Ambition

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.

-- Mark Twain

What is peace?

What is Peace?
By Arun Gandhi

A favorite story that Grandfather liked to tell us was the story of an ancient Indian King who was obsessed with the desire to find the meaning of peace. What is peace and how can we get it and when we find it what should we do with it were some of the issues that bothered him. Intellectuals in his kingdom were invited to answer the King's questions for a handsome reward. Many tried but none could explain how to find peace and what to do with it. At last someone said the King ought to consult the sage who lived just outside the borders of his Kingdom:

"He is an old man and very wise," the King was told. "If anyone can answer your questions he can."

The King went to the sage and posed the eternal question. Without a word the sage went into the kitchen and brought a grain of wheat to the King.

"In this you will find the answer to your question," the Sage said as he placed the grain of wheat in the King's outstretched palm.

Puzzled but unwilling to admit his ignorance the King clutched the grain of wheat and returned to his palace. He locked the precious grain in a tiny gold box and placed the box in his safe. Each morning, upon waking, the King would open the box and look at the grain to seek an answer but could find nothing.

Weeks later another sage, passing through, stopped to meet the King who eagerly invited him to resolve his dilemma. The King explained how he had asked the eternal question and this sage gave him a grain of wheat instead. "I have been looking for an answer every morning but I find nothing."

The Sage said: "It is quite simple, your honor. Just as this grain represents nourishment for the body, peace represents nourishment for the soul. Now, if you keep this grain locked up in a gold box it will eventually perish without providing nourishment or multiplying. However, if it is allowed to interact with the elements - light, water, air, soil - it will flourish, multiply and soon you would have a whole field of wheat which will nourish not only you but so many others. This is the meaning of peace. It must nourish your soul and the souls of others, it must multiply by interacting with the elements."

A better life!

Hi Everyone,
Our class believes that we need to stop drugs and alcohol. Too many kids are doing them. We need an education to get a better life. A better life is full of friends and good parents. ---A cool class

Connections

It happens in the obvious places like buying a snowboard or visiting the chocolate shop. You interact with the people around you. Store clerks and people on the street. These chance meetings are connections of great importance. They build the unifying energy of the world. Goodness evokes connection, engagement evokes depth. It happens in the obvious places where we look least. Connections that make the world a better place. TJS

Someone

We take it for granted. The miracle of human interaction. The times when we are with someone and enjoying the sunshine. The opportunities we have to talk and share our stories with those around us. The human miracle! Times spent walking, working or exploring the world. The people around us are the miracles that can make life worthwhile. Enjoy those you work with, savour the relatives who stay in touch and celebrate the times you have spent with friends. Sometimes we focus way too much on the bad stuff. Life is good and miracles are all around us!!! TJS

You can help!

"Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve. You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love." -Martin Luther King, Jr.

Thankful

There isn't anything like it. The wonders of the north. Isolated lakes and forrest surroundings marked with outcrops of rock and sand. The skiffs (flat bottom boats of wood with a rising nose) meet speed and skim across the water. Cool breeze causing even the well dressed to shiver. It was on such a day in the far north of Saskatchewan that two friends took the psychologist fishing. It is a place where human quiet meets nature; the call of a baby eagle, the splash of nearby fish, and the rush of the rapids. It was the most sacred of moments. The ones we often take for granted. But today I am thankful. Thankful for laughter, warm drink, gentle breeze, fresh fish caught and ate, and the miracle of nature that reminds us that we are finite beings in a marvelous world.