Archive for December, 2009
On quiet wisdom
Posted by: | CommentsEveryone is wise until he speaks. -Irish proverb
Therefore knowing when to be quiet may be the greatest genius among men…
On being real
Posted by: | Comments
One of the most wonderful dialogues ever penned can be found in Margery Williams’ The Velveteen Rabbit. The velveteen rabbit is interested in what “being real” is all about. The wisdom of the skin horse becomes clear in his answer to the foreboding question…
“What is REAL?” asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. “Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?”
“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.”
“Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit.
“Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.”
“Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?”
“It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”
“I suppose you are real?” said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive. But the Skin Horse only smiled.
The ability to be real without pretense is as important as being alive itself.
Stars
Posted by: | Comments
There are two kinds of stars in the sky; shooting stars and shining stars. Which one are you?
It’s funny how shooting stars get all the fanfare while shining stars don’t seem to get any. Yet shining stars show stability, longevity and can assist in navigation.
Shooting stars may catch your eye for a moment, but then disappear just as mysteriously as they arrived seconds before. People are like stars; it takes a long time to become dependable, trustworthy and great. Many show up with bells and whistles, but lack the character to remain.
Consider your own life; don’t worry about getting all the attention like a shooting star. Over time you will become like the North Star and many will attribute their successful navigation for the simple fact that you were still there.
