One loyal friend…

If a man’s neither friend nor foe
Just another so-and-so
If you can’t get past his shell
Whether for good or for bad –
Take him up a high mount with you
Not letting him slip away
Now he’s stuck in a bind with you
Now you’ll see who he is –

If the fellow up there ain’t there
If he’s bitter and tears his hair
If he falls on the ice and feels
He’d rather drop you than freeze –
Then this can’t be the man for you
Don’t waste words on him but shoo
Just another one of the throng
Not a man for a song –

If he kept his rage in a shell
As he pulled through without a sound
Grabbed out for your hand when you fell
May have groaned but he held!
If he marched through with you to fight
To a summit which stole his might
It means you’ve found a friend
You can keep to the end…

Credits:

  • Song by Vladimir Vysotsky (1938-1980)
  • Translation by David Vinnikov
  • Image from me.me

When times are hard…

hold me

When times are hard and you are blue,
My dear friend, I’ll be with you
To let you hold my hand and shed your tears,
I’ll stay by your side for many more years

When you want a shoulder to rest your head,
I’ll be there with you just like I said.
I promise to keep our friendship true,
I’ll always feel your pain when you’re feeling it too.

I’ll try to make you smile everyday,
When you are feeling down, I’ll lead the way.
I’ll make that frown upside down, I’ll try,
I’m your friend, I’ll never let you cry…

 ( by Sneha Murali )

THE END

Do you have such special person in your life?


From https://soulgatherings.files.wordpress.com

Oh, the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person:
having neither to weigh thoughts nor measure words,
but pour them all out, as they are, chaff and grain together,
knowing that a faithful hand will take and sift them,
keep what is worth keeping,
and then, with the breath of kindness,
blow the rest away.

~ George Eliot, 1819 – 1880 ~
English Novelist

 

Do you have such special person in your life?

 

THE END

I love you not only for what you are…

 

From http://whiterosemari.wordpress.com

I love you
Not only for what you are,
But for what I am
When I am with you.

I love you,
Not only for what
You have made of yourself,
But for what
You are making of me.

I love you
For the part of me
That you bring out;

I love you
For putting your hand
Into my heaped-up heart
And passing over
All the foolish, weak things
That you can’t help
Dimly seeing there,
And for drawing out
Into the light
All the beautiful belongings
That no one else had looked

I love you because you
Are helping me to make
Of the lumber of my life
Not a tavern
But a temple.
Out of the works
Of my every day
Not a reproach
But a song.

I love you
Because you have done
More than any creed
Could have done
To make me good.
And more than any fate
Could have done
To make me happy.

You have done it
Without a touch,
Without a word,
Without a sign.

You have done it
By being yourself.
Perhaps that is what
Being a friend means,
After all.

By Roy Croft


From http://weblogman.com/

THE END

My Comfort Zone

From http://barbarawallace.com

I used to have a comfort zone where I knew I wouldn’t fail.
The same four walls and busywork where really more like jail.
I longed so much to do the things I’d never done before,
But stayed inside my comfort zone and paced the same old floor.

I said it didn’t matter that I wasn’t doing much.
I said I didn’t care for things like commission checks and such.
I claimed to be so busy with the things inside my zone,
But deep inside I longed for something special of my own.

I couldn’t let my life go by just watching others win.
I held my breath; I stepped outside and let the change begin.
I took a step and with new strength I’d never felt before,
I kissed my comfort zone good-bye and closed and locked the door.

If you’re in comfort zone, afraid to venture out,
Remember that all winners were at one time filled with doubt.
A step or two and words of praise can make your dreams come true.
Reach for your future with a smile;
Success is there for you!

From AimToBe


From http://volunteersnevada.blogspot.co.nz

THE END

 

THAT most empowering ONE

I usually collect other people’s writings and rarely write myself. However as Melanie, one of my dear followers and frequent visitors, indicated a few weeks ago that she enjoys my stories best of all on my blog, I decided to make her a special treat and post one of  my old little stories that was sitting on my computer for a few years. Hope you’ll have a few giggles while reading it, Melanie 🙂

* * *

( Russia, 1990s )

Sisters
from Coroflot

“Long ago in a faraway kingdom, three sisters were outside in the courtyard talking, imagining what they would do if they were married to Tsar Saltan. One said that she would prepare a great feast for the entire world. The next said that she would weave linen for the entire world. The third said that she would give the tsar “an heir, handsome and brave beyond compare.”

It did not take long for Ivan’s mum to pick up that I was totally useless in anything practical, so one day when we came to his home she greeted us with the following words:

“Hm, you won’t get any feast from that one. I doubt you’ll get any linen either. Well, from that one we’ll take heirs then,” she giggled and gave him a wink.

