A man traveling across a field encountered a tiger. He fled, the tiger chasing after him. Coming to a cliff, he caught hold of the root of a wild vine, and swung himself down over the edge. The tiger sniffed at him from above.
Trembling, the man looked down to where, far below, another tiger was waiting to eat him. Only the vine sustained him.
This was a horrible situation. He couldn't go up; he couldn't go down. His only lifeline was the vine he was clinging to.
The man's hands began to sweat and his muscles started to ache. He knew he couldn't hold on much longer. It was obvious the end was near...
Suddenly, the man saw a luscious strawberry on a vine beside him. It was bright red, perfectly ripened and just within reach.
Holding on with only one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other. How sweet it tasted!
----------
When I first read this story, I thought it was the silliest thing I had ever seen on paper. Who in the world would care about a strawberry when they're about to eaten by a tiger?!
What's the moral of this story? What's the point?
Granted, it is an extreme example, but this story is about living in the moment.
We have a habit of thinking the future will be better, or much worse, depending on our mood at the time. This makes us forget about the present moment.
Living right now is more important than the future, and certainly more important than the past.
How many times have we passed up a delicious strawberry because we were so worried about the future?
The present moment is always standing right beside us, waiting to be enjoyed.
Eat the strawberry.
Enjoy the ride.
~~~~~~~~~~
No comments:
Post a Comment