12/23/2010

50 Things To Know


1_Make wishes, work on them and make them come true.
2_Do not make promises but always give your best.
3_Be patient. The timing must be right. And if the time doesn't come, it was probably not right for you.
4_Laugh. Because there will always be a reason to cry.
5_ Tomorrow is a nice assumption. Today is a given fact.
6_Love - Always.
7_Be honest with yourself and others. No one deserves a lie.
8_Work with what you have.
9_Care for your closer surroundings. Only then will a paper bag make sense.
10_Listen. There is a reason why we have two ears and only one tongue.
11_Dance.
12_Be humble because life will go on - even without you.
13_Have courage. There is not much you can loose.
14_Eat what you crave. Don't let it eat you.
15_Politics are dirty. Everywhere.
16_Breathe.
17_Life is a rental, it is not on sale.
18_People who make you feel like shit, are full of shit.
19_There are many things we cannot change. Take them the way they are. And if you can't - ignore it.
20_Appreciate what you have before wanting more.
21_Even when you are crawling, you are moving on.
22_Hug.
23_Treat yourself well and people will do it too.
24_Just because you can walk doesn't mean you cannot fall.
25_Don't complain to others. Your life is your choice. Therefore your complains should be addressed to yourself.
26_Treat your kids with respect. They are little adults and you are a tall kid.
27_The newspaper always reports bad news.
28_The three most important words are: please, thank you and sorry.
29_Look people in their eyes. They don't lie.
30_The only beauty that is everlasting and ageless is nature.
31_Music can make your day, or break it.
32_Admit your mistakes because not admitting them is the only mistake.
33_Think before you speak.
34_Help.
35_Surprise the one you love.
36_No one can predict the weather.
37_Kids are born innocent. Raise them well, because great kids make great adults.
38_Fight for your rights.
39_Sleep.
40_Count on yourself. You will always be there for you.
41_Do not hurt others unless you are defending.
42_Be thankful for what you have.
43_If you start with Vodka, stay with Vodka.
44_Be yourself and be your best.
45_Everybody needs a little bit of poison.
46_Kiss.
47_Cry when you need to.
48_Certain things in life are wrong.
49_Bend your principles, don't break them.
50_Stop looking for a meaning. Give your life one.

11/12/2010

Sense

The subway in the evening was packed with people of all kind to an extent that we seemed linked , like the cars of the train, one to another. The train was delayed and moved only slowly from one stop to the following one - rush hour as usual.
If I would ask myself where I would not like to be - this would be it and sure enough I am only one of almost 8,5 million others who could easily think of at least ten other, more pleasant places. However, it is the one moment where we are so near to each other that we have to look at each other and see one another - not only is there merely space to look away but also the choices are narrowed down to precisely two people.
The afro american lady had a full round face, framed like a perfect canvas by a headscarf, emphasizing her peaceful features in her smooth flawless dark skin. She was wearing a grey wool coat that was almost too tight, embracing her curvy body with large grey buttons. She was sitting in between her two kids who were constantly moving, her arms in her pockets and her legs loose. The lady seemed so unperturbed by her surroundings , so relaxed, that it was adjoining to indifference.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, it hit me: Life makes no sense. Surprised by my own thought, wondering where it came from and how, I closed my eyes for a second only to look at her again, look at her kids, as if I would be searching for a clue that would at least challenge my conclusion and transform it into an assumption - if not prove me wrong. But even on a second look, it seemed as indigenous and natural as the lady herself: Life makes no sense.
I was surprised and baffled about how absolute this conclusion was and how it had caught me off guard. Still looking at her, I felt some sadness. I knew it a long time ago, but today, the thought that was born a while ago had reached every molecule of my body. Back then, I only knew, now I understood.
And on my way out of the train, I looked at all the people I passed on my way to the exit and wondered if we live because we hope that maybe some day something or someone will prove us wrong and show us that life will only make sense once it has been lived - like an oversized picture puzzle that , only completed, reveals an absolute, unshakable picture, screaming: Life makes sense.

8/10/2010

Homework

Known amongst teachers as the great intersection between school and home and amongst almost everybody else as the largest possible detour on your way to leisure-time: Homework.


