One Step at a Time

When you see a sea of obstacles in front of you. There lies obstacle after obstacle after obstacle as far as your sight has access to and you feel completely overwhelmed by them. You feel as if you are never going to be able to cross them all. Even the thought of crossing these obstacles exhausts you and brings you down. You cannot find enough strength or energy to pull yourself up and start working on crossing them. You feel that you are stuck here forever and you are never going to be able to find a way out. You feel as if you are never going to be able to reach your destination. You feel despair and at the same time you feel anxious. You are worried about what is going to happen if you are unable to reach your destination and at the same time you have no hope of reaching your destination...….. When you feel this way take a step back and a deep breath. All you need at such a moment is hope and strength. Hope that even though you are currently unable to see your destination you are finally going to reach there. All you have to do in order to reach there is cross the obstacles that lie in your way. One by one. One after the other. In order to cross these obstacles what you are going to need is strength so that you can make enough efforts to overcome them. Both hope and strength come by only one means, that is, faith. Faith is believing in something that you cannot see. So even though you cannot see your destination right now you can still have the surety that you are going to reach there if you have faith. But faith in what? Faith in a power. A power that is supreme. A power that controls everything. Everything that happens to you, everything that surrounds you, everything that lies ahead of you, everything that lies behind you and everything other than that. A power that loves you more than anyone else ever can. A power that cares for you and wishes well for you more than anyone else ever can. A power that wants to help you and take you to your destination. A power that is always with you, looking out for you, watching over you. A power that wants nothing short of what’s best for you. A power for which nothing is impossible. A power that can solve all your problems and can make all your worries disappear and wants to do so. A power that can provide you relief and wants to provide you relief. A power that wants to guide you but does not want to spoon feed you. Because it wants you to learn and wants you to become strong. When you have faith in that power ask the possessor of that power to aid you, to guide you, to have your back and to make things easy for you. You may not be able to see the way out yet but once you have faith in that power and seek help from its possessor, it will light up hope in your heart. This hope will charge you up with enough energy and strength that you will be able to make the efforts to cross each and every obstacle that lies in your way. Once you have that strength and that energy all you have to do is focus on the first obstacle that you see in your way and try to cross it. Then work on the next one then the next one then the next one and keep going. Eventually you will reach your destination. Don’t get overwhelmed by what you cannot see, what scares you. Just take one step at a time, focus on solving one problem at a time, focus on crossing one obstacle at a time and eventually you will reach your destination. You will reach your destination by taking these small steps. The energy that drives you to take these steps will come to you by having hope. And it will all start when you have faith.

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Minnu

Arrival of an Adorable Angel:

Once upon a time, a little angel arrived at a house in the form of an adorable, tiny kitten. She was absolutely gorgeous. She had the cutest flat face, gorgeous and fluffy fur which was white from the middle and grey at the tail, tips of the limbs and center of the face. Ears were grey in color, lighter shade at the center growing darker by the edges. Most perfect set of crystal blue eyes one could ever see. She was like a masterpiece of God’s artwork. She completely occupied the hearts of a woman and her two daughters who lived in that house. The woman named her minnu out of sheer love. Soon enough, she herself came to know that her name was minnu and she was supposed to respond when someone calls that name but chose to ignore it anyway although, an ear used to turn in the direction from where the voice calling her name was heard. 

Minnu’s Life:

