Archive | April 2015

Planting Seeds <3

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“Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” – Martin Luther

I recently discovered an amazing, absolutely AMAZING music group called Empty Hands Music, the main singer is named Nimo Patel and he sings about love in every song. The kind of love he sings about is universal love, love for the world, life itself, and every living being. Universal Love means wishing everyone well no matter what, wanting everyone in the world to be happy (but not at the expense of others) even if those people don’t want the same for us in return, no matter what nationality, skin color, religious views, financial status, living situations, sexual orientation, political views, lifestyle, ethnicity, location in the world, education level…He sings about how it doesn’t matter if we pray to a god or are an atheist, it doesn’t matter what our views are, if we are full of gratitude for life or just trudging through life not thankful for a thing,  if we have a family or are on our own, if we act on lust or are celibate, old, young, single…none of it matters, we are all made the same, underneath we are all as One. And it’s good to have compassion and empathy for all living beings. 

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He sings about how amazing life is, the trees, the bugs, the people, the clouds in the sky, joy, sorrow, pain, the ants on the ground, hope for tomorrow, strength, lessons learned, everything near & far, everything and how thankful he is for it all. He sings about kindness and giving the world all that we can give. Give, give, give even if others do not give to us and even if they are not appreciative. All that matters is that we love. He sings about acceptance. Accepting life as it is. Working to better the world but knowing we won’t always succeed at everything and just try our best and accept the results. 

I can’t even decide which song is my favorite but I can now say they are my favorite music group as all of their songs are about loving others. And not just people we know but everyone everywhere. All around the world.  It’s the best thing ever. What a dream come true this group and this man is! Nimo Patel was rich and famous, a rap singer who admits that he thought he only cared about money and fame, thinking that is what life is, and he showed video clips of himself running around acting so cool in black shades with like a million fans chasing after him. Lol He had it all and thought he was living the life! Then one day he woke up and realized that’s not love and it’s not for him. So he gave it all up and now works in India helping financially poor and struggling people who have next to nothing financially and materially but have enough love in their hearts to heal the world! And that’s exactly what they’re all doing together!  They are children and adults, old and young, and they are all beautiful and he features them in his videos, people of all skin colors. Beautiful inside and out. He still sings but now he uses his talent of singing and song writing to change the world and touch lives for the better.  

There’s nothing wrong with being rich and famous or wanting to be. But it’s not good, in my opinion, to believe that’s more important than everything else. But rich and famous people can use their riches and fame for the common good, to bring awareness to and help out with causes that help people/animals. And some of them do! This life just wasn’t for him but the message isn’t that celebrities and rich/famous people should give it all up or can’t be loving. Actors bring characters in tv shows and movies to life to entertain us and inspire us, make us laugh and uplift us. Many of them donate money to organizations to help out in the world and the fact that they’re famous brings even more attention to those organizations. And singers and song writers can use their talent to touch people for the better. 

That’s what Nimo Patel does. 

I been listening to his songs and watching his videos for days now all day long! Lol 

The one I’m sharing here is “Planting Seeds.” This song is about acceptance. Like I said, accepting that the world is how it is. This doesn’t mean not working to change things for the better. It means doing just that, working hard wherever we go to make the world a better place for all of us, doing simple things each day to make each life we encounter a little bit better, then surrendering, disowning the situation and accepting whatever outcome occurs, accepting that we will not always succeed how we hoped. We may “fail” and things will not work out, we may not see results, we may not even be around to see if we succeed in our endeavors but that doesn’t even matter. We don’t even have to see it! Just plant those seeds and let go! Whatever happens will happen.  

“…but the roots are always growin’ no matter if I’m there or never around…whatever grows will grow, whatever dies will die, whatever works will work, whatever flies will fly, whatever fails will fail, what’s meant to soar will soar, I am planting seeds, nothing more.” 

