Clothes For My Pimples

Photo by Justin Veenema. Source: unsplash.com

Treat it for what it is. A minute real estate on your face with very little resale value for the next few weeks.

Why do we wear clothes?

Go ahead and google it. It’s amusing to see how the web manages to give relevant answers to questions like these.

We wear clothes for protection, for decoration and mostly to keep what’s private, private.

When Adam and Eve ate from the forbidden fruit. they lost the glory of God that clothed them and they clothed themselves with leaves.

I sometimes wish I had clothes for other stuff. Like pimples and scars.

My skin has a thing for pimples. Despite my mother’s incessant instructions not to pop them, I still do it. And because of this habit I had trouble walking with my head held up high when I was in school. People sometimes don’t see how much pimples can affect someone. It was torture for me. My face used to shrink to the size of a small spot. Metaphorically, of course.

Here I was, a teenage kid with a lot of potential. I had everything going for me. I mean, I did struggle a bit during high school with academics (regardless of which I ended up at my dream university) but other than that, I was doing great. I loved meeting people and having a good conversation. The only thing that kept me from enjoying every single minute of my day most days was the number of pimples on my face. That’s sad.

You do get better at living with your pimples. It gets easier. But I didn’t want to live with them. If I was not responsible for them and they were going to be a part of my life regardless, I could not afford to let them be even the slightest of my worries.

I learnt, though at a very slow pace, that nobody actually cared about my pimples. At least not as much as I thought they did. I also learnt that sometimes not every part of who you are will serve your confidence and that you have to choose what to focus on.

Me being a born-again Christian, realised that it is in God that my value is found. It is his glory that now clothed me and made me who I was. That realisation helped me a lot.

You, dear reader, have to realise that I am talking about a problem that is nothing compared to the millions of problems that are out there. But it definitely is one. Which is why I thought I should talk about how hurtful it could be when you stare at somebody’s pimple or even point it out in public. Even when it seems like it’s no big deal.

Before I go, to all my friends with pimples: Really, it’s not a big deal. Don’t worry too much. Treat it for what it is. A minute real estate on your face with very little resale value for the next few weeks. If you really want to make a mountain out of it, call them volcanoes of purity or call yourself pompously pimplified. I hope that was not gross.

Anyway, if you’ve actually read till here, you deserve an award. Please claim my respect by saying a hi in the comments. Joking. You don’t have to do that. I love you all nevertheless.

Have a blast just existing!

A great quote

Hey guys,

Just wanted to drop in and share with you a great quote I just read over at the blog of one of my dear friends, Stuart L. Tutt. It just brightened up my day 🙂

‘You will also realize that despite the fact you can’t find pants that actually fit you, your body size is perfect. It is exactly that way God designed you to be. You will eventually come to terms with it.’ – Stuart L. Tutt

Go check out his blog at https://stubaby777.wordpress.com/

I’m sure you’ll be inspired. God bless you all! 🙂

A Word On Why Your Words Matter

Dear……..……….

It’s me again. Today I had a really long class. I was so tired after that, that I just walked back to my room and dropped on my bed. After food today, I felt like going out. The night was so young and beautiful. I decided to sit down for some cold lemon tea. I took the longer road this time to get to the tea stall. It’s always nice to take the longer road. You get to say hi to some people and make some small talk. Leaves a smile on your face by the time you reach your destination. I decided to go through some great posts. And I was sitting there reading, sipping my tea, I thought of how much the WordPress community meant to me. It’s such a joy to come here and be encouraged. Over the past two years, I’ve made friends like you who are so good at building people up. And that’s what keeps me hooked. I am still growing.

As human beings, we are constantly looking for affirmation from the other. Every single moment of our lives, we are looking for a smile, a wave, a nod, anything that makes us people worth something. What’s behind our hunger for attention and affirmation?

I looked around. I was halfway down my tea. I tend to do that a lot. I eat and drink faster when I am thinking. I could see the football ground from where I was sitting. Some students were kicking a ball around, getting ready for a match. I turned back to my tea. I’ve heard some people say that our thirst for approval has a lot to do with our need to survive. We want proof that we are relevant. That we are still in the game, still part of the society. I guess that’s one way of looking at it.

But then there is also the possible connection of external affirmation with the approval you give yourself. In this sense, everyone you see, is a mirror. A mirror you look into to evaluate yourself. You see someone and you immediately compare them with yourself. The standards here are usually set by society. They are in a way, universal. You see a bad character in someone and you immediately search for that character in yourself. The disgust you feel towards that character is something you do not want to be associated with. So you scrummage through your past, you comb through your present and you make laws for the future. You see a good quality and you do the same. In this evaluation, you create multiple pictures of yourself that are different. It’s a process that goes on. You are in effect, constantly updating yourself on who you are.

