No Great Talent

Steve Goodier

"I don't have any talent." You have certainly heard those words. You may have even said them yourself! And quite possibly, if you looked closely enough, you might discover that you are wrong.

Mary Frye enjoyed writing poetry. She wasn't interested in publishing her poems, and occasionally she passed one on to a friend who could use a lift. "I don't figure I have any great talent," the Baltimore, Maryland homemaker said. But many people would disagree. One of her poems, especially, has given hope and comfort to people who mourn for over 50 years.

When a friend of hers lost someone close, Mary Frye jotted down a poem, which seemed to spring from her heart, and gave it to the grieving woman. That poem was later passed on to others, who, in turn, passed it on until it became an American classic. "If it helps one person through a hard time, I am amply paid," said Mary, who has received no remuneration for her uncopyrighted work. It has been used in countless funerals, translated and used in foreign lands and even incorporated into television drama.

Here is her original text, which has moved so many for so long:

Do not stand at my grave and weep,
I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am in a thousand winds that blow,
I am the softly falling snow.
I am the gentle showers of rain,
I am the fields of ripening grain.

I am in the morning hush,
I am in the graceful rush
Of beautiful birds in circling flight,
I am the starshine of the night.

I am in the flowers that bloom,
I am in a quiet room,
I am the birds that sing,
I am in each lovely thing.

Do not stand at my grave and cry,
I am not there. I do not die.

How many people are finding strength and solace from a verse jotted by a woman who always professed she had no talent? And what if she had kept her poetry to herself? Don't be afraid to use the talents you do possess, it has been well advised. The woods would be very silent if only the birds with the sweetest songs were heard.

Experience

David Leonhardt

Life is like parenting.

Have you ever noticed that when a child comes into your life, she does not come with the manual. And the manufacturer doesn't seem particularly helpful, leaving it up to you to learn how to parent on the fly. And just when you think you are finally starting to get the hang of it, your "child" says she is moving out.

And it doesn't get any better with the second or third or fourth child, because each model requires a different missing manual.

Life is like that. As much as we read, as much as we listen, as much as we observe, there is no manual for life, and just when you think you are finally starting to get the hang of it, you will be ready to move out.

So keep reading. Keep listening. Keep observing. Keep learning. But don't ever expect to know it all. Enjoy the ride, every last minute of it, even without the manual.

Lessons About Life

Author Unknown

You will receive a body—you may like it or hate it, but it will be yours for the entire period you're around.

You will learn lessons—you are enrolled in a full-time informal school called life. Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the lessons or think them irrelevant and stupid.

There are no mistakes, only lessons—growth is a process of trial and error, experimentation. The "failed" experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiment that ultimately "works."

A lesson is repeated until learned—a lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can then go on to the next lesson.

Learning lessons do not end—there is no part of life that does not contain its lessons. If you are alive, there are lessons to be learned.

"There" is no better than "here"—when your "there" has become a "here," you will simply obtain another "there" that will, again, look better than another "here."

Others are merely mirrors of you—you cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects to you something you love or hate about yourself.

What you make of your life is up to you—you have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you and the choice is yours.

Your answers lie inside you—the answers to life's questions lie inside you. All you need to do is look, listen, and trust.

You will forget all this—unless you consistently stay focused on the goals you have set for yourself, everything you've just read won't mean anything.

Re-membering Who You Really Are

Neale Donald Walsch

Your soul (subconscious, id, spirit, past, etc.) is the sum total of every feeling you've ever had (created). Your awareness of some of these is called your memory. When you have a memory, you are said to re-member. That is, to put back together. To reassemble the parts.

When you reassemble all of the parts of you, you will have re-membered who you really are.

The Seasons of Life

Author Unknown

There was an Indian Chief who had four sons and he wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.

The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer, and the youngest son in the autumn.

A year later, and when they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen.

The first son said that the pear tree was ugly, bent, and twisted.

The second son said no, the pear tree was covered with green buds and full of promise.

The third son disagreed; he said the pear tree was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen.

The last son disagreed with all of them; he said the pear tree was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfilment.

The Indian Chief then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but only one season in the tree's life.

He then told them that they cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from life can only be measured in the end when all the seasons are up.

If you give up when it's winter, you will no doubt miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, and the fulfilment of your autumn.

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