Bravery

It takes bravery to be oneself.
Ones self ungarded.
To be open like a vulnerable blade of grass, weed or flower between two pieces of sidewalk on a busy thoroughfare.
Open to the whim of the elements and the egos passing by
And choosing not to protect oneself from what may be. How many ceaseless hours are spent trying to protect the unprotectable from what may be?
Pain has taught us this and rightfully so. It has been etched on our souls by those we love, and through no fault of their own they have only passed on what they have learned, what they have been taught as it were by all those teachings that are silent, not having a tongue yet boom in the quiet of the tense house as a thunder that cannot be blocked out.
Bravery is not to fight. Fighting is the easiest thing and also the ugliest. Fighting is the doorway to the horrors of man. Protecting the castle and fighting to the teeth is second nature to man. There is no glory in that as glories go. Necessity maybe, glory no.
Bravery doesn't glimmer or shine in the reflection of those Hollywood eyes. Bravery is drab and plain, fresh out of pretense and camoflage, and doesn't mind being alone knowing there are far worse things.
Bravery is measured within the recesses of itself to it's own with a feel that is intimate and personal, known only to the one. Bravery that needs proving is not bravery.
Bravery just might be the end of war rather than the begining of it.

Wishing You a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 

Love The Irish

Paddy was driving down the street in a sweat because he had an important meeting and couldn't find a parking place.   Looking up to heaven he said, 'Lord take pity on me.   If you find me a parking place I will go to Mass every Sunday for the rest of me life and give up me Irish Whiskey!' 

Miraculously, a parking place appeared.

Paddy looked up again and said, 'Never mind, I found one.'

ababab

Father Murphy walks into a pub in Donegal, and asks the first man he meets, 'Do you want to go to heaven?' 

The man said, 'I do, Father.'

The priest said, 'Then stand over there against the wall.'

Then the priest asked the second man, 'Do you want to go to heaven?'

'Certainly, Father,' the man replied. 

'Then stand over there against the wall,' said the priest.

Then Father Murphy walked up to O'Toole and asked, 'Do you want to go to heaven?'

O'Toole said, 'No, I don't Father.' 

The priest said, 'I don't believe this.   You mean to tell me that when you die you don't want to go to heaven?'

O'Toole said, 'Oh, when I die , yes.   I thought you were getting a group together to go right now.'

ababab

Paddy was in   New York  .

He was patiently waiting and watching the traffic cop on a busy street crossing.   The cop stopped the flow of traffic and shouted, 'Okay, pedestrians.'   Then he'd allow the traffic to pass.

He'd done this several times, and Paddy still stood on the sidewalk.

After the cop had shouted, 'Pedestrians!' for the tenth time, Paddy went over to him and said, 'Is it not about time ye let the Catholics across?'

ababab

Gallagher opened the morning newspaper and was dumbfounded to read in the obituary column that he had died.   He quickly phoned his best friend, Finney. 

'Did you see the paper?' asked Gallagher. 'They say I died!!'

'Yes, I saw it!' replied Finney.   'Where are ye callin' from?'

ababab

An Irish priest is driving down to   New York   and gets stopped for speeding in  Connecticut  .   The state trooper smells alcohol on the priest's breath and then sees an empty wine bottle on the floor of the car. 

He says, 'Sir, have you been drinking?'

'Just water,' says the priest.

The trooper says, 'Then why do I smell wine?'

The priest looks at the bottle and says, 'Good Lord! He's done it again!'

ababab

Walking into the bar, Mike said to Charlie the bartender, 'Pour me a stiff one - just had another fight with the little woman.' 

'Oh yeah?' said Charlie, 'And how did this one end?'

'When it was over,' Mike replied, 'She came to me on her hands and knees.'

'Really,' said Charles, 'Now that's a switch!   What did she say?' 

She said, 'Come out from under the bed, you little chicken.'

ababab

Patton staggered home very late after another evening with his drinking buddy, Paddy.   He took off his shoes to avoid waking his wife, Kathleen. 

He tiptoed as quietly as he could toward the stairs leading to their upstairs bedroom, but misjudged the bottom step.   As he caught himself by grabbing the banister, his body swung around and he landed heavily on his rump.   A whiskey bottle in each back pocket broke and made the landing especially painful. 

Managing not to yell, Patton sprung up, pulled down his pants, and looked in the hall mirror to see that his butt cheeks were cut and bleeding.   He managed to quietly find a full box of Band-Aids and began putting a Band-Aid as best he could on each place he saw blood.

He then hid the now almost empty Band-Aid box and shuffled and stumbled his way to bed. 

In the morning, Patton woke up with searing pain in both his head and butt and Kathleen staring at him from across the room. 

She said, 'You were drunk again last night weren't you?'

Patton said, 'Why you say such a mean thing?'

'Well,' Kathleen said, 'it could be the open front door, it could be the broken glass at the bottom of the stairs, it could be the drops of blood trailing through the house, it could be your bloodshot eyes, but mostly ....... it's all those Band-Aids stuck on the hall mirror.

 

Blessings Wearing the Mask of Challenge

I find myself sometimes in the boat of mislabeling some great blessings in life. These are often the ones that at first glance disguise themselves as hardships. I think that initial fear is often a good indicator of a great opportunity. I think that one can look at anything from at least two sides if not more. How we approach it is often a determinate factor as to what follows down the line as well. What comes first--the thought and then the resultant manifestation or the manifestation then the response of thought which leads to manifestation based on that thought? I would bet that thought is the origin or genesis of the chain.
Hardships give us the opportunity to rise to the occasion and in that choice lies the future. What will it be? How do we respond to the challenge that is presented? Do we see ourselves as the victim to somebody or some force and thereby give our power away or do we make the changes that are necessary, see the scene through beneficient light and 'step up to the plate'?
I ask this question because many times the things in our life that were cathartic to our greatest, most profound growth and change did not appear 'rosy' initially. In fact, they may not even appear 'rosy' years later, but also years later there may be no denying where they led us or that they were instrumental in order that we might take our life, or our spirituality, or our beliefs 'to the next level'.
It's not that these events have to happen, but without them it may be that most of us would be content to live on our little block of sidewalk not changing much of anything or doing any real life renovation. These things can and do take us out of our 'comfort zone', and while that may not be pleasant, it can and does keep us moving and changing with the river of life and that, in and of itself, can be a blessing in disguise.