I know I’m boring you. But here’s the point- affirmation does matter.

It is connected with something that is so sensitive- a person’s idea of who he is.

We as human beings, should be aware of this fact. A hurtful word that you can avoid, must be avoided. A smile and a wave never hurt anyone. Of course. there are times when you will have to correct a friend. Correction when done with care, brings about respect and trust.

Teasing and making fun of somebody can seem very harmless, especially when among friends. But essentially when you go down to it, the person at the receiving end feels irrelevant, insignificant and lonely. The Bible has a verse that talks about how with the same tongue you praise God, you curse men, who were made in His likeness. We both need to work on our words, me and you.

So let’s lift people up rather than bring them down. Let’s smile and wave whenever we can and let us be the someone who always has a spare shoulder for others to cry on.

Here at WordPress, I’ve always felt love and encouragement from everyone. That’s what makes it special for me. You keep coming back here, taking your precious time and using it to read what I write. And for that I adore you. So thank you.

I would love to hear from you.

What makes WordPress special for you? Please comment. And thank you once again for reading!

God bless!

Yours,

Stefan

Beat The System

‘The world will only be it’s best when the people do what they do best.’

Experience.

It’s amazing what that word in it’s reality can do to your life. It lies at the foundations of adventure and lurks behind the word ‘change’. It is a knowledge no money can buy. Experience, in its application in daily life, offers a sense of security of sorts. You face your fears and gain experience to overcome it. If you’re an astronaut, before you shoot off into space, they give you a taste of what it’s going to be like. Just so that you don’t freak out!

We need experience to live the way we live today.

Imagine you’ve never even seen or experienced winter or snow. Imagine the world has always been warm and sunny. Then one day, you feel this cold that you’ve never felt before. All of a sudden, this white stuff starts falling from the sky. And as the days go by, it starts to pile up stopping traffic and shutting down schools. And then, everybody starts going bonkers. The Governments bring up all these possible reasons, scientists start showing up on reality shows and theatres start showing movies of the sky falling down in 3D. Total Chaos.

Why isn’t this happening in our world today?

Because we know. We know about seasonal changes. We know winter. We’ve experienced it. From an age when all we cared about was milk, we’ve felt it. And so when the seasons change and when it gets rough, we remind ourselves it’s going to change, like it always has. We save ourselves from unnecessary shock by going back to ‘experience’.

But there’s a catch.

Experience works only when there is a certain level of consistency in our lives. Experience becomes useful only when we live in a system.

What does that mean?

If each morning I wake up, I am in a different country, my experience from yesterday is not going to help, is it? The systems have changed. Being part of a system you know, helps you to use your experience from the past to avoid unnecessary shock and fear. And an environment like that is where development happens.

We need systems to develop because systems help us to use our experiences from the past.

Now, I’m a teenager who just got out of school. I am in an education system. We are all part of a long list of systems. Now in the light of what I just said,

Why do we need an education system?

We need an education system to avoid the uncertainty of how our lives are going to turn out. We need it to avoid possible future shocks. We need it to insure our future. Now it’s easy. Like a simple equation of x + y = z. You put in the effort and the grades and you get a good life. There’s order here. Now it’s no longer like seeing winter for the first time. You know the system, you know the future.

Or do you?

Today, many kids my age, put a gun to their heads because they think they’ve figured it all out. They look at the system, the system they know and are taught from day 1. They put in their grades and out come the result: ‘you loose’. So they come to the conclusion that their life is done.

We need systems, yes. But sometimes, they may be wrong. Our systems have been known to kick out many people. Can you sing? Big deal. This guy just put a rocket in space. You’re an artist? Big deal. This guy just made an engine.

Our systems are flawed and they’ll never be perfect. Knowing that is important . Why?

Because that might just save you. Grades are not everything. The score is not everything. You don’t have to crawl up in a corner and stamp SOS on yourself just because you didn’t pass your exam. Beat the system. Show them you exist and that there are people like you who deserve to be in the system and be a part of progress.

The God who made us knows the real system, the system that brings together every person on the world. Listen to him.

There are things in life that you need to change, but there are also things in life that you should never lose. Don’t lose them and beat the system. Keep them and beat it.

Like I said,

‘The world will only be it’s best when the people do what they do best.’

