One of my favourite books is My Grandfather’s Blessings by R.N. emen, M.D. In it there’s a short story about when she was in third grade after she had done an IQ test in school. Her teacher told the students that being in her class meant that they were brighter than most people in the country. And as she alked with her mother down a street in Manhattan with a puffed up eight year old pride and shared this with her, her mother stopped, knelt down and told her that "every one of the people around them had a secret wisdom .....that each of them knew something more about how to live, about being happy than they did...."
Those words have stayed with me ever since.
And as I watch people pass by, whether in the buildings where I work or walking to a movie (see posting from Aug. 23, 2003 on Mindfulness) I’m mindful of them, and wonder what their secret is to a happy, fulfilled life.
Those words from her mother were the smartest words a mother could say. She could have puffed up her daughter’s ego even more and bragged along with her to their friends and family and instead her mother chose to open her daughter’s mind to the fact that life is our best teacher.
Robert Frost said " I'm not a teacher, but an awakener."
The ones who feel they are the smartest and the best at something have the smallest minds, And those....no matter how brilliant, or unschooled, who realise there's always more to learn, are the wisest of all.
Best....
Donna Karlin
Those words have stayed with me ever since.
And as I watch people pass by, whether in the buildings where I work or walking to a movie (see posting from Aug. 23, 2003 on Mindfulness) I’m mindful of them, and wonder what their secret is to a happy, fulfilled life.
Those words from her mother were the smartest words a mother could say. She could have puffed up her daughter’s ego even more and bragged along with her to their friends and family and instead her mother chose to open her daughter’s mind to the fact that life is our best teacher.
Robert Frost said " I'm not a teacher, but an awakener."
The ones who feel they are the smartest and the best at something have the smallest minds, And those....no matter how brilliant, or unschooled, who realise there's always more to learn, are the wisest of all.
Best....
Donna Karlin
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