Tag: gratitude journal

The Honey Pot – 6th September 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 1 Comment

Good fortune can be a great deceiver
Life’s lottery may bring returns of gold
But the devil is in the details
Of the glittering lives being sold
Ants will gather at the honey pot
Desperate hands grabbing for a share
Fighting for a way to get out
Before realising it’s all still there

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.

George Bernard Shaw

Today I’m grateful for:
My little motorbike surviving the stupid journies I take it on. I rewarded it with a quick shower and wipe down ready to go again another time. Maybe I’ll wait until it’s a little drier though.
The best thing about today was:
Realising that I needed to get outside and see the sun, breath the air and dive deep into the jungle. My mood had totally altered by the time I returned home scratched up, aching muscles and covered in mud.

I took this picture because it will remind me of my bike ride today that got me out of my funk. I love the angles and depths though my phone can’t capture the magnificence as the human eye. I particularly like the clouds in just half the sky here.

The Week That Was – 25th November 1979

Happy Times – 5th September 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 1 Comment

I’m grateful you’ve been spared
In some way that was my doing
If you’d have stayed here
You’d soon discover troubles brewing

Wisdom came to me far too late
I know it was wrong to make you suffer
There’s no way to go back now
I am one and you are another

I’ll watch you from a distance
Happy you are happy and content
I’ll hang on to the memories
Of the happy times we spent

All I’m saying is that the difference between humans and animals is that animals would never allow the dumbest of the herd to lead them.

The Far Side

Today I’m grateful for:
Being able to leave school early and have an afternoon snooze after treating myself to some lunch.
The best thing about today was:
The bearable temperature, thankfully lowered after a heavy rain whilst I was drinking my morning coffee at House.

I took this picture because I found these mangy pups hanging out on the street corner this morning. They were friendly enough though.

The Week That Was – 18th November 1979

All About The Underdog – 4th September 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

Sometimes bad weather seems better
Maybe you’ve got no coin in the game
A baby born without hope to survive
Maybe rooting for us just the same
Take a shot at the moving target
And it becomes the best you’ve ever done
Everyone has forgotten your name
But to us, you’re the one that won

Run in the opposite direction of any expert or guru proclaiming to possess a secret formula for success of power.

Robert Greene, the Daily Laws

Today I’m grateful for:
A weekend of being able to watch the AFL. Four amazing first-round finals. All of them were fantastic thrilling games and they reminded me of weekends of drinking and hangovers in Australia. Winters of football and summers of cricket.
The best thing about today was:
A big drink of cold water at about 8pm. Today has not been very eventful but that water sure made an impression. No doubt I will be reminded of it at about 3am too!

I took this picture because it represents hope and growth. Many of our pumpkin flowers don’t turn to fruit or fall off quickly before having chance to take. I don’t know how far this one will go but it’s looking good right now.

Pot Of Gold – 3rd September 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

We’re acting our age, growing up
Got our emotions under control
The highs and lows have come and gone
And we’re finally feeling whole
We’re no longer chasing rainbows
We know what’s at their end
The pot of gold is here and now
With a lifetime left to spend

Beware of those who seek constant crowds; they are nothing alone.

Charles Bukowski

Today I’m grateful for:
Amy’s parents for delivering me food and fruit this morning. I was sleeping and I found it with surprise at our door.
The best thing about today was:
Watching Sydney play a fantastic game of football that was tense and exciting.

I took this picture because it caught my eye though I didn’t look closely at it. Looking at it now I guess it’s a painting based on the position of stars. I’m not even sure where I took this or if it’s a screenshot.

Body At War – 2nd September 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

My body’s at war with my brain
One or the other is broken again
My aching joints keep me awake
I wonder how much more I can take
As I sink into deeper depression
My muscles dissolve in regression
Ever-declining circles of pain
My body’s at war with my brain

You’ve got to hand it to capitalism, convincing everyone that ‘freedom’ meant obeying your boss or starving was a pretty incredible achievement.

Existential Comics

Today I’m grateful for:
The gardeners for coming and taking care of things whilst I was at work. It’s nice to come home and everything looking respectable. They even collected all the passion fruit up from the ground for me.
The best thing about today was:
Talking with my students – as is often the case. Each time I communicate with them I hope it improves their confidence even just a little. As more students talk to me, others find the courage too.

Planting Seeds – 1st September 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

As my mind opened so did the world in front of me
Even as a child I sensed things were not as should be
So it is now I look up to the biggest sky I ever saw
Where love and cooperation must trump violence and war

“the biggest sky I ever saw” is taken from a Robert Plant interview used in the Led Zeppelin biography by Mick Wall, hence the title.

The brain and the tongue are so far apart.

