Category: Thought of the day

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is a blessing


016 Each morning we awaken to is a blessing, Every person who love us and we love are blessings as well. Each meal we eat is a blessing, every breath we take is a blessing as well. Every smile we see is a blessing in deed and every smile we give is a blessing to both ourselves and those we smile at. Having a job is a blessing, even if the job isn’t ideal or stressful it is still a blessing not to be unemployed.  Every friend we have, had and will have are blessings for they are like family and sometimes even more. Even enemies can be blessings for they teach us how not to be and sometimes help us see the faults within our own character.

Each day we have here on earth is a blessing if we see it, know it, admit it,  realize it or not. So many things we take for granted that are great blessings and so many things we forget to give thanks for as well.

Ray Barbier

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My own self


p10104 There has been times in my life I allowed my low self-esteem and lack of self-confidence to stop me from getting a good job or just getting a job done. The only thing that stood in my way of getting the job or doing the job was my own self. Like others I allowed my fears, insecurities and self-doubt to limit me and keep me from the possibilities that were before me. It is so easy to excuse your way through life, never to face change and never to leave your comfort zone. The cost of living in such a way in the end is quite high, you miss so much of life and you never get to experience life as the person you were born to be.

I have learned you can blame others for the bad things in your life all you want, but the truth is that you alone make the choices that creates what your life is like, going to change into and ultimately will become. It is your choice if you allow others to influence and/or control aspects of your life. Others only have the power that you allow them to have over you and your life.

tpl0008So it all boils down to what choices you make and what external influences you allow to play a part in your life. The choice is always yours, even when you choose to allow others to make a choice for you.

Your life is the sum of the experiences you have had and the choices you have both made and avoided.

Ray Barbier

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The greatest gift one can get


Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglica...Ah the Christmas shopping season seems to start earlier each year, Seems Christmas has become more of a shopping experience than an actual celebration of the birth of our savior Jesus Christ. Commercialism of Christmas has slowly dragged our minds and hearts further away from the reason for the season. Though we all still celebrate Christmas and are thankful on that day for our savior, there is way too much emphasis on the presents.  Who will buy or get the biggest and best gifts seems more important to some than the actual meaning of the day we celebrate. Nothing wrong with buying big gifts, all I am saying is the greatest gift one can get we all have received on that historical and holy day of the birth of our savior. We should remember to be thankful and celebrate the fact we were blessed on that day so many years ago. Remember the Manger, remember the life and remember the death along with the resurrection. Remember Our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ. And try to remember the lessons Jesus taught us all.

Hope, Faith and the acceptance of God’s will is the path, Acceptance of Jesus as our savior is the way.

Ray Barbier

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You and you alone are responsible for your actions


viddark2SMALLYou can make your own choices and decisions or you can be a victim to the will and desires of others. Even when you surrender to the will of others you are responsible for the outcome of your life and behavior. You and you alone are responsible for your actions, words and the influence you have on the world you live in.

charie4The only will I would surrender mine to is that of our creator and his son, for they wouldn’t lead me astray. But even when you surrender your will to God’s you still can choose things wrongly because your own will still exists within you and tends to try to take control from time to time. This is why you should be ever aware of your actions and words so you do not make poor choices that influence or affect you or others negatively.

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Regardless of your religious / spiritual beliefs or if you even believe or not, you are responsible for your own actions and words. Therefore you will pay in one form or another for all that you do within your life.  Life has a funny way of bringing back to you the fruits of your labor, the things you do will come back to haunt or to reward you within your lifetime.

Just some Random Monday Morning Thoughts

Ray Barbier

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Getting older isn’t so bad if you can put aside your insecurities


IMG_1078fb One of the hardest tasks I have had in my life is dealing with my ego, Though it isn’t a big one it sure likes to be the center of attention and when its not it makes my day rough. I have learned to pretty much keep it check for the most part but it likes to rear its head at least once or twice a day and I have to remind myself to not allow the selfishness, self-centeredness it brings to interfere or influence my actions, words and choices.
Seems like most people I have to face down that me, myself and I syndrome. It is even harder to face it down when you are a sensitive person who gets their feelings hurt easily, though most of the time I can hide the hurt but sometimes my ego gets control and it comes to the surface in the form of bitterness or anger and sometimes sadness.  Now I just turned 45 my ego is poking at my fear of aging, though it doesn’t bother me most the time it just seems when birthdays come I fall into the pit of self-pity for a day and then climb back out thinking how silly of me to be concerned with such superficial things. Vanity isn’t one of those things that bother me, so usually it is short-lived like a day or two around my birthday.