So, if you are out there and you are listening to me. Maybe you’re having a hard time. Maybe your talent deserves more than you get. Don’t settle for less and leave it behind. Keep it. Don’t let any system cut it out from you. Your talent is a gift only you can throw away. And when they tell you you’re a loser because you didn’t make straight As, don’t crawl up and cry. Stand up and throw away those labels. And then, beat the system.

What do you think about this?

Comment. Share. Be a part of the movement.

Thank you for being a part of the 4D family. 🙂

God bless!

The Grand Canyon Perspective

Wow! It’s been a very very long time since I last got on this ‘write’ page. It’s like walking into your room after 4 years away in college( I am not there yet. Let’s slow down!)

Anyway, after about 20 reminders yelling at me to find the time to write a post about something in the sticky notes flying  on my bedroom wall and a 4 mile walk back to my house because I got on the wrong bus, I thought I should get back to this.

Today, I am going to talk to you guys about how we often appreciate beauty. Many of you who have been reading my blogs know how I like to talk about the ‘human perspective’. This is about how we look at life.

I learned earlier today that life is not a destination, it is a journey. The very theory that life is going to turn into this wonderful picture while you’re still alive and walking on this earth is what usually drives us. But the truth is that there is always something more in life. The reason why many people often feel depressed when they have everything is because they thought that once you ‘have everything’, you become that full picture that brings ultimate satisfaction. When the realisation strikes on how the picture needs a lot more strokes, you break down and with that breakdown, comes the increased attention to the missing and the lost.

Now, let me take you to your backyard garden or your city park. You are out there enjoying the wind on your face, that great big powerful force minimised to that luxurious breeze, you are breathing in the fresh air and you are enjoying the magnificent flowers. God was extremely gracious to us in making flowers. They are really something ‘extra’ like the great Sherlock Holmes said. He wants us to live life to the full and that is why he came down himself. The very beauty in the flower, I believe, lies in many things. But today, I would like to take you to the ‘smallness’ of a flower. When you look at a flower you get to see the entire thing. You can see everything from the stalk to the edges of the petals and it amazes you beyond words how this amazing picture that produces great satisfaction could be packed into something so small.

Our appreciation of beauty is in many situations, based on our visual reach. Imagine you are at the Grand Canyon. You are there in you taxi and your watching it from a kilometre distance. Now, I want you to turn into that 90s movie director who zooms the camera in like crazy. You are zooming in and  zooming in until you reach that small blurred patch of orange rock. Imagine all you could see was that small bit of rock, that bit you see when you press your face against the Grand Canyon. Not very interesting. Right? But now zoom back out. You are back to your spot and you get to see the entire thing and you just love it.

We want ‘complete’ to think about ‘perfect‘, That’s just how the human mind works.

Today, are we going after that final picture?

The Grand Canyon is amazing and will stay amazing, whether or not you look at it from your taxi or from a millimetre distance. The resources for the making of that final picture we look for has been given by God to us. They may not be materialising into a great picture today, but they are still amazing because they are what creates the final picture in the future. Is it not time yet for us to stop striving for the final picture and start thinking about what we want our life to look like today? Because that picture in the end will be great only if you start thinking about life as a journey, a mix of many todays filled with great potential, todays that are steps away from the small picture that lets us see more of what God has in store for us.

Now, I am going to talk about how we want our life to look like.

As a Christian, I want my life to look like what God wants it to look like, because I believe that none of my plans or standards of success will ever match His.

Be what God wants you to be today. Don’t worry about the final picture. The real beauty does not lie in the results but it lies in who you are, in the resources that God has given you. As long as you breath, you can believe in a tomorrow. And if today does not work out, tomorrow is still there for you. Today, may be like you pressing your face on the Grand Canyon. But with every today, considering you are true to yourself and to God, you will be seeing more of the Grand Canyon and finally somebody else is going to see it from a taxi on their journey and get inspired by it!

Daily Prompt: Priceless

via Daily Prompt: Priceless  

Priceless. The word that we often overestimate and underestimate at the same time.

Since civilization began, we have always tried to categorize ‘stuff’, which is a synonym for the unlimited things around us.

We did accomplish that to a certain extent. Which led to what we see around us. Jobs, taxes, shops. Everything. This urge to categorize was stimulated by the ‘first list’.

What in the world is the first list?

The first list is that in which everything is priceless. I believe when man started his journey everything was priceless. But as time went on many of the things that were ‘priceless’ became a daily part of our lives and new things replaced them.

