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The Worst News…

Well, I just hung up the phone with Shelley, the daughter of whom was
one of my best friends for 25 years, sharing the news that Clarence (CB
to most anyone who was his friend) died of an overdose in a hotel room
in Laos.

CB is the reason I am living this great life here in Thailand, because
after I had sold all my assets in September 2002, he invited me to come
stay here for a few months before moving on to China where I was hoping
to land a good job back in computer/network engineering. I fell in love
with the Thai culture, and started learning the meaning of a life
outside America.

We had been through many MANY difficult life experiences together, some
of which nearly killed both he and I in the mid ’80s, but we survived
("That which does not kill me makes me stronger") to enjoy many great
times together throughout our lives. I guess it culminated to when we
were laying around his pool down in Pattaya watching the sun set while
sipping on beer, laughing and slapping ourselves on the back at the
tough times we lived through to finally be in paradise watching such
beautiful sunsets.

My heart is sad and heavy now, and my spirit has taken on a moment of
sorrow for the way this best friend chose to let his life end. He is
survived by his mother, a daughter Shelley, and son Anthony, who still
live in the Houston metropolitan area of Texas. He will be sorely missed
by the many who held him deeply in our hearts.

May you finally find the love you so painfully sought, CB. May you now
be walking amongst the Path of Light for which you so richly deserve. I
love you. I miss you.

FW: Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone!!

My cousin Cindy in Texas (have
another in Arizona) sent this most perfect New Year’s resolution to us and it
is worded so beautifully that it needed to be passed on here.

May each of you find this wonderful
new year full of success and happiness, and may it fill your hearts to
overflowing with love.

Namaste!

Light, Life, & Love.

Cole

"A
true heart makes wishes come true."

                           
       Chinese Proverb

From: Cindy A. Carey
Sent: Friday, January 02, 2009 06:42
To: Cindy A. Carey
Subject: Happy New Year!

Hello!

Every
single morning of the year we awaken to a brand new day filled with unlimited
possibilities.  We can be who we have been with all of our worries,
baggage and regrets intact or we can decide to enter the day focused on what is
good and right in our lives. Nowhere in the year is this choice more conscious
than on New Year’s Day.  It really is a day like any other but we have all
agreed to make believe it is special and because we have all agreed, it is.
 And so we make grandiose plans for ourselves for the year to come and
hope some of them come to pass.

 But
what if, this year we do it differently?  What if this year, instead of
mapping out our personal blueprint for the next twelve months, we forget about
ourselves?  What if this year, ALL, 100% of our wishes are for the good of
others.  What if we wish for the people we love instead of
ourselves?  What if we send out wishes for what they want?  What if
we wish that they lose dangerous weight or quit a crippling habit
or find employment, find God, find happiness, lighten up, learn to
forgive, get to travel, regain their health, find patience, eat better, get out
of a relationship, get into a relationship, learn to laugh again, appreciate
what they already have.  What if this New Year wasn’t about us at all but
all about them?  What if we just kept on working on our stuff like we have
been (and keeping our fingers crossed that we are making progress) and use all
of our New Year’s wishes for others?

 It’s
not as big a sacrifice as you would imagine.  There would be no
resolutions to keep, no lists of what you will do differently, no reluctant
meals or exercises but if you would look around in a little while, you would
realize that others really are being affected by your wishes for them, the
world will suddenly seem to be getting a little brighter, the people that you
wish good for will suddenly feel closer to you, you will suddenly start walking
a little lighter.  The difference that you wanted to make in the world
will have started.

With these
thoughts in mind, I wish you a wonderful New Year filled with happiness
and peace of mind and I wish that everyone you love is benefited by your
New Year’s resolutions.

Love and
Blessings,

Cindy
Carey

Losing friends…Addendum

It’s so important that I add this piece…

I’ve felt in times
that I was so much “wiser”, so more “intuitive” than other people, like
I was “better” or “more in-tune” than most, but in the end it’s all a
farce.  It can be summed up in this favorite quote:

“If you have learned to walk
A little more sure-footedly than I,
Be patient with my stumbling then
And know that only as I do my best and try
May I attain the goal
For which we both are striving.

