(Clearance book sale including shipping and handling: $10 for the first book and $5 for each after that. Email me with which of my books you want and your shipping address. Help me regain space in my garage.)
My wife and I care for our two grandsons every Thursday and Friday during the school year. I am thankful for the time we get to spend with them. Each week we make a trip to the library to pick out five books and five videos. Most of the book and video choices are made by the three-year-old, as he is the oldest. He tends to choose books based on the picture on the front cover.
Recently he saw a cute panda on the cover of a book which contained several old Buddhist fables. Of course we had to check out this panda book. When we sat down to read the book together later that day, I found the tales incredibly relevant to life today. In fact, one of the tales could have been based on one of the chapters in my upcoming book on Finding Joy in Your Work. (Watch for it in January 2025) The ending of this tale gave me goose bumps.
I believe the issue affected me so deeply because it is an area I struggle with frequently. In fact, we all struggle with this problem. I loved the story so much I read it to my wife while the kids were napping. As I read it for the fourth time, still producing the same goose bumps, I realized this story needed to be shared on my blog. Gaining control of this one thing has the power to prevent a frequent loss of joy in our lives.
As you read this fable, think about your own life and how often you let this issue ruin your moment, your day, your week, or even your relationships. I wonder how many divorces could be prevented by gaining control of this one issue. You have the power to take away your own joy and therefore must be careful not to make this mistake. There are already enough things sucking joy from your life; don’t become one of them.
A Heavy Load
Two traveling Monks arrived upon a town where there was a young woman waiting to step out of her sedan chair. The rains had made deep puddles and she couldn’t step across without spoiling her silken robes. She stood there scolding her attendants, looking very cross and impatient. They had nowhere to place the packages they held for her, so they couldn’t help her across the puddle.
The younger monk noticed the women, said nothing and walked by. The older monk quickly picked her up and put her on his back. He transported her across the water and put her down on the other side. She didn’t thank the older monk. She just shoved him out of the way and departed.
As they continued on their way the young monk was brooding and preoccupied. After several hours of silence, he spoke out. “That women back there was very selfish and rude but, you picked her up on your back and carried her and she didn’t even thank you!”
“I set the women down hours ago,” the older monk replied. “Why are you still carrying her?”
When I read this fable for the first time I thought of all the baggage from my past that I still carry, allowing it to continuously hurt my attitude: the comment someone made that hurt me, an action I should have taken but didn’t, the maniac who cut in front of me while driving, a note I sang flat in a musical, a patient I couldn’t save, that frivolous malpractice case, an election result that didn’t go my way, the guy who said I ate too many cookies for that spiderman costume, or the time I yelled at my son for something that wasn’t his fault.
The interesting thing about this story is that the one who was mad, and ruining his own joy, was not even involved in the action in question. He watched someone else be slighted and allowed it to ruin his day. One would think the older monk who carried the woman would be the person who was upset. But sometimes we let things that don’t even involve us ruin our day.
The young monks comments remind me of a scene I love from the movie Kung Fu Panda. The old master Oogway was speaking to Po, the Kung Fu Panda, who was upset about thoughts that were haunting him.
“You are too concerned with what was and what will be.
Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift.
That is why it is called the present.”
Give yourself a present and let the past go. Don’t let yesterday ruin today. Today should stand on its own merits.
What thoughts have you been carrying around that you need to relinquish?
This Thanksgiving, be thankful for today’s activities without worrying about what has happened in the past or might happen in the future. Enjoy the present!
Happy Thanksgiving
