short update

I have been very quiet lately around here for one reason. My private life is quite busy all of a sudden. I have a boyfriend now, and a new relationship is quite time consuming…

I will still try to update here on a regular basis though!

some thoughts on religion

I have been catchin up on blogs lately, and I have to admit that it is kinda sad to read of all the "bad spirit" between all those different religious and non-religious groups.

Why can't people live the way they think it is right for themselves, and have others live their own way?

I know the situation in Austria is a different one as Austria is a catholic country. We don't just have catholics here though. As a matter of fact most people here don't care much about religion at all. Those that are not Catholic are the ones that pay most attention to it.
But still most people celebrate holidays like Christmas or Easter one way or another, for many people going to church for Easter is of no importance, and I accept that completely.

I have been raised as a catholic in a catholic country, but there were times when I was not happy with my religious background. I was looking at other denominations, and I have to admit I learned a lot that way. I learned a lot about myself about the Catholic church, and I learned to respect other people's faiths. It does not matter to me if someone believes in God, I respect them for who they are, whether they believe in God, and religion takes an important part in their everyday life, or whether they don't believe in God and see the world in a different way. As long as you respect each other's views and try to get along, there is nothing you can do wrong I think. But if you want to change someone, there is a lot you can destroy….

A Soldier’s Perspective – wonderful easter story!!

Catching up on blogs thoday I ran into A Soldier's Perspective's Easter story. I could not help but loving the story because that's what I believe Easter should be all about. About respecting, caring, and being there for others. Absolutely a story to be shared!

Relationships…

As some of you who know more about me know, I have 2 younger brothers. One of them is 9 years younger than me. As it is normal for 17 years old, he is going out a lot with his friends and one of his main interests is GIRLS. 

One one of things me any my brothers noticed is, that all three of us tend to end up being best friends to people we are interested in. My youngest brother told me a few days ago that he was talking to a girl he is interested in, and she told him that she is not good enough for him. And afterwards she said she had to admit that she is is usually more interested in assholes and not in nice guys like him.

To that he reacted in a quite unusual way for him, saying that he does not need others to decide who is good enough for himself and who isn't. He also said that it is pretty easy to act like an asshole.

Somehow it is strange how some people end up being someone's best friend all the time and don't seem to be an option for dating or for a relationship. And the weird thing is that quite often those people are usually those that are seen as the really nice people who go with others through thick and thin, who don't turn their backs on others because of whatever reason.
I know that feeling pretty well. I know what it feels like to be considered only a freind. Not to be seen as a possible date. I know what it feels like when a guy introduces me to his girlfriend, and talks to me about everything, including problems with his girlfriend….

Prayer request

I WILL NOT BREAK THIS PRAYER REQUEST.  According to the weather reports, it is my understanding that it is 122 degrees in Iraq right now – and the low will be 111!   Our troops need our prayers for strength, endurance, and safety. If it be God's will, give these men and women the strength they need to prevail.I am sorry but I am not breaking this one…..Let us pray.Prayer chain for our Military…please don't break it…  Please send this on after a short prayer.  Pray for our soldiers… Prayer "Lord, hold our troops in your  loving hands. Protect them as they protect us. Bless them and their  families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need.  Also, help the innocent people of Iraq, not the insurgents, but the everyday people trying to raise their families just like us. I ask this in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Amen."Prayer Request: When you receive this, please stop for a moment and say a prayer for our troops around the world. people in your  address book. Do not let it stop with you, please….  Of all the gifts you could give a US Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Marine &others deployed in harm\'s way, Prayer is the very best one!!!!!

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There is nothing attached…. . Just send this to all the people in your  address book. Do not let it stop with you, please….  Of all the gifts you could give a US Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Marine &others deployed in harm's way, Prayer is the very best one!!!!! 

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Religion – The Rambling Dane

I have been reading this post and could not help but thinking that as a matter of fact, religion can have an important effect on people.

 

Of course it depends on many things whether we act the way we ought to according to the religion we claim to be part of.

 

It also depends on the situation, whether prayers are useful or if we should just get started with something. In many cases, whether you believe in God or not, prayer or meditation helps to see things a lot more clearly and so work more effectively on things.

 

It is true that religion had been abused in history a lot but so has most everything. Anything that can have a very positive effect can also be abused very easily.

 

Why is religion to remain the same and not undergo change as time progresses? Life is about change and religion is about life. The main message of religion is that we should love and respect each other. There are lots of messages in all religions too to that can be interpreted differently, but this is what I believe God is all about: LOVE and RESPECT and that we are willing to SHARE.

 

Religion and faith are things that are hard to be replaced by anything, as they give a meaning to life, maybe not to you, but I think to many people who have chosen a church they want to be part of.

I know a lot of things have been created by humans that make the world safer for us, but we also created plenty of things that make it more dangerous, like 200 years ago you would not have had to worry to be run over by a car. Many of our conveniences are mixed blessings for the plain reason that we are not perfect. And maybe by accepting ourselves as imperfect and God as the only perfect one, many people can cherrish life as not being perfect either but still making the best out of it, knowing God knows why things are the way they are.

Innsbruck picture

 This is the view you get if you walk through one of the main tourist streets of Innsbruck, seeing the mountains just behind the old part of town…

Immigration

I have been hearing a lot about illegal immigration to the US over the past few weeks, as this is a subject that is to be read about everywhere.

