October 14, 2020

I Can’t See My Own Label from Inside The Jar.

What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy and strength, if faced with an open mind. Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognise it as such.

-Henry Miller

I would like to start by sharing my best poem ever, any friend of mine has heard this poem from time and time again.

A little about it, it is a poem we recited as kids and I have to admit I don’t remember it all let alone accurately. 

However the lesson in it has stood the test of time. And a massive lesson it is, one that follows me every day of my life.

               “ Many people find it easy to be thankful when things go well;

                 But they find hard to be thankful when things go wrong.

                 They quickly forget their years of good health after a few days of illness;

                  They quickly forget their years of wealth after…”

I find it so powerful. Sorry if you were enjoying it. The rest of it is just meddled up in my head so that is as far as I chance it.

Positive Attitude 

It is very easy to have a positive attitude if you realise that everything is all good.

And I mean including the bad stuffs.

All good.

There is a  beautiful Japanese story of an old man that goes something like this.

There lived an old man called Sāi Wēng who raised horses for a living. 

One day, he lost one of his prized horses. 

After hearing of the misfortune, his neighbour felt sorry for him and came to comfort him.

But Sāi Wēng humbly replied,

 “How could we know it is neither good nor bad for me?”

After a while, the lost horse returned and with another beautiful horse. 

The neighbour came over again and congratulated Sāi Wēng on his good fortune. 

But Sāi Wēng humbly said, 

“How could we know it is neither good nor bad thing for me?”

One day, his son went out for a ride with the new horse. 

He was violently thrown from the horse and broke his leg. 

The neighbours once again expressed their condolences to Sāi Wēng, but Sāi Wēng simply said,

“How could we know it is a neither good nor bad thing for me?” 

One year later, the Emperor’s army arrived at their small village to recruit all able-bodied men to fight in the war. 

Because of his injury, Sāi Wēng’s son could not go off to war, and was spared from certain death.

If you are as tempted as I am let us humbly say it together, “How can we know it is neither good or bad…? 

For us to appreciate the good things, we have to experience the bad ones too.

Optimism 

Optimistic people tend to live happier lives, this has been proven to be true.

Look for the good in all things just consider them as challenges with lessons in them.

A positive attitude has a lot of advantages;

• Rather than complain you will make use of your current challenges. You will make the most of it and learn from it knowing if you don’t the lesson will keep coming back to you until you do.
• You will be more accepting of all your life lessons.
• You won’t get stuck or feel stuck.
• You will be accepting of your emotions (and of others hence flexing your empathetic side)
• You will stop being judgemental of yourself (and of the people around you creating a relaxed and loving environment)

In conclusion, see good in all things even in the bad stuffs.

Do not worry yourself with what people think of you. It is very important to know the difference between your character and your personality.

You: I can’t see my own label from inside the jar. Can you tell me what it says?

Me: You are enough, what is written on the outside doesn’t matter, the inside is all that counts.

I would like to hear some of your stories, what are some of the things that you had to experience the opposite for you to appreciate them? Please leave a comment or send me an email, I promise to read them all.

Thank you.

Photo credit: Photo by willsantt from Pexels