There is beauty everywhere…if you only look. This pic was taken near the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Strasbourg, France. The area is filled with tourists and not surprisingly there were numerous hawkers working hard to get people to notice them.
And then there was this woman with her beaten guitar.
She didn’t call out. She didn’t beg people to come see her. She didn’t do anything to try to win people’s attention. She simply sat down in an out of the way corner of the square and sang her songs.
And it was so heart-wrenchingly beautiful that it stopped me in my tracks.
My time was limited. Like so many other tourists I had a long shopping list of souvenirs to buy and sights to see. I had a schedule to keep if I wanted to ‘see it all.’ Yet this woman’s music made me forget all that. It mesmerized me. It drew me in. So I just stopped… and listened.
At first, I had visions of discovering the next Natalie Merchant.
Perhaps I can be her agent and take her on a whirlwind tour around the world? We’ll get rich in the process!
It didn’t matter that I didn’t speak the language, or that I had no experience as a music rep, etc. because surely the greatness of this woman’s music would overcome all that if I could just help her get it out to the world. Focused on this goal, I began preparations to film what I knew would be a surefire viral video, already planning how I would publicize it and respond to all the appearance requests.
Thankfully that illusion quickly faded – driven away by the music itself.
Don’t think. Don’t Plan.
Just Listen. Just Be.
I can’t tell you how long I stayed in that spot listening to this vagabond singer. Other people came and went – most not even stopping long enough to catch a full song. Yet still, I stayed. Eventually, the woman began to pack up her guitar. I’d already thrown a few euro’s into her kitty earlier and as she got ready to leave I tossed in a bunch more. Yet it wasn’t enough. Even though I didn’t speak French, I wanted to make the singer understand how great she was. I wanted to explain how much her music had affected me. I wanted to encourage her to do more than just play for pennies in a forgotten corner of this mall for uncaring tourists. I wanted her to–
The singer’s eyes stopped me. She knew what I’d felt in the moments she played. She knew because…
Beauty has a way of sensing the eye of the beholder.
And so it was that the singer eventually rode away on her bike, a smile on her face. It wasn’t money or fame she sought, simply the chance to contribute her verse to the great play of life — and what a beautiful verse it was.
It’s been nearly 3 years since I took this pic, yet still, the music plays in my mind. I smile, grateful that the singer sang her songs, grateful that I was there in that moment to hear them, grateful that I have the chance to tell you about them too.
If you ever find yourself in Strasbourg, visiting Notre Dame – look to the left, to that out of the way nook just off the main square, away from the crowds. Perhaps the singer is still there, still playing, waiting for you…
Did you enjoy this article?
If so, take a quick sec and…
Share this page with a friend so they can benefit too
Share your wisdom – did you have a similar experience? Drop me a line below and tell us about it.
Follow my blogand let’s stay connected – we can help each other reach new heights.
It’s Foto Friday again and today is certainly a weird one! Mermaids? FeeJee? What gives?
I have to admit I hadn’t heard of the legends of the FeeJee Mermaid until very recently but did you know the mystery dates all the way back to 1842 and has quite a following? The picture you see here is from The Adams Family Travelling Medicine Show — their mermaid exhibit and other oddities were on display at The Brookville Raid of 2018.
I’m not here to suggest you buy into this conspiracy (unless of course, you want to!) but I do think there is some wisdom to be found here. Most notably is the quote in the pic from Ben Franklin…
“Believe none of what you hear and only half of what you see.”
So I guess the question is – what half does the FeeJee Mermaid fall in to? Are you gonna believe it?
Meanwhile, here’s another question for you: what do Stevie Wonder, Michael Jordan, and Abe Lincoln have in common? Discover the answer to that question and more in this article: The Power of Perspective.
Did you enjoy this cheeky article?
If so, take a quick sec and…
Share this page with a friend so they can benefit too
Share your wisdom – did you have a similar experience or great photo to share? Drop me a line below and tell us about it.
Follow my blogand let’s stay connected – we can help each other reach new heights.
We know from our prior discussions that failure is not something to be feared and that failures themselves are not the end of the road. Today I want to share some additional insights with you that relate tothe topic of Failure and Self-Development.
Development follows Demand
Think of any goal you want to accomplish and you’re in essence thinking of a scenario involving development. Obviously, we all know that development doesn’t happen overnight. Yet all too often we get frustrated when development doesn’t happen as quickly as we would like [my hand is raised here] and we get discouraged when failure seems to be our only ‘accomplishment.’
