To a Friend...

I ask but one thing of you, only one,
That always you will be my dream of you;
That never shall I wake to find untrue
All this I have believed and rested on,
Forever vanished, like a vision gone
Out into the night. Alas, how few
There are who strike in us a chord we knew
Existed, but so seldom heard its tone
We tremble at the half-forgotten sound.
The world is full of rude awakenings
And heaven-born castles shattered to the
ground,
Yet still our human longing vainly clings
To a belief in beauty through all wrongs.
O stay your hand, and leave my heart its
songs!

Introduction please…

When I go into any chat room, intro please always pops up from the other party. By this, it starts me thinking who I am or what I want them to know. The truthfulness of things sometimes depends on how true we want the relation to be from the beginning. The foundation of every relationship starts from the beginning, likewise for most things in life. We can choose to cheat a little, just to gain acceptance. But eventually only the truth will set us free, that is something I have gathered and learnt preciously. I guess human beings always try to cheat sometimes to have belonging. That’s where superficiality comes in, every one of us have gone there. But then ask ourselves, how many of us can really afford it at most time? We all fall into this trap before.

The word “belonging” has been with us since the day we were born. I was having a discussion with an acquaintance I met during my business trip in Nigeria. We were exchanging views on business ideas; he came to share with me about people and belonging. Example, one would wear a replica / fake branded watch just to have the feel of belonging. Or worst one would just pay for the real one which they cannot truly afford, other then sacrificing other priority to fulfill their lust. By cheating yourself to cheat the world, don’t you find it amusing sometimes!

Does the word arrogance come into play here? “Arrogance is ego plus ignorance”; I read this from a book. Competing with the Jones, how long have it been happening and still going on. Has education made us stupid? Are we robbing away our supposed wisdom? Or do we choose to be simply ignorant? I have gone down that road couple of times and regretted those decisions. Well it did make me wiser and brought me down to earth. I have then reminded myself constantly to use my wisdom through knowledge, and to take calculated risk. To remember that stupidity kills, but can we afford it?

It’s tough trying to balance our desires and needs. To be responsible to ourselves and others is how we can overcome stupidity. Life is a big learning curve we all know, only with courage and wisdom can we finish the journey peacefully. Never let ignorance run our life, only way to overcome ignorance is by acquiring more knowledge. I have learnt to humble myself by many mistakes made. I believe there will be more failures and mistakes to come, just hoping that it would be less painful the next time round.

Food for thought;

Look at yourself in the mirror stark naked, do you like what you see? If you are truly happy with what you see, then the truth will set us free!

Cheers and God bless!

My Name is Cocaine

My name is Cocaine - call me Coke for short
I entered this country without a passport
Ever since then I’ve made lots of scum rich
Some have been murdered and found in a ditch.
I’m more valued than diamonds, more treasured than gold
Use me just once and you too will be sold.
I’ll make a schoolboy forget his books
I’ll make a beauty queen forget her looks.
I’ll take renowned speakers and make them a bore
I’ll take a mother and make her a whore.
I’ll make a teacher forget how to teach
I’ll make a preacher not want to preach.
I’ll take all your rent money and you’ll get evicted
I’ll murder your babies or they’ll be born addicted.
I’ll make you rob and steal and kill
When you’re under my power you have no will.
Remember my friend my name is "Big C"
If you try me just once you may never be free.
I’ve destroyed actors, politicians and many a hero
I’ve decreased bank accounts from millions to zero.
I make shooting and stabbing a common affair
Once I take charge you won’t have a prayer.
Now that you know me what will you do?
You’ll have to decide - it’s all up to you.
The day you agree to sit in my saddle
The decision is one that no one can straddle.
Listen to me, and please listen well
When you ride with cocaine you are headed for hell!!!

Greed

Greed
By: George Jung

An island in the sun. A place where only the wind and the wild men go. An island wherein lies a pool of reflection and the monster of a reason. I myself, a fugitive madman in a waistcoat. My profession: a master of games. Are men not born of games? Nothing else. Every child knows games are more noble than work. He knows too that the worth or merit of the game is not inherent in the game itself but rather in the value of that which is put at hazard. Games of chance such as this require a wager in order to intensify their meaning.The wager being life itself. I chose to play a thousand lifetimes ago and was still hard at it sitting at the table with pirates, cut-throats and master thieves, all my comrades and opponents. I did not come easy to this place in time. It was all by trial of worth and risk, having only your life to wager, where a wrong choice swallows up a game, player and all.I ask you: what more validation of a man's worth could there be? Ah! The enchantment of the game. It is not a drug itself when played to its ultimate state and surely leaves no argument as to the winners and losers. To win is ultimate. The winner becomes a God driven by a torch whose brightness sets back the stars in their sockets. What is the fate to be for? A player in the greed game? Let me tell you, friends, trust me in this for I know it to be true. I will not chat you of such knowledge. It all comes to an end as games of course always do. When the others have gone and only the game is left with its solitary participant. A solitary game without opponent, even the rules are at hazard, and the players become emptiness and despair and all the riddles are blind. A voice will scream out, 'How long has it been?' And you'll wonder how long has it been since you've been home where no one lives anyway!

A PSALM OF LIFE

WHAT THE HEART OF THE YOUNG MAN SAID TO THE PSALMIST

TELL me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream ! —
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.

Life is real ! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal ;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way ;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle !
Be a hero in the strife !

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant !
Let the dead Past bury its dead !
Act,— act in the living Present !
Heart within, and God o'erhead !

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time ;

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate ;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.

Taking the first step.

Well, taking the first step has never been easy. In almost everything and every instant of our life, we are faced with fears and doubts to do or not to. My fiance Ashley asked me to join her in starting my own blog. First thing that came to my mind was, "What the hell is a blog?". Just an avenue for anyone to punch in some anything, and trying to make some whatever sense! Rather cool I thought after a brief consideration. So here I am taking my first step. I never had the habit of writing, any journal or bullshit. Hey pardon me for my lingo, just getting the emotions into the writing, if you know what I mean...

You would probably like to know or if not, why "Crossroads". I have come to realise that life is made up of decisions that we make with given choices at most time. Whatever the results may be, I have learnt to accept and embrace each moment and situation. Tough you can say, but with a little of God's grace, it usually works out fine.

Recently, I have been doing a lot of soul searching and praying. I am a Roman Catholic by birth. Ashley and I met with a crisis, and that made us started looking back into our faith for some comfort. This made me realise and regret that we took our faith as some form of solace in time of adversity. Although the Man up there will never fail us, yet we still took Him for granted. Just like how we sometimes take our parents for granted or anyone else even. So I have decided to take the first step to keep reminding myself not to take anyone for granted, especially God. I pray for the Holy Spirit to give me strength and guidance of each step ahead.

Food for thought;

Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who
speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks
evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the
law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is
one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who
are you to judge another?

Cheers to all and God Bless!