Posts by Pat:
Think on these stories…
Don’t be like the man who joined a monastery in which the monks were allowed to speak only two words every seven years.
After the first seven years had passed, the new initiate met with the abbot, who asked him, “Well, what are your two words?”
“Food’s bad,” replied the man, who then went back to his silence.
Seven years later the abbot asked, “What are your two words now?”
“Bed’s hard,” the man responded.
Seven years later, twenty-one years after his initial entry into the monastery, the man met with the abbot for the third and final time. “And what are your two words this time?” the abbot asked.
“I quit.”
“Well, I’m not surprised,” the cleric answered disgustedly. “All you’ve done since you got here is complain!”
We don’t want to be like that man; known as a person whose only words are negative. If we are a member of the “negative grapevine,” we can resign.
After all, our words create our worlds.
And our thoughts create our words.
So we should be careful of the thoughts we choose!
Now, check out the idea that Anthony de Mello shares in this story in his book, “The Heart of the Enlightened.”
“Traveler: What kind of weather are we going to have today?
Shepherd: The kind of weather I like.
Traveler: How do you know it will be the kind of weather you like?
Shepherd: Having found out, sir, I cannot always get what I like, I have learned always to like what I get. So I am quite sure we will have the kind of weather I like.”
We decide who we will become
- by the thoughts we think,
- by the words we choose,
- by the actions we take.
This truth amazes me (and often dumbfounds me!) But it also nudges me into becoming more aware and choosing more thoughtfully!
How about you?
Do you know any “two word monks” in your life experience?
Or perhaps do you have an abundance of “shepherds” in your life?
And which do you think YOU are?
Quotes for July
There are always So many ideas… So many thoughts… So many feelings… So many quotes! I love deciding each month which eight quotes I’ll post. I certainly accumulate them faster than I post them! Do you have any new favorites? (I’m always happy when folks share their favorites with me!) […]
Scratch Your Head Over These!
Ever wondered why some of these sayings don’t seem to really make sense? And how about plastic glass, a definite maybe, or military intelligence! Each of these is called an oxymoron. A dictionary defines them as “a combination of contradictory or incongruous words.” Still another dictionary defines an oxymoron as a “wittily paradoxical turn of […]
Is Your To-Do List Ruining Your Life?
There was an interesting article that suggested that to-do lists don’t work, that they make folks so stressed that they die an early death! (okay, that’s a little over the top) But because I’ve always done to-do lists, it certainly raised some questions in my mind. One of the reasons they don’t work well, that I […]
Four Words You Can Say to Jerks
The four words are simple, they are easy, and they are not that fancy. Whenever someone is being a “jerk” you can say “You might be right.” This accomplishes a few things: It admits that maybe they are right. You make mistakes. Maybe you did something wrong. Could this person have brought it up […]
Got a moment?
Ever been told to “just wait a moment…” What is a moment? It’s really an extraordinary thing, more so than we usually realize. We usually use the word “moment” to mean a very short amount of time, maybe one or two seconds, and therefore rather negligible. But we’ll never find a moment on a clock […]
Restore Yourself to Your Factory Default Settings!
Ever had your connection to the internet suddenly stop working? I have, and when it does that I’m completed frustrated. Putting my “deep technological know-how” to work (haha), I mumble, stumble, and fumble with the various buttons and keys. Closing all the applications and rebooting still doesn’t work. Turning the computer on and off several […]
Two days to be worry-free
There are two days in every week about which we should not worry; two days which should be kept free from fear and apprehension. One of these days is YESTERDAY with its mistakes and cares, its faults and blunders, its aches and pains. YESTERDAY has passed forever beyond our control. All the money in the […]
The “Lower-Half Club”
Our culture is in love with numbers and data. We are told that having the right information is the key to getting ahead. After all, this is the Information Age, isn’t it? Conventional wisdom says success in our educational system is the key to future success-that students with the best grades are “the most likely […]