As time went on, globalization thrived and individuality became fashion. Somewhere along the way, we started to look back and develop the past. The past, which we had kept at the back of our closet in our pursuit of success, suddenly became ‘priceless’. A classic example of how our priorities change with time.

Human development occurs in what I call the expansion to the peripheries. We learn something, experiment it, and then move on to the next. We don’t collect the info and then develop it. This creates fluctuation in what we term as priceless. What is priceless today may not be priceless tomorrow.

But what really stands out as priceless in today’s world, is peace, love, trust and all the valuable things that came to our attention when the words ‘society’ and ‘community’ became unavoidable.

I heard someone say, you become depressed at two points in your life. When you have nothing and when you have everything. When you have everything, you become weary of pleasure. You realize what really constitutes human nutrition.

For the beggar, what is priceless to him is food, clothing and a decent home. To the celebrity, it is peace and purpose in life that is priceless.

In a world like today, what is priceless is a moral standard. Something that will hold our emotions together. But when it comes down to it I know what is priceless and will remain priceless- life. No matter who we are or who we become it will always remain so. This one point is what everything I said comes down to. So, this week love the life you have. Value it. Treasure it. I found life when I found Jesus. It’s been a ride ever since. I’ve realized there is so much more to life than we see on the outside. We often complain about life. I know it is hard to take advice from a 17-year-old but life is happening right now and you have to live it to love it.

God bless. . . .
Priceless

Planning Conversations

Many of you would be wondering about this title. It has nothing to do with the scientific side of the world of conversations though.

Hmmm. . . 

How in the world should I start this post.

Well, let’s just say, I am talking about planning for the future.

From this simple start, all you mathematical supercomputers out there( which I unfortunately am not, yet) can figure out the whole post. Put the title of this post along with what I just said and you get:

Planning conversations= Planning the future.

Bingo!

But this necessarily does not mean what you may have deducted by the standard rules of mathematics. Which is why I want you to  keep on reading.

Funny right?

A great psychologist once said that a conversation is like a game of catch. You throw a ball to someone and he/ she throws it back to you.

There is one point that stood out from the many thoughts that passed my mind when I read this.

The success of this ancient game lies in how well you are able to catch an incoming ball and how well you are able to throw it back. The first part is usually the harder one.

So what does this have to do with planning for the future?

Well let me tell you.
Imagine future is a person. You and this imaginary person is having a conversation. You had played this moment in your mind for the past many years. Let’s just say it’s an interview for your dream job. You have practiced the lines. But at the interview, future asks you questions you never thought he would. You stammer.

The End.

Well this is what the future turns out for most of us. We try to plan everything not realizing that the future has some things planned out too.

So what do we do?

Well, that is where God comes in. He knows the full picture. Trusting him can give you a guarantee that no other thing in this world can give.

So, plan everything keeping in mind that God has the eraser. . . .

The coloured question. . .

For the last few days, I was trying to figure out the answer to a very silly question.

Why is almost every plant on our planet green? Why wasn’t it all blue?

I am not asking you why we see it as green, I am asking you why it was made green in the first place.

Really??!!!

I know it’s a crazy question but for every silly question, there is a probability for an equally reactive answer that may be incredibly deep.

Though I am strong Christian and absolutely a theist, I decided to think about this rationally. Just to see where it leads.

Want to know my answer?

I would love to tell you what it is in a short sentence, but it was a picture. It was a picture of different textures. Some of it was done in watercolour, some in pencil, some in oil. But it created many layers.

My first approach was imagining an earth were all the green plants were replaced with an other colour. Man, I just wanted to run away. Let’s just describe it as disturbing.

One thought led to another.

Green for me, was one of the best colours that would fit for nature.

Well, I was born into green nature, so it could just be that I am so used to it. But there are things we are born into, colours we don’t like even though it may have been a part of our lives for a long time.

Here, came the first train of thoughts I took.

It doesn’t matter what theory you believe in. It doesn’t matter if it’s evolution or the Big Bang. Or maybe you are a theist like me.

The question is can you explain the love of one creation for another.

If it was just a big bang or a long process of evolution, what possibility is there that the end products will still be able to appreciate each other’s beauty?

There has to be a predesigned plan.

For a long time, we have been throwing God out of the equation. We like to think of ourselves as independent.

When I thought about this, I was amazed. I was able to enjoy nature to an extent that I could not explain it. Wow!!!

The emotional stability and the unknown equation that helps us to respond in a way that others can understand our feelings is in itself a miracle.

