Live the year that lies ahead

ANTHONY HOPKINS - Powerful words.

′′Let go the people who are not prepared to love you. This is the hardest thing you will have to do in your life and it will also be the most important thing. Stop having hard conversations with people who don't want change.

Stop showing up for people who have no interest in your presence. I know your instinct is to do everything to earn the appreciation of those around you, but it's a boost that steals your time, energy, mental and physical health.

When you begin to fight for a life with joy, interest and commitment, not everyone will be ready to follow you in this place. This doesn't mean you need to change what you are, it means you should let go of the people who aren't ready to accompany you.

If you are excluded, insulted, forgotten or ignored by the people you give your time to, you don't do yourself a favour by continuing to offer your energy and your life. The truth is that you are not for everyone and not everyone is for you.

That's what makes it so special when you meet people who reciprocate love. You will know how precious you are.

The more time you spend trying to make yourself loved by someone who is unable to, the more time you waste depriving yourself of the possibility of this connection to someone else.

There are billions of people on this planet and many of them will meet with you at your level of interest and commitment.

The more you stay involved with people who use you as a pillow, a background option or a therapist for emotional healing, the longer you stay away from the community you want.

Maybe if you stop showing up, you won't be wanted. Maybe if you stop trying, the relationship will end. Maybe if you stop texting your phone will stay dark for weeks. That doesn't mean you ruined the relationship, it means the only thing holding it back was the energy that only you gave to keep it. This is not love, it's attachment. It's wanting to give a chance to those who don't deserve it. You deserve so much, there are people who should not be in your life.

The most valuable thing you have in your life is your time and energy, and both are limited. When you give your time and energy, it will define your existence.

When you realize this, you begin to understand why you are so anxious when you spend time with people, in activities, places or situations that don't suit you and shouldn't be around you, your energy is stolen.

You will begin to realize that the most important thing you can do for yourself and for everyone around you is to protect your energy more fiercely than anything else. Make your life a safe haven, in which only ′′compatible′′ people are allowed.

You are not responsible for saving anyone. You are not responsible for convincing them to improve. It's not your work to exist for people and give your life to them! If you feel bad, if you feel compelled, you will be the root of all your problems, fearing that they will not return the favours you have granted. It's your only obligation to realize that you are the love of your destiny and accept the love you deserve.

Decide that you deserve true friendship, commitment, true and complete love with healthy and prosperous people. Then wait and see how much everything begins to change. Don't waste time with people who are not worth it. Change will give you the love, the esteem, happiness and the protection you deserve."

Anthony Hopkins 

In the blink of an eye another day is gone,

In the blink of an eye another week is gone.

In the blink of an eye another month is gone,

In the blink of an eye another year is gone.

And in the blink of an eye I'll be gone too,

And not just me but also you.

So maybe we should be wishin' and hopin',

That we could just keep our eyes open.

And see and appreciate all that we can see,

And learn how we can be, the best that we can be,

Before it's too late,

Time flies, so let's not wait.

Whether we have just one life or many, one thing is true,

We should try to enjoy every moment we can; it's the wisest thing to do.

Author Unknown

+ here is a quote I share with you for the year ahead:

“If the world is to be healed through human efforts, I am convinced it will be by ordinary people, people whose love for this life is even greater than their fear.”

   

 

 

If Christmas is hard,

If you’ve lost someone dear.

Just look in your heart,

And you’ll know they’re still here.

The star in the sky,

the light falling snow.

The robins outside

it seem like they know.

If this is a time,

When you’re struggling through.

Just do what you can,

For what matters, is you.

There’s no need to be merry.

There’s no need to bright.

Just do what you can,

It will all be alright!

the drive to my parents’ house …my mum flinging open the front door, her Christmas pinny stained with the evidence of her baking delights. Their house festooned from top to bottom with twinkling lights and decorations from my childhood. There is nowhere in the world I would rather be at Christmas and I thank my parents for that”, writes an Irish woman abroad.

AN EXILES CHRISTMAS

It was Christmas eve in London,

And an Irishman, called Joe.

Stood by an upstairs window

That looked on the street below.

He could see the shoppers passing by,

Their voices filled with cheer.

As they shouted happy Christmas,

And a prosperous new year.

As he looked around the little room,

That for years had been his home.

He was fifty years in London,

Since he crossed the ocean foam.

His youthful days behind him now,

And his working days Long gone.

In retirement, his days were spent

On his own, to carry on.

He could hear a church bell ringing,

On the street across the way.

Where mass was celebrated, on

The eve of Christmas day.

Then a choir started singing, and

The strains of silent night,

Came drifting through the window.

Into Joe's old flat that night.

As he listened to the singing,

He began to shed a tear.

For he always felt emotional,

On Christmas eve each year.

When old memories came flooding back,

And his thoughts began to stray.

To his childhood days in Ireland,

Long ago and far away

He could see again the old thatched house,

At the corner of the lane.

Oh what he'd give to be a lad, and be

back there once again.

The candle in the window,

To light a Welcome way.

For the virgin and the Christ child,

On the eve of Christmas day.

The Holly and the ivy and the cards

Around the fire.

And his mother's Christmas cooking,

That would fill you with desire.

The boxes left for Santa Claus,

In the hopes that he would call.

With the toys to play on Christmas day,

The happiest times of all.

As his memories began to fade, reality

Set in.

He was back once more in London,

In his little flat again.

And he drew his coat around him, as he

Sat back in his chair.

And for all those in his memories, he

began to say a prayer.

And he asked the Lord to grant them rest,

In the land beyond the sky.

All the folks he once shared Christmas with,

In the happy years gone by.

Tomorrow at the centre, he will meet his

Old friend jack, an Irishman just like himself.