If through experience, your soul
Has gained heights which I
As yet in dim-lit vision see,
Hold out your hand and point the way,
Lest from its straightness I should stray,
And walk a mile with me.”
–
Cole

“We make choices in life, and then we must live with
    those choices. In the end, we ARE those choices.”

Losing friends…

Well, it seems that as life moves forward we lose friends that we
thought would be with us for our whole lives, but in time we learn that
they were only meant to be with us for a short time. How should we feel
over losing these dearest of people? What would be the next step when
we find out they’re no longer traveling with us along this great
journey? This is a most difficult question to answer because we always
hope that these significant people will be with us, but as it turns out
they have their own paths to follow.

For
me personally, I feel a hole in a part of my spirit that can’t seem to
be filled. These special people made such a difference in my life, and
to think they will never be there again is almost too much to bear.
However, when I think that they are adventuring their own special paths
I feel somewhat relieved that my “selfishness” is a bit overbearing,
and then I have a feeling of relief because these people have helped me
to be where I am, and that is an incredible place for me. “Some people
come into our lives for a short time, while others are there for a
lifetime.”

For those of you who are in my life for a “lifetime”,
thanks is not NEAR enough for all that you’ve given me and shared with
me through our lives. For those of you who’ve been with me for a short
time, you may not know what you’ve done for another. Thank you! 
Hopefully I’ll be able to pass along what you’ve passed to me.

For everyone who has called me “Friend”, thank you from my heart!  I hope we can share friendships once again in this life.

Light, Life & Love!

Namaste!
–
Cole

“It is in changing that we find purpose.” Heraclites

The Worth of a Life…

So, what is the worth of a human life?  What is the worth of ANY life?  How do we measure this worth?  By accomplishments?  By wealth?  By the Loves we’ve had?  By our friends? By those who “love” us?  How about by our credit achieved? OH! I know! The career we’ve accomplished!

Hmmm!  Sounds like all material things, huh?

There are so many things we can “rate” our worth by, but what really counts is what we feel inside ourselves. How do you feel about the person you are?  So many people try to “fit in” with society so they will be loved or accepted, and this can be at the expense of our own self-esteem, our own self-worth.  Why is it so important that we be accepted? Why is it more important than our own self-love?  Love and Happiness are always wished upon us from everyone we know, but do they REALLY wish that upon us, or is it something they simply express because it is something we’ve learned to tell others because we wish it for ourselves?

If we take a few minutes each day to reflect upon our own lives and what we’ve truly accomplished in it, I believe that each and every one of us will be overwhelmed with joy at the obstacles, the JOYS we’ve each experienced over and over throughout our lives. Personally, as of today, I’ve had so many incredible moments that I cannot count them all, nor would I want to spend that much time trying.  Instead, I can rejoice at the beauty heaped upon me each morning when I wake up to find that I’m breathing another day of life into my body. Yes, I am truly blessed in this gift called “Life”.

As most of you know, I’ve had TONS of adversity throughout my life, and there were times I was ready to end it all, just too much “pain” to endure.  I’ve been to the top of the world, and down to the bottom of Hell, and yet today I find so much beauty in life that it sometimes makes me cry for minutes on end.  I’ve built an “American Life” that so many would dream to have, and yet I gave it all up to experience what many people in the world experience.  I left the states with 4 suitcases from a home loaded with 30 years of stuff, all accumulated since I was in high school, and yet I now know more peace and happiness than I would have EVER thought possible just 5 years ago.

I write this update today because it is so important that I tell each of you, my dear friends, how beautiful life is with each of you in it.  While many of you are friends I’ve known for a short time, many others are friends I’ve bonded with since I was a kid.  Some of you might say I am still a kid, but what the hey!?  Better to be a kid than some old crotchety crank that is bitter at the “ills” they’ve experienced, huh?  

Each day is another opportunity for YOU to make a difference in this world. Go out and spread all the Love you can, and know that each smile you give to another…each pat on the back will help all of us to live up to the mnemonic “Human”. Let’s make this world a place that all can be happy in. Let’s make this place something we can leave to a 1000 years of families.  Something I heard while watching Drew Barrymore (one of my most favorite actresses) last week… “Fun is something we bring with us.”  Yes! Fun, happiness, love is a matter of perception! You can wake up each day feeling love and happiness, no matter what pain (physical or emotional) you’re experiencing. It’s all up to you.

