We’ll See . . .

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We’ll See
Author Unknown

Once upon a time, there was a farmer in the central region of China. He didn’t have a lot of money and, instead of a tractor, he used an old horse to plow his field.

One afternoon, while working in the field, the horse dropped dead. Everyone in the village said, “Oh, what a horrible thing to happen.” The farmer said simply, “We’ll see.” He was so at peace and so calm, that everyone in the village got together and, admiring his attitude, gave him a new horse as a gift.

Everyone’s reaction now was, “What a lucky man.” And the farmer said, “We’ll see.”

A couple days later, the new horse jumped a fence and ran away. Everyone in the village shook their heads and said, “What a poor fellow!”

The farmer smiled and said, “We’ll see.”

Eventually, the horse found his way home, and everyone again said, “What a fortunate man.”

The farmer said, “We’ll see.”

Later in the year, the farmer’s young boy went out riding on the horse and fell and broke his leg. Everyone in the village said, “What a shame for the poor boy.”

The farmer said, “We’ll see.”

Two days later, the army came into the village to draft new recruits. When they saw that the farmer’s son had a broken leg, they decided not to recruit him.

Everyone said, “What a fortunate young man.”

The farmer smiled again – and said “We’ll see.”

Moral of the story: There’s no use in overreacting to the events and circumstances of our everyday lives. Many times what looks like a setback, may actually be a gift in disguise. And when our hearts are in the right place, all events and circumstances are gifts that we can learn valuable lessons from.

Consider this : As Fra Giovanni once said“Everything we call a trial, a sorrow, or a duty, believe me… the gift is there and the wonder of an overshadowing presence.”

Consider this: We’ll see!

 

30 Things To Start Doing For Yourself . . .

 

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Marc and Angel are the authors of 1000 Little Things Happy Successful People Do Differently. Here’s their amazing list of 30 things to start doing for yourself.

Here are three things I particularly like:

#1. Start spending time with the right people. – These are the people you enjoy, who love and appreciate you, and who encourage you to improve in healthy and exciting ways. They are the ones who make you feel more alive, and not only embrace who you are now, but also embrace and embody who you want to be, unconditionally.

#4. Start making your own happiness a priority. – Your needs matter. If you don’t value yourself, look out for yourself, and stick up for yourself, you’re sabotaging yourself. Remember, it IS possible to take care of your own needs while simultaneously caring for those around you. And once your needs are met, you will likely be far more capable of helping those who need you most.

#6. Start noticing and living in the present. – Right now is a miracle. Right now is the only moment guaranteed to you. Right now is life. So stop thinking about how great things will be in the future. Stop dwelling on what did or didn’t happen in the past. Learn to be in the ‘here and now’ and experience life as it’s happening. Appreciate the world for the beauty that it holds, right now.

Read the full list of things to start doing here.

Consider this: What do you need to start doing for yourself today?

Something to think about . . .

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Work . . . It is the Price of success

Play . . . It is the secret of perpetual Youth

Think . . . It is the source of power

Read . . . It is the foundation of wisdom

Pray . . . It is conversation with God

Laugh . . . It is the music of the Soul

Listen . . . It is the pathway to understanding

Dream . . . It is hitching your wagon to a star

Worship . . . It is the highway of reverence

Love and be loved . . . It is the gift of God

Consider this: They all work together.

Think like that . . .

 

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How would you feel if you had no fear?
Feel like that.
How would you behave toward other people if you realized their powerlessness to hurt you?
Behave like that.
How would you react to so-called misfortune if you saw its inability to bother you?
React like that.
How would you think toward yourself if you knew you were really all right?
Think like that.

 

Vernon Howard
Author and Philosopher

 

Consider this: Fill in the blank. Today, I will  _____ like that.

You Learn . . .

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After awhile you learn
the subtle difference between
holding a hand and chaining a soul
and you learn that love doesn’t mean possession
and company doesn’t mean security.
And you begin to learn that kisses aren’t contracts
and presents aren’t promises and you begin to accept
your defeats with your head up and your eyes ahead
with the grace of an adult not the grief of a child.
And you learn to build your roads today
because tomorrow’s ground is too uncertain for plans
and futures have ways of falling down in mid-flight.
After awhile you learn that even sunshine
burns if you get too much so you plant your
own garden and decorate your own soul
instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.
And you learn that you really can endure
that you really are strong
and you really do have worth
and you learn
and you learn…

– Veronica A. Shoffstall

Consider this: What have you learned?

Focus . . .

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What I focus on in life is what I get. And if I concentrate on how bad I am or how wrong I am or how inadequate I am, if I concentrate on what I can’t do and how there’s not enough time in which to do it, isn’t that what I get every time? And when I think about how powerful I am, and when I think about what I have left to contribute, and when I think about the difference I can make on this planet, then that’s what I get. You see, I recognize that it’s not what happens to you; it’s what you do about it. 

– W. O. Mitchell, Canadian Author and Teacher

 

Consider this: What are you focusing on today?

I am there . . .