If this sounds like you too, take hope. A slight change in mindset could be the solution you need to open new pathways to success.
Recognize the following truths
Allow your development to occur as a result of ‘progressive’ demand.
Instead of trying to climb to the top of the mountain in one day, ask yourself to do it in stages.
Push yourself to the upper limits of your current comfort zone each day and then just a teensy-bit over.
Do this consistently over time and your comfort zone (and your ability to achieve) will gradually expand.
2. Don’t ignore your comfort zone, but recognize that comfort zones CAN change over time.
It’s important to be aware of your comfort zone and to challenge yourself here, but if you put undue expectations on yourself and push yourself too far, too fast with unrealistic expectations, then you’re setting yourself up for discouragement. Remember the classic goal-setting acronym “SMART” — goals should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound. Use SMART goals that will help you expand your comfort zone over time — it may take a little longer, but you’ll increase your chances of success in the long run.
3. Development is a river of little failures.
As you challenge yourself to expand your comfort zone, undoubtedly you will fail along the way. But rather than be discouraged, use all these little failures as stepping stones along the way to reaching your goals.
Source: Pixabay/Soej24 CCO Creative Commons
Try It
Put this wisdom to the test: pick a goal you want to achieve and see if it works.
For example, let’s say you want to be able to do XX number of pushups. Start today by just doing 1 or 2, then tomorrow try for 3–4, and so on gradually until you reach your goal. You may find you can’t immediately achieve the next step(s) every day and that some days your progress is better than others — that’s ok and is to be expected.
Don’t focus so much on the end goal; instead focus on the process.
Remember the old adage “Life is about the journey, not just the destination” — use this mindset as you expand your comfort zone over time, and by accepting failure just a natural part of the developmental process, you’ll turn what you thought were barriers on the path to reaching your goal into road signs that signify important progress markers on the journey to your dreams.
Want More Wisdom Like This?
My goal is to help people like you live a better life. I do this by sharing practical tips, life lessons, and action-oriented wisdom that you can use today to live your best life NOW. No BS, just real-world solutions that I can personally verify work. If that sounds like it would be helpful to you, check out my other articles on Medium.
Lesson #102: When faced with a problem, rather than act rashly and increase your odds of doing something stupid, instead THINK and ACT from a position of wisdom.
Today’s Life Lesson was inspired by Douglas Adams (author of The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy) who sums up our lesson with two simple words (1)…
Don’t Panic!
Sage wisdom for the Chicken Little in your life.
Ah, Mike, the Sky is still falling!
Don’t Panic? Great. I feel so empowered — not.
Come on, Mike, I got a Chicken Little situation here. I need help. I need some water. I need some air. Who took my towel. Heeeeeeelp!
Slow down there, cowboy. Take a breath. Let’s worth through this together.
We face new challenges every day, and that’s going likely to change. But here’s the good news — the sky is actually not falling. You have time to catch your breath. You have time to think.
How you view your problems and how you react to them will make all the difference.
Do you see your challenges for what they appear to be on the surface — as difficult obstacles designed to stop you?
Or do you see them for what they could be if you look a little harder — as new opportunities you can use to your advantage?
Do you react hastily and just try to bulldoze your way through the challenge?
Or do you take a moment to think first in order to come up with multiple options?
My goal here is to help you understand that how you react to your problems can mean the difference between capitalizing on an opportunity or making another foolish error and missing out…like Chicken Little.
How about an Example?
This is a bit tongue in cheek but amuse me for a moment since my 8-year old son Jax likes it….
Remember that time back in school (for me it was a loooooong time ago!) when your teacher sprang a surprise assignment on you in English class?
Teacher: “Mikey, I want you to give a presentation to the class next week about Abe Lincoln.”
“Ah, ok, Mrs. Wimpydimple.” You replied — totally bummed out at the thought of giving a speech. So went home and cursed life upset that you were now going to have this presentation ‘thing’ hanging over your head all weekend.
Doing your best Chicken Little impression you panicked out the wazoo. But after an hour or two — when you realized this ‘thing’ wasn’t going away — you decided you had to come up with a plan.
After giving it some thought, you came up with the following options:
Get pissed off, decide not to do the presentation, play Super Mario (2) instead, and just take an F on the assignment.
