Am I a crush or a friend?

Clarity Please 

Navigating the waters of liking someone is not easy in the year 2021, and it won't get any easier in the future.  So what can one do?  Well for one, we can try our best to not be part of the problem.  

Do on to others as you would like them to do to you!   Does that age old Bible wisdom ring a bell?  When we deal with people and their feelings we need to be very careful.  It is easy to feel important and get lost in the excitement of the moment.  But we can not lose sight of the fact that it is a person we are dealing with.  Stringing a guy/girl along is not only unkind it is cruel.

If we hate the way others are behaving towards us, we need to start changing the world by having the courage to be the ones to act different.  When someone shows interest or affection for you, cherish them.  It is not every day that someone gets to experience the love or admiration from someone else. Don't be confusing, don't send wrong signals, don't lie with your words or with your body.  Look manipulating people is unkind and simply wrong.  We need to clarify our feelings and intentions when someone shows interest in us from the get go!

If you show affection in any way, if you flirt, if you give hope and then pretend you never did - that is cruel.  I know that if you are reading this you are probably someone who would not purposely be cruel to anyone.  But sometimes we end up getting carried away and acting in an unkind way towards others unintentionally. So we need to pay attention, and live more intentional lives.  

Manipulating people is unkind and simply wrong. If you have someone that is showing you interest or affection:

❤    Be clear and honest from the beginning

❤    Do  not give them false signals, or false hope 

❤    Don't act to your friends as if you have never been interested, specially if it's not true 

❤    Don't talk about the person as if they are dying for you and use them to gain admiration 

❤    Be  a gentleman/ kind woman and do not use others as props to get attention for yourself

❤    Don't lie to yourself, you might miss out in the best thing that ever happened to you.  

       

In summary  look:  if you do have feelings, don't be an idiot lol.  If you don't have feelings don't be a liar.  Please keep this in mind, hearts are fragile and one day it will be your turn.  Be kind, be fair, be extraordinary. 

 Certainly todays times are calling for more extraordinary humans. 

Will you commit to being one?

Advice and Help: The Uselessness of Planning Ahead!

One day we are here, the next day who knows? Everything changes. Everything can always get better if we look forward to tomorrow. All we know for sure is that we know nothing about what is ahead for us; therefore, we need to trust that every change that happens in our life will be for the best. Every day is an opportunity to change our lives, every second an opportunity to leave our mistakes, our sorrows and our fears behind. It is all up to us. We can choose to look forward to better times, or we can choose to be swallowed up by overwhelming circumstances. Let’s choose to have faith and to hold on through shaky times.

            What use is it for us to plan five or ten years ahead? Tomorrow we might be dead or then again maybe not. Think about job interviewers’ favorite questions: “Where do you see yourself in five years? Where do you see yourself in ten years?” The fact of the matter is that we have no idea where we will be tomorrow, let alone five years from now.

            Relationships might not last forever, but memories of these relationships do! Memories of being in love or of having good friends, a good teacher, a wonderful neighborall of these add up to the beauty that is our life. We need to live every moment fully and give our hearts completely. And when the time to say goodbye comes, we must be strong and know that we will have other chances to love and be loved. And we must keep in mind that every situation can teach us many things if we take the time to learn.

            I am confident that we will find happiness if we keep an open mind and an open heart. By giving a second chance to friendship, to love, to forgiveness, to opportunities that come our way, we give a second chance to ourselves. If we live with hope and a joyful heart, we will certainly find happiness I am convinced of this. By looking forward to tomorrow but living today to the fullest, we can ensure that we do not miss out on the best that can come into our lives.

Wisdom to contemplate:

“Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil.” (Matthew 6:34)

“But the plan of the LORD stands forever, wise designs through all generations.” (Psalm 33:11)



“Entrust your works to the LORD, and your plans will succeed.” (Proverbs 16:3)

“In his mind a man plans his course, but the LORD directs his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9)

“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the decision of the LORD that endures.” (Proverbs 19:21)

Help or Be Helped: Would You Be My Angel?

            So many people nowadays believe in angels, in interacting with them, seeking their help, trying to talk to them, trying to see them. But today there is also much confusion about angels, because the secular view of angels has invaded the media. There are books, films, songs you name it about angels. A lot of people have become obsessed with angels and have become insensitive to their friends, coworkers, neighbors and even family members. In their pursuit of angels, they have forgotten the most important thing: giving praise and glory to God by loving one another. They are so busy trying to interact with an angel that they lose touch with their personal relationship with others and many times even with God. Now, I am going to propose another view on angels.

            I am not saying angels don’t exist or that they are not important¾please don’t get me wrong. What I have a problem with is when people’s obsession with angels makes them overlook the teachings of Jesus Christ and leads them to neglect their relationship with God. Once Jesus Christ is a priority in our lives, we can then learn to love and respect the angels.

             Why do we obsess about angels? I think because we crave a stronger, more solid relationship with God. We want to be more spiritual, but we approach it in a proud and even selfish way: “I and my angel”, “I have a unique relationship with angels”, “I am special because I communicate with angels”, “I am unique and good because I see my guardian angel.” In the end, we might end up forgetting others. We can become so focused on ourselves that we forget the main thing God wants us to do¾which is to love one another and take care of each other. Jesus Christ left us a message about loving one another. If we can focus on this, then we can be like living, breathing angels to each other. The message of Jesus was a powerful message of love in every sense of the word love in the sense of giving without expecting back, forgiving, not judging, treating others as we would like to be treated, helping those who are different, helping those who are in need, helping the sad, the lonely and the hungry.

            We can be angels to each other. We can give more time to others. We can listen to them, offer them our company, give them our support. We can be more patient with each other and more kind. We can change the world with our love, moving forward step by step, without having any grandiose expectations of “becoming enlightened” or “interacting with angels.” We can be content to just be ourselves, a simple person with many defects but capable of loving all the same.  Knowing deep in our hearts that we are a unique child of God made in His image to love and to be loved.

             Jesus came so that we would become children of God. Why do people get lost and start almost worshiping angels, obsessing about them…and all the while neglecting their relationship with God? All we need to say is: “God, Father, I need help,” and He will immediately send His angels so that we won’t even hit our foot against a stone. (Psalm 91:12) When we trust God and ask for His help, we know that His help will come through His angels in heaven or through those people who, out of love, become, even if for a moment, angels on earth.

Wisdom to contemplate:

“Let love be sincere; hate what is evil, hold on to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; anticipate one another in showing honor. Do not grow slack in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the holy ones, exercise hospitality. Bless those who persecute (you), bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Have the same regard for one another; do not be haughty but associate with the lowly; do not be wise in your own estimation. Do not repay anyone evil for evil; be concerned for what is noble in the sight of all. If possible, on your part, live at peace with all. Beloved, do not look for revenge but leave room for the wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.’ Rather, ‘if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals upon his head.’ Do not be conquered by evil but conquer evil with good. (Romans 12:9-21)