“It’s like your whole life you’ve been training for this moment 
And when the time comes you just disown it,
Meaning you just surrender don’t control it…”

“But now we’re learning when we let it go, it overflows 
With no credit to take cuz no credit is owned.”

“…but the real gold is joy, when life starts to flow
And when it does, you just smile, cuz now you know!” 

I love these lyrics. This message is all about planting seeds of love and kindness everywhere we go even if we won’t be around to see the results, planting those seeds without expecting credit or anything in return. Pay someone a compliment even if you don’t know if that person will warmly receive it, and if the person doesn’t seem uplifted or touched by your sweet compliment, be happy anyway, write a sweet message to someone on a blog or social media account even if you may not get a message back and still be happy you wrote the message even if you don’t get a response, it’s not about us being appreciated in return, it’s about genuinely wanting to touch others for the better, follow blogs you like and share them even without asking for that favor to be returned, buy a homeless person a coffee, look into a stranger’s eyes and smile and be happy you did even if s/he doesn’t smile back, give tips to people working in coffee shops even when they don’t seem friendly, plant those seeds of lovingkindness even when no one is looking or listening to know you are expressing lovingkindness. Even if it doesn’t work out how you hoped. At least you tried. And that counts for something, it’s a beautiful way to live! 

We cannot and do not have to control the outcome or stress about the results. All we can do is try our best. We don’t have to feel low, feel regret, feel like we worked for nothing if we don’t see the results we hoped for or don’t see any results. All that truly matters is that we plant those seeds, leaving a trail of love everywhere we go! 

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Remember:

“…whatever grows will grow, whatever dies will die, whatever works will work, whatever flies will fly, whatever fails will fail, what’s meant to soar will soar, I am planting seeds, nothing more.”

And be all that you can be.

Here is the video for the song! 

Desktop:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&persist_app=1&v=ZhcKIGCE_Pk

Mobile:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhcKIGCE_Pk

Much love to you! And don’t forget to plant those seeds of love today! ❤

Xoxo Kim ❤

Tact

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“Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy.” ~ Sir Isaac Newton

I think one of the main reasons for hostile arguing and being at each other’s throats over politics, religious views, and any other topic is not even the disagreement itself but our attitude about it and tone of voice/writing. I’m definitely not innocent of having a defensive or hostile or mocking tone while writing or speaking about certain issues, especially politics, before even getting into a debate or conversation. There have been occasions I had a strong view and wasn’t very kind about it. This provokes others to respond unkindly then further perpetuates the animosity and unkindness. The older and wiser I got, I learned to be much better in general with stating my views on any topic. Now I’m very good at remaining calm, kind, and civilized even when others are not.
It is much easier to accept opposing views when people are tactful and kind when stating them. We don’t have to all agree on everything. We can be great friends with people of different opinions and love them just as much as those with more similar views to our own. 
This doesn’t mean not having or stating opinions. It doesn’t mean avoiding controversial topics just not to offend each other. I don’t avoid controversial topics when they come up. I gladly share my views and listen to others. It just means being kind about it, being respectful of other people even when they have opinions that we do not find favorable.  

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“So let’s leave it alone, ’cause we can’t see eye to eye
There ain’t no good guy, there ain’t no bad guy
There’s only you and me and we just disagree” ~ Dave Mason 

Some people feel we have to become aggressive over things especially politics it seems. Then there are those who feel we have to never ever discuss politics or religion or any controversial views. Then there are those “social chameleons” who having changing views depending upon who they are with. I disagree with all three. It’s great to get to know each other, open up to different views, see different points, be honest about our own views, and be kind. We can be firm and assertive and stand our ground while still being very loving. 

“I ain’t lookin’ for you to feel like me
See like me or be like me
All I really want to do
Is, baby, be friends with you.” ~ Bob Dylan ❤

The next occasion we find ourselves in the face of a controversial debate or conversation, let’s give tact a try! 😀 Lovingkindness is more important than being right! 

😀

Xoxo Kim ❤