Things I learned along the way.

January 21, 20l4


Daughters of my heart...and others,

In the coming months, I hope to share with you some of the lessons I have learned in this experience called Life.  You may not agree with my thoughts and beliefs, and that's fine.  We are not clones of one another, nor are we meant to be.  Trust your own instincts.  Follow your own heart.  Be still, and listen to the one true voice within.

It is important to understand that whatever you do comes back to you.  Whatever you do, you do to yourself, first and foremost, and then, like a ripple effect, it affects all those whose lives you touch.  You cannot do good to others without doing good to yourself.  You cannot do harm to others without doing harm to yourself.  The law of cause and effect...Universal law...karma...God's law, do exist.  Call it what you will, it operates the same for everyone.  Please don't fool yourself into thinking you can get away with anything.
To paraphrase the poet, "Tho' the mills of the Gods grind slowly, yet they grind exceedingly fine."* The law operates 24/7, no exceptions, no excuses, no escape.

When you have feelings of goodwill, love, and affection, those feelings cause positive, healthy chemicals to be released from the brain and to circulate throughout your body.  In the same way, angry thoughts, words and actions cause to be released, harmful, negative chemicals to course throughout the body.  Whatever we think, speak, and do is recorded within us, in our memories, our postures, our mannerisms, our voices, and our expressions, visible to all.  Impossible to hide who and what we are from those who have learned to see.

Try not to be careless in your language and manners.  Language and manners civilize us.  Our own language and manners broadcast to others how we expect to be treated, and whether we will tolerate crude language and disrespect.  We alone choose whether to use healing, positive, beautiful words or destructive, negative, vulgar words.  Language reveals who we are in a flash.

Manners reveal how we feel about others and, also, how we feel about ourselves.  Manners is the art of being kind.  Language and manners have the power to heal or destroy.

In this age of instant communication, where it seems to be acceptable for everyone to tell everything, all manner of words are flung about carelessly.  It seems to have been forgotten that all words, like all actions, have consequences.   Words are important.  Words have power.  Words help shape who you are and who you will become.

A few more words about words:

           Words, once said, can never be unsaid, and no amount of 'sorry' can change that.

           Words are like ripples on a stream flowing into the Universe.  We will never know
           to what extent those who hear or read them will be affected.

           Words live for centuries in myth and folklore, passed down orally from generation
           to generation.

           Printed words survive for thousands of years, read by countless eyes.  Printed words
           spread their positive or negative influences into countless lives.  Carefully choose the
           words you commit to paper.  Equally carefully, choose what you read.

           Words live in our minds and hearts, either adding to or diminishing our self-esteem,
           self-respect, sense of well-being, and quality of life.

           Words spoken in the present become a part of both our future and our past.

           Some words are best left unwritten and unsaid.  Not everything needs to be known
           by everyone.

           Words can build bridges of understanding.  Words can soothe a troubled heart.

           Words can shatter the fragile self-esteem of a child.

           Words can elevate minds to their highest potential.  Words can drag us down to
           places best not imagined.

           Words can destroy dreams.  Gossip can kill a marriage.

           Teasing is cruel.......not funny, cruel.

We are responsible for our words and will be held accountable for them.  Our words reveal without a shadow of a doubt, who we are in our minds, hearts, and souls.  Words have power.  Take care how you use them.

Daughters of my heart, always remember to take care of yourselves.  No one else can.  Treat yourselves gently and with respect.  Walk in dignity and grace.  Remember you are important to God, the Universe,
and all those who love you, including me.

                                                                                                         Love, always

                                                                                                                ZIZI

Copyright 2014

*Excerpt from "The Mills of the Gods," author unknown.

Comments can be emailed to:  LettersToZizi@att.net
(Zizi is a diminutive form of Zia, Aunt in Italian).
The next letter will be posted within a week to ten days.


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