The purpose of her life was to play.  Wide open eyes, pupils expanded to full extent, sparkles in the eyes, tail swishing at full speed and she would give you the cutest look, challenging you to catch her and would make the cutest brief sound and then run at full speed. From one corner of the house to another, with the speed like that of cheetah. You would not be able to catch her while she is in that state. If you touch her or kiss her when she doesn’t want you to (which is almost all the time except the time when she wakes up from a nap) then it would be certain that you are going to get deep scratches on your hands. If you put the dish of food out for her she would go and sit beside it and will watch you, ordering you to come and stir the bowl for her. When you would sit down beside her, stir the bowl for her and move your hands on her head. After that she would end her tantrums and finally start eating. She loved the woman, who called herself her mama, more than anyone else. Mama was her favorite person. The daughters however, were more like maids for her. Who would attend to her needs, listen and obey her orders and play with her when she wants. The daughters didn’t mind this attitude in the least and it could never affect the love and affection that they felt for her. However, if the daughters were unable to give her attention due to any reason she would get upset. In short, she would show that she didn’t need attention but she very much did! You could say that she was in fact one of the few luckiest beings in this world for having had so much love and care. She would sleep with mama on her bed. When the daughters would bring her to their room, on their bed so that she would sleep with them she would refuse in the cutest arrogant way and go sleep somewhere else. When she would be in a deep sleep in the middle of the night, she would suddenly make the cutest meow noise while asleep then when you would go give her a pat and say in a sweet voice ‘what happened minnu?’ she would stop making the noise and continue to sleep. She would get up in the morning at or before the break of dawn then the first person to wake up would be asked to open the door and let her out for the stroll. After couple of hours of stroll someone would have to go and pick her up, bring her back home. Sometimes if she would be waiting for you, she would complain to you for being late. Sometimes, when she was not in a mood for a long stroll, she would come back by herself and stand at the door asking anyone to open it. There was no food that she was fond of. Not even TUNA. Yes, she would even refuse to eat tuna. But one thing she could never get tired of and would eat with tears of delight in her eyes was cream cheese.

Minnu’s Departure:

The family faced some crisis when she turned five. They had to change multiple houses. Everywhere, she accompanied them as a part of family, because she was indeed family. She remained as playful her whole life until few months before she turned seven. Every year mama and the daughters used to wish her on her birthday, give extra cuddles and kisses, so much so, that she would get angry for being kissed and hugged so much (she would not mind that much if it was mama). When it was her seventh birthday, the girls felt extra affectionate towards her, felt sad and cried while wishing her. Not knowing the reason behind the sad feeling and tears. The reason became evident couple of months after her seventh birthday. She was diagnosed with feline leukemia. The women did everything in their power to save their baby. It broke their hearts to see such a playful baby struggling to breath, not being able even to get up. They tried every possible thing in their power but God Almighty took her under His shelter within two days and her precious soul departed for a journey back to her Creator. She is now in the heaven, as healthy as never before, as happy as never before, under the best of all shelters, under the best guardianship, under the shade of our Lord! I can imagine her running and playing in the eternal gardens with her eyes of full excitement and happiness, in the soothing breeze, in the most beautiful and safest place. By His will and mercy our Lord will re-unite us one day and we shall all remain happily together ever after.

Farewell:

Dearest Baby Minnu,

Although, this temporary period of separation is agonizing right now, looking at absolutely anything from the bowl in which you used to eat to the litter in which you used to pee brings your countless memories to the mind and the heart breaks again and again when the thought of never being able to see you again in this life strikes hard. Your loss is irreplaceable and irreparable. We miss you terribly, our hearts ache for our dolly, we want to see our baby, be with you, cuddle with you, kiss you, play with you, see happiness in your eyes, see you happy and healthy again, give you lots of lots of love but we know that although you are not with us anymore but wherever you are that is a better place and you are happy there, healthy again, happy again and will remain so forever by the will of God. Our hearts find peace in the thought that you are in the best custody now. You have nothing to fear, nothing to feel sad about because you are with the one who loves you the most, cares for you the most and is most merciful of the merciful. Whose love, mercy and care for you absolutely overshadow the love, mercy and care that we ever had for you. By His will and mercy, He will re-unite us one day and then we will be able to see you, be with you, cuddle you, kiss you, play with you, see happiness in your eyes, see you happy and healthy again, give lots of lots of love and then we shall remain together forever. Rest in peace minnu. You will always be loved, always be remembered and will always, always remain in our hearts. We love you!

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