VALUE OF THE UNIQUE

Three of us went for a summer stroll along a trout stream not far from our home.  The weather was ideal for discovering Nature's uniqueness---like this spindly tree stem and the vines wrapped around it.  (left) 

One can only speculate what this tree has endured, but it sure does support yesterday's post about resilience.  

There's so much to see in this photo.....the white puffy clouds gracing the sapphire sky, the bushy white wildflowers in the forefront, the sunshine and shadows it casts.  The tree on the right looks, to me, as if it may be respectfully bowing down to the spindly centerpiece. 

For those of us who are plugged into the internet every day, a walk in Nature is what realigns us with our true inner self.  One of the most meaningful quotations comes to us from John Burroughs (1837-1921), the American naturalist who popularized nature essays and insightful observations in the natural world......

To find the universal element enough; to find the air and the water exhilarating; to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter....to be thrilled by the stars at night; to be elated over a bird's nest or a wildflower in spring--these are some of the rewards of the simple life.

Another earthy quotation comes from Eckhart Tolle, self-help author, born in 1948. His core message centers around this business of finding inner peace.  He stresses the essence of savoring the present moment.  Man must rise above constant thinking and dwelling on external circumstances.  The key to overcoming internal unrest is to accept the present moment as it unfolds, like it or not.  Eckhart explains how our mental obsession with the future is one of the core causes of anxiety.  I am one who spends far too much mental energy trying to imagine what the last years of life will be like and what happens after that.  How profoundly dumb is that?  S'pose I could be called an over-thinker.  Eckhart Tolle's international bestsellers, The Power of Now and A New Earth, are touted to be profoundly inspiring.  Just might add them to my list of good reads.

When you bring your attention to a stone, a tree or an animal, something of its essence transmits itself to you.  You can sense how still it is and in doing so the same stillness rises within you.  You can sense how deeply it rests in being, completely one with what it is and where it is.  In realizing this, you, too, come to a place of rest deep within yourself.  ~Tolle

All my life I have respected and preserved quotations--the wisdom of others.  I've collected quotations like some people have collected beanie babies.  Words of wisdom not only enlighten, but they help us connect with, and better understand, others.  I so enjoy listening to people, 'cuz I never know what they're gonna say that will inspire me.  It's kinda like lighting one match from another.

Sometimes I think maybe we get our act together about the time the play is over.  Probably our best advice comes from Maya Angelou:  

  Do the best you can until you know better. 

 Then when you know better,

 do better.