I Am There
James Dillet Freeman

Do you need Me?
I am there.
You cannot see Me, yet I am the light you see by.
You cannot hear Me, yet I speak through your voice.
You cannot feel Me, yet I am the power at work in your hands.

I am at work, though you do not understand My ways.
I am at work, though you do not understand My works.
I am not strange visions. I am not mysteries.

Only in absolute stillness, beyond self, can you know Me
as I AM, and then but as a feeling and a faith.

Yet I am here. Yet I hear. Yet I answer.
When you need ME, I am there.
Even if you deny Me, I am there.
Even when you feel most alone, I am there.
Even in your fears, I am there.
Even in your pain, I am there.

I am there when you pray and when you do not pray.
I am in you, and you are in Me.
Only in your mind can you feel separate from Me, for
only in your mind are the mists of “yours” and “mine”.
Yet only with your mind can you know Me and experience Me.

Empty your heart of empty fears.
When you get yourself out of the way, I am there.
You can of yourself do nothing, but I can do all.
And I AM in all.

Though you may not see the good, good is there, for
I am there. I am there because I have to be, because I AM.

Only in Me does the world have meaning; only out of Me does the world take form; only because of ME does the world go forward.
I am the law on which the movement of the stars
and the growth of living cells are founded.

I am the love that is the law’s fulfilling. I am assurance.
I am peace. I am oneness. I am the law that you can live by.
I am the love that you can cling to. I am your assurance.
I am your peace. I am ONE with you. I am.

Though you fail to find ME, I do not fail you.
Though your faith in Me is unsure, My faith in you never
wavers, because I know you, because I love you.

Beloved, I am there.

Consider this: You are never alone.

The Cracked Pot . . .

The Cracked Pot
Author Unknown

A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on the end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots was perfectly made and never leaked. The other pot had a crack in it and by the time the water bearer reached his master’s house it had leaked much of it’s water and was only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water to his master’s house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. “I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you.” “Why?” asked the bearer. “What are you ashamed of?” “I have been able, for these past two years, to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master’s house. Because of my flaws, you have to do all of this work, and you don’t get full value from your efforts,” the pot said.

The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, “As we return to the master’s house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path.”

Indeed, as they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it some. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again the pot apologized to the bearer for its failure.

The bearer said to the pot, “Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot’s side? That’s because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you’ve watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master’s table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house.”

Each of us has our own unique flaws. We’re all cracked pots. But if we will allow it, God will use our flaws to grace his table. In God’s great economy, nothing goes to waste. Don’t be afraid of your flaws. Acknowledge them, and you too can be the cause of beauty. Know that in our weakness we find our strength.

Consider this: Appreciate who you are.

What do you remember . . . ?

Because we do not know when we will die, we get to think of life as an inexhaustible well and yet everything happens only a certain number of times – and a very small number really. How many times will you remember a certain afternoon of your childhood, an afternoon that is so deeply a part of your life that you can’t even conceive of your life without it? Perhaps four or five times more? Perhaps not even that. How many times will you watch the full moon rise, perhaps twenty, and yet it all seems so limitless…

Paul Bowles 1910-1999
American Writer and Composer

Consider this: What do you remember that you can’t conceive of your life without it?

You Sure Are Lucky . . .

You Sure Are Lucky…
Ken Morris – Northwest Airlines Captain
Reprinted with permission from Passages Magazine

It was a hot, muggy August afternoon, and I had every reason to feel sorry for myself. A comedy of hassles began with the normal airport security gauntlet, followed by a random drug test, and a missed flight home due to a number of mechanical, weather and late inbound flight problems. Now my flight home was full and late.

During the usual pandemonium at the gate, I noticed a 5-year-old boy standing by his mother and watching me. He looked at me, then my bag, then back at me.

Cautiously, he left his mother’s side and slowly began to walk toward me, glancing between my bag, his mother, and me.

“Great,” I thought, “now I have to baby-sit a 5-year-old. My day is now complete.”

As he came closer, I was both relieved and alarmed that it wasn’t me he was after. It was my hat!

I started to tell him not to bother my things, but something made me stop and watch. He stopped in front of my bag, looking at my hat, then up at me.

With wide eyes, he gently touched the bill of my hat. Running his index finger slowly along the edge, carefully touching the emblem.

Again, he looked up at me, now smiling, but saying nothing. I asked him if he would like to wear my captain hat.

He excitedly nodded his head, still smiling. I placed my hat on his head, but it fell down around his ears. He didn’t seem to mind and held it up in the proper position with both hands. He ran to show his mother, then back to me still smiling from ear to ear.

With much reverence and ceremony, he slowly removed my hat with both hands and presented it to me as though it were the crown jewels.

I put my hat on and gave him an airplane card. This, too, he held with both hands in awe.

After this exchange, he still hadn’t spoken, although I knew he was excited. I also was happy that I had been briefly distracted from my self-pity fest.

Still holding the card carefully with both hands, he looked up at me and said, “Mister, you sure are lucky.”

“Yes,” I said, “I sure am.”

I contemplated the wisdom of a 5-year-old, as I got the last seat on that flight home.

Consider this: Whatever you are going through, you sure are lucky!