Realize that you have more than a week to come up with your presentation so you do a little bit each day to prepare for it. (First step — who the heck is this Abe Lincoln guy anyway?)
Agree to do the assignment but play Super Mario all weekend and just do everything for the presentation on the day before it’s due.
Something else — most likely involving playing Super Mario.
Let’s explore the options you had at the time.
Option A: If you chose this, you’d likely have had a hard time convincing the teacher (and your parents) that it was the correct decision — oh sure, you could have made this decision, but even back then you knew the consequences of it were probably not going to turn out well for you. As a result, you thought twice about picking this choice.
Option C: It was the same for this choice— at least this option was a bit better than Option A, and you knew you likely wouldn’t fail the assignment, but you also knew you probably wouldn’t score very high either. Sure you could have worked on your Mario skills, but you knew that waiting till the last minute would have put a lot of unnecessary stress on you — trying to finish the school assignment in a rush? It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know what wouldn’t be fun. Try again.
Option B: Even back then, you knew this was obvious ‘right’ answer (or at least the one your teacher and parents would have wanted you to choose).True, you didn’t like the fact that your teacher gave you a surprise assignment, but you were smart enough to realize it’s just a part of life. So you chose to go with this plan. As the week unfolded you discovered that by doing just a little each day in a calm manner, not only did you gain confidence that the presentation preparation would be easy, but also you discovered that you still had plenty of time to play Mario, and even enjoy the weekend with your friends. When the day came to give the presentation, you were confident and calm — knowing you were well prepared. The result: you knocked the presentation out of the park.
OK, so maybe your younger self wasn’t really that smart (I know that I wasn’t). Maybe you let your Chicken Little self-control you a bit (read: a lot!) longer than just a couple hours. But I like to think that sooner or later you made the right choice. So kudos to your younger self!
What’s the Takeaway?
Adversity happens to all of us and things don’t always go our way. However, if you can stop for a moment and just breath, you’ll soon realize that you have options.
Don’t panic.
Pick a plan.
Take action.
Gain confidence.
Realize the sky is actually not falling.
Follow-through with your plan to the end.
Gain more confidence.
Win.
Wait, what about Option D?
Ah, Option D. Yes, we almost forget that.
So, should your younger self have just eliminated that this one like you did with Options A and C? Not necessarily.
This was actually my son Jackson’s choice when we talked about this lesson. After listening to his arguments, I’d let him sell me on the idea that he should be allowed to play Minecraft and create a giant Abe Lincoln statue in Creative Mode, because he could then use that as part of his presentation!
Jax used Option D to show some outside the box thinking. (Can you say “Proud Papa?).
Perhaps Option D is the best option of all. Think about it for a moment: you spend a bit of time making sure your presentation is strong and then you add the Minecraft statue into the mix. Can you say ‘extra credit, baby?’
Indeed, if you choose Option D, you get to have your cake and eat it too.
And suddenly life isn’t so hard.
Wait, where did Chicken Little run off to? Oh, it seems he went hitchhiking again…
Mike’s Notes:
The simple phrase “Don’t Panic” is actually on the front page of Adams’ famous book. As Adams amusedly writes, “Despite its many glaring (and occasionally fatal) inaccuracies, the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy itself has outsold the Encyclopedia Galactica because it is slightly cheaper, and because it has the words ‘DON’T PANIC’ in large, friendly letters on the cover.” How appropriate for our discussion. Unfortunately I don’t think Chicken Little ever got a copy.
In 2018 Super Mario would of course be substituted with Minecraft or Roblox, but shockingly Mario is still hanging on isn’t he? I’m sure there’s a lesson in there somewhere.
Want More Wisdom Like This?
My goal is to help people like you live a better life. I do this by sharing practical tips, life lessons, and action-oriented wisdom that you can use today to live your best life NOW. No BS, just real-world solutions that I can personally verify work. If that sounds like it would be helpful to you, check out my other articles on Medium.
Fill your bowl to the brim
and it will spill.
Keep sharpening your knife
and it will blunt.
Chase after money and comfort
and your heart will never unclench.
Care about other people’s approval
and you will be there prisoner.
Do your work, then let it be. This is the path to Serenity.
Today’s wisdom comes to us again from Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching — this is “stanza 9′ and it gives us important reminders about what happens when we lose balance and focus on the wrong things in life.
Want to find serenity?
It’s not about possessions or status – look inside for the answers you seek and see that peace comes from being content with what you already have.
