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Inspirational Lucky Pennies!!
The Lucky Penny
Find a penny, pick it up, and all the day you'll have good luck. Give a penny to a friend and your luck will never end.
Filed under inspirational …
Rafting
photo courtesy of http://www.puretravel.com
author unknown
By good fortune, I was able to raft down the Motu River in New Zealand twice during the last year. The magnificent four-day journey traverses one of the last wilderness areas in the North Island.
The first expedition was led by “Buzz”, an American guide with a great deal of rafting experience and many stories to tell of mighty rivers such as the Colorado. With a leader like Buzz, there was no reason to fear any of the great rapids on the Motu.
The first half day, in the gentle upper reaches, was spent developing teamwork and co-ordination. Strokes had to be mastered, and the discipline of following commands without question was essential. In the boiling fury of a rapid, there would be no room for any mistake. When Buzz bellowed above the roar of the water, an instant reaction was essential.
We mastered the Motu. In every rapid we fought against the river and we overcame it. The screamed commands of Buzz were matched only by the fury of our paddles, as we took the raft exactly where Buzz wanted it to go.
At the end of the journey, there was a great feeling of triumph. We had won. We proved that we were superior. We knew that we could do it. We felt powerful and good. The mystery and majesty of the Motu had been overcome.
The second time I went down the Motu. the experience I had gained should have been invaluable, but the guide on this journey was a very softly spoken Kiwi. It seemed that it would not even be possible to hear his voice above the noise of the rapids.
As we approached the first rapid, he never even raised his voice. He did not attempt to take command of us or the river. Gently and quietly he felt the mood of the river and watched every little whirlpool. There was no drama and no shouting. There was no contest to be won. He loved the river.
We sped through each rapid with grace and beauty and, after a day, the river had become our friend, not our enemy. The quiet Kiwi was not our leader, but only the person whose sensitivity was more developed than our own. Laughter replaced the tension of achievement.
Soon the quiet Kiwi was able to lean back and let all of us take turns as leader. A quiet nod was enough to draw attention to the things our lack of experience prevented us from seeing. If we made a mistake, then we laughed and it was the next person’s turn.
We began to penetrate the mystery of the Motu. Now, like the quiet Kiwi, we listened to the river and we looked carefully for all those things we had not even noticed the first time.
At the end of the journey, we had overcome nothing except ourselves. We did not want to leave behind our friend, the river. There was no contest, and so nothing had been won. Rather we had become one with the river.
It remains difficult to believe that the external circumstances of the two journeys were similar. The difference was in an attitude and a frame of mind. At the end of the journey, it seemed that there could be no other way. Given the opportunity to choose a leader, everyone would have chosen someone like Buzz. At the end of the second journey, we had glimpsed a very different vision and we felt humble – and intensely happy.
You Find What Is In You
photo courtesy of http://www.tumblr.com
author unknown
A popular story of the Middle East tells that a youth arrived at an oasis shore next to a town and approaching an old man asked, “What kind of a people lives in this place?”
“What kind of a people lives in the place? where you are coming from?” asked the old man instead.
“Oh, a group of selfish and wicked,” replied the young one, “I am happy I have left there.”
To what the old man answered,”Same you will find here.”
That same day another young man approached the oasis to drink water and seeing the old man, asked,”What kind of people lives in this place?”
The old man answered with the same question,”What kind of people lives in the place you are coming from?”
“A magnificent group of people, honest, amicable, hospitable, it hurts very much to have left them.”
“Same you will find here,” answered the old man.
A man who had heard both conversations asked the old man,”How is it possible to give two different answers to the same question?”
To which the old man answered,”Each one carries in his heart the environment where he lives. That one that did not find anything new in the places where he stayed cannot find other thing here. The one that found only friends there, can find also friends here, because, to tell the truth, your mental attitude is the only thing in your life over which you can maintain absolute control.”
When you always have a positive attitude you will find the true richness in life. If you look within you will know that you possess a great strength to give and to find all the good things in others. May you always find an oasis of peace!