As I was sitting at my parents’ house today I saw a newspaper from March 19 with the title story Destiny Europe. It was about a flood of people leaving Africa in boats heading for the Canary Isles. The majority of them end up on Tenerife. The boats are up to 18 meters long and 2 meters wide and carry as much as 70 people. Mainly grownup men from Senegal and Mali.

About 700 people end up on the Canary Islands every week, at the beginning of the year they were quite well equipped, but by now most of them don’t even wear shoes. The Red Cross is looking after them for 3 days after they arrive and then they are accommodated in a reception camp where they can stay for up to 40 days, then they are either deported back to where they come from or, in the case no one knows where they come from, released, or they are offered sanctuary, the police commissar explained, saying “They are not criminals after all, they are just normal people who were starving or persecuted…”

 

The problem is that the unemployment rate on the Canary Isles is quite high, and if people like them stay it is even getting worse. According to the Newspaper El País there are half a million people waiting in Mauretania to board boats to the Canary Islands. The fact that about a third of them don’t survive the crossing of 5 or 6 days doesn’t keep them from going. Most of them are not planing to stay on the Canary Islands though, they want to go on to mainland Europe, this is the main reason why the local population doesn’t mind those waves of immigrants, because they are not going to stay forever. They look for a better life some place in Europe…

 

Technorati Tags : illegal, immigration, illegal immigration

Inspirational

this was posted in a forum I am reading, and thought I should share it:

 

 

 

John is the kind of guy you love to hate. He is always in a good mood and always has something positive to say. When someone would ask him how he was doing, he would reply, “If I were any better, I would be twins!”
He was a natural motivator.
If an employee was having a bad day, John was there telling the employee how to look on the positive side of the situation.

Seeing this style really made me curious, so one day I went up and asked him, “I don’t get it! You can’t be a positive person all of the time. How do you do it?”

He replied, “Each morning I wake up and say to myself, you have two choices today. You can choose to be in a good mood or … you can choose to be in a bad mood. I choose to be in a good mood.

Each time something bad happens, I can choose to be a victim or…I can choose to learn from it. I choose to learn from it.
Every time someone comes to me complaining, I can choose to accept their complaining or… I can point out the positive side of life. I choose the positive side of life.”

“Yeah, right, it’s not that easy,” I protested.

“Yes, it is,” he said. “Life is all about choices. When you cut away all the junk, every situation is a choice. You choose how you react to situations. You choose how people affect your mood. You choose to be in a good mood or bad mood. The bottom line: It’s your choice how you live your life.”

I reflected on what he said. Soon hereafter, I left the Tower Industry to start my own business. We lost touch, but I often thought about him when I made a choice about life instead of reacting to it.

Several years later, I heard that he was involved in a
serious accident, falling some 60 feet from a communications tower.
After 18 hours of surgery and weeks of intensive care, he was released from the hospital with rods placed in his back.
I saw him about six months after the accident.

When I asked him how he was, he replied, “If I were any better, I’d be twins…Wanna see my scars?”
I declined to see his wounds, but I did ask him what had gone through his mind as the accident took place.

“The first thing that went through my mind was the well-being of my soon-to-be born daughter,” he replied. “Then, as I lay on the ground, I remembered that I had two choices: I could choose to live or…I could choose to die. I chose to live.”

“Weren’t you scared? Did you lose consciousness?” I asked.

He continued, “..the paramedics were great. They kept telling me I was going to be fine. But when they wheeled me into the ER and I saw the expressions on the faces of the doctors and nurses, I got really scared. In their eyes, I read ‘he’s a dead man’. I knew I needed to take action.”

“What did you do?” I asked.

“Well, there was a big burly nurse shouting questions at me,” said John. “She asked if I was allergic to anything. ‘Yes, I replied.’ The doctors and nurses stopped working as they waited for my reply. I took a deep breath and yelled, ‘Gravity’.”

Over their laughter, I told them, “I am choosing to live. Operate on me as if I am alive, not dead.”

He lived, thanks to the skill of his doctors, but also because of his amazing attitude… I learned from him that every day we have the choice to live fully.
Attitude, after all, is everything .

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will
worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew
6:34.

After all today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.

What means Love? Kids know more then we do!

Slow down for three minutes to read this.A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, “What does love mean?” The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:

(You might think: “No.: somebody made these up.” But, that really doesn’t matter. WPLjr)
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“When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore.So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That’s love.”Rebecca- age 8
_____

“When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different.You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.” Billy – age 4
_____
“Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologneand they go out and smell each other.” Karl – age 5

_____
Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs.” Chrissy – age 6
_____

“Love is what makes you smile when you’re tired.” Terri – age 4
_____
“Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sipbefore giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK.” Danny – age 7
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“Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired ofkissing, you still want to be together and you talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss” Emily – age 8
_____
“Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.”Bobby – age 7 (Wow!)
_____

“If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,”Nikka – age 6 (we need a few million more Nikka’s on this planet)
_____

“Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, and then he wears it everyday.”Noelle – age 7
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“Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friendseven after they know each other so well.” Tommy – age 6
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“During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn’t scared anymore.” Cindy – age 8
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“My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don’t see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night.”Clare – age 6
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“Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken.” Elaine-age 5
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“Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Brad Pitt.”Chris – age 7
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“Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day.”Mary Ann – age 4
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“I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.” Lauren – age 4
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“When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little starscome out of you.” (what an image) Karen – age 7
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“You really shouldn’t say ‘I love you’ unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget.” Jessica – age 8
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And the final one — Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge.

The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman’s yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there.When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, “Nothing, I just helped him cry”.