Forward no matter the speed

©MCD

It appeared in the middle of the footpath in the forest park. The little child was amazed. It pulled onto its grandfather’s hand to approach it cautiously.

“Look, how fast it’s going!” it pointed.

The turtle was moving faster than what is conventionally believed to be its pace.

The child was thrilled. For a few moments, it stood there, mesmerised, in silence watching it, as if absorbing every movement the turtle made.

“Turtles are extraordinary creatures,” her grandfather said. “They demonstrate how to be comfortable in your own shell; how to travel at your own pace even if that means going slowly. The only thing you should fear is standing still”.

The little girl tiptoed behind the turtle.

“Speed doesn’t matter. Forward is forward”.

“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go” – T.S. Elliot

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Empty pockets and full hearts

There is a saying that being rich is not about the material things you have, but the wealth you store inside – the things that enrich your mind and spirit. As such, the more we have inside, the less we need on the outside.

In his beautiful and very inspiring book “The Richest Man of the World”, Rafael Vídac states that most of the problems in this world come from people with full pockets and empty hearts. For this reason, he has written what is described as “a complete map to follow for anyone who needs a profound change in his life” (Diana Zuluaga). He prompts readers to take steps to enrich their internal wealth, which will help in transforming them into a more dynamic person by expanding their mind.

In a page-turning story that grips you from the start, the author notes that all people go through periods of personal crisis. And these consist of five stages:

1. Ignorance – not acknowledging why you feel terrible
2. Wandering – accepting you feel bad but not knowing what you want
3. Utopia – you know what you want but don’t know how to achieve it
4. Paralysis – you know what you want and the steps to take to realise it, but you are still incapable of taking action and this causes pain and disappointment. It is scary to take hold of the realms of your life.
5. Resistances – you are able to move into action and pursue your goals, but for some reason you are unable to succeed.

At the same time, however, we are taught that there are three “laws” worth taking into account during periods of crisis:

1. No one regardless is forced to endure a difficulty that they are not capable of overcoming.
2. Every pain and effort is always rewarded and at the right time.
3. The truly important things that happen to us do so on a wise purpose that we will understand sooner or later.

“Try to believe and life will prove to you that no matter what, it will support you,” Vídac states, stressing that “life will show you the path you need to follow.”

He makes the reader open his/her eyes to things we are too busy to see. Or the ones we don’t want to.

For example:

• Material things are only the shell covering people’s feelings and thoughts.
• We tend to substitute insecurities with the need to have control.
• Control is a useful tool on condition that you do not allow it to govern you. It is impossible to control everything in life.
• You need to learn how to take steps in the dark – if you can move without any prior information, you will sharpen your senses to move on the ground on which you tread.

In this amazing and very motivating book, the reader is forced to think, to ponder on where s/he focuses their energy on a daily basis and what needs to change for a better life.

Here are some of the best messages from this must-read book:

• Our body needs vitality. The next step in achieving internal wealth is to correctly manage unpleasant emotions. When such feelings have been supressed for too long they become toxins that poison our bodies and distort the way we view the world around us.

• The problem does not lie with the unpleasant emotions per se, but in our inability to appropriately manage them. For that reason, we don’t need to eradicate them but to harness them.

• It is easy to feel angry. But few know how to appropriately manage this feeling. Anger when suppressed for a long time results in bitterness. Sorrow may turn into depression and fear into a pathological insecurity against any situation.

• The real target is not the target itself, but the person who you wish to become. The aim is for you to transform into someone who is ready to accept what s/he desires. The way you deal with circumstances must be that of a person who was already conquered his/her goals. Start to believe that you have that something you want. From that moment, you create it, by believing in it (Law of attraction).

• Never underestimate the impact of the true meaning of words. We don’t “chase” our dreams – the phrase insinuates running after something that constantly evades us.

• Possessing the necessary internal wealth allows you to hold the necessary energy and have a mind capable of concentrating.

• What we call ‘luck’ is only the final consequence of all our past actions. What you do alone does not determine your luck, but also what you feel and what you think.

• Our stance – as per our emotional or mental actions – also has a great role to play in implementing our goals. You need to believe strongly in what you want to achieve, but also be able to distance yourself from the result, whatever that may be – to accept any outcome.

• Our perceptions are packages of brain information that operate autonomously and affect our way of perceiving the world.

• No one knows you better than your own mind and that is why no one is more enticing when it wants to convince you about something.

• Focus your mind on what is happening at that moment and not on the disappointments that may never come. Worry is a mental creation born out of fear

• The person who becomes obsessed with what he is looking for cannot appreciate what he already has.

