Happiness

“Seeking happiness outside ourselves is like waiting for sunshine in a cave facing north.”

Tibetan proverb

Travel to find the beautiful

Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Please join me on my travels by clicking here

 

Happy

The happiest people don’t necessarily have the best of everything but they make the most of everything.

Sam Cawthorn

“When I am grown up I want to be a refugee” or on “How stupid one can be”

After a few days of holidays with my family reality got me back yesterday. In the bus on the way to work. Some prefer their homely car, the fact to listen to their music, having food and drinks and their stuff around. I very much enjoy to share the bus ride with other people, getting into conversations with others, share a smile. It makes the ride and life in general more fun, yesterday was an exception.

I tried to read the news but two ladies sitting across the aisle from me caught my full attention. To the point that I was close to interfere…

Now, one needs to know that with the refugee crisis our country has been pretty spared with voluntary arrivals of refugees. For some reason we are not on the favorite countries’ list of these people running away from war, violence and destruction. But now we need to show solidarity with all the other countries who already welcomed their share of refugees.

And here were these two mid-forties ladies, one of them with a ring on each of her fingers, talking about the refugees that will be arriving in their little town:
“First they said it was only families”, “Now it will be only single men”, “They did not even tell us”, “My daughter does already not dare to go out anymore” (the refugees are not here yet), “I love to go walking along the river, I will be scared from now onwards”, “They get free housing” (they will be lodged in the civil protection shelter in the basement of a school), “It is not fair that we have to welcome and feed them” and I kept the top one for the end “When I grow up, I want to be a refugee”.

I swear I did not invent that, I heard this with my own ears.

Now I agree that the refugee question is a difficult one. With the current economic situation everywhere, the unemployment getting higher, the fear of terrorism and the natural human reaction to protect what is his and the fear of the unknown, I can understand a certain hesitation when it comes to welcoming a crowd of people and all the issues that go with it. It is not an easy task.

But be serious, if people who live in a country where
– their opinion is asked through voting every three months
– the buses and trains are almost always on time
– the paying newspapers are in unsecured boxes counting on the honesty of people to put their coins
– the streets are smooth without any potholes
– the cars stop as soon as a pedestrian approaches a crossing
– you can drink the water directly from the tap
– …
cannot be a minimum generous and understanding, then who can?

Wishing you all a healthy, safe and open-minded 2016 filled with love and memorable moments!

Your body

Do some good to your body, so your soul feels like staying

Indian proverb

Travelling alone

Sting was on our program of the Paleo Festival in Nyon, Switzerland, yesterday. No matter how often you see Sting in concert, it is always magic.

As an extra we could see Passenger before. So there we were in the pouring rain, our naked feet in the mud and there stands this guy alone on stage with his guitar and is enchanting the public with musical poetry. He made our evening and he made my day today despite my lack of sleep.

Passenger did not sing this one yesterday night but you just have to hear it:

If you don’t want to travel alone but with me, visit my travel blog Heavy Travel Addict

No looking back

Click if you want to know more about this particular path

“You know you are on the right path if looking back does not interest you anymore.”

True religion

Charlie Hebdo’s cartoons, Easter, an invitation to a christening, religion based conflicts world-wide, heated exchange about religion with a teenager. Questions about religion have been keeping me busy lately. And not only me.

Religion has always been and will always be a big global topic. Unfortunately it does not only bring us the inner and outer peace we are longing for. But the fault does not lay with the religions themselves but due to pure human stupidity and narrow-mindedness.

Maybe if we all converted to the  religion of a great, much admired human being, the world could finally become a better one:

“My true religion is kindness”

Dalai Lama (Tenzin Gyatso)

 

Charlie Hebdo. A Seven Year Old’s Reaction.

The Daily Think

I didn’t get to switch the radio off in time this morning. She heard, and understood (it seems). This was her response.

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Very personal blog entry

This is a very personal blog entry with which I want to thank someone very special for simply existing.

Life might not be easy for you these days. But there have always been ups and downs over the years and after a down there has always been an up. The following quote  could have been yours, but it is from a fellow musician. This is what you have repeated again and again and which makes you what you are today, better than you used to be.

Maybe it can be useful for anyone else out there:

Your past is not your potential
I’m learning who you’ve been ain’t who you’ve got to be…
I ain’t as good as I’m gonna get but I’m better than I used to be.

Tim McGraw