Control your path in life


022There are those whom seek out love, acceptance and security in others, this is not a bad thing unless it is the only place you seek and find them. Some people can not find love, acceptance or security within their own being, this seems to create a very bad behavior pattern. They float from one lover to another seeking out what they think will fill the void within themselves. The void is the absence of Self acceptance, self-love and self security, even though we can temporarily fill the void with the love of a lover but it quickly disappears. It takes the love within ourselves to compliment and maintain love between ourselves and another, more or less you can not love someone else fully and completely until you learn to love yourself unconditionally.

We tend to over complicate our lives when it can be so simple and direct, Love thyself in order to love others, have compassion and forgiveness for yourself so that you can do the same for others as well. Shrink that overgrown ego to its natural and original size, for a big and boasting ego is but a mask to hide the insecure being within. Lift your self-image up to where it belongs, for you are as great and as small as any other person in this world. Take the wheel and stop letting circumstances, influences and other people control your path in life. Learn the difference between relying on others and using them as a crutch or a shield.Give and worry not about what you will get in return. Learn to balance the needs and wants of the self with the needs and wants of others. Wake up and live your life and stop walking through it in that semi sedated state in which many of us live in.

I am but a fool who seeks to understand and I find being right is far less important than knowing and finding the truth and It is the journey I see as the prize, not the destination.

Ray Barbier

Realizing the fact we may be alone


EarthEveryday is a new beginning, Every moment is precious in its own way. Every living thing is a miracle as well as precious. Life is not some common thing as we all assume, many planets have the right conditions and still are void of life if not at least complex life. The unlikeliness of a planet being in that sweet spot of perfect sun light and oxygen rich atmosphere along with water is rare. And Sentient life in its self seems at this time to be only indigenous to our planet called earth. This is not to say that there isn’t other inhabited worlds or not , only pointing out what is known to be true at the moment. Of course the odds of other life forms being out there in the universe is a high probability but the chances of that life being sentient and/or intelligent is questionable at least.

Realizing the fact we may be alone in the universe or at least that earth is one of the few miracle planets with complex life forms and sentient beings such as humans as its inhabitants we should cherish life.  We should put aside our petty differences and our different paths of religion and spiritual beliefs along with political views in order to build a better world and global society. We should care for one another and be the caretakers of this precious planet that we live on.

Compassion, Love, Forgiveness and understanding are keys to a better world and a better future for our children. Responsibility and Diplomacy are the keys to better governing and a path to peace if it’s tempered with compassion and forgiveness.

Greed is the seed of most wrong doing in our world.

Ray Barbier

Thoughts on Love and Forgiveness


Rembrandt – “The Return of the Prodigal Son

Love, one of the greatest gifts and blessings God gave us. The love we have for family and friends and the love they have for us as well . The love for our fellow humans and the love we share with all those we interact with. So much we long for and desire, but Love is the grandest prize we can obtain and definitely the greatest gift we can give and/or share.

We were created in Love, we were saved by Gods love and we will in the end bask in his love. We should live this short life full of love and sharing it everywhere we travel. Forgiveness and Love are the two things we have the power to manifest and to spread wherever we go. We should love one another for it is commanded that we do so and it seems to be the most joyful thing we have to do in our lives. To forgive lifts the burden from both the one who forgives and the one that is forgiven.  Love  fills us with light and happiness.

Ray Barbier

Focus on the good and the good you can do


006 (2)To be happy one must learn to accept who they are with all of their strengths and all of their shortcomings. Being human means we will at times be angry, bitter, sad and even mean. We will make mistakes, we will hurt others unintentionally and sometimes intentionally. We must accept these facts and then learn to make them a lesser part of our daily lives. Focus on the good qualities within ourselves and learn to control the ones we see as negative or bad. We also must learn to forgive ourselves when we do fall to the darker side for even though it’s not our true nature it’s still part of who we are.

I think we put too much focus on our failings and our shortcomings, we leave little time for the better qualities to surface and for us to expand upon them. I believe if we focus more on the good qualities we have and on bringing them to the surface then we would leave little if no time for the negative ones to manifest themselves in our daily lives. Stop worrying  about what you shouldn’t have done or what you could have done and focus on what you should do now and what you should avoid doing in the future. Live in the now more than the past, focus on the good and the good you can do more than on what may go wrong or what if I fail.

What are you focusing on? The bad in your life or the Goodness you want to have and share within your life? Think positive / Good and live in the here and now.

Ray Barbier

All we do is lose the essence of who we are


rayraydRemember that child that saw the world as brand new and awesome,? Remember that child who had unbreakable faith and faced fear with conviction? Remember when you saw life as an adventure both in your imagination and day-to-day life? Remember when that child was forced to be hidden within you by society and your peers? Why does it have to be that we must put away the goodness of Ourselves in order to live in the world? Yes the bible speaks of putting away childish things, it was speaking of the immaturity of being a child and the naivety. The essence of who you are was formed during childhood and that part being a child we shouldn’t had left behind. We allow the stress, competition and rigidness of adult life to become more important than all our loves, friendships and even sometimes family. We keep who we are close to our vest and rarely show others who we truly are. We do such in hopes of protecting ourselves but in the end all we do is lose the essence of who we are.

We should be who we truly are and not hide the wondrous person god had made us to be. We may be ever-changing but there is a core of our personality we always have and should embrace. That silly, playful and all loving child within is the person God had meant us to be. That child that has no hate, anger or jealousy beyond a fleeting moment, that child that loves everyone and forgives quicker than he can be hurt. That child who looks for the goodness is everyone he meets. It takes a brave person to be and show their true self and that inner child.