• At times, life destroys in the most painful way what matters most to us, but that only happens when we are ready to succeed in something better.

• The only limits that exist are the ones we ourselves impose.

• A flame does not stop shining because of the darkness that surrounds it.

• We should wonder if what exists in our life is what we truly want or what we fear to change.

• All of us, and each one separately, can transform into something wonderful, someone brilliant. There is no better time than now.

Bottled Message

There Andre was, sitting on his luxury soft blue towel, soaking in the last of the summer sun’s rays and enjoying the massaging feeling of the small white pebbles on his back. Routine would strike him sooner than he could expect and he was determined to make the most of every carefree moment he still had. When he got up to turn around – the secret to sunbathing is to roast on both sides equally – his eyes fell upon a glistening object at the water’s edge. At first, he thought it was a reflection that the waves had caused as they foamed ashore. He got up to quench his curiosity. It was a glass bottle. And yes, there was a message inside.

As Andre uncorked the storm-tossed bottle, he carefully unrolled the yellowish creased paper inside. It had four words scribbled on it in panic: “Help! SOS! In danger”.

Andre looked across the sea, towards the horizon. It was an unconscious act. Perhaps in his mind he believed he would have seen the shipwrecked letter-writer emerge and he could run (or rather swim) to his/her rescue. But there was nothing out there. The water was tranquil and not even a sailboat was apparent at the coastline.

Andre took out his tablet – because everyone has one form of technology or other available at all times, even at the beach – and began to search the news for shipwrecks. It took him a while, given the increased incidents of Middle Eastern migrants risking their very lives and abandoning everything in search of a better life in a new continent. But he finally found it. It was a small boat cramming 200 migrants. It had been found just hours after it sunk having completed over half of its perilous journey. All of its passengers, downtrodden humans just like everyone else, with a story of their own to tell if they could, men in their thirties and forties, women who seemed so much older than they really were and children who had had the innocence of their childhood stolen away from them, all perished at sea. All that remained as a reminder of their existence was this scrawny paper.

Andre got up. His holidays had just ended. He spent the rest of his time before returning to work, and as much free time as he had after that, volunteering in shelters and centres that were constructed especially for people who had nothing. Not necessarily for refugees who had come from afar, but even for people in his own country who were struggling to survive. A message in a bottle had changed his entire perspective. If he could have the same influence on someone else, imagine how much change could be brought about.

Also part of Daily Prompt: SOS

All it takes is two seconds

Lately he didn’t feel like running around anymore. He could sense that something had changed. She had just stopped coming suddenly and no-one could tell him why. Matt too hadn’t really left the house in days. He just spent his time glued in front of the TV screen, as if trying to lose himself inside whatever it was he was watching. It was like this for a couple of weeks now, and Harry was becoming restless.

His play-wheels were no longer rolling joyfully. They would only occasionally turn if the strong wind howled through them. But he didn’t feel like performing like a circus act. Not since she stopped appearing.

Harry had loved Rosa since the moment she picked him out from the tens of other hamsters in the pet store. He knew he had found a person who would love him unconditionally and treat him more than just an animal. And she did. For Rosa, Harry was a member of the family. The one she planned to one day have with Matt. She spent entire days at Matt’s house with her laughter bouncing across the rooms and filling every square inch of the loft. Harry loved it. And so did Matt. He was different around her. He seemed more alive. More optimistic. More energetic.

Matt wanted to ask Rosa to spend the rest of her life with him. Harry knew she would accept. They were meant to be together. After all, they would never had gotten him together if they had no future. He was not destined to be the product of a separated family – he just knew it.

But that fateful night, the life of all three of them radically changed forever.

Matt had prepared a romantic candle-lit dinner in his apartment. He had a big surprise planned out and Harry was going to help. Rosa was on her way. She was a bit late and sent a message to Matt as soon as she started the car. She was excited too, although she didn’t know what was awaiting her. But when she heard the message tone from Matt telling her he couldn’t wait for her to arrive, she bent down for two seconds to confirm it was from the love of her life. But two seconds were more than enough. In the dark of night, Rosa went slightly off-road. The speeding sports car that was wrongly attempting to overpass her, though, was unforgiving. It crashed onto her and threw her into the air, rolling twice before she landed on the sidewalk, car destroyed, and out of breath. The strike was fatal.

That was the moment Harry had sensed things had changed. It was that moment when a strong breeze blew in through the windows and blew out the candles Matt had prepared. It was that moment when they both stood in silence, somewhat knowing that they would never be the same again.