As I close this “update” I want to say that I’ve been experiencing for such a long time now so much peace and happiness, both through the AWESOME friends I have as well as the great life I’m experiencing here in Thailand, and I can’t thank all of you who call me friend enough for your love.  Clarity has never been this sharp before, and I know it can only get sharper, at least with the perspective I carry on life. 

I love you all, and hope that each and every one of you can share the love of life that I have come to know.  If you ever have any doubts about YOUR life, just talk to a friend, and see how awesome it is to have a FRIEND that is next to you.

– Cole
    ”Life is a journey. Enjoy the trip.”

The Hunger Site

The Child Health Site

My Thoughts on the Iraq War…

Here’s an update from Michael Moore on the War in Iraq, and it
highlights EXACTLY how I feel about America invading a sovereign
country. The US Congress didn’t break international law to free the
Iraqi people, it did so to acquire their resources.

Read on…

From Michael Moore:
Cut and Run, the Only Brave Thing to Do

Sunday, November 26th, 2006

Friends,

Tomorrow marks the day that we will have been in Iraq longer than we were in all of World War II.

That’s
right. We were able to defeat all of Nazi Germany, Mussolini, and the
entire Japanese empire in LESS time than it’s taken the world’s only
superpower to secure the road from the airport to downtown Baghdad.

And
we haven’t even done THAT. After 1,347 days, in the same time it took
us to took us to sweep across North Africa, storm the beaches of Italy,
conquer the South Pacific, and liberate all of Western Europe, we
cannot, after over 3 and 1/2 years, even take over a single highway and
protect ourselves from a homemade device of two tin cans placed in a
pothole. No wonder the cab fare from the airport into Baghdad is now
running around $35,000 for the 25-minute ride. And that doesn’t even
include a friggin’ helmet.

Is this utter failure the fault of
our troops? Hardly. That’s because no amount of troops or choppers or
democracy shot out of the barrel of a gun is ever going to "win" the
war in Iraq. It is a lost war, lost because it never had a right to be
won, lost because it was started by men who have never been to war, men
who hide behind others sent to fight and die.

Let’s listen to what the Iraqi people are saying, according to a recent poll conducted by the University of Maryland:

** 71% of all Iraqis now want the U.S. out of Iraq.

** 61% of all Iraqis SUPPORT insurgent attacks on U.S. troops.

Yes,
the vast majority of Iraqi citizens believe that our soldiers should be
killed and maimed! So what the hell are we still doing there? Talk
about not getting the hint.

There are many ways to liberate a
country. Usually the residents of that country rise up and liberate
themselves. That’s how we did it. You can also do it through
nonviolent, mass civil disobedience. That’s how India did it. You can
get the world to boycott a regime until they are so ostracized they
capitulate. That’s how South Africa did it. Or you can just wait them
out and, sooner or later, the king’s legions simply leave (sometimes
just because they’re too cold). That’s how Canada did it.

The
one way that DOESN’T work is to invade a country and tell the people,
"We are here to liberate you!" — when they have done NOTHING to
liberate themselves. Where were all the suicide bombers when Saddam was
oppressing them? Where were the insurgents planting bombs along the
roadside as the evildoer Saddam’s convoy passed them by? I guess ol’
Saddam was a cruel despot — but not cruel enough for thousands to risk
their necks. "Oh no, Mike, they couldn’t do that! Saddam would have had
them killed!" Really? You don’t think King George had any of the
colonial insurgents killed? You don’t think Patrick Henry or Tom Paine
were afraid? That didn’t stop them. When tens of thousands aren’t
willing to shed their own blood to remove a dictator, that should be
the first clue that they aren’t going to be willing participants when
you decide you’re going to do the liberating for them.

A
country can HELP another people overthrow a tyrant (that’s what the
French did for us in our revolution), but after you help them, you
leave. Immediately. The French didn’t stay and tell us how to set up
our government. They didn’t say, "we’re not leaving because we want
your natural resources." They left us to our own devices and it took us
six years before we had an election. And then we had a bloody civil
war. That’s what happens, and history is full of these examples. The
French didn’t say, "Oh, we better stay in America, otherwise they’re
going to kill each other over that slavery issue!"

