What are you noticing?
"There are no insignificant moments!"
If anyone has seen the film or read the book "The Peaceful Warrior," that phrase is probably one you have spent some time thinking about.
Isn't it true?
I got the chance to put that idea into practice this past week on my way home from St. Louis. I had just spent an inspiring two days deepening my spiritual discovery which included viewing the clip from "The Peaceful Warrior" mentioned above.
When I got to my car in Ft. Lauderdale, parked on the top of the long term parking garage, in 91 degree heat - I discovered it was dead. I left the lights on - so the battery was toast! In that moment, for a few seconds - there was some frustration, anger, and a pinch of self-condemnation.
But, I also realized that I had the CHOICE of what I made of the situation. So, instead of staying in a mindset of "whoah is me," I decided to make the best of it.
It only took a few minutes to contact security and let them know I needed help. So, in those few minutes I had to wait for assistance - I decided to stop, listen, and see what was "significant" in this moment.
Meaning, now that I had moved on from the disappointment of being inconvenienced from "my schedule," might I be able to see and appreciate what was going on around me in that moment?
So I tried. There was the parking lot. Nothing too exciting about that. Though, there was a row of beautiful palm trees I hadn't noticed before - which was a stark contrast to all of the concrete. I saw a plane take off from the airport - and I thought about all of the people on the plane and the excitement of going on a journey. I heard birds, felt the heat, and noticed the huge line of taxi's waiting to pick people up.
Hmmm...maybe there was nothing significant after all.
Then, a security guard pulled up in a golf cart realizing he really couldn't help me - so he called the service truck. The man was an older gentleman, Jamaican descent, and had a wise and gentle presence to him. Instead of taking off he decided to stay and keep me company.
After a few minutes of small talk, umprompted, he shared this story with me (and picture the Jamaican accent):
"So there was a man in a village who was really down on his luck. He lost his family, lost his job, and really had no reason to live. He didn't even have any money for food. While walking around he noticed a tall tree. He decided he would end his life by jumping off the top of the tree. As he began climbing the tree he found an old chicken bone. He licked the bone but could find no extra meat or anything on the bone to feed him. So, he dropped it to the bottom of the tree. As he got to the top of the tree, many of the townspeople could now see him toward the top. They gathered at the bottom of the tree to see if he was going to jump. Right when he was about to jump and end his life, he noticed a man at the bottom of the tree picking up the chicken bone he had dropped. The man also tried to lick it clean, but he couldn't find anything either. In that moment, instead of jumping, the man yelled down to the man on the ground, 'Don't move - I'll be right there!' He then climbed back down the tree to help the man."
"So you see," my new Jamaican friend told me, "Even when you think you got it bad - there is always someone who has it worse. So be happy!"
By this time, the service guy had jumped my car with cables, and my car was back to normal. I thanked both men for their help, especially my new friend for staying with me and sharing the story.
As I thought back to the story in my car - I loved that it was the guy in the tree who not only noticed the man worse off than him - but in that instant he let go of his own self-pity to come down from the tree to help the man. I am not sure if that was the moral of the story - but that is what I got from it.
So, in my 15 unplanned extra minutes at the airport parking roof - what did I notice? Well, it reminded me that there are no insignificant moments - and if you stop beating yourself up long enough to notice what is happening around you - you might be able to help someone else in need.
Isn't that what my Jamaican friend did for me?
And for me - it was pretty significant!
Much love,
Travis
If anyone has seen the film or read the book "The Peaceful Warrior," that phrase is probably one you have spent some time thinking about.
Isn't it true?
I got the chance to put that idea into practice this past week on my way home from St. Louis. I had just spent an inspiring two days deepening my spiritual discovery which included viewing the clip from "The Peaceful Warrior" mentioned above.
When I got to my car in Ft. Lauderdale, parked on the top of the long term parking garage, in 91 degree heat - I discovered it was dead. I left the lights on - so the battery was toast! In that moment, for a few seconds - there was some frustration, anger, and a pinch of self-condemnation.
But, I also realized that I had the CHOICE of what I made of the situation. So, instead of staying in a mindset of "whoah is me," I decided to make the best of it.
It only took a few minutes to contact security and let them know I needed help. So, in those few minutes I had to wait for assistance - I decided to stop, listen, and see what was "significant" in this moment.
Meaning, now that I had moved on from the disappointment of being inconvenienced from "my schedule," might I be able to see and appreciate what was going on around me in that moment?
So I tried. There was the parking lot. Nothing too exciting about that. Though, there was a row of beautiful palm trees I hadn't noticed before - which was a stark contrast to all of the concrete. I saw a plane take off from the airport - and I thought about all of the people on the plane and the excitement of going on a journey. I heard birds, felt the heat, and noticed the huge line of taxi's waiting to pick people up.
Hmmm...maybe there was nothing significant after all.
Then, a security guard pulled up in a golf cart realizing he really couldn't help me - so he called the service truck. The man was an older gentleman, Jamaican descent, and had a wise and gentle presence to him. Instead of taking off he decided to stay and keep me company.
After a few minutes of small talk, umprompted, he shared this story with me (and picture the Jamaican accent):
"So there was a man in a village who was really down on his luck. He lost his family, lost his job, and really had no reason to live. He didn't even have any money for food. While walking around he noticed a tall tree. He decided he would end his life by jumping off the top of the tree. As he began climbing the tree he found an old chicken bone. He licked the bone but could find no extra meat or anything on the bone to feed him. So, he dropped it to the bottom of the tree. As he got to the top of the tree, many of the townspeople could now see him toward the top. They gathered at the bottom of the tree to see if he was going to jump. Right when he was about to jump and end his life, he noticed a man at the bottom of the tree picking up the chicken bone he had dropped. The man also tried to lick it clean, but he couldn't find anything either. In that moment, instead of jumping, the man yelled down to the man on the ground, 'Don't move - I'll be right there!' He then climbed back down the tree to help the man."
"So you see," my new Jamaican friend told me, "Even when you think you got it bad - there is always someone who has it worse. So be happy!"
By this time, the service guy had jumped my car with cables, and my car was back to normal. I thanked both men for their help, especially my new friend for staying with me and sharing the story.
As I thought back to the story in my car - I loved that it was the guy in the tree who not only noticed the man worse off than him - but in that instant he let go of his own self-pity to come down from the tree to help the man. I am not sure if that was the moral of the story - but that is what I got from it.
So, in my 15 unplanned extra minutes at the airport parking roof - what did I notice? Well, it reminded me that there are no insignificant moments - and if you stop beating yourself up long enough to notice what is happening around you - you might be able to help someone else in need.
Isn't that what my Jamaican friend did for me?
And for me - it was pretty significant!
Much love,
Travis
Labels: Peaceful Warrior, self-help, travis thomas
1 Comments:
fantastic! i totally heard the accent and it made the story that much better!
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