Painting by Belynda Wilson Thomas
How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world. William Shakespeare
What changes will we make this year, what changes will happen we didn’t choose but must deal with?
I’m reading, “The Other 90%,” by Robert K. Cooper. He says his grandfather asked him two questions when he was still a young boy to help him be his best.
What is the most exceptional thing you’ve done this week?
What’s the most exceptional thing you will do next week?
That is putting ourselves on the spot and we might not have an answer but if we made it part of our mission to do one noteworthy thing a week we could probably do it. Even asking ourselves the question might help us better orient ourselves in the world, especially if we are getting to the age where we have the joy and privilege of interacting with our grandchildren.
We might decide like Robert Cooper’s grandfather did after having his third heart attack. He’d lived by the motto, “Give the world the best you have and the best will come back to you.” In living a life where he got very good at fitting in and going along he thought he was giving life his best. Still, after three heart attacks, he began to look at life differently and wondered what kind of life he could have had if he’d kept looking deeper and questioned yesterday’s definition of his best.
What if he’s right and we can learn more about the potential hidden inside of us? What if we can choose to be more than we’ve become? Listening to Tony Robbins last night he said more or less the same thing, if we continue to learn and develop throughout our lives, we will be capable of doing more things. There is always something to learn and it isn’t about fame and fortune although many people have found it by solving problems that need to be solved.
What if we are called to be a lighthouse and not a weather vane? I think of people who have been bright lights in my life. Hopefully, we’ve all had bright lights in our lives, and been a bright light in someone else’s. It might not be what we accomplish in life that is as important as that we are always moving toward something even if we never attain it.
All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle. St. Francis of Assisi
If we dare ask ourselves tough questions and answer them how would we change our life? If we don’t like the answer to the question about what exceptional thing we did last week, last month, or last year, we could plan to do something we would be proud of. We might make a call we’ve been putting off, heal a breach in a relationship, or implement a plan we’ve been thinking about.
We need to keep growing, what if, “Our life is a garden, our thoughts are the seeds, we can plant flowers, or we can plant weeds,” is true? Many beautiful gardens become unkempt, what if one of our biggest jobs is to become better with age, and be a lighthouse to those coming after us? Can we become a light in our little corner of the world, where it matters most, in our families?
We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. Plato
People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
There is always light. If only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it. Amanda Gorman
Thank you for reading this post. Please come back and read more, and have a blessed day filled with gratitude, joy, and love.
