Think On These Things...

The Selfishness of Humanity

Tanya Mercado — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 03:38:25 +0000

There comes a time in our lives when we become so engulfed in what is happening to us, we do not see what is going on around us. The only thing we can do is feel sorry for ourselves and wonder why there is no one to help us. We blame God for our problems rather than asking Him to help us overcome our problems. We blame rather than thank. We curse rather than praise. We abandon rather than having faith.

Humanity is a selfish race. We worry about ourselves rather than for our fellow man. We care about what other humans think about us rather than wondering what our Creator thinks and feels about us.

I think that we as a race are even more pitiful than that. We claim that all we care about is ourselves. Yet how many times in a day do we say: “I hate my life”, “I am ugly”, “I hate who I have become”? So not only do we not care about our fellow man, we do not even care about ourselves. So we are constantly in search of love for us.

Do we really deserve that when we do not even take the time to love one another? Do we deserve the love of God who sent His son to die for us when we do not even take the time to thank Him for all that He has done for us?

We seem to be in a state of self-loathing and blaming every one around us. We blame MTA for making us late to work rather than just waking up a little earlier because we all know the trains are not dependable. We blame our professors for our failing grades when we know deep down we could have studied harder or taken the time to see the professor about something we did not understand.

We blame God for all of our problems yet seldom praise Him for helping us get through them. We curse God for allowing things to happen to us rather than asking for His help and learning from the experience.

We are all at fault. This includes pastors, priests, ministers, whatever you call them in your faiths. They are not perfect. They are human. I cannot think of how many times I have asked God “Why me? Why now? Why not someone else who is a horrible human being like a murderer or a child molester?”

Maybe we need to go through the rough times to see just how good we really have it. Maybe it is God’s way of showing us just how blessed we really are. We do not say “Thank You Father” for the good that He has done for us. Yet He is always there no matter what. He died for us. He forgives us over and over again even after we committed the same sin 100 times. Yet the only time we talk to God is when we are in trouble or to blame Him for our troubles.

He did not bring us our troubles. Chances are we brought it upon ourselves. He just brings us through them. Would it kill us to thank Him? Would it kill us to forget about ourselves for two minutes and think about what other people are going through?

Maybe this Valentine’s Day we will all take a minute to really love someone, maybe even ourselves. After all, if you cannot love yourself, how can you expect to love someone else? If you cannot love the One who made you and helps you through life’s greatest challenges, how can you love yourself? After all, God is love.

Mindless Drones. Overworked, Underpaid and Unappreciated!

Tanya Mercado — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 18:28:47 +0000

I am seeing this more and more. People are becoming mindless drones. They do what they are told with little answering back. Sure the children are talking back to the parents. Yet, what are the parents doing? They do as they are told. They have become mindless with no regards for their self respect. They compromise, or fall back, if you will.

Where are the people who question? Those who know whether something is right or wrong have seemed to have vanished from our society. But to where have they gone? Have they actually vanished? Were they silenced? Maybe they were compromised. The answer is irrelevant because they are just nowhere to be found.

We live in a society of fear. Nothing will ever be as it was. We are afraid of bombs. We are afraid of war. We are afraid of losing our jobs because jobs are scarce, despite what economists will have you believe. It is this fear that drives those in power to do unsettlingly things. In the business world, they will have their little spies to rat out any employee who threatens whomever holds the title of “Boss”.

We live in a world where there is no trust. Every one looks over their shoulder paranoid that somebody is ready to take them down. With good reason. Those living in fear are those who are tired of living like this and would love to make a difference, to take a stand. Unfortunately, they are too scared to do it.

So instead they just “Yes” a person. How about actually turning around and saying “No”? See what happens. Stand up. Rise up. Stop compromising. Personally, I am so over the compromising who I am and what I believe for people who really do not care. When all is said and done, will they be happy when I achieve success? Probably not! So what do I care what they have to say about me? Why bend over backwards for those who sincerely could care less and do not have your best interest at heart?

Take back your pride. Pick up your dignity from the floor. Take it down from the shelf and dust it off. Stop taking the crap that is dealt to you. The only way to stop the garbage, is to make it stop yourself.

There’s a song that I like that has these lyrics as the bridge:

I’m overworked and underpaid and unappreciated. Its just the perk of being middle-class and educated.

That one line probably best describes more than half of the American population. So why not do something about it?

Stop being a drone, a robot, a patsy. Live your life the way you were meant to. Take back your life. Stop being miserable. Stop taking people’s crap.

