Man vs. Nature / Čovek protiv prirode

Since the beginning of time, the man had to face the forces of nature to ensure his own survival. The nature has been observed as hostile, the man had to fight with his body and mind to concur the nature and make it his servant. However, more than once, the nature has demonstrated how powerful and wild it can truly be and the man, with all his science and technology and progress, stood no chance. Nevertheless, the mankind survived, there are more people in the world today than ever before.

If you start to think about this, it becomes clear, there is no man vs. nature, the nature is within a man, and the man is within the nature, we do not exist apart from it. If we fight the nature within, then we fight against our own bodies, our own instincts, senses… And if we fight the nature around us, we inevitably lose, because we are just a small piece of it. How about if we stop fighting and start listening, begin working together, cooperating, learn from it as much as we can and then co-create, play with it. This is the abundant planet, there is enough food, clothes and homes for each and every one of us. Nature is greater than all of us together, she gave a birth to everything that exists, we call it a Mother for a reason. She gave us everything she had so that we would live a happy life, as every mother would, and she did it with love.

And how do you treat your mother? Do you show her respect? Are you thankful for her gifts? How do you show your love?

If you do not understand your nature, that is within you and all around you, then you cannot appreciate it and you wouldn’t know how to love yourself or the world around you. Even that’s o.k., mother is forgiving and compassionate, her own love is enough, but you better show her respect! Because the Earth will survive without us, but where would we be without the Earth?

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Od početka vremena čovek je morao da se suočava sa prirodnim silama kako bi obezbedio svoj opstanak. Na prirodu se gledalo kao na neprijatelja, čovek je morao da se bori i umom i telom kako bi je pokorio i potčinio je svojim potrebama. Međutim, više puta je priroda demonstrirala koliko moćna i neukrotiva zaista može biti i čovek, sa svim svojim naučnim dostignućima i tehnologijama i napretkom, nije imao nikakve šanse. Ipak, čovečanstvo je preživelo i danas ima više ljudi na svetu nego ikada pre.

Ako se zamislimo nad ovim, postaje jasno da čovek ne može protiv prirode, jer priroda je u čoveku i čovek je u prirodi, mi ne postojimo odvojeno od nje. Ako se opiremo prirodu u nama, onda se borimo sa našim telima, sopstvenim nagonima, čulima… A ukoliko se borimo sa prirodom oko nas, neminovno gubimo, jer smo mi samo mali njen deo. Kako bi bilo kada bismo prestali da se borimo a počeli da slušamo, da sarađujemo, da učimo od nje što više i onda da stvaramo zajedno, da se igramo. Ovo je planeta obilja, ima dovoljno hrane za sve, odeće i krova nad glavom za baš svakoga od nas. Priroda je veća od svih nas zajedno, ona je rodila sve što postoji, ne zovemo je uzalud Majka Priroda. Dala nam je sve što je imala kako bismo živeli srećno, baš kao prava majka, i to je uradila sa ljubavlju.

A kako se mi ponašamo prema svojoj majci? Da li joj ukazujemo poštovanje? Da li smo zahvalni na njenim darovima? Kako joj pokazujemo ljubav?

Ukoliko ne razumeš svoju prirodu, onu koja je u tebi i onu koja te okružuje, onda je nećeš ni ceniti i nećeš umeti da voliš ni sebe ni svet oko sebe. Čak je i to u redu, jer majka je puna saosećanja i opraštanja, njena sopstvena ljubav joj je dovoljna, ali bolje bi ti bilo da je poštuješ! Jer Zemlja će nastaviti da postoji i bez nas, a gde bismo mi bili bez nje?

Tijana

Ogledalo/The Mirror

 Magic mirror on the wall, who is the fairest one of all?

– The Brothers Grimm, “Snow White”

Magično ogledalce moje, reci na svetu najlepši ko je?

– Braća Grim, “Snežana i sedam patuljaka”

Kada izađeš iz sebe i pogledaš se tuđim očima, da li ti se sviđa osoba koju gledaš? Odgovor uvek treba da bude DA!

Osnovno pravilo – Ne trudi se da budeš onakav kakav misliš da ćeš se drugima svideti! Nikada nećeš postići da se svima svidiš i da te svi cene i vole.

Drugo osnovno pravilo – Trudi se uvek da budeš onakav kakav ćeš se sebi svideti.

Jedina osoba sa kojom treba da se poredimo je naš ideal o sebi samima. To je onaj superheroj koji se krije negde u našoj podsvesti, a od koga crpimo snagu, elan, samopouzdanje, hrabrost i sve one osobine koje su nama važne i kojima stalno stremimo.

Možda jedino iskreno prijateljstvo je ono sa samim sobom. A kada uspeš da budeš zadovoljan sobom i uspeš da dosegneš neki svoj ideal ličnosti i drugi će to umeti da prepoznaju i cene, a tebi više neće biti ni važno njihovo mišljenje.

