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The Wise Woman's Stone

A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation. The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the wise woman.

"I've been thinking," he said, "I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious.
Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone." 

What the hungry traveler never knew is that goodness is innate within us and its not something we acquire, rather its something we are all born with and already obtain. Humans love doing good, its just that at the best of times our vision is clouded with other tasks and stresses that shut us off from expressing our pure goodness.
Make a slight change to your routine this week by showing a little care to someone who really needs it, even if its a little smile. You will be surprised how that little spark of goodness will light up your world and of course others.

Have an absolutely amazing and inspirational week!
Darren

This weeks quote...

“Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, to all the souls you can, in every place you can, at all the times you can, with all the zeal you can, as long as ever you can”

 

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  The Oak and the Reed

I am sure some of you have seen this story before, but as it has got such a great message, its always good to be reminded of it again.

There was once a mighty oak tree that grew at the edge of a wood.
At the foot of this spreading giant grew a thin reed. With every breeze the reed would bend, swaying and sighing.
The oak looked down upon the thin reed and laughed.
"Look at me," boasted the oak. "See how strong I am. The wind may blow his hardest, but I will never bend."
Now it came to pass that there was a terrible storm. Never had the wind been wilder. It lashed at the oak tree, stiff and straight, and bent the reed.
Harder and still harder blew the wind, but the oak tree would not bend. Then, suddenly, with a great cracking and splitting, the oak tree fell over and lay uprooted on the ground.
When the wind died down, the little reed stood upright, as before. Sadly it looked down upon the fallen giant.
"Strength is not everything. It is a good thing to be able to bend when one has to," said the reed.

This is such a great story as it displays how important it is to be open, flexible and work 'with' situations that get handed to us on a daily basis in order to reach higher levels of success.
When things dont seem the way we want them, the natural reaction is to fight it. Like the oak tree you might just be uprooted and turned upside down. Being hubris and stubborn wont get you very far, but being gentle and flexible like the reed expresses humility and allows you to be fluid and work 'with' the flow of what's being dished to you. Once you can identify and practise this, bad situations will certainly be easier to overcome.

Have an awesome week and may you always have the wisdom to know when to apply stregnth and flexibilty!

Darren

This weeks quote...

“Humility is the only true wisdom by which we prepare our minds for all the possible changes of life.” - George Arliss                                                                                                                                          

Priceless Possessions

One day a father and his rich family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose to show him how poor people can be. They spent a day and a night on the farm of a very poor family. When they got back from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?" "Very good Dad!" "Did you see how poor people can be?" the father asked. "Yeah!" "And what did you learn?" The son answered, "I saw that we have a dog at home, and they have four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of the garden; they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lamps in the garden; they have the stars. Our patio reaches to the front yard; they have a whole horizon." When the little boy was finished, his father was speechless. His son added, "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how 'poor' we are!"

Isn't it true that it all depends on the way you look at things? If you have love, friends, family, health, good humor and a positive attitude towards life - you've got everything! You can't buy any of these things. You may have all the material possessions you can imagine, provisions for the future, etc, but if you are poor of spirit, you have nothing! Keep lifes finer things close to your heart and don't complain about the things you dont have, rather rejoice and be grateful for the things you do have!

Have an awesome week!!

Darren Zwiers

The ideals which have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth. The trite subjects of human efforts, possessions, outward success, luxury have always seemed to me contemptible. -Albert Einstein