In a recent outstation trip, I found a book on the airport taxi counter. Before, I would have just picked up the book and put it in my bag without a doubt because I believe that finders are keepers.
But at the taxi counter, as I picked up the book and reading the title, I was thinking about the owner of the book. The subject matter is about regaining, retraining and maintaining one's brain. As I love reading anything about our three-pound universe, I can't resist taking the book. So as not to feel guilty (and being mindful about bad karma), I asked the lady behind the taxi counter whether she saw anyone leaving the book there? She shooked her head. So I told her that I am going to take the book with me and I will leave my contact number with her in case the person comes back to claim the book.
Now, in order not to have bad karma, I decided that I am going to sort of "borrow" the "lost book". I will take it with me and will return it should the owner call. If the owner did not call, I will then pass it forward to someone else after reading it.
The rationale; I will not only avoid accumulating bad karma but creating good karma when I pass the book onto some else who needed it... :)
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
May your day, be a Shay Day
A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats it's least fortunate amongst them.
I felt so touched with what the team members did for Shay in the following story:
At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question:
"When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is done with perfection."
"Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?"
The audience was stilled by the query.
The father continued. "I believe that when a child like Shay, who was mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child."
Then he told the following story:
Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?' I knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a father I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.
I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, 'We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.'
Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart. The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three.
In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from the stands.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again.
Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.
At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game?Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.
However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact.
The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher. The game would now be over. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game. Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates.
Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, 'Shay, run to first!
Run to first!' Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled. Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!' Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base.
By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball . the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team.He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head.
Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home. All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay' Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, 'Run to third! Shay, run to third!' As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home! Run home!' Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team.
'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, 'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world'.
Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!
Reflection from this story: Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up those opportunities and leave the world a little bit colder in the process?
I felt so touched with what the team members did for Shay in the following story:
At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question:
"When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is done with perfection."
"Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?"
The audience was stilled by the query.
The father continued. "I believe that when a child like Shay, who was mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child."
Then he told the following story:
Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, 'Do you think they'll let me play?' I knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a father I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.
I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, 'We're losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.'
Shay struggled over to the team's bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart. The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three.
In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from the stands.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay's team scored again.
Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.
At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game?Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.
However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay's life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact.
The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher. The game would now be over. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game. Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman's head, out of reach of all team mates.
Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, 'Shay, run to first!
Run to first!' Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled. Everyone yelled, 'Run to second, run to second!' Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base.
By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball . the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team.He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher's intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman's head.
Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home. All were screaming, 'Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay' Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, 'Run to third! Shay, run to third!' As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, 'Shay, run home! Run home!' Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team.
'That day', said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, 'the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world'.
Shay didn't make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!
Reflection from this story: Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up those opportunities and leave the world a little bit colder in the process?
Sunday, January 9, 2011
The first week of 2011
The first week of 2011 ~ uneventful but interesting development nevertheless.
I started by reviewing the resolutions I made for 2011: to have more happier thoughts and smile, smile, smile.
Throughout the week I continued reading Destructive Emotions: How can we overcome them? The first time I started reading this book (in Jun 2010), I couldn't relate to the contents. I left it after the first chapter.
What I read in the week reafirms my resolution; firstly, to have happier thoughts. According to the Dalai Lama, emotion and cognition are intertwined; these two elements are inseparable. An emotion is a mental state that has a strong feeling component. To have happy thoughts all the time, I need to learn how to control my mind and to understand what's destructive emotion (not to allow it to control or blind me). It is said that, the true mark of spiritual development lies in how well a person manages disturbing emotions such as anger, envy and jealousy. Through training the mind, one can become more calm and compassionate.
Secondly, to smile, smile, smile. It is said that the Dalai Lama's face has the muscle tone of someone in his twenties, not a man of sixty-four. Apparently, that is a consequence of him never restraining his emotions, but instead letting them show clearly on his face - which means the muscles are used a lot more than usual, thus have more elasticity. This would be a good tip for those who wish to have youthful face muscle tone.
So there, I have justified that my new year resolutions are indeed inline with my spiritual growth. By end of the year, I will not only have better facial muscle tones and be at peace with myself but have compassion for others as well :))
I started by reviewing the resolutions I made for 2011: to have more happier thoughts and smile, smile, smile.
Throughout the week I continued reading Destructive Emotions: How can we overcome them? The first time I started reading this book (in Jun 2010), I couldn't relate to the contents. I left it after the first chapter.
What I read in the week reafirms my resolution; firstly, to have happier thoughts. According to the Dalai Lama, emotion and cognition are intertwined; these two elements are inseparable. An emotion is a mental state that has a strong feeling component. To have happy thoughts all the time, I need to learn how to control my mind and to understand what's destructive emotion (not to allow it to control or blind me). It is said that, the true mark of spiritual development lies in how well a person manages disturbing emotions such as anger, envy and jealousy. Through training the mind, one can become more calm and compassionate.
Secondly, to smile, smile, smile. It is said that the Dalai Lama's face has the muscle tone of someone in his twenties, not a man of sixty-four. Apparently, that is a consequence of him never restraining his emotions, but instead letting them show clearly on his face - which means the muscles are used a lot more than usual, thus have more elasticity. This would be a good tip for those who wish to have youthful face muscle tone.
So there, I have justified that my new year resolutions are indeed inline with my spiritual growth. By end of the year, I will not only have better facial muscle tones and be at peace with myself but have compassion for others as well :))
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