Mouth: Takes a gulp of lychee green bubble tea with colored pearls
Throat: Feels a round pearl slipping down oesophagus
Brain: *goes into instant meltdown, neurons firing like crazy* omg what just happened?! no! you only get 42 pearls per cup of bubble tea how dare you swallow one whole without relishing the tangy chewiness of each and every pearl???
Throat: BACKTRACK BACKTRACK GET THE PEARL BACK INTO MOUTH!!
Pearl is recovered.
Mouth: chew chew
Brain: *gratified*
And a woman who held a babe against her bosom said,
Speak to us of Children,
And he said:
Your children are not your children,
They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
- Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.
Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.
An American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellow-finned tuna. The banker complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The Mexican replied: “Only a little while.” The banker then asked why he didn’t stay out longer and catch more fish. The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs.
The banker was puzzled and then asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”
The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, swim a little, play with my children, take a siesta with my wife Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life, Señor.”
The banker scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats. Eventually you’ll have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middle man, you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then Los Angeles, and eventually to New York City where you will run your expanding enterprise.”
The Mexican fisherman asked, “But, Señor, how long will this all take?”
To which the banker replied, “Five to ten years.”
“But what then, Señor?”
The banker laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right, you would announce an IPO and sell your company’s stock to the public and become very rich. You would be worth millions!”
“Millions, Señor? Then what?”
The banker said, “Then you would retire, move to a small coastal fishing village, take siesta with your wife, play with your kids, stroll to the village in the evenings where you would sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”
How remarkable. The very things that the fisherman could look forward to at the end of a long and arduous process that would require him to put his life on hold are those all-important parts of life he already enjoys in his semi-poverty.
What would having more do for him? Prevent him from presently enjoying family and friends, laughing and living, being independent and free of the worries associated with major financial investments. And of course we all realize that the five to ten years the banker estimated would be all the time needed will stretch out far longer as greed for more as well as unexpected difficulties turn the project into a lifelong journey. How much smarter to remember the advice of the first-century Roman philosopher, Juvenal: “It is sheer madness to live in want in order to be wealthy when you die.”
