Vivre sa vie au maximum/ Living Life to the fullest

I ask only one thing of God: that these memories cease to torment me. I want this haunting presence—which has become my bitter dregs—to come to an end. I want to be able to look at life and smile at it; I want to be able to open my arms and let myself be carried away by the wondrous. I want to be able to say: life is beautiful. Yes, it truly is. It surely must be; one only needs to look at the sunrise, a child’s smile, lovers in a park, the stars in the sky, or an elderly person in a rocking chair. Yes, life must surely be beautiful. So, am I unable to see it? Do the everyday grind and routine outweigh the need to pause and say, "STOP"—to be able to tell life that it is beautiful?  How lovely it is to receive such compliments: "How beautiful you are, dear lady—how beautiful you are!" But I believe it is even more beautiful when you know how to say it to yourself. I am beautiful—I might even say, lovely. Oh, yes—it’s true that I have a few rolls of fat here and there...

Waiting is the worst thing that can be inflicted upon a man. That is what Jorge Aleagano told himself as he sat on a bench in Lafontaine Park. It is like a lump stuck in one’s throat—it will neither go up nor down. It simply sits there, motionless, waiting. What is most irritating is that this state of waiting can only be resolved by an external force. For a time our lives are placed on hold, left under the control of the uncontrollable. Life unfolds entirely independently of one’s own will—and this holds true regardless of what it is one happens to be waiting for. Jorge Aleagano was waiting for a hot dog vendor, who had stepped away for a moment to restock his supply of mustard. Yes, Jorge Aleagano was enduring the torments of waiting—all because of a bottle of mustard. No matter the object of one’s anticipation, the suffering is real; it seeps into one’s thoughts like venom. It courses through the veins, chilling the blood; one begins to feel a tingling in the legs, as if a swarm of ...

When Genevieve discovered she was pregnant in December 1984, she did not think of a baby’s coos, soft skin begging for cuddles, or the simple joy of having a daughter. Instead, she thought of her two young sons—whom she barely saw because she had to work such long hours—and of the end of each month, when she was constantly forced to make heart-wrenching choices: whether to pay the rent or put food on the table for her children.  She thought of her reality as a single mother, abandoned once again by a man who had never asked to be a father. In her view, it was irresponsible to bring a child into the world under such circumstances. The father—the man she had believed might finally be the husband she had waited for all those years—demanded that she has an abortion. He did not mince words; he made it perfectly clear that he had no intention of being involved in the pregnancy. It was her problem, and it was up to her to resolve it. With a heavy heart, consumed by despair, she agreed to ...

There are words that are part of our everyday vocabulary, yet whose full meaning remains somewhat unknown to us. Take the word "pain"—one could find many synonyms for it: suffering, misery, oppression, anguish, despondency, sorrow... A significant number, for sure, but what does it truly signify? It is a perpetual burden that creates an acrid, destructive heaviness within the heart! How, then, can one feel free when bound by a chain, weighed down by an anchor that one inevitably drags along behind?  Why not simply stop and cast off this chain? Because, at times, the chain lies beyond one’s reach; the body and the heart are simply too heavy to bend down and grasp it. It is in such moments that we come to realize that human beings were not meant to face the paradox of life all on their own. GOD is above all things. His greatness transcends everything. When our hands grow weary and cannot unfasten the chain, His hand is never too short to reach it.  He is faithful and ever-prese...

La capacité de penser est ce qui différencie les hommes des animaux; cette capacité de former une idée, de se remémorer des souvenirs et d’amasser des connaissances. Cet ensemble de choses finit par devenir le socle sur lequel s’appuyer pour entrevoir le monde; une copie interne du comportement humain. Elles sont le reflet de l’environnement dans lequel évolue la personne, mais également la preuve de sa capacité à s’adapter à cet environnement. Penser est un objet d’art qui peut être modelé pour devenir une œuvre exceptionnelle ou une chose tellement abstraite qu’elle déconnecte de la réalité. Tel une personne pense, tel elle agira et se projettera dans le futur. Les pensées peuvent donc être le moteur d’une destinée ou les freins qui peuvent la ralentir. Ce qui détermine la forme que peut prendre la pensée sont les prémices dans lesquelles elle se forme. Ferdinand est un petit garçon de quatre ans qui commence l’école cette année. C’est un orphelin vivant dans un...

Il y a dans le cœur de l’homme un vide qui a la forme de Dieu.  Depuis des temps immémoriaux, l’être humain n’a cessé de chercher à se rapprocher du divin. De découvrir le sens caché des choses; la magie qui se terre derrière le lever du soleil, une éclipse, les mystères des confins de l’univers,  comprendre les méandres de l’âme, avoir la capacité de contrôler la pensée, induire un comportement, devenir plus. Mais en est-il seulement capable? Comment pourrait-il comprendre les rouages d’un système dans lequel il n’est qu’une pièce du puzzle? Tout ce que l’humain a réussi à accomplir c’est d’établir avec certitude le besoin d’avoir recours à une force extérieure, une superpuissance. La science a permis de voir qu’il existe tellement de mystères dans cet univers, de choses dont on commence à peine à soupçonner l’existence. Évidemment des théories sont avancées pour expliquer le fonctionnement des choses, mais ce ne sont que des théories. Et même quand on...