- Precious
so today i looked down at my life and realized that i'm more than halfway through college. wow you know? i remember my gamma days where i would just sit in class, talking nonsense as usual, but wondering what college life would be like. and really in a blink of an eye, i'm here now ya know? and i keep thinking, in a blink of an eye, i'll be graduating from university. really, the days may be long, but the years are short. and i sat there wondering, am i different now? compared to then i mean? and i guess in some ways i am, a little bit wiser, a little bit tougher, a little bit stronger and a little bit more experienced. oh well..
i think that quote in precious is so touching. ms rain's effort to connect with precious and to just love her really, made such a huge impact on her life. and that's just it you know, the answer to all the brokenness and pain in this world is love. for all you cynics out there, you might be going love? yea right. but love is taking the effort to reach out to someone, the time to listen, the courage to say i love you no matter what, and the determination to keep pushing until breakthrough comes. and to some of us, love might be the hardest thing on the world to give, but to most of us, i believe, there's always love to spare. we just need to try harder. and we say things like, i'm not living near anyone like precious, how can i help her, or i'm not in india or africa now, nobody has needs like that here. see, love also means opening your eyes wide to what's going on around you. to the beggar you choose to ignore everyday, to the pouts behind someone's back, to the lonely friend we don't wanna go near. love means to do what you can where you can. go out, do crazy things, say hello to a lonely person, tell your friends and family you love them, pick up the phone and call someone, give the dollar you wanted to spend on ice cream to a beggar, pick up your rubbish, don't shout back, don't think bad things of others, thank the man who collects the rubbish, buy chap fan for the poor old lady, and though these may seem like small things, they make a difference. believe it, for these is the beginning, for you to start loving others more grandly, more extravagantly, more sacrificially, more like how our Saviour loves us. and maybe then, you'll be ready for africa.
this is a story i read once, that was really touching. here it is..
"One day a young man was standing in the middle of the town proclaiming that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole valley.
A large crowd gathered and they all admired his heart for it was perfect. There was not a mark or a flaw in it. Yes, they all agreed it truly was the most beautiful heart they had ever seen. The young man was very proud and boasted more loudly about his beautiful heart.
Suddenly, an old man appeared at the front of the crowd and said, "Why your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine." The crowd and the young man looked at the old man's heart. It was beating strongly, but full of scars, it had places where pieces had been removed and other pieces put in, but they didn't fit quite right and there were several jagged edges. In fact, in some places there were deep gouges where whole pieces missing.
The people stared. How can he say his heart is more beautiful?? they thought. The young man looked at the old man's heart and saw its state and laughed. "You must be joking," he said. "Compare your heart with mine, mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars and tears."
"Yes," said the old man, "Yours is perfect looking but I would never trade with you. You see, every scar represents a person to whom I have given my love - I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them, and often they give me a piece of their heart which fits into the empty place in my heart, but because the pieces aren't exact, I have some rough edges, which I cherish, because they remind me of the love we shared. Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away, and the other person hasn't returned a piece of his heart to me. These are the empty gouges - giving love is taking a chance. Although these gouges are painful, they stay open, reminding me of the love I have for these people too, and I hope someday they may return and fill the space I have waiting. So now do you see what true beauty is?"
The young man stood silently with tears running down his cheeks. He walked up to the old man, reached into his perfect young and beautiful heart, and ripped a piece out. He offered it to the old man with trembling hands.
The old man took his offering, placed it in his heart and then took a piece from his old scarred heart and placed it in the wound in the young man's heart. It fit, but not perfectly, as there were some jagged edges.
The young man looked at his heart, not perfect anymore but more beautiful than ever, since love from the old man's heart flowed into his."
and this is like whoa! what are we doing with our hearts today? what do our hearts look like now? is it broken like the old man's? or perfect, like the other? i think there are so many of us who become too afraid to feel, to scared to love. cause like the old man says, giving love is taking a chance. maybe we hold on to our hearts too tightly, not letting it become free to dream, to hope, to love, to explore. but what kind of a life would it be, if we did not cry every now and then? or break, or feel pain? what kind of life would one without risks be? you gotta start taking chances, you can't be so stingy with our emotions. definitely, be mindful of who you decide to throw your love to, but still, remember this, the world NEEDS your heart. and there are people, all lining up to meet you, having pieces of their hearts that they want to give to you too. take it all in, this life. the joy, the pain, the peace, the sorrow, take it all as one whole, one life, complete.
and i really wanted to put this up, my sister sent me an inspiring email today. here's an excerpt of it..
Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they look for a place to dump it. And if you let them, they’ll dump it on you.
So when someone wants to dump on you, don’t take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Believe me. You’ll be happier.
The best leaders know that they have to be ready for their next meeting. The best sales people know that they have to be ready for their next client. And the best parents know that they have to be ready to welcome their children home from school with hugs and kisses, no matter how many garbage trucks they might have faced that day. All of us know that we have to be fully present, and at our best for the people we care about.
The bottom line is that successful people do not let Garbage Trucks take over their lives.
What about you? What would happen in your life, starting today, if you let more garbage trucks pass you by?
love,
candice
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