We thought it was part of school, moved forward , closed a chapter and went to college afterwards only to find Homework again. There it was 'Chapter 2'. And once college was part of our past too, once we started working, even then, Homework sticked to us and became part of our present: 'Chapter 3'.


In our private lives, figuring out who we are is strikingly similar to a school assignment: a never ending loop of never ending questions that need to be answered. 

The message that Homework would be not only an essential part of our lives but also a never ending story, got somehow lost or was simply never sent. Maybe Michael Ende was just not as famous as I thought he was...


The best intentions in mind to make our lives better, Homework can leave us confused to a point where we need private lessons. In life, the private tutor is replaced by friends, summer school by a therapist. The reluctance to deal with it, creates an importance and urgency in everything else. And suddenly we realize the significance of having an organized bookshelf by author and theme. And before we know it, we confess our love for vacuum cleaning...But nothing beats the 24/7 job, number 1 US export, widely presented as 'dedication and success' or even ' professionalism'.


But when homework is in the air, no wind is strong enough to carry it away. We can push the deadline and bend it a little bit, but at the end of the day there is no way to bypass it. And while reflection trumps denial, the latter is what is, unfortunately, written on most people's forehead. All of my friends agree, nothing written on ones forehead can look appealing.

Because life is a constant stream of changes in which we swim, constantly changing too, the easiest way to fulfill this already difficult task is taking care of it when changes happen. At the end of the day the only thing that should be written on ones forehead should be wrinkles of thoughts. And maybe we should simply ask ourselves: Do we really want to keep on repeating the same classes over and over again?

7/05/2010

Aristophenes

Who would have thought that a man who was known as the Father of Comedy was one of seven people who came to word in Platos Symposium to talk about the importance and power of Love...

...In the beginning the world was populated by humans with doubled bodies. They were completed, fulfilled - a happy whole. Some were all male- they were the children of the Sun. Some were all women - the children of the Earth and some were half man and half woman, called the androgynous and children of the Moon.

One day, for a mysterious reason, they decided to scale heaven and to overturn the Gods of the Olympus. The Gods were in rage and Zeus even wanted to bereave them of life with thunderbolts. Which he, after careful consideration, omit to do as by killing a complete soul he would also kill his very own worshipers. Instead, he chose to torture them, cripple them by ripping their bodies in half and seperate them. Apollo was chosen to heal their wounds, to stitch them and to shape their new bodies.

Ever since this moment each half was longing for his other half, each one looking for the fulfillment they used to know. It was the beginning of a quest for Love, Friendship and Erotic - the greatest possible happiness a human being could acquire.

2/10/2010

Change

Little changes come fast and we are conscious about the change itself happening - like a car that crosses the street too fast and makes us step back and wait for it to pass - we can deal with its little consequences, adapt quickly and react. When big changes are impending, they sneak up on us, slowly. We can feel their presence coming closer but cannot see what they will be. Like going down a dark hallway with no light switch. All we know is that the hallway will reach an end, but we never know when. It is the incertitude that bears the fear. And it is this fear that we need to overcome, that we need to accept and embrace, like a stranger who leads us in the dark. Life will never be friend nor foe. Life will remain a stranger with no face, one whom we need to trust blindly every now and then.

We might enter a new room in our apartment of life - one that is clear and drenched in sunlight. We might even enter a new room in a new apartment that we have built - amazed by the fact that the construction is over. And sometimes we will find ourselves in the very same room only to realize that the biggest change in our life was the fact that we have changed - while walking down the dark hallway of incertitude.


2/03/2010

Moses by Coldplay

Come on now, don´t you want to see
This thing that´s happening to me
Like Moses has power over sea
So you´ve got power over me

Come on now, don´t you want to know
You´re a refuge somewhere I can go
And you´re air that, air that I can breathe
You´re my golden opportunity

And oh, oh yes I would
If I only could
And you know I would
And baby I,
I wish

Come on now, don´t you want to see
Just what a difference you´ve made in me
I´ll be waiting no matter what you say
And I keep waiting for days , days , days

And oh, oh yes I would
If I only could
And you know I would
And baby I ,
I wish

If the sky´s gonna fall down, let it fall on me
If you´re gonna break down, you can break on me
If the sky´s gonna fall down, let it fall on me
If it´s gonna rain down, it can rain on me