That never made it back.

They will have their Christmas Dinner,

and a glass or two of beer,

As they join their old acquaintances,

And the friends they love so dear.

Everybody has their party piece,

To raise a bit of cheer.

At their Christmas get-together.

In the centre every year.

So to all our Irish exiles, in lands

far off and near.

The blessing of this Christmas time we

wish you all this year.

And although we are divided by land

and sky, and foam,

A very merry Christmas from the Irish

Folks at home.

Martin O'Hara © 29/11/2021

At Christmas let us not forget

In a powerful display of solidarity, organisers and residents place 8,000 pairs of shoes at a Rotterdam square, each pair representing a Palestinian child killed by Israel in besieged Gaza

Thoughts for Christmas

 

A time when Times Square stood still at Christmas 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOg6pQjhvrI&ab_channel=TrueMillennial

THERE ARE SOME THINGS YOU DON’T NEED THIS CHRISTMAS

 

You don't need to have matching pyjamas

You don't need a perfect winter wonderland house

You don't need a sofa full of gifts

You don't need a Michelin star Christmas dinner

You don't need to be the perfect hostess

You don’t need to be ‘party dress ready’

You don't need to go into debt to prove your worth, your love, your friendship or your parental abilities.

Here are some things you do need…

You do need to give yourself a break

You do need to remember it’s  ‘time off’ - for you too

You do need to stop social-media comparing 

You do need to realise your time is worth more than a gift bought from a shop

You do need to breathe through the madness and repeat to yourself ‘peace, love, goodwill.’

And lastly, you do need to know that your children, your family or your friends will not remember the perfection or the money spent.

It’s a fact.

When they look back, they will recall the terrible jokes from the bad crackers, the time the turkey burned and you all ate cheese sandwiches and the feelings of warmth, happiness, love and togetherness you gave them, with your open heart and your open home.

And none of that will come from you rushing around the shops with impossible lists and a very bad headache.

So, as the month unfurls make this list the one you stick to and let the rest flow.

Spend time, be present and open up your heart to the season of goodwill.

Just as you are.

A Celebration - Rest in Peace Shane Mc Gowan.

 

Fairytale of New York

It was Christmas Eve babe
In the drunk tank
An old man said to me, won't see another one
And then he sang a song
The Rare Old Mountain Dew
I turned my face away
And dreamed about you

Got on a lucky one
Came in eighteen to one
I've got a feeling
This year's for me and you
So happy Christmas
I love you baby
I can see a better time
When all our dreams come true

They've got cars big as bars
They've got rivers of gold
But the wind goes right through you
It's no place for the old
When you first took my hand
On a cold Christmas Eve
You promised me
Broadway was waiting for me

You were handsome
You were pretty
Queen of New York City
When the band finished playing
They howled out for more
Sinatra was swinging
All the drunks they were singing
We kissed on a corner
Then danced through the night

The boys of the NYPD choir
Were singing Galway Bay
And the bells were ringing out
For Christmas day

You're a bum
You're a punk
You're an old slut on junk
Lying there almost dead on a drip in that bed
You scumbag, you maggot
You cheap lousy faggot
Happy Christmas your arse
I pray God it's our last

The boys of the NYPD choir
Still singing Galway Bay
And the bells are ringing out
For Christmas day

I could have been someone
Well so could anyone
You took my dreams from me
When I first found you
I kept them with me babe
I put them with my own
Can't make it all alone
I've built my dreams around you

The boys of the NYPD choir
Still singing Galway Bay
And the bells are ringing out
For Christmas day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9jbdgZidu8&ab_channel=ThePoguesOfficial 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptayWtW1So8&ab_channel=Consequence

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAsMLJ0lFN8&ab_channel=TheJournal 

 

Like a prayer - Bring them home.

 

On October 7, the Hamas terror group attacked Israel with over 3,000 gunmen, who burst through the border with the Gaza Strip, rampaging through southern communities, where they killed over 1,400 people, the vast majority civilians.- men, women and children — from the elderly to babies — and  then took with them many hostages back to Gaza.

Koolulam said : “We connected with the families of the abductees and together with them we want to do what we know best, which is to sing together and create a human harmony that asks the whole world to stand under a clear message: return the innocent citizens, children and elderly to the empty beds in their homes.”

Participating conductors from, among other locations, the United States, Japan, China, England, Ukraine, Chile, Germany, and the Netherlands, “mobilized at record speed to record with us a new arrangement of a song by Madonna.”

The conductors have been tasked with teaching the new version of the song to their local communities, “whether it’s from synagogues, churches, mosques, orchestras around the world - to raise awareness to demand the captives be released.

Life is a mystery                                                                                                                  Everyone must stand alone  ( I can feel your power)

“I hear you call my name
and it feels like home
I hear your voice
it’s like an angel sighing
I have no choice
I hear your voice
It feels like flying
I close my eyes
Oh God I think I’m falling
out of the sky
I close my eyes
heaven help me”

The chorus of the song then follows:

“When you call my name
its like a little prayer
I’m down on my knees
I wanna take you there
In the midnight hour, I can feel your power
Just like a prayer, you know I’ll take you there”

Just like a child whisper softly to me                                                                                    You're in control                                                                                                                 Just like a child now I'm dancing,                                                                                      It's like a dream no end and no beginning

You're here with me

It's like a dream

Let the choir sing (when you call my name)

Just like a prayer

Your voice can take me there

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQytZKz_QGM&list=RDOQytZKz_QGM&start_radio=1&ab_channel=MarceloKisilevski

 

   Mantra for the world:   " I am for Peace, that means I will always create Peace at Home, at School in the Workplace and in the World. "