Science has helped us to stare with wonder at the magnificent blueprints of life. But the purest form of enjoyment lies in the simple and humble beauty.

I don’t know if I am able to completely convey to you everything I learnt from this one truth. I hope you got something. God bless you. Enjoy the beauty around you today and thank God for making it in a way that surpasses your understanding and imagination.

Where there’s a shadow

I just had a great and fabulous Sunday and despite me having a test tomorrow, I decided to talk to you. First of all I would like to thank all of you who supported my blog for the past 2 months. Sharing my life with you has been a great experience.

We all know Newton’s law- ‘For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.’

Sometimes I think of how this applies to the abstract things in our lives. We all know the saying- ‘One man’s gain is another man’s loss.’

Not a saying you would always like to talk about but true to an amazing extent.

But I would like to bring it into a picture that maybe you can look back to when you feel like you’ve got no hope.

We’ve all been in the dark rooms of life. Sometimes wherever you look, shadows surround you and haunt you. But this is what I’d like to tell you.

Where there’s a shadow, there’s a light. I heard this line in a song that always moves me- ‘Road to Zion’ by Petra.

When I hear that line. Newton’s law passes my mind. If every reaction had an equal and opposite reaction. .. . .

I tried to put it into perspective.

I’d like to put it like this.

The greater the intensity of the shadow, the greater the intensity of the light.

When you feel like you are going through hell, know that there’s something before you that God has put into place that will balance out the bends and bruises you are facing. God might be letting you face it so that he can polish you, mould you and help you to enjoy the light before you with a much greater perspective and joy. But in the meantime, he will be by your side, guiding you.

So, don’t give up hope. Keep pushing on.

This planet will never be the same without you in it. Because you are unique and you have a unique influence.

Sometimes, the vastness and the large number of people walking on our planet makes us think of how ordinary we are. But the truth is that the larger the number, the more valuable your uniqueness is.

So know that you are valuable.

Lots of love and God bless you indeed. .. .

The diary entry in the cupboard

Just now, as I was rummaging in my cupboard, I came across a piece of paper. I had written this more than a year back when my grandpa died. I wanted to share it with all of you. I wrote this when he died, sitting on my bed after returning from the hospital. I want to dedicate this to every grandpa and grandchild and I hope you will build up on that relationship more after reading this.

 

‘Life has given man a lot of mysteries to solve. But the simplest, and yet, the most complicated of them all is the strong bond between a father and a son, a daughter and her mother, grandparents and grandchildren and the relationship among siblings. Walk into a hospital that so often takes away the mundane mist of life. A tear drops from the eyes of the wounded relative of a deceased soul and makes its mark on the shining hospital floors, but its life lasts only a few glistening moments as it is trodden upon by another, declaring the arrival of a new soul into their family. The tear is no more, neutralised by another tear of joy. This is life. These thoughts passed my mind as I waited outside the emergency ICU, waiting for information. My mother crying, not able to stop the pictures of her father from a lifetime that was ebbing away showing that life is transient. Me and my mother were the last people to see him alive. I could not believe it. When I was a toddler, grandpa was an immortal, someone who would be there for everything. He was one of the most influential people in my life. He was an evangelist who stood up for what he believed in, no matter what others said. Their mocking laughs would bounce off him with such ease that I was sometimes surprised. To me, even today, nearing the end of my teenage years, his life is still the greatest legend. I was his only grandson and the eldest and I had such a wonderful relationship with him. Mother used to say I was his prince. He really did see me like a prince and he used to say it too. He was the greatest entertainer and the greatest thinker I’ve known. My grandpa passed down a lot of priceless things to me. Finding them has been the greatest of all experiences. He wanted me to know God and live a life worth living. He was a man of status but he used to bend down and take in people others tend to avoid. He was an inspiration. A man of tremendous patience, love, honour and humour, kindness, principles and value, we’ll never forget him for who he was.’

I am sharing this with you so that you will realise how great a relationship can be. It is the greatest philosophy.

So often life can be like a white blank room with only you and your shadow. But that shadow will tell you that somewhere in the blankness of life, there is a light shining. That is what relationships can do. It will be that part of you that will stick close by you and point you to the light. It will give you hope and lead you to the right place. In my case, it led me to God. It was the people around me that made me realise that God is no myth. God is a living truth. And today,  he is my best friend. He loved me by giving his life for me and he taught me to learn to give my life for others. That’s what Jesus did for me.

So spend your time on building up your relationships more this week. Ask God to bring into your life more people you can touch and heal. God bless you!!!!!