I don’t think I ever blushed that much in my life, while Ivan gave his mum a fierce look.

“She surely does not mean that “making heirs” is the only thing I’m good at?” I whispered to Ivan as soon as we got to his room. “And who are the other ‘ones’ she is talking about?”

“Do you think any other ‘ones’ will be hanging around with a mum like THAT ONE?” he shouted loudly…. We heard his mum bursting into a laughter in the kitchen…

Hanging

From Pinterest

A few days later I did point out to THAT ONE, that there were neither heirs nor wedding bells on the horizon.

“Oh well”, she giggled, “you’ll still make a good daughter for me, whether it is in-law or without any law”, she gave me a wink.

“I always wanted to have a daughter, you see,” she continued. “Ended having two sons instead,” she sighed. “Hope you’ll have at least one daughter. From a daughter you’ll always get a smile and a hug, while the only tender words you’ll ever hear from the sons are ‘What’s for dinner, ma?!’ “

Right at that moment the door flew open and her two sons rushed into the kitchen: “What’s for dinner, ma!?”

We both burst into laughter.

“What are you laughing about, YOU TWO?” her both sons looked at us with suspicion.

That’s how THAT ONE turned into YOU TWO.

Dinner
from Menu Monday

“That’s unfair,” pointed Ivan a few weeks later. “Every time you come to my place, it is all the giggles between YOU TWO. THAT ONE is my mum after all, but she seems to make more fuss about you than about me!”

“Come on, we can share THAT ONE,” I gave him a wink with a giggle.

 Mum
From Pinterest

Giggling with THAT ONE was like a breath of fresh air in the suffocating environment of obscure ‘cultural’ notions and norms when even at the University professors every now and then were ‘lecturing’ us, female students, about catching ‘princes’ before finishing the Uni on the grounds that there won’t be any ‘princes’ left afterwards. As one of the popular songs went, “there were only 9 boys for every 10 girls” at that time, which is not surprising taking into consideration millions of males killed during the revolution, civil war, First World War, Second World War, Stalin’s repressions, in Afghanistan and later in Chechnya. And Russia in those days was not the country where girls could easily live on their own. It looked like the whole purpose of girls’ existence was catching a prince – and the better the catch, more ‘worthy’ the girl was perceived…

 Cake
From http://andrfem.blogspot.co.nz

No cohabitation was ‘allowed’ before wedding bells – that ‘cultural’ notion puzzled me the most. After all, no one would be getting a new dress or a new suit without trying it first. Why were we forced to make important decisions in our lives after having just a few dates? How much can you learn about another person if all your ‘shared’ experiences are limited to a movie and a few ice-creams?

 Kino
From http://bonlady.ru/

THAT ONE fell into that trap herself with a quick marriage at the age of 19 that ended up in an even quicker divorce and a long spell of solo-parenting. No way she would fall for any of these “cultural” notions again.

“Listen to no one but yourself,” she used to say to me. “That’s your life – live it the way you want. Don’t let anyone else to write the story of your life”, she gave me a wink.

I smiled and gave a big hug to THAT MOST EMPOWERING ONE. My own family had no respect for my views, feelings or choices… Only princes – no trials and no frogs…

Family
From Adoption Services International

THE END

You are to me a very special sun…

Waiting

 Photo by  Dmitry Popov 

You are to me a very special sun
That shines upon a world few ever see,
A world I’m shy to show to everyone,
That hides its urgent truth from even me.

Without your light it is a world of darkness;
Its heaven and its hell lie fast asleep.
With you as sole and sympathetic witness,
The words come forth from out my vasty deep.

And so I cannot be myself without you;
No one is whole without some loving friend.
There is a quiet joy in me about you
That lets me say what I need not defend.

Long may we serve each other to give light
To all the loveliness that haunts the night.

 (from http://www.poemsforfree.com )

THE END

Treasure your truly busy friends…

The Busy Man

HelpingHand
From RoarLocal

If you want to get a favor done
by some obliging friend,
And want a promise, safe and sure,
on which you may depend,

Don’t go to him who always has
much leisure time to plan,
If you want your favor done,
just ask the busy man

The man with leisure never has
a moment he can spare,
He’s always “putting off” until
his friends are in despair

But he whose every waking hour
is crowded full of work
Forgets the art of wasting time,
he cannot stop to shirk

So when you want a favor done,
and want it right away,
Go to the man who constantly
works twenty hours a day

He’ll find a moment somewhere,
that has no other use
And help you, while the idle man
is framing an excuse.

(From Ellen Bailey Poems)

Friends

From Pinterest

With thanks to my special (and very busy!!!) friends.

THE END