Prunesquallor from Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake

Today I’m grateful for:
Champ asking me if I’d like to teach in the new building where the rooms will have aircon! That could be nice. I’m sure there will be teething troubles in there and maybe Champ has some other motive for me being there but all the same, it is nice to be thought of.
The best thing about today was:
Momo coming and telling me that she wished I was still teaching her. When I asked why she said that my classes were more fun. I think she and Porpieng feel that they are not being challenged enough now. I felt good to hear her say this, making me remember the impact, no matter how small, I’m having on her life.

I took this picture because the clouds rolling up the mountain like this really caught my attention. I was struggling to find anything to take a picture of on this walk as the sky was still quite dull and grey but then seeing the sun hitting the mountaintops and this cloud really stuck out. I stood and savoured it even if only for a second or two.

Laugh Or Cry – 31st August 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry
I don’t know, who, when, what or why
Spent my days in endless frustration
A victim of a worthless education

Now I’m at school on the other side
All the things I learned being applied
And frustrated kids look up with empty eyes
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry

The people who get on in theis world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, make them.

George Bernard Shaw

Today I’m grateful for:
Being able to share my abundant fruits with other people. The papaya is delicious but I can’t eat six of them!
The best thing about today was:
A quick ride along back roads and tracks to Bruno’s reminded me of times riding my motorbike in Dorset as a teenager. The green overhanging fauna down dirty muddy tracks and lanes. The smell of fresh oxygen mixed with distant smoky garden fires. I was transported, if only for a moment.

I took this picture because I found these two ‘good boys’ far from their home on my morning walk and they followed me all the way back.

Garden Haiku – 30th August 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 4 Comments

Passionfruit flowers
Precede overabundance
Jam jars are ready

Ripened or not so
Papayas can be eaten
Until sick of it

The rambutans red
Are all infested with ants
Inedible now

Avocado trees
Why do you never give fruit?
I want to smash you

My chillies just came
It was a surprise to all
Conditions perfect

26th Jun 2024 – Submitted to Weekly Prompts Wednesday Challenge

Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on earth.

Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment

Today I’m grateful for:
The cookie I ate at House with my lunchtime coffee. It wasn’t particularly tasty or big but somehow it staved off any afternoon hunger so I ended up only needing yoghurt for dinner.
The best thing about today was:
Being able to talk to different students on a more personal level about more serious topics such as behaviour and respect. Even with the difficulties we have in communicating I feel as if I have their confidence in some ways.

I took this picture because I’d never seen the light on the lower mountains like this before. The sun was only just over the horizon to the east.

The Week That Was – 11th November 1979

Outside – 28th August 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 1 Comment

I don’t want to go outside
The rain spits knives at my blinking eyes
Don’t want to be outside
Angry ghosts stare at me in surprise
I don’t want to see outside
Evil awaits with sharpened knives
Don’t take me to the outside
Amongst the dead and zombied lives
I don’t want to go outside
The flashing neon against dull grey skies
Don’t want to be outside
To smell the carcass covered in flies
I don’t want to see outside
The monsters can’t get me in my bed
Don’t take me to the outside
Where the rats of paranoia invade my head

The day a child realises all adults are imperfect, he becomes and adolescent; the day he forgives them, he becomes an adult; and the day he forgives himself, he becomes wise.

Alden Nowlan, Selected Poems

Today I’m grateful for:
Pushing myself to walk to Utopia in the morning and recognising the extra energy that gave me throughout the day. I got a lot done.
The best thing about today was:
Reading more Gormenghast. I’m loving the language and imagery and being introduced to all these weird and quirky characters. I’m enjoying it more than the first book in the series so far. There were lots of other good things today too mostly because I was in a good mood because of my morning walk and the sun being out again.

I took this picture because this was the view of the sunrise on my first early morning walk. It was also nice to view the world around me from different perspectives.

Atrox, Disciples of the Elder, (A poet), Other Side Of The Fence – Cornwall Hotel, Dorchester, Dorset, UK – 15th March 1985

Spice Of Life – 27th August 2022

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ 4 Comments

*Luxury requires the gathering
Of many miseries and anxieties*
Yet our well-being is right before us
Living well has many varieties

Using the gifts of nature
Counts amongst the greatest things
Once given up the chase
Feel the contentment that it brings

*Seneca
13th Oct 2024 – Shared with Word of the Day Challenge – luxury

We should not forget that the true purpose of education is to make minds, not careers.

Chris Hedges, Empire of Illusion

Today I’m grateful for:

My old friend Jenny from Sydney contacting me and saying she will try and come and visit in October. I really appreciate the fact that she might consider doing that.

The best thing about today was:

A lazy late afternoon nap as a dull dark day of threatening clouds forced my tired eyes to rest.

I took this picture because Tigger can be amazingly cute when he wants to be. This is just one of three pictures I took at the time and makes me smile.