Love, love, love this little story a friend shared with me. Tell me what you think about it…
“You see this goblet?” asks the meditation master. “For me this glass is already broken. I enjoy it; I drink out of it. It holds my water admirably, sometimes even reflecting the sun in beautiful patterns. If I should tap it, it has a lovely ring to it. But when I put this glass on the shelf and the wind knocks it over or my elbow brushes it off the table and it falls to the ground and shatters, I say, ‘Of course.’ When I understand that the glass is already broken, every moment with it is precious.”
All of us are that (soon to break) glass. We know Death is inevitable. It is coming and while we may not be able to stop it, what we can do is use that knowledge to our advantage. We’ve talked many times about how we can’t live in the past or the future, only the present. THIS MOMENT is all we have – cherish it. Be present. Enjoy your time here. Share your life with your loved ones and savor every drop of it. LIVE NOW. That’s the path to building a life worth living.
A friend of mine told me this story about patience…
A martial arts student went to his teacher and said earnestly, “I am devoted to studying your martial system. How long will it take me to master it.”
The teacher’s reply was casual, “Ten years.”
Impatiently, the student answered, “But I want to master it faster than that. I will work very hard. I will practice everyday, ten or more hours a day if I have to. How long will it take then?”
The teacher thought for a moment, “20 years.”
Too often we try to rush through life and force things to happen before their time, when in reality, what we need is patience and the willingness to let life unfold at its own pace. King Solomon also spoke on this topic when he gave the following piece of advice (Prov 19:2) “It is not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way.”
Slow down. Listen more. Be willing to watch and learn. Take advice. Be patient. These are steps along the path to wisdom.
Here’s an quote that struck me as interesting. Tell me what you think….
Today means boundless and inexhaustible eternity. Months, years, and all periods of time are merely concepts of men, who gauge everything by the number, but the true name of our eternity is Today Philo of Alexandria
We’ve talked about this concept in the past – TODAY, this very moment, is the only period during which you are actually alive. Understand this and make the most of each and every moment you’re blessed with on this earth.
I’ve enjoyed hearing Jax’s scout master share ancient wisdom from the illustrious Chief Sequasa during their pack meetings. Here’s one you might enjoy as well…
Legend of the Mountain
“There was once an Indian village on a wide open desert in the Southwest. A few miles across the desert is a high mountain, towering up out of the desert. One day, Chief Sequasa gathered all the young boys that were not yet braves to him, “It is time for you to all climb the great mountain. Tomorrow morning, start right after breakfast, and go each of you as far as you can. Then when you are tired, come back; but let each one bring me a twig off a tree from the place where he turned back.”
The next morning, away they went full of hope each feeling that he surely could reach the top. But soon the first returned slowly back, and in his hand he held out to the Chief a leaf of cactus. Chief Sequasa smiled, “My boy, you did not reach the foot of the mountain, you did not even get across the desert.”
Later, a second boy returned. He carried a twig of sagebrush. “Well,” said the Chief, “You reached the mountain’s foot but you did not climb upward.”
The next had a cottonwood spray. “Good”, said Sequasa, “You got up as far as the clear springs.”
Another came later with some buckthorn. The Chief smiled when he saw it and said: “You were climbing; you were up to the first slide rock.”
Late in the afternoon, one arrived with a cedar spray, and the old man said, “Well done. You went half way up and reached the forest.”
Before sunset, one came with a switch of pine. To him the Sequasa said, “Good, you went to the high forest; you made three quarters of the climb.”
The sun was down when the last finally returned. His hand was empty as he approached the Chief, and the other Indian boys began to laugh and tease that he had not even tried the climb. But his face was radiant, and he said: “Great Chief Sequasa, there were no trees where I climbed; there were no twigs, but I saw the shining sea far away.”
Now the old man’s face glowed, too, as he said aloud and almost sang: “You have been to the top. It is written in your eyes, and rings in your voice. My boy, you have seen the glory of the mountain. You need no twigs for proof.””
My question for you is — what mountain is it time for YOU to climb and what great sights await you on the other side?
Practical Wisdom YOU can use today to make a difference in YOUR Life
There is beauty everywhere…if you only look. This pic was taken near the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Strasbourg, France. The area is filled with tourists and not surprisingly there were numerous hawkers working hard to get people to notice them.
Source: Michael Stoppa, Captiva, FL
That Helpful Dad 