Getting older isn’t so bad if you can put aside your insecurities and don’t ponder on your mortality too much. I may look older but I still feel like I am in my early 30’s and it doesn’t matter what my physical shell looks like, it’s all about the spirit that dwells within. So now I have turned 45 I am going to put all my effort into putting my ego away in order to be the person I truly am within. Like it or not, I am who I am, at least until I become who I am to be.

May God shed some light in your darkness and pour his wisdom upon your mind and heart.

Ray Barbier

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it was a pretty good year that God blessed me with


008 In a few days another birthday comes around to remind me that I made it through another year of life. So much left undone and so much unsaid, but still it was a pretty good year that God blessed me with. Each birthday I reflect upon my past and think of what I could have done better and how I am going to do better in the future days to come.  For I am but a work in process and I am not ready to throw in the towel on improving who and what I am.

I pray that I will get to see many more birthdays and that I can keep improving myself through Jesus and through the will of God. I hope I can continue writing posts on my blogs that readers can enjoy and maybe give them something to think about.

Thank you God and Jesus for the followers, likers and commenters both positive and negative. Thank you for helping me to continually grow spiritually and mentally. And most of all thank you for this life I am getting to live.

Amen

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Half awake and Half Baked Ideas on a Saturday morning


p10110Sometimes you have to get over your self, you have to put behind you the Ego you have accumulated through your lifetime in order to move on and find the real you that is buried deep beneath. We have two or more personalities, our mind creates many variations of our persona to deal with the multitude of different experiences and situations we had in our life. They connect to the core personality which is the real you, they are like extensions or sub programs made to make it easier to deal with the experiences in life. The problem is through time our situations change and those old sub programs / sub personalities are still there. It is hard for the mind to adapt an old persona and sometimes old values and old ways of dealing with things are no longer viable or acceptable. That is why we need to learn to strip ourselves of the other personalities or facets of our ego so we can start fresh and create a better version of who we are perceived as by others.

tpl0016 We all hide behind the many masks we have created through life, we rarely see our true self because the masks are our self-created filters and defense  mechanism. Most of us  will always have masks, but some masks need to be thrown away in order to make newer and improved ones.  Those of us who are brave and strong enough may be able to walk unmasked in this world, those are the ones that become visionaries, healers, spiritual teachers and bringers of great change in the world.

Half awake and Half Baked Ideas on a Saturday morning

Ray Barbier

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Just some reflections on a Friday


May29^02Remembering those who have went home to god before us is natural and expected for we feel the loss of someone who was a big part of our lives. We shouldn’t remember them in sadness, we should remember them in happiness and with thankfulness that they were a part of our life for so long and we were blessed to have known them and loved them as well. Sure we feel like there is a big hole in our life now that they have passed on to the other side, but they still exist in our memories and in our selves because each person influences another and we all become a part of each other mentally and emotionally. They live within our memories and within our hearts, my dad may he rest in peace still is there to give advice and guide me through my memories of who and what he was. His influence upon my life still exists in me and it is a part of his legacy that lives on. I see my dad in my brother and my nephew as well, the influence he had on them shows in their mentality and even some of their actions. I see so much of my dad in myself as well, this is why I no longer mourn for my loss of my dad, he may not be here in physical form but he never left me in my mind and heart.

Just some reflections on a Friday

Ray Barbier

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Some Random Ideas


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Too many times I find that I choose to be unhappy by focusing on the negative thoughts running amok in my head. I also have noticed when I put some effort into pushing the negative thoughts aside with a more positive frame of mind, my day seems to get a lot brighter and/or happier. So I have come to the conclusion that ones frame of thought controls not only the mood one is in but also significantly influences ones total outlook on life. To think positive, to reject the negative thoughts within yourself and that which comes from an external force can change ones day if not life. We are what we think or believe we are and we are either limited or expanded by those thoughts and/or beliefs. The power of thought along with emotions are what makes us the sentient beings God has created us to be, without self-consciousness and emotional awareness we would not have the great potential we as human beings have.

Ray Barbier

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The only one standing in the way is your self and you know it.


eyeSo your middle-aged and wonder what the heck am I doing here and why am I not somewhere better? Well one reason for all of it, you chose the path your on and you didn’t choose to change it yet. So what you’re in your 40’s you can change your path at anytime in life as long as you have the desire and determination to do so. Yeah your brain isn’t as quick as it was at 18 but it is a lot better at prioritizing than it was back then. Plus the brain is amazing, the more you use it the better it works. So stop using excuses as a way to avoid making a commitment to making a change that is definitely needed. The only one standing in the way is your self and you know it. Stop thinking life is over because your older, start realizing it isn’t over till we go home to God and Jesus.

Ray Barbier

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