He was a saint and his orders inspired respect. At once, nature became silent, just as a fire goes out; and complete silence reigned over the marsh. Brother Bruno noted from his window that the toads had stopped croaking, that the herons' beaks were closed, and the flies that remained quite still on the reeds no longer dared to buzz in a wind that had fallen silent.
Saint Bruno returned to his window and allowed nature to resume its course. The insects and frogs filled the silence of the night with their subdued rhythm. Bruno listened to this chant, no longer resisting it, and at once his heart beat in accord with the universe.
From that day on he prayed ceaselessly; his days passed in continuous prayer. He was constantly reminded of God by the croaking of the frogs.
(Black Dog & Leventhal, 2016) page 166.
by Nathalie Leone, Le Seuil, 2005.
Stop resisting. Reframe. Try a different angle, a minor shift in perspective.
In the new frame the croaking frog was no longer an interruption. In the moment of finally listening to the language of the world around him, Bruno learned for the first time in his life what it really meant to pray. Letting go of his quest for silence, Bruno found a deeper prayer in the noises and the sounds of the world around him.
How Much Money Do You Make, Dad?
A man came home from work late again, tired and irritated, to find his five-year-old son waiting for him at the door.
"Yeah, sure, what is it ?" replied the man.
After an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think he may have been a little hard on his son. May be there was something he really needed to buy with that ten dollars and he really didn't ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door. "Are you asleep son?" he asked.
"No, daddy, I'm awake," replied the boy.
The little boy sat straight up, beaming. "Oh, thank you daddy!" he said. Then, reaching under his pillow, he pulled out some more crumpled-up bills.
And you, why do you ride your bicycle? Why do you do what you do?
There's an old story told by Reb Chanoch Henich of Alexander.
There was once a fellow who was so very forgetful. Indeed, his memory was so short that when he awoke each morning, he could not remember where he had laid his clothes the night before. Things got so bad for him that he could not fall asleep, so great was his nervousness about finding his things upon waking. One evening, however, he hit on a great idea.Taking a pencil and paper, he wrote down exactly where he had placed each item of clothing. Placing his notes on the nightstand, by his bed, he quickly feel asleep, confident that he would find everything just perfectly in the morning.
And indeed he did. He woke up, took the notes form this nightstand, and read off each item in turn: pants—on chair back; and there they were. He put them on. 'Shirt—on bed post; and there it was. He put it on. Hat—on desk; and there it sat. He placed it on his head. In a few minutes the fellow was completely dressed. But suddenly a great dread came upon him.
What is this story getting at? Think about it: where am I? Where are you, indeed? I'm standing here! And you're sitting in this chair, of course! It's obvious, isn't it? Or is it really that obvious? At some point, especially if I keep droning on, you may look at your watch and say 'What time is it? When does this end, anyway? I wonder what there will be to eat when this is over?' If you can catch yourself at that very moment, then where are you? Are you really still here? Or have you actually gotten lost in time? I don't mean time-travelling, I mean: have you suddenly looked at your watch and mentally left this moment in favor of some other, future moment?
Similarly, you could be sitting here listening to me, and suddenly you remember that you forgot to return an important email from yesterday, or you remember a fight you had with a family member last week, and you're feeling bad about it. Again, are you really here, or are you now lost in the past? In either case, have you actually left the chair? Physically, of course not. But in every other sense—you have left this place. You're gone. You're missing this moment, the only moment that's really happening!
The young lady returned with a smaller bottle for $75.00.
At the end of a long business trip, a man was searching for a gift to take home to his wife. "How about some perfume?" he asked the clerk. She showed him a bottle for 50.
"That's too much," he replied. So the clerk showed him a smaller bottle for 30."That's still quite a bit," he complained.
Rolling her eyes, the clerk brought out a tiny bottle for 15. Again he shook his head. "What I mean is I'd like to see something real cheap." With that the clerk handed him a mirror!
Source | Dennis R. Clark, Sunday Morning (1996).
Does your mirror reflect scarcity or abundance?
The husband knew he could not adequately care for his wife, now in the final stages of Alzheimer's. He found a compassionate facility, and visited her every day. At noon for lunch.
Until the day of a minor accident when he found himself in an Emergency Room, his arm being stitched by a nurse as the clock approached the noon hour.
"I need to leave," he said ill at ease.
"But I must visit my wife at noon," he said.
Our character is what we do when we think no one is watching. | H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
How would your behaviour change if you were no longer recognized?
What would you do if no one was watching?