My little diary

“Focus on the destination”

Two Spanish friends set out on a mini-truck and headed off to a jungle to indulge in a deer hunt. Parking at a distance they set off into the bushes to a vantage point down in the valley, waiting for their prey.

After a few hours of many failed attempts, they finally managed to shoot down a deer. And then began the long journey back to their truck.

The two friends clasped the deer’s tail and began to drag it towards their truck. A farmer saw them struggling and shouted out some advice: “ That’s not the way to do it! God made handles for you to drag the deer. You see the antlers on the deer? Those horn like things? Hold that – and pull the deer!”

The two friends looked at each other and decided to heed the advice. They went to the other side, grabbed the deer’s antlers and continued to drag it.

Ten minutes later, one of them said, “The farmer was right. It’s much easier this way!”.

“That’s right” said his partner, “only problem is we are moving farther and farther away from our truck”.

Lessons to Learn from This Story:

In our pursuit to make things easier now, we often lose sight of what we are initially set-out to do, diverting us from our destination.

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“Unique flaws and Appreciation”

A water bearer in China had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots
had a crack in it, while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water. At the end of the long walk from the stream to the House, the cracked pot arrived 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 house.

Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of it's 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. I have been able to deliver only half my load because this crack in my side causes
water to leak out all the way back to your 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 bearer said to the pot, "Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's
side? That's because I have always known about your flaw. So I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day
while we walk back, you've watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table.
Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house?

Lessons to Learn from This Story:

Each of us has our own unique flaws. We're all cracked pots. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You've just got to take each person for what they are, and look for the good in them. Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.

Remember to appreciate all the different people in your life.

Other reads:

“The King and the peace contest”

There once was a king who wanted to offer a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. A peace contest was soon conducted in that Kingdom. Many artists tried and submitted their work. The king looked at all the pictures. There were only two he really liked, and he had to choose between them.

One picture was of a calm lake, perfectly mirroring the peaceful, towering mountains all around it. Overhead was the blue sky with fluffy, white clouds. It was the favorite of all who saw it. Truly, they thought, it was the perfect picture of peace.

The other picture had mountains, too, but these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky from which rain fell and in which lightening played. Down the side of one mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. At first sight, there was no sight of peace; only anger and destruction was prominent from this picture. But when the king looked closely, he saw beside the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of the angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest in perfect peace.

Which picture would you have selected? The king chose the second picture. Do you know why?
“Because,” explained the king, “peace does not mean to be in a beautiful place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all these things and still be calm in your heart. This is the real meaning of peace.”

Lesson learnt from this story: Real peace is in your heart, deep within you!

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