That dot in the ceiling

Hear me,
When I don’t say a word.

Listen to me,
When I scream in my silences.

Look at me,
even when I turn away.

Watch me,
When I say I don’t need your attention.

Console me,
When I walk away crying.

Hold me,
Even when I push you off.

Hug me,
Even when I say I don’t want you near.

Read between my lines.

Understand what I don’t say.

Feel me even when I say nothing to you.

My mind is a dangerous and chaotic place.
But you may learn to comprehend it if you try.

Just stop staring at that dot in the ceiling,

Realise that I can’t stop and do nothing.

It drives energetic people crazy – apathy.

Come run away with me.

 

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Attention-seekers and their shadows

“People who shine from within don’t need the spotlight. Remember that the next time you see someone trying to draw all the attention onto themselves”.

Grandma Eve always knew what to say. She had a special way of consoling Tina. She knew something was wrong and could even identify what it was without the latter saying a word.

This time it had to do with certain friends that turned out to have been using her in order to become more popular. School was always a difficult place for someone who cared too much and who had a different way of thinking than that of the masses.

To Tina, such people may gain attention but they lose respect. That’s what Grandma Eve pointed out. Even Charles Bukowski had said it: “Beware of those who seek constant crowds; they are nothing alone”.

Attention-seekers are like narcissists. They constantly seek to be the centre of everything even when they have nothing noteworthy to say or show. They are the ones who constantly take selfies, post online, and speak the loudest when in a crowd. They are the ones who don’t understand how (or why) the best parts of life are the ones that aren’t made public. Why you don’t need to be constantly talked about in order to be someone. Or why what matters most is what you make of yourself, how you cultivate your own mind and decide to do something purposeful with your time.

Grandma Eve wrapped her arms around Tina and offered her a freshly baked cookie. Hugs and sweets always had a way of making anyone feel better.

“Don’t let attention-seekers bring you down. It’s not that you are not worthy of attention. It’s that you know better how to draw it for the right reasons at the proper time. Just remember that they are focusing the spotlight on themselves because they are trying to fill the gaps inside them. If they were happy with who they are, they wouldn’t need the validation of their worth from others. Always be proud of what you achieve. No matter what anyone else thinks. And never feel ashamed that you are in the shadows at times. It is only further proof that you have light around you”.

 

Also part of Daily Prompt: Narcissism

The wisdom of an organised life

Sophie and Lisa were twins. But they could not be more different. Sophie was the person who liked to have things in order. To make a plan or a list and try to stick to each as much as possible. She set priorities, ambitions, targets, goals and was thrilled with always trying something new. She was the person who was bored at doing nothing. Lisa, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. If she could, she would sit doing nothing all day. Her motto was to go with the flow. She was completely disorganised, often forgetting things that needed to be done and leaving everything for the last minute.

The problem with the latter type of people is that they don’t have any stress. Actually, they are the ones who cause the former ones all sort of anxiety problems.

It usually works like this: when Sophie can’t organise her schedule because Lisa never knows what her programme is until the very last minute, it is Sophie who gets stressed, irritated, angered and who rushes to change things to accommodate the other’s recklessness.

But no matter how much Sophie complained and lectured over how organisation and planning is needed, Lisa never paid attention. She preferred to do it her way because it always worked out in the end. She never cared to acknowledge, however, that the reason things worked out was because Sophie made the necessary effort to make everything right.

It is a shame that it is the organised people who are the ones that keep the world spinning, yet the disorganised-laid-back ones are always getting all the credit.

“Science is organised knowledge. Wisdom is organised life” – Immanuel Kant

An uncanny excuse

Maximilian knew from the morning he sprang out of bed that it was going to be a difficult day. His alarm had not sounded and he had not been alerted that he had to get up or he was going to be late for work. His heart was pounding as he hastily tried to dress, shave and have breakfast all at the same time. By the time he got out of the door, he knew there was no way of reaching work on time.

His car had broken down the day before and the buses were on strike. A taxi was the only means available. But he was not alone in needing one urgently. He saw four pass by him before one finally stopped to take him in. Traffic was horrendous. But there was nothing he could do. His work was at least a 20-minute drive away and it was impossible to make it any sooner on foot.

Maximilian’s phone began to ring, just when he had sunk into the taxi seat, surrendering to his misfortune. One of his colleagues just alerted him that a meeting scheduled for noon had been moved up. It would happen in the next 30 minutes. Maximilian’s heart began to pound again. He could feel the blood draining from his veins and could feel a collapse was imminent. Then the messages and emails began to sound all at once. Work was already piling up and he was nowhere near the office.

