t-shirt to get it painted.

Madelaine speaks, obviously German, but also is fluent in Spanish & English.

**********************************************************************

Studio Madelaine
Opening hours: Mon-Fri 10:00-14:00      
Reina Sofia, 22
35510 Puerto del Carmen
Lanzarote
Telephone +34 928 511989

Mobile + 34 609 972347

Email m.erfurth@gmail.com

                                                                             

Recurrent topics

I find it interesting how some topics seem to be constantly around me lately...
In no particular order, subject to further exploration here there are some:

humour
honesty
happiness
balance
discerning
positivity
power of thinking
love
creativity
vulnerability
courage
compassion
laws of attraction
self-steem
shame
motivation
sharing
perception
luck
gratitude
mental health
contradiction
...

I reserve the right to add some more & to explore further these concepts.
You've been warned.

The power of vulnerability

Brené Brown talk on vulnerability

Tonight Will Be Fine

F**k it & be happy

You'll have to excuse... not my language but the sin of daring to write a review without the book in front of me. Unfortunately my copy is far, far away, but... f**k it, I'm not going to let that stop me.

I'm actually going to use that as an excuse for not going too deep, in the name of keeping it personal & fresh.

As you can see from the background of my blog, I love books. I always have. I love to read them, see them, hold them, touch them. I grew up in a house full of books. I studied Librarianship. I always wander into bookshops or book stalls when out & about. I love books. I said it.

This particular one caught my eye during a browsing session in my local bookstore. It was black with a candle on its cover. It was smooth to touch. But what grab my attention was the title: "F**k it". Somehow there was something wrong with it, a contradiction. The sleekness of the cover & then a swear word? To make matters worse (or better, I should say) there was a subtitle: "The Ultimate Spiritual Way".

What!?!?!?    
                    
                              "F**k it: The Ultimate Spiritual Way"?!?!?!

Just to prove that I'm not making this up...

Now it definitely had my attention. There was something intriguing about all these apparent contradictions. A book in the self-help section that has a swear word & a candle in the cover & claims to be spiritual? Boy, that is definitely unusual!

I won't go into detail on everything it talks about. I can't even if I wanted to. But here it's one of the lasting impressions it had on me: we are unhappy because we are stressed, we grab onto things, people, situations unnecessarily. And that makes us suffer. When we say "f**k it" to things, we relax, things start falling into place, opportunities start to appear, we are more in tune with ourselves & the world. Afterall, everything happens for a reason, doesn't it?

I hope Mr. Parkin I'm not simplifying too much. But then again, as I said, I don't have my copy with me. I look forward to re-reading it & re-enjoying going over my favourite fragments.

Oh, and I forgot to say, the book is seriously funny!

They say "never judge a book by its cover". Well, I'm glad I didn't.

What is your favourite book  & why?

Or if this question is too daunting, what is one (any) of your favourite books?

For more information, check  http://www.thefuckitway.com/ .

Prostitución vs psicología

Interesante comparación que ha salido de una conversación con una amiga esta misma tarde: uno de los aspectos que la prostitución cumplía antaño, a parte de la obvia, era la de prestar un oído amable a alguien que necesitaba ser eschuchado. En cambio, hoy en día, en una sociedad dónde el sexo se consigue con tanta facilidad, lo que cuesta encontrar es alguien que además te escuche y te aconseje con imparcialidad.

Una paradoja más de la complejidad de las relaciones humanas.

¿Qué pensáis?

Fund-a-mental

Extract from my fundraising note "Fund-a-mental" for the Flora Women’s Mini Marathon in Dublin that took place on the 7th of June, 2010:

"These are some of my favourite things regarding mental health – all of which I need constant reminders myself:
- Be honest with yourself: learn to listen to yourself, if you don’t, nobody else will!
- Don’t be afraid. If fear is the key, the truth will set you free. First is going to p**s you off, but then it will set you free. But yet, everything is going to be alright in the end.
- Share, talk to someone, but not too much: if it’s a friend, it’s for free but if you talk too much, they won’t be your friend, anymore; if it’s a professional and you talk a lot, it will cost you.
- When you are feeling sh*te or down, just smile, reach out & help someone else. I guarantee you, you’ll feel better almost immediately!"

Thank you for the music... and Facebook!

Despite of the use & abuse of social networking sites, I am very grateful for Facebook.

Amongst other things it's allowing me to discover my friends' music taste, as well as expanding my own horizons. Normally a friend posts a video of a song they like, I listen to it & then & end up listening to a playlist that someone else has created which contains songs of that artist, often including songs of other similar artists or bands.

Here it's  3 new artist I discovered this chilled out morning: Madeleine Peyroux, Iron & Wine & Rachael Yamagata.

Feel free to seach for them on youtube, you know the drill.

By for now!

Hoy es un buen día...

...y mañana también lo será!!!

Empecemos con una nota positiva ¿no?

Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect... It means that you've decided to look beyond the imperfections.