understanding.

If love is not…

If love is not fear
It must be bravery
Bravery to fight the demons 
That fuel all our fears
Bravery to stand tall and breathe in air
Knowing it is the shield in life
 
If love is not guilt
It must be freedom
Freedom to confront
The choices you’ve made
Choices leading to hurt
Then freedom to choose your healing
 
If love is not judgement
It must be acceptance
Acceptance that all is 
Just how it’s meant to be,
And that there is a path
Not of good or bad,
But of learning and discovery 
 
So love is… bravery
Love is…freedom
And love is… acceptance
 
Love in its deepest form 
Is acknowledgement,
That there is YOU
You in this time
You with this life
You with all your 
Demons and divinity,
Making the wholesomeness 
You are meant to be.

Dare You Deny

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Black man kills.
Thug!
Brown man kills.
Terrorist!
White man kills.
Mentally ill!
What inequalities!
Outrageous righteousness!
Blatant unconsciousness!
Common denominator
Innocent
Deaths!
Beneath the differences
All are flesh and blood
Requiring acknowledgement, acceptance
Striving for peace and love.
These are our commonalities.
Dare you deny!
Yet presidency given
To fear, greed and anger.
Dare you deny!
Deny this noise your attention
Dare to be a just voice
And claim the you
That enables unity yet choice.

Whimsical or not..

IMG_7577

From the array of colors
To the multitude of acts
Nothing stays hidden
Everything is portrayed

Mesmerized in thought
Perhaps it’s to contemplate
But once up on our feet
Life is an act to balance
Even if on the rim of a coffee cup!

How similar to our daily reality
We rationalize, we theorize
Yet when there’s action
The heart and all its color is called on
So the spirit can fly!

Then sometimes we hang on for dear life
With chalice in hand!
If only to dive in headfirst!

We move with our season and terrains
Leaping and swaying
Reaching and praying
So thank you, dear friend
For all in one shot
You portrayed mine and your life
Like only the artist can!

Original art by AR

Pain or Pleasure


Grin and bear it!
From dumbbells
To cross fit ninja workouts,
From early commutes
To long unbearable hours,
From insufferable critics
To cultural and societal divides.

Sweat
Toil
Push yourself to the limit
As you work against your grain

Why?
Because they say
‘No pain, no gain’

Yet
Studies show
He lives longer
He lives happiest is he,
Who loves
Who is happy
Doing just what he does.
That’s Natures way.

Hormones, neurotransmitters;
Dopamine, one of the finest,
Released when you smile
Releases when you laugh
Released when you feel happy!

Side effect?
YES!
More energy
More intellectual capacity
More ‘Happy’

This was Nature’s plan
This is Nature’s gift

So say, ‘No’ to pain
Welcome pleasure
And take home
Your happiness!

Hope

Written by someone who never ceases to  amaze me… my baby brother, Dipak Patel.

hope

Some call it positive thinking
Other consider it an attitude
What is that feeling of hope
How does it churn our very insides.

Some call it blind expectation
Others consider it denial of facts
Why is it essential to life
When does it come into its own

Some say without it we’re doomed
Others feel like dieing when it is lost
Where does it truly reside
Who holds the answers about hope

Could hope be that driving force
To fuel our endeavors
As it lifts our souls
As easily as it can pop our balloon

Hope is not blind but a vision
A picture of the possible
Let hope be the colors on your palette
The medium of your painting heart

Hope is at the foundation of you
What you hope has the highest chance
Never lose that lantern of hope
Let it guide you, defend you and above all…

Allow hope into your life with every breath.

To bloom or not to bloom

bloom

Standing side by side
Under same blue sky
Same warm sun
Same rooting dirt

One of luster
Other barren of life,
One beautifully adorned
One striped naked.

Waking day by day
Under the same blue sky
The same warm sun
The same rooting breath

Do I ooze life
Do I effervesce with essence,
Or do I drag myself around
Do I need reviving!

Given freely
This air to breath
The sun to warm
These nutrient to feed

What tips the balance
Each and every day
From vibrant and victorious
To defeated and discouraged

So fine the division
So refined the disguise,
Most times the only one to know
Is me and myself

Is it challenge
Is it gift
To make the choice
To pick the way

Each day renewed
Beautifully granted
Until the end
Until the curtain draws

Opening my heart
I see my blue skies
I feel my radiant sun
I know my granted blessings

With the view to accept
The aptitude for gratitude
The budding begins
The bloom inevitable

Patterns, Habits and Choices

patterns

One sky
Same night
Different images

One man
Same deed
Different appreciations

One life
Same opportunities
Different perspectives

Do you see dusk’s beauty or darkness lurking?
Do you see man’s strength or is he overbearing?
Do you see life’s gifts or its shortcomings?

The answers are inherent in ‘choice’
Choice is dictated by patterns
Patterns are created by habits
Habits are formed over time

Time is of the essence
Cultivate your desired habits
Formulate your pattern
Stand by your active choice

Look for the signposts
The landmarks have been laid
The bricks may not all be yellow
But the path is clear

Open up to beauty and kindness
And appreciation will become a habit
Watch your perspective form a pattern
And your choice becomes full of life!