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When you step out of yourself and see you through someone’s else eyes, do you like who you see? The answer should always be YES!

Main principle – Don’t try to be the person you think other people would like! You will never succeed to be liked by everyone and for everyone to appreciate you and love you.

The other grand rule – Always try to be the person that you would like.

The only person we should compare ourselves to is our own ideal about who we should be. It is that superhero who we hide somewhere in our subconsciousness mind, from who we drive our power, inspiration, self-confidence, courage and all the attributes that are important to us and we keep striving to attain them.

The only true friendship, maybe, is that one you have with yourself. And when you succeed in reaching some of yours personal ideal, other people will know to recognize that and appreciate it but you will no longer care what their opinion really is.

Buđenje / Awakening

Život je konstantna promena. Sve oko nas je u cikličnom kretanju, pa i svi procesi u našem telu takođe, i mi kao deo prirode imamo potencijal da se krećemo u tom ritmu. Ako uporedimo ljudsko telo i drvo, vidimo da su u kori drveta upisani godovi, kažu da kora drveta pamti, a isto se kaže i za ljudsku kožu, ipak jedno drvo u samo jednoj godini umre i ponovo se rodi, podari novo seme iz koga može da iznikne sasvim novo drvo, čak i iz posečenog drveta, ako ostane panj, može da nikne nova mladica. Svakoga dana u prirodi možemo videti milion “malih čuda”, zašto mislimo da se ta čuda ne mogu desiti i nama, zar nismo i mi deo te čarobne prirode? Činjenica je da će stresna situacija, povreda, teža bolest… ostaviti ožiljke u nama i po nama, ali je isto tako činjenica da mi sve to možemo prevazići i krenuti iz početka. Mislim da je ključ da se savkoga dana ispraznimo od svih negativnosti koje su nas dotakle toga dana, da se napunimo pozitivnom energijom, bilo kroz druženje sa prirodom ili druženje sa dobrom knjigom, filmom, muzikom, a najlepše je u zagrljaju voljene osobe, i onda zakoračiti u novi dan sveži i okupani dobrim snom, “kao ponovo rođeni” krenuti u novi dan otvorenog uma, otvorenog srca, ispunjeni ljubavlju! Sunce se ponovo rađa, sunce se svakog dana ponovo rađa!

Budi sunce, budi zvezdano nebo, budi reka koja preobražava sve u dobro…

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Life is a constant change. Everything around us is moving in cycles, all the processes in our body as well, and as a part of the nature, we too have the potential to move in that rhythm. Should we make a comparison between human body and a tree, we notice the rings imprinted in the bark of a tree, they say the bark of a tree has a memory and the same thing is said for the human skin. A tree dies and reborn all in a year, it gives a seed from which a new tree can sprout, even if the tree is cut down, if the stump remains, a new offspring will arise. Every day we can witness to a million “little wonders” in the nature, why do we think these wonders don’t happen to us too, aren’t we a part of that miraculous nature? The fact is that a stressful situation, an injury, a bad sickness… will leave scars within us and on us, but it is also a fact that we can overcome it all and start all over again. I think that the key is to clear from all the negativity we have encountered during a day, then to fill up with a good energy, whether from being in the nature or spending time in a company of a nice book, a movie, listening to a music, and the most beautifully in someone’s loving hug, and then step into a new day fresh and renewed with the good night sleep, “like a reborn” welcome a new day with an open mind, open heart, filled with love! The sun comes out again, the sun comes out again every day!

Be the sun, be the sky full of stars, be a river that transforms everything into good…

Ringišpil života / Life’s carousel

Život je jedan šareni ringišpil. Čas si na vrhu i rukama možeš da opipaš nebo, a već sledećeg trenutka udišeš prašinu. Često ti je muka od svega i samo želiš da sve stane, da siđeš, ali ipak ponovo se penješ i vrtiš, vrtiš, vrtiš u krug i gore i dole i kad ti se najviše vrti u glavi vrištiš od sreće i zadovoljstva i osećaš se kao na krilima neke ptice sa kojom letiš i nemisleći kuda, samo osećaš da si zadovoljan tu gde jesi.

Bez obzira koliko bilo i mučno i teško, makar i zarad samo jednog takvog trenutka spokojstva, radosti i slobode, vredi se uvek iznova vraćati tom ringišpilu boja i života.

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Life is one colorful carousel. In a second you are on the top of it and you can touch the sky with your hands, and yet at the next moment you can breathe the dust. You are often sick of everything and you just want everything to stop, you are ready to go down, but still you climb and spin again, you spin and spin in a circle and up and down and when everything in your head is spinning the most you scream with happiness and pleasure, and you feel like you are on the wings of a bird you fly with and not thinking where, you just feel satisfied where you are.

