This is So Worth Watching
I’ve never heard of Jill Bolte Taylor before, but after checking out her website I see she’s been on Oprah – so obviously lots of people have heard her story.
This is a 15 min presentation she did for TED (which is an amazing website). Anyway, it’s really worth watching. Very inspiring and thought-provoking about how we are in the world.
I’m not a religious person but I liked the way she described her experience eventhough she uses some religious words, but really, that’s all we have to describe such experiences in our culture. With her being a doctor it just made it more fascinating to me because she describes it from that perspective as well.
It has me thinking. I love when that happens…lol.
Rising Up
I’m on a roll today with the quotes and parables, etc. I remember the first time I heard this story, I was really depressed and it made me feel good. I liked the idea of using the things that keep us down to help rise us up. Trite, simple? Maybe. But it did help me.
Donkey In The Well.
(Author unknown)
One day a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally he decided the animal was old and the well needed to be covered up anyway, it just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey.
He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone’s amazement, he quieted down.
A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well and was astonished at what he saw. With every shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.
As the farmer’s neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, everyone was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and trotted off!
Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a stepping-stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up. Shake it off and take a step up.
Some Favourite Quotes
For some reason I like quotes. Silly, perhaps but I do. I have a bunch of Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes that I like – here are four that stood out for me today.
“Be not the slave of your own past. Plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep and swim far, so you shall come back with self-respect, with new power, with an advanced experience that shall explain and overlook the old.”
- “Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”
“Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.”
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matter compared to what lies within us.”