“There has to be something I can do”, he thought. “Some sort of loophole. Something that can get me out of this mess. If only something could happen to reverse it all, to somehow postpone everything until I arrived…” As he racked his brain to find a solution, he remembered a conversation with a computer-programmer friend of his. He had insisted that he could hack into a building’s system from anywhere and get access to anything from switching on and off the lights to even the company’s internal servers. Maximilian knew this was wrong but he had no choice. To him this was the answer. “Simon I’ll buy you a beer tonight if you can prove your argument right”, he found himself saying next.

Maximilian finally arrived at the office just before the meeting was about to start. But he found everyone in distress. He discretely asked what happen and one of his colleagues began a rant on how a black out had occurred for almost twenty minutes and panic had ensued out of fear all the data would be lost. Fortunately, now that power was restored, everything was back to normal, and it was good that he was there to start the meeting.

“Great,” Maximilian responded. “Sorry I arrived late; the traffic out there is unforgiveable”.

Maybe it was just an excuse and Maximilian got lucky, but sometimes all we need to do is search for that loophole we don’t initially see at first to make things easier for us. Not everything has to be so despairingly difficult for us all the time.

 

Also part of Daily Prompt: Loophole

Smart and wise

Idealists believe that all of us have the power to change the world. It is how we use that hidden strength that affects everything. It is how we cultivate our mind and lives that determines how smart we become. There is always something extra to appreciate in people who try to learn more every day. Who you see are making an effort to improve themselves. To develop their knowledge, their skills and, ultimately, their lives.

“A smart man only believes half of what he hears. A wise man knows which half” (Jeff Cooper).

It is easy to recognise these people. They are the ones who don’t care much about social media gossip, who prefer knowledge quizzes over time-wasting ‘candy-crash-type’ games. The ones who are curious about the world and genuinely want to learn. The ones who constantly try to find new challenges to engage with because they know that this is how we grow. The ones who get bored easily, who can’t sit still, who fidget often but also stay quiet a lot. They are the ones who can get lost in a book or have their attention distracted by an endless trail-quest for information online. They are those who get excited about the little things and who emit a childish energy when it comes to things they are passionate about.

People who use their brains more tend to be happier, healthier and more active.

They are the ones you should seek to have beside you. Because they are those who make you want to become better too, to learn more things and to share that energy within which lies the power to change the world.

Steps forward

©MCD

The secret to success is to have faith that you can; you don’t have to see the whole staircase to take the first step. You just have to be willing to move forward.

It’s amazing how your perspective can change if you simply walk a little out of your comfort zone. Go to places you’ve never been before. Locations that you can’t even point to on a map. Places you didn’t even know existed. You’ll be pleasantly surprised.

You’ll be astounded by how much beauty there is in this world. And by how close it is to you. Even your neighbouring city or village holds secrets and attractions that you don’t know about, simply because you’re too lazy or stuck in your own world to go look.

Go travel. Go live. Go learn about the world.

It will open your mind and make you realise that most often you worry too deeply about things that shouldn’t matter so much.

Take the step. You won’t regret it.

The light in the dark

Billy was born in the dark. Ever since he could remember he was alone in the darkness.

He was somehow found enclosed in a dark room alone. It was like a reality TV game. Where he needed to turn on the light to find his way out of there. No matter how much he felt his way around the walls, it all seemed to be a dead-end. There was no exit. He needed the light. To see where exactly he was and to find a way to escape.

He soon learnt that positive thoughts brought light into the room. Whenever he recalled to mind the little he remembered of his mother, her warm hugs and her tender caress, some light entered the room and it was not pitch black anymore. He thought of all the things he wanted to do once he got out: to leap into his mother’s arms, to find friends to play with, to maybe get a dog. All these thoughts made his heart a little lighter and the room much brighter.

But as soon as a negative thought crossed his mind; like the possibility that he may never get out, that he was for some reason left there alone; the room fell into darkness again.

It took many bright thoughts to bring a spark of light. But a single bad thought would bring back the dark.

Just as in life, one bad moment cancels out all the good. And it stays with you longer.

It is easier to frown than to laugh – it takes more muscles to form a smile. But think about all the benefits the latter has. It makes it worth it in the end.

Billy thought he had to keep on trying. The effort would pay off in the end. He vowed to allow only positive thoughts in his mind, no matter how hard it was. He had to light up the dark. To believe that life was going to get better.