Hard Times Equals The Test of Faith

Tanya Mercado — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 03:55:58 +0000

Growing up in a Christian home you will always hear the phrase, “Have faith”. If told to a child, they will look at you and ask what that is. Well, it means to believe in something that you cannot see. If you believe in God, you have faith because you cannot see Him. Yet you know that He is working in your life.

I will go on record to say that it is easy to have faith when things are going your way. It is easy to say “Praise the Lord” when everything is right. But what about when things begin to unravel? What happens when things are just not going your way at all? You’ve hit some troubled waters, some hard times. What do you do?

Well, this is when your faith is tested. Do you believe that God will help you get through it?

Every time I hit a rough patch, I start questioning everything. Instead, I should be thanking God because this gives me a chance to prove to Him that I have enough faith not to worry about what is happening. Right now there is a situation at my job. I won’t lie. I am worried. I cried. I screamed. I was angry. Now that I’ve had a chance to calm down and sleep off some of the emotions, I’m a little bit more at peace.

I find myself repeating what I tell other people, “God will not give me more than I can handle”. So, God feels I can handle this. Who am I to question Him? Whatever happens at my job is going to happen. However, it will not happen unless God feels that I should. God has His hand in everything that happens.

So no matter what it is that I am going through, like the situation at work, I will have faith that God will bring me through it with flying colors. His glory will be seen. So I thank God right now for making me victorious because I know that no matter the outcome, there is always something better on the horizon.

It’s A Meaningful Life!

Tanya Mercado — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 00:33:36 +0000

I love that Christmas classic, “It’s a Wonderful Life” with James Stewart. It always kind of makes you think about your life.
Are you happy with it? What if you turned left instead of right? What if you had said “yes” instead of “no” or vice versa? What if you had studied more? What if you married Tom instead of Frank or Jessica instead of Hannah?

You can always question decisions that you made in your past. Here is a question that I will ask you:

What do you get out of that?

I think it is a fair question. What do you seriously get out of questioning yourself? Misery. Loneliness. Despair. Depression. Need I go on? I’m sure these are things that you seriously do not want in your life. It is hard enough without having to worry about past decisions. So do not do it to yourself.

Your life has meaning just the way it is right now. You were meant to be a mother to Tina or Bobby. It could be if they were born to another mother, they would have been abused. Maybe if you had married Tom, you would have been abused or divorced or who knows where.

There is not a soul on this planet who lives the perfect life in someone’s eyes. Yet their lives have meaning just the way they are. Do you honestly think that at my age I want to be working where I am working right now? Not in the least. However, maybe there is a reason that I am there. Maybe I am meant to be help someone who works with me. Maybe I am meant to touch a life.

I can question everything in my life and with good reason just like you could. Yet it does not get me anywhere. I can complain, but who would listen? So why should I dwell on what could have been? For all I know, what could have been would have been much worse. This is my point.

Your life has meaning just the way that it is. Accept it. Live it. Love it.

Simple as that.

Loving Life and Others

Tanya Mercado — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 04:24:00 +0000

So allow me to welcome you in to the year 2011. How has it treated you so far? Well, for me, it has had its ups and downs already. Yet it is okay. It is a part of life. One thing that I have learned already is that my learning about life will not stop in 2011.

Not by a long shot.

Here is something that came to mind tonight.

You have to love your life no matter what happens.

You have to love those around you no matter what is going on in your relationships (friendship, love, family. You get the picture).

There is always something that is going to happen. Life is never guaranteed to go our way.

Think of it this way. When you were born, did something tell you that your life was guaranteed to go a certain way? Of course not. That would be silly. You make life what it is by the choices that you make.

Well I have made some healthy choices so far in 2011. I have chosen to love my life. Just because things are not going how I want them to right now does not mean it will not change. Maybe what it happening to me now is preparing me for the future. Ya never know!

With that said, we also have to realize that people will tell us things that we do not want to hear. Been there, done that. I hate it when it happens too. It frustrates the dickens out of me. Yet I learned that sometimes I need to hear these things because sometimes they actually do benefit me.

So this is what I want you to do. Here is a list of things, easy things, that I think you should do during 2011:

Love your life. Be determined that you will love your life no matter what happens because as long as you are alive, you never know what will happen.
Listen. Always be willing to listen to what others have to say, especially if it is from people who love you or that you love. Those are the ones who have your best interest at heart.
Realize that life does not come with guarantees. The only guarantee you do have is that there is Someone who loves you immensely.

You think you can handle those? Easy enough, right? I think so.

Peace, love, blessings, and cheers! Enjoy 2011!