Opportunities

Both of my parents are avid readers and have a library of books. They passed along this trait to me. Each time I visit I always ask them if I can borrow a couple of books to take with me to read. The books I choose depend on what tickles my fancy at the time. This past weekend I chose many ‘old’ books, the oldest being published in 1863. Academic books are on hold for now; I just want to have some fun and get lost in a great book.

The quote below is from the prologue of the book, Reflections – Thoughts on Love and Living by Ginger Hutton, and quite impressed me ;)

Don’t bring me flowers, whatnots or jewelry.

Give me a fresh idea. One that I can roll around in my mind and on my tongue and savor for months to come. Human beings are vessels waiting to be filled with knowledge. I always feel half empty.

Give me a book. If it says something I don’t agree with – if it shakes me up – if it makes me spend hours thinking it through, so much better. I need the mental exercise.

Give me days to watch people, to listen to them, to understand them, so that their differences become familiar to me and no longer divide us.

Give me conversations with people who know more than I do, who teach me to think on a grander scale than I have before, who leave my mind racing and my dreams soaring.

Give me a job that seems a bit beyond me so that it makes me stretch to conquer my limitations and discover strengths I didn’t know I had.

Give me something new to taste, something new to see, something new to try, something new to feel.

Give me a workshop, a seminar, a lecture, a documentary, a movie, a class, a magazine, a newspaper. There are so many things to read, so many places to go, so many things to experience and not enough time to do it all.

Give me time. Give me freedom from all those things that take our energy and give back little. Heaven would be a place free of all the physical upkeep, like house-keeping and car repair, that is necessary to maintain this world.

Give me freedom from guilt when I take an hour or two from what I’m ‘supposed to do’ to read. So many of the supposed-to-dos will be undone or forgotten within moments or days. Learning stays with you forever.

Give me more moments talking and playing with children, mine and others. They teach me to feel and to express more openly and honestly.

Give me times of pain as well as gladness, for they develop inner strength and build faith in my ability to successfully deal with life’s mixed offerings.

Give me my mistakes, for they make me less judgmental of others.

Give me an answer.

Give me a question for which there appears to be no answer.