Life's Jigsaw - Character

Life is like a jigsaw puzzle. Each little piece is an aspect of our journey through it. And when at last we find that last piece and fit it into place, we eventually see the meaning of this life.

UBC Day 3
The C piece - Character

All things in life must balance, so when we receive blessings, we should also be prepared for some rough moments too.

But the rough or difficult moments are great teachers.

And it is in those moments that our true strength of character shows.

Some years ago someone at work abused and insulted me. She was a powerful lady with a lot of clout. Obviously I had no chance against her and luckily for me the project got cancelled and so I left.

At a moment like that it is very easy to either play the victim or behave in a similar manner. But that would not have helped me in any way.

I was quite dejected and it took a while for me to get back on my feet again. The women had shattered my confidence but not my dignity, not my self respect and not the respect of others towards me as I behaved professionally and graciously toward her. I could look at her, but she couldn't look at me. I left with my head held high with the best wishes of my managers and workmates some of whom I still keep in touch with.

Friends told me I should take action against her and the managers who stood by and did nothing. But revenge only keeps that cycle of karma going for what goes around then comes around. There is no escape as that is the law of the Universe. Besides which, when karma and God are sweet revenge why bother taking on that additional burden!

I did however tell those managers that I did not accept their silence as that only condoned her actions, but I did understand their reason for it.

As all things must balance, the difficult times are then neutralised by blessings and so the benevolent Universe soothed and comforted me by bringing to me some awesome jobs and wonderful managers and workmates.

Adversity builds character.

I'm a better person as a result of that incident.

"You express the truth of your character with the choice of your actions"

 ~ Steve Maraboli

Written for: A to Z Challenge and The Ultimate Blogging Challenge


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Life's Jigsaw - Blessings

Life is like a jigsaw puzzle. Each little piece is an aspect of our journey through it. And when at last we find that last piece and fit it into place, we eventually see the meaning of this life.

UBC Day 2
The B piece - Blessings

So when we ask and it is given, we consider ourselves blessed.

When we find that great job, fancy house and car etc, we consider ourselves blessed.

When money starts to pour in, we consider ourselves blessed.

There was a time when I too looked at the materialistic things in life as blessings, didn't appreciate all the things I had in my life, craved for more and more.

Then about 10 years ago, the Gods above started to throw me some curved balls. These are moments of great learning. If only we understand and care to learn.

And then 4 years ago it dealt me the biggest blow of all. My father passed away unexpectedly and suddenly. It shook me to the core.

I missed him so much - all the little things - breakfast with him each morning - a cup of tea now and then on the weekend - sudoku puzzles - reciting Rabindranath Tagore's "Where the mind is without fear" together, watching cricket or tom and jerry cartoons - playing trivial pursuit - watching him play with my kids - and many more.

His death taught me the meaning of life - to appreciate whatever is thrown our way, to also see the small things as great blessings, that this life is but a transitory moment in time and that we come with nothing and we go with nothing.

All we take with us are the knowledge we acquire, our experiences in this journey we call life, the choices we make, and the love that we share.

Blessings come in small packages every moment of every day.

My family, friends and wonderful workmates
The food on my table
Clean fresh air, the wind, the sunshine
Night time and sleep (rest heals our body)
Good health, the ability to see hear, speak, smell, taste, think
The hills I see each morning
The trees and flowers in my garden
The birds that drop by to feed on left over bread

And there are so many more little packages.

Be Blessed, Stay Blessed.


Written for: A to Z Challenge and The Ultimate Blogging Challenge


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Life's Jigsaw - Ask and it is given

Life is like a jigsaw puzzle. Each little piece is an aspect of our journey through it. And when at last we find that last piece and fit it into place, we eventually see the meaning of this life.

UBC Day 1
The A piece  - Ask and it is given  

Really? Oh yes, really.

When I was young I asked and asked and asked.

I asked for that boy, that house, that car, that job, that winning lotto ticket, that perfect body and so on.

I was on the right track wasn't I?  Nearly every spiritual or new age or religious book I read confirmed those words. In fact some of them even went as far as saying visualise, describe in detail, feel it, live it etc etc.

So why wasn't anything given?

And then as the years went on and I grew older and hopefully wiser and as all of those "thats" sailed slowly by  the meaning of ask and it is given started to take shape. The trigger for that was a youtube video - I forget which one - where one line stood out for me and started to take shape in my mind - "It's the way in which you are asking".

It's not that the Universe doesn't want to give, it's in the way we're asking.

It's not that the Universe doesn't give, it's just given in a way we don't expect and hence don't appreciate what we're given until hindsight kicks in and we eventually realise that what we've been given is even greater and more beautiful than what we were asking for.

And so I've learned to ask in a different kind of way ...

Oh Lord, give me wisdom

to know peace,
to know contentment,
to know joy,
to know love,
to gain knowledge,
to share my abundance,
to give and to receive,
to follow where You lead,
to have faith,
to be patient.

Ask and it is given.

image source: google images

Written for:  AtoZ Challenge  and  The Ulimate Blogging Challenge


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