Love Life Enough To Struggle

Love Life  Enough to Struggle

Once upon a time,  a man found a butterfly that was starting to hatch from it's cocoon. He sat down  and watched the butterfly for hours as it struggled to free itself  through a tiny hole. Then, it stopped making progress  and appeared to be stuck.

The man decided to help the butterfly out. He took a pair of scissors and gentle cut the rest of the cocoon. The butterfly then emerged, easily, but it had a bloated body and tiny shriveled wings. The man thought nothing of it and sat there waiting for the wings to enlarge and support the butterfly.

However, that never happened. The butterfly spent the rest of it's life unable to fly, crawling around with a swollen body and small wings.

Despite the man's kind heart, he didn't understand that the restricting cocooon and the struggle by the butterfly to get itself out of the hole were nature's way of forcing fluids from the body into it's wings to prepare itself for flying once it was free.

"A fallen flower returning to the branch? It was a butterfly." Arakida Moritake

So it's important for all of us to tackle our challenges. If you never struggle you'll never grow and get stronger. You can do it... And it will be good for you. You're a butterfly And butterflies are free to fly

Someone Saved My Life Tonight (Live) Elton John

You might also like The Struggle for Life

Enjoy

© 2020 MU-Peter Shimon

Tigers and Mice and Strawberries... Oh My!

Tigers and Mice and Strawberries... Oh My! A Zen Tale

One day while walking through the wilderness a man stumbled upon a vicious tiger.

He ran but soon came to the edge of a high cliff. Desperate to save himself, he climbed down a vine and dangled over the fatal precipice

As he hung there, two mice appeared from a hole in the cliff and began gnawing on the vine.

Suddenly, he noticed on the vine a plump wild strawberry.

He plucked it and popped it in his mouth. It was incredibly delicious!

This Zen tale's ending has been changed from the original for a Western audience. So now, it is also a bit of a koan The question is... Is this a tale of a wise person or a foolish one?

By being present in the moment and savoring the strawberry was he being mindful and wise?

Or by focusing on the strawberry, was he distracted and foolish?

Is there another  answer?

Enjoy

© 2020 MU-Peter Shimon

Home: This Must Be the Place

Home This Must Be the Place To be to #FlattenTheCurve

#STAYATHOME "Home, is where I want to be But I guess I'm already there I come home, she lifted up her wings I guess that this must be the place" David Byrne

This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) Talking Heads

Enjoy

© 2020 MU-Peter Shimon

The Value of Your Life

The Value of Your Life (and others)

Little Big Man  Chief Dan George Gratitude Speech

One day a son goes to his father and asks "Father, what is the value of my life?"

The father gives him a stone and says "If you want to know the value of your life, take this stone to the market. If anyone asks the price... Don't say a word, simply raise up 2 fingers.

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The boy does as his father says and goes to the market. He wanders around and then suddenly, an old woman approaches him and says "How much is this stone?"

The boy doesn't say a word but raises 2 fingers. The woman says "2 dollars? I'll take it!" The son is surprised and runs back to his father saying "Father, there was an old woman at the market. She wanted to give me 2 dollars for the stone."

Then the father replies, "The next place I want you to go is the museum, and if anyone asks the price, don't say a word. Just raise 2 fingers." So the son takes the stone and goes to the museum. After about 20 minutes a middle aged man approaches the boy. He says to the boy "Much is this stone?" The boy doesn't say a word and raises 2 fingers. "200 dollars? I'll take it!" says the man.

Surprised again the boy runs home to his father and says, "Father, a man at the museum wanted to buy the stone for 200 dollars." The father replied, "Ok son, the last place I want you to take the stone is a precious stone shop. Walk inside with the stone and if anyone asks the price, don't say a word. Just raise 2 fingers."

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So the son runs off to the precious stone store. After finding it and walking inside he sees an old man behind the counter. And as the old man sees the stone, he jumps up and screams "Oh my god! You have the stone I've been searching for all my life! What do you want for it? How much is it?" The boy doesn't say a word and raises up 2 fingers. "200, 000 dollars? I'll take it!" says the old man

The boy can't believe it. He jumps up and runs to his father. "Father, the old man at the precious stone store wanted to give me 200,000 dollars for the stone." The father said, "You see son? Do you understand the value of your life? Life is all about where you place yourself. You can decide to be a 2 dollar stone or a 200,000 dollar stone. There are some people who love you and for whom you are everything. And some people will just use you as a commodity. For them, you will be worth nothing. So it is up to you, my son, to decide the value of your life."

Enjoy

© 2020 MU-Peter Shimon

Letting Go

Letting Go

Two traveling monks reached a river where they met a young woman.

Wary of the current, she asked if they could carry her across.

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One of the monks hesitated, but the other quickly picked her up onto his shoulders, transported her across the water, and put her down on the other bank.

She thanked him and departed.

As the monks continued on their way, the one was brooding and preoccupied.

Unable to hold his silence, he spoke out. "Brother, our spiritual training teaches us to avoid any contact with women, but you picked that one up on your shoulders and carried her!"

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"Brother," the second monk replied, "I set her down on the other side, while you are still carrying her."

Enjoy

© 2020 MU-Peter Shimon