THROUGH THE EYES OF A CAMERA

It is so easy to get caught up in this troubled and turbulent world of ours...
For example, if you are a passionate reader of newspapers and other media, then you get mentally caught up in the drama of the world at large. Since disasters are news worthy, they get printed readily. Very seldom do you read about ‘happy’ events. So it goes to say that you will be thinking about all those unhappy events constantly and for some folk, this generates constant negative thoughts and thinking.

Another example: If you are locked into your work situation and find it difficult to not think about work, then you ‘become’ your work. If your work is stressful, then you will be generally stressed.

I recently had a very interesting insight into my own life:

For the past year and a bit, I have been constantly carrying my camera around with me. I am an avert blogger (on my other blog) and have designed
“Max’s blog”
in such a way so that it will be seen as imparting ‘positivity’. For that reason, I search constantly for that beautiful photograph. Each moment of the day, in whatever I am doing, I wonder about the potential ‘photo opportunity’ that the moment presents. It often happens that when I upload my photos onto the computer, I crop them too, so that only the ‘good’ is displayed.

Over the months of blogging, the collection of ‘beautiful’, ‘good’, ‘positive’ and ‘happy’ photos has increased, so that now when I look at my blog, it becomes inspiring and I find myself thinking more positive thoughts generally. These in turn, inspire me to continue and it has become – for me - the total opposite mental thinking to the disheartening and negative events of four years ago.

The point I am making is that the “positivity” which has emerged in me has been the direct result of a conscious decision to look for the positive.

So I leave you with this thought:....

Is it not possible, that our emotions are determined by a conscious decision to react to our reality in a particular way?

It seems, to me, that “WE ARE WHAT WE CHOOSE TO THINK ABOUT!”

TWO BY TWO

Hello there everyone and welcome to my blog!...

Today I am going to talk about:

COMPANIONSHIP...

This is a picture of the pigeon pair who have set up roosting facilities in our white stinkwood tree in the garden. The picture itself seems to capture the essence of what I want to say today.

At the day's end, who keeps us company?


I was in our Vet’s waiting room some time ago and got chatting to his interesting receptionist...

They have a rather large kitty there – called Monty – and she was telling me his touching rescue story. Monty was sitting on the shelf next to me listening to our chatter. He was keeping company with another grey kitty on the food shelf next to us. The two of them were happily sitting there, paws tucked under their chests and snoozing.




She explained that they have cared for many animals over the years and have come to believe that it is not fair to keep single animals. They always try to find a partner because they believe that
“No animal is meant to be alone!”




Her statement got me thinking...

Yes I agree with her. Humans too are not meant to be alone either. We are communal creatures by nature. Yet how many of us lead singular lives and bare the brunt of loneliness?

I began thinking about the concept of marriage and commitment and thought back also to a wedding sermon I’d heard many years ago. The minister, at the time, asked the question:
“Why get married?”
and then came up with a statement that I have always remembered...

“WE GET MARRIED SO THAT SOMEONE CAN BARE WITNESS TO OUR LIVES”

Our lives may be difficult, they may be fraught with health issues, financial concerns and various disagreements. Life at the best of times is not easy! The bottom line however is that, in the process of life, we do indeed need someone who can bare witness - to share our reality and to mirror it back to us. Without another, our lives become pointless.

So, today is a good day to begin to be grateful for the people we have in our lives. Those who keep us company. Those who share our woes. Those who allow us into their own lives.




Let us seek to strengthen those bonds by rejoicing in the good and letting the rest die of neglect.

The gift of companionship should not be taken lightly!