{"id":5062,"date":"2023-08-04T20:09:26","date_gmt":"2023-08-05T00:09:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/karatetraining.org\/weblog\/?p=5062"},"modified":"2023-08-04T20:09:32","modified_gmt":"2023-08-05T00:09:32","slug":"lifes-cruel-compass","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/karatetraining.org\/weblog\/lifes-cruel-compass\/","title":{"rendered":"Life&#8217;s Cruel Compass"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\">In Pursuit of the Divine: A Reflection on Love and Life<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Life is often cruel.<br>The human heart a funny thing<br>Unbounded it can grow without limit<br>We can fill the hearts of others with hope and joy<br>But in the blink of an eye, it can turn into an empty nest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Someone asked me recently what I wanted from life.<br>A simple answer, I could not express.<br>I yearn to mirror my forefathers steps, yet,<br>Fear whispers, &#8220;it is to late for that&#8221;.<br>I want to be great&#8230; failed again.<br>Life seems to continually knock me down in one way or another.<br>But then again perhaps it is me, <br>perhaps I am knocking myself down to my knees.<br>One thing is proven, my ideas are sound,<br>But their fruition, it seems, is rarely found.<br>If this holds true, then why aren&#8217;t they renowned?<br>Why do I dwell in this endless pit, bound?<\/p>\n\n\n<script>\r\n document.write('<hr style=\"width=75%; border-top: 2px solid #000; margin: auto;'>');\r\n<\/script>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Which Star should I chase?<br>Do I set myself free and run away?<br>Live a life of excess and destruction?<br>That life calls to us all and often.<br>Do I feed off the fruits of others?<br>Play my charms and sell myself for gain\u2026?<br>It seems this life quickly depletes our resources\u2026<br>Do I stand and fight?<br>Fighting wears you away just as quickly&#8230;<br>Tired of this daily grind, yet driven still for heart fulfilled.<br>Why is life so cruel?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Why, with love&#8217;s fulfillment, does contentment still hide?<br>Can wholeness be found when love alone resides inside?<br>How can one feel satisfied when love is all they have to offer?<br>Is love&#8217;s power solely enough?<br>So it is said, yet life is tough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Worldly demands, too often chime a different tune.<br>Love, A&#8217;more, the feeling so grand!<br>One might think love makes our life&#8217;s path easier<br>It does, alas for the world&#8217;s distractions <br>Magnifying our flaws to us, revealing them in the day.<br><br>Self-loathing is a horrid price to pay for love<br>but that is the price when love alone is not enough.<br>Tender moments sustain us yet the world&#8217;s demands gnaw away<br>Not good enough, not today, desperation sets in <br>We struggle like rats on a sinking ship to find a way<br>A way to provide and nurture those we love.<br>To shield, protect our love precious home from the harsh demands of life,<br>To bask in love&#8217;s harvest, amid the strife, is that the trick?!<br>Alas this is a fruitless gain without the world&#8217;s accord&#8230;<br>Or is it?<br>God has lent his hand to our love<br>How else could our hearts burst with joy, with ecstasy yet remain alive?<br>Then would not He provide the rest?<br>Would it be just to dangle such fruit briefly tasted?<br>To steal love from our hearts, engorged with mythical lore,<br>To render it more hollow than ever before?<\/p>\n\n\n<script>\r\n document.write('<hr style=\"width=75%; border-top: 2px solid #000; margin: auto;'>');\r\n<\/script>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">No, God does provide, but in ways we do not always see.<br>In ways we do not always expect<br>In ways we rarely respect<br>Oh love&#8217;s lessons why must you be so complicated?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Why must that which is so joyous<br>be mired in such complexity?<br>Yet, love remains an enigma, a mystery worth deciphering.<br>Just like a phoenix rises from the ashes, love renews and rejuvenates.<br>Life might seem relentless, cruel, endlessly complex,<br>Yet, love remains a soothing balm, a salve for the weary soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">The divine hand has indeed touched our love, making it precious, making it priceless.<br>Can it then be too far-fetched to believe that He will guide us through the mazes of life?<br>For, isn&#8217;t the fruit of love also a taste of divine providence?<br>A subtle reminder of His ways, a gentle nudge towards faith and surrender?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Perhaps the challenge lies not in the worldly demands,<br>But in our own inability to perceive the divine interventions.<br>Each setback, a lesson; each failure, a step towards growth;<br>Each knock-down, an opportunity to rise stronger, wiser.<\/p>\n\n\n<script>\r\n document.write('<hr style=\"width=75%; border-top: 2px solid #000; margin: auto;'>');\r\n<\/script>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Perhaps the love we bear is not insufficient, but rather unrefined.<br>As a gem requires a craftsman&#8217;s touch to reveal its true brilliance,<br>Our love too needs to be shaped by trials, polished by challenges.<br>Only then can it mirror the divine love that has been bestowed upon us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Yes, self-loathing is a heavy price to pay,<br>But perhaps it is merely the shadow cast by the bright light of self-realization.<br>A reminder that we are capable of more, that we are worthy of more.<br>A constant echo of our potential, our strength, our capacity for boundless love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">Life may be cruel, unyielding, demanding.<br>Love may seem a confusing maze, a complex riddle.<br>Yet, as long as the human heart beats, it seeks, it learns, it evolves.<br>In this cruel world, love is our compass, our map, our journey, and our destination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8212; Author: Sensei Mitch<\/p>\n\n\n<script>\r\n document.write('<hr style=\"width=75%; border-top: 2px solid #000; margin: auto;'>');\r\n<\/script>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Journey through the complexities of the human heart in this stirring reflection titled &#8216;Enigma of Affection&#8217;. The poet grapples with love&#8217;s paradoxes, questioning why the strongest emotions can simultaneously cause the most profound pain. It&#8217;s a compelling exploration of desire, ambition, self-doubt, and the search for purpose, revealing the harsh realities that often collide with our heartfelt dreams. But amid the tumult, it&#8217;s a poignant reminder that divine grace may weave its magic in ways we least expect, offering solace and hope. Uncover the mysteries of love and life in this touching verse.<a class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/karatetraining.org\/weblog\/lifes-cruel-compass\/\" title=\"Read More\"> <span class=\"button \">Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":123458,"featured_media":3827,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,66,23],"tags":[22,291,178],"class_list":["post-5062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-a-zen-thing","category-religion","category-state-of-mind","tag-perspective","tag-philosophy","tag-religion"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/karatetraining.org\/weblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/Day-to-Day-Life-Contemplation-banner.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/karatetraining.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/karatetraining.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/karatetraining.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karatetraining.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/123458"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karatetraining.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5062"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/karatetraining.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5062\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5063,"href":"https:\/\/karatetraining.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5062\/revisions\/5063"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karatetraining.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3827"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/karatetraining.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karatetraining.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/karatetraining.org\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}