The only
way a war of liberation has a chance of succeeding is if the oppressed
people being liberated have their own citizens behind them — and a
group of Washingtons, Jeffersons, Franklins, Ghandis and Mandellas
leading them. Where are these beacons of liberty in Iraq? This is a
joke and it’s been a joke since the beginning. Yes, the joke’s been on
us, but with 655,000 Iraqis now dead as a result of our invasion
(source: Johns Hopkins University ), I guess the cruel joke is on them. At least they’ve been liberated, permanently.

So
I don’t want to hear another word about sending more troops (wake up,
America, John McCain is bonkers), or "redeploying" them, or waiting
four months to begin the "phase-out." There is only one solution and it
is this: Leave. Now. Start tonight. Get out of there as fast as we can.
As much as people of good heart and conscience don’t want to believe
this, as much as it kills us to accept defeat, there is nothing we can
do to undo the damage we have done. What’s happened has happened. If
you were to drive drunk down the road and you killed a child, there
would be nothing you could do to bring that child back to life. If you
invade and destroy a country, plunging it into a civil war, there isn’t
much you can do ’til the smoke settles and blood is mopped up. Then
maybe you can atone for the atrocity you have committed and help the
living come back to a better life.

The Soviet Union got out of
Afghanistan in 36 weeks. They did so and suffered hardly any losses as
they left. They realized the mistake they had made and removed their
troops. A civil war ensued. The bad guys won. Later, we overthrew the
bad guys and everybody lived happily ever after. See! It all works out
in the end!

The responsibility to end this war now falls upon
the Democrats. Congress controls the purse strings and the Constitution
says only Congress can declare war. Mr. Reid and Ms. Pelosi now hold
the power to put an end to this madness. Failure to do so will bring
the wrath of the voters. We aren’t kidding around, Democrats, and if
you don’t believe us, just go ahead and continue this war another
month. We will fight you harder than we did the Republicans. The
opening page of my website has a photo of Nancy Pelosi and
Harry Reid, each made up by a collage of photos of the American
soldiers who have died in Bush’s War. But it is now about to become the
Bush/Democratic Party War unless swift action is taken.

This is what we demand:

1.
Bring the troops home now. Not six months from now. NOW. Quit looking
for a way to win. We can’t win. We’ve lost. Sometimes you lose. This is
one of those times. Be brave and admit it.

2. Apologize to our
soldiers and make amends. Tell them we are sorry they were used to
fight a war that had NOTHING to do with our national security. We must
commit to taking care of them so that they suffer as little as
possible. The mentally and physically maimed must get the best care and
significant financial compensation. The families of the deceased
deserve the biggest apology and they must be taken care of for the rest
of their lives.

3. We must atone for the atrocity we have
perpetuated on the people of Iraq. There are few evils worse than
waging a war based on a lie, invading another country because you want
what they have buried under the ground. Now many more will die. Their
blood is on our hands, regardless for whom we voted. If you pay taxes,
you have contributed to the three billion dollars a week now being
spent to drive Iraq into the hellhole it’s become. When the civil war
is over, we will have to help rebuild Iraq. We can receive no
redemption until we have atoned.

In closing, there is one
final thing I know. We Americans are better than what has been done in
our name. A majority of us were upset and angry after 9/11 and we lost
our minds. We didn’t think straight and we never looked at a map.
Because we are kept stupid through our pathetic education system and
our lazy media, we knew nothing of history. We didn’t know that WE were
the ones funding and arming Saddam for many years, including those when
he massacred the Kurds. He was our guy. We didn’t know what a Sunni or
a Shiite was, never even heard the words. Eighty percent of our young
adults (according to National Geographic) were not able to find Iraq on
the map. Our leaders played off our stupidity, manipulated us with
lies, and scared us to death.

But at our core we are a good
people. We may be slow learners, but that "Mission Accomplished" banner
struck us as odd, and soon we began to ask some questions. Then we
began to get smart. By this past November 7th, we got mad and tried to
right our wrongs. The majority now know the truth. The majority now
feel a deep sadness and guilt and a hope that somehow we can make make
it all right again.

Unfortunately, we can’t. So we will accept
the consequences of our actions and do our best to be there should the
Iraqi people ever dare to seek our help in the future. We ask for their
forgiveness.

We demand the Democrats listen to us and get out of Iraq now.

Yours,

Michael Moore
www.michaelmoore.com
mmflint@aol.com