No matter how painful and difficult it may be, even if only for the sake of just such a moment of serenity, joy and freedom, it is always worth returning to that carousel of colors and life.

Tijana Stupljanin

Teorija o životu uopšte / A theory of life in general

Šta je život? Rođenje, radost, tuga, odrastanje, bol, ljubav, sreća, patnja, radost, padanje i ustajanje, smrt i šta posle? Večita pitanja: da li život ima smisla, i ako ima koji je to smisao?

Život to sam ja. Bez mene život i ne postoji. Moj život je moj smisao. Ja postojim u ovom životu, na ovoj planeti sa svrhom da živim svoj život najbolje što mogu, na način koji izaberem, a ja sam odabrala ljubav. Uh, pa svi biraju ljubav, reći ćete. Da, svi žele ljubav, ali neki ljudi samo čekaju da im ljubav dođe i nakupe puno negativnih osećanja u tom čekanju, a kada im čekanje dosadi, pristaju na sve. Dok neki, poput mene, krenu na daaalek put u potrazi za ljubavlju. Napatila sam se ja na tom putu, nije da nisam, i plakala i jadikovala i stalno osećala nedostatak te iste ljubavi koju sam tako očajnički tražila, da ne kažem jurila. I malo je falilo da odustanem, da se “pomirim sa sudbinom”, da pristanem na nešto što samo liči na ljubav, ali se brzo istroši. Znate šta je bilo na kraju tog puta? Naišao je princ na belom konju, poljubio me i razbio zle čini… I wish! Ne, ne, ali i to je došlo posle. Posle čega? Posle saznanja da ljubav nije tamo negde i da ljubav ne može niko da mi da; da ljubav nije patnja, da ljubav ne boli, da ljubav nikako ne znači samouništenje zbog nekoga ili nečega. Da se život ne živi zbog drugih i za druge, da je ljubav preduslov života i život sam, da je ljubav u meni, da je ta ljubav veća i od mene i od mog života. Na kraju tog puta sam prihvatila sebe i prigrlila ljubav i rešila da volim, a ne da budem voljena i onda je zaista naišao moj princ, ne baš na belom konju, mada jeste bila zima i padao je sneg kada smo se prvi put poljubili.

I tako, život teče… Uvek me je privlačila ona misao – Život je reka, utopi se ili plivaj! Ono što mi je zadavalo muke, doduše, bilo je što sam veći deo života plivala uzvodno, jer je neko tamo nekada (najverovatnije neki Srbin), rekao da je život težak! Od malena nas mažu ratničkim bojama, a onda odjednom čuješ: uspori, opusti se, uživaj, pomiriši cvet, pogledaj u nebo, poslušaj cvrkut ptica… A ja kažem, filtriraj sve što čuješ, napiši sam svoj scenario, usmeri tu reku  na svoju vodenicu i igraj, igraj, igraj.

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What is life? Birth, joy, sorrow, growing up, pain, love, happiness, suffering, joyfulness, stumbling and rising, death and what next? Eternal questions: does life have meaning, and if so, what is the meaning of life?

Life, it is me. Without me, life does not exist. My life is my meaning. I exist in this life, on this planet with the purpose of living my life the best I can, in the way I choose, and I have chosen love. Uh, well everyone chooses love, you’ll say. Yes, everyone wants love, but some people just wait for love to come to them and accumulate a lot of negative feelings in that wait, and when they get tired of waiting, they agree to everything. While some, like me, set out on a long journey in search of love. I suffered on that journey, it’s not that I didn’t, and I cried and lamented and constantly felt the lack of that same love that I was so desperately looking for, I might as well say chased it. And I almost gave up, I almost “came to terms with my destiny”, almost agreed to something that only looks like love, but quickly wears out. You know what happened at the end of that trip? The prince came on a white horse, kissed me and broke my evil spells… I wish! No, no, but that did come later. After what? After learning that love is not out there somewhere and that no one can give me love; that love is not suffering, that love does not hurt, that love by no means stand for self-destruction for someone or something. That life is not lived for the sake of others and for others, that love is a precondition of life and life itself, that love is in me, that this love is greater than me and my life. At the end of that journey, I accepted myself and embraced love and decided to love, not to be loved, and then my prince really came along, not exactly on a white horse, although it was winter and it was snowing when we first kissed.

And so, life flows… I was always attracted by that thought – Life is a river, drown or swim! What bothered me, however, was that I swam upstream for most of my life, because someone there once (most likely a Serb) said that life is hard! We have been painted with warrior colors since we were little, and then suddenly you hear: slow down, relax, enjoy, smell the flower, look at the sky, listen to the birds chirping… And I say, filter everything you hear, write your own script, direct that river to your mill and play, play, play.

Tijana Stupljanin