Do not let the world and its cold rigidness hold back the warm and loving nature God has made within you. For its better to be a child of God than a person of the world.

Ray Barbier

Take a few moments out of each day


IMG_1387Take a few moments out of each day to tell those you love how you feel about them, let them know how special and important they are. Take a moment or two each day to be kind to friends and even strangers, be an example for others to follow and be a person you can be proud to be. Find happiness in the joy of others and help bring joy into all whom you meet along the way. When you begin to think negatively just think no over and over till the negative thought subsides and/or try to think or a more positive thought to take its place. Don’t complain about what is wrong, learn how to fix it or at least how to avoid it. Sometimes there are things you can not change, you do not have to accept them, you just have to learn to work around them.

Don’t be afraid to be yourself and embrace that silly child still within you. Do not become cynical and bitter for it will only put a wall between you and happiness.  Do not worry about grey hairs and wrinkles, they are part of aging. We are all unique in how we look, act, think and perceive this world.  To one you may look old, to another you may look young and you are good-looking to some and not to others. It is all superficial and really unimportant in the end. It is who you are inside and how you interact with this world along with how you treat others that counts. Plus to God all of us are beautiful and he loves us all for who and what we are. We should look at each other in that same way, love one another as is and know we are all beautiful and loved.

Inspire others to be kind, accepting and compassionate, teach others to love themselves and others unconditionally. Encourage others to be themselves and not just a carbon copy of the so-called popular or in crowd.

Ray Barbier

Just like faith, Love is an important part


Corcovado jesus

Love, Love of other living things and people. The love Jesus showed and shared during his years with us. Just like faith, Love is an important part of being one of God’s children. With a world growing ever more violent and full of hate, we need to focus on the love of god and the love he wishes us to have and share. Hate is not the opposite of love as some may think it is the absence of love. Do not mistake hate for anger, anger is a reaction to a bad situation, hate is the lack of love and respect for another person, place or thing. In example look at when Jesus got angry at the temple due to all the money exchangers, etc. Jesus did not hate the money exchangers he was angry at them for turning the temple into a place of greed. Jesus still loved them all but was very disappointed in them for their lack of respect for God and his Temple. Jesus taught love in many ways such as turning of the other cheek, his healing of the sick and also his forgiveness for sins. His greatest expression of love was allowing himself to be persecuted, humiliated and crucified in order to give humanity salvation. We should learn from Jesus’s teachings and put aside our hate and minimize our anger as well. All humans are prone to make mistakes and sin for it is a part of our nature to do so. We should love one another regardless of sin or shortcoming. It is sin we are to dislike, not the sinner and we should focus on helping each other to overcome the sin. Shouting hateful words or trying to put another human being down because they sin is quite hypocritical since we all bear the weight of being sinful natured creatures.

The pointing out of each others sins is useless and unproductive, Instead we should focus on study of the scriptures and being loving and caring to one another. For there is no need for someone else to point out our sins, we are all already aware of them. So love one another and be supportive of one another.

“And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? – Mathew 7:3”

God Bless
Ray Barbier

Life is a short thing to experience


bnf0422 Your heart can guide you rightly and it also can lead you wrong, Temper your heart  with the mind  and use the heart to empower the mind. Be humble and put the ego to the back of your mind. Be compassionate and understanding so that when it is time for your judgment , you will be judged in the same manner. Be at peace with yourself so you are able to find peace with everyone and everything else. Remember life is precious and the time we have to live is short in the scheme of things. Live in love and love to live for love is the greatest power besides faith that we have been blessed with. A love with conditions is not love, it is just a complicated emotional relationship.

bnf0424Forgiveness is easy to give, therefore forgive totally so both you and the one who you forgave can move forward.  Forgiveness frees you from the hurt and  the anger you feel and releases the one you forgive from their guilt as well. Being that life is so short I myself can not see any reason to hold on to a grudge for any length of time. It consumes way too much energy and tends to make the one who carries it unhappy and/or grumpy.

p10053Cherish each moment you have with those you love and care about for there is no guarantee that you or they will be here tomorrow.  Get off your computer, tablet and put away the game system. Get out and live life instead of hiding away in your house so much. Balance the time at home and out in the world, for you don’t want to waste time nor miss out on life since life is a short thing to experience.  Most of all remember the old saying: “Life is what you make it” and then go out and make life as complete and happy as you can.

Get out and live life, live it to the fullest and do so with compassion, understanding and love.

Ray Barbier

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

It could be the last time that you might meet.


p10057The time we have on earth is very short and limited, Time flies by so fast it seems like just a day has passed and you went from 16 to 44. The older you get the faster time seems to get, this is why we should cherish the family, friends and loves we have each moment we can. We should find the beauty in everything we can and enjoy each moment we are blessed to have in this short life. We should always express our love and show kindness to others and they should do so in return. We can only control our own lives and make choices for ourselves so we must set an example for others to follow. They may see the goodness in having a kind heart and enjoying every moment with others.  Just remember that the next time you see a friend, family member or loved one it could be the last time that you might meet. Grim sounding but it is the truth of the reality we live in, no one is immortal nor do we know when our last breath is going to be until it arrives. So don’t let any chance of being happy or to be kind to others slip you by in life.

Just some thoughts.
Ray Barbier