Seeds of potential - an anthology of positivity

Seeds of potential an anthology of positivity By Pat Grayson The following is a sample for four of the thirty-three stories. The manuscript is 85 000 words. Compare your life to that of a tree; The tree, at first a seed – you a foetus. The seed germinates – you are born. Strong green shoots search for sunlight, you reach for your mother’s breast and experiences. The sapling gets stronger, firmly burying roots in nurturing soil, while you walk, speak, and start to express individuality. Years pass; the tree has grown and although not full height, does not blow or wash away. You have grown to fend for yourself, life is spread before you. STOP! What happens next? The tree can remain in shadow, scrambling for sunlight, it has a choice – remain stunted or express itself. You have the same choice, grow or remain unfulfilled. It is in the tree’s evolutionary genes to shrug off inadequacy; to grow strong, tall, and ever upwards, arcing towards the sky and taking its place in the sun. What about you? You can you claim your natural right and shrug off imperfection, or do you languish in the shade of others, stunted and withered? I am Pat Grayson, and I am Man. I am ecstatic to be given this life on this planet – what a blessing. Moreover, as a Man, I have been given a wonderful device that gives me the capacity to have either a good life or one of little worth, just as the above poem suggests. How I use this device will determine if my life is joyous or arduous – it is up to me. This device is called the brain, or mind. Its method of use is called thinking or thought. A thought is a seed of potential. This device is like a clock that starts ticking the minute you are born, and only stops ticking when you die. With each tick, 86 400 each day; it directs you to a good or bad life. It is these millions of thoughts that make you the person that you are – happy or sad, smart or dumb, with riches or broke, sick or healthy? Do you have friends or enemies, stress or no stress, time on your hands or no time, happy or disruptive relationships? Do you do the work that you want to do, or work an inferior job? Thoughts guarantee or removes a life of stimulus, a life that is full and satisfying. Alternatively, the thoughts guarantee a life of sameness, boredom, unstimulating – one of vibrancy and expansion or contraction and inadequacy? Do you conduct yourself with confidence or with a lack of self-esteem? Do you apply yourself with valour or fear when living your live... and, are you creative or prosaic, interested or disinterred, interesting or boring? All these things in the life of Man are governed by thoughts. A second capacity that we have been blessed with is free will. There is no force of nature, universal law, god, spirit, demon or fate, person or parent, schoolteacher or employer that determines how you create and process your thoughts. Again, it is up to you. Free will is a blessing, in as much as it gives you the capacity to direct the thoughts to a life of value – conversely, free will also allow laziness of thought direction, where the thought process is slovenly and governs itself, producing what it happens to stumble on, and the invariable inadequacies. A scientific knowledge of thought is a good thing to have. Thought creates vibration. Vibration leads to energy, energy equals potential. Potential equals outcome. It is vibrational energy that created the universe that sustains us. It is the same vibrational energy that directs the outcomes of your life. Vibrational energy is the potential; of either positive, neutral or negative outcome. You, and only you determine which outcome of the vibrational energy you create. Therefore, thought is a seed. A seed has a promise or a capacity. The seed becomes the mighty oak tree, another seed becomes an apple. Another produces a monkey. Man’s sperm is a seed and produces humanity, and so on. Every thought is a seed. Every building that was ever built started as a seed of thought. The same with everything, and all companies, all constructions, all discoveries – all started as seeds. Seeds can sow discontent, or gratitude, abundance or poverty. Another law of life is that there will be challenges along the way. There is no person, or animal that has never had challenges thrown at them along their way. It is the way of life that there are challenges. There is the death of loved ones, accidents, disease, war, crime, r**e, loss of innumerable varieties. Our life is like a piece of string with many knots tied at various intervals, where each knot represents a challenge. Knowing that there will be challenges should give one the fortitude to endure and then overcome them. Again, it is the thought process of the owner that determines the result or how we overcome these challenges, or if they overcome us. As we have all been given challenges, we have also been given the ability to endure, through the way we think. It is not the challenge however, that is the issue, it is the thought of the challenge that determines the outcome. There are those who have been given so many challenges that seems unfair. Yet, some of these people still have a joyous and worthy life. There are others who were given few challenges, but their life is one of misery. In both instances, their thought process determined the result. There may be times of adjustment, as I had… but as Charles Darwin said.. “It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.” Moreover, how do I know all these things? Well, I am getting towards the end of the string of my life. I have had many of those challenges at regular intervals. There have been times when I have been happy, and times when I have been sad, times of poverty and times of comfort. I have grieved the death of loved ones, had disease, accidents, and unfair treatment from others. I have been bullied and pummelled by life – perhaps, just as you have been. I have the capacity to observe, and observe I did, and what I found was that it was my predominant thought that determined if my life was one of happiness or sadness, of poverty or comfort. I have had it all. The anthologies in this work are about thought, or rather seeds that determine life. It is not an easy thing to harness our thoughts, as they are like a young colt that does not want to be harnessed or it is like trying to herd cats. What would you do if you? The applause was deafening as he ambled to the podium. Although stooped, he carried an air of confidence and distinction that age could not disguise. Somehow, he seemed larger than his diminutive self. Shaggy white hair flopped over his wide forehead. Enormous eyebrows sheltered bright sparkling eyes, eyes that twinkled with intelligence. His clothes were those of a gentleman who walks in the park. Not dapper nor pretentious; comfortable perhaps? Most notable was his smile – wide and authentic, the smile of a man who has had a satisfying life. Finally reaching the podium, he leaned on it for support. As the attendant helped with placing the mike on Dr. Poon Gooey’s lapel, he surveyed the audience. He did this with confidence and interest. He saw eager young faces, the faces of the graduates from Shanghai’s premier university to whom the day belonged – the cream of the MBA students who were to be capped after his speech. His first words were hardly audible, almost as if they were to himself. The students leaned forward, straining to hear. They did not want to miss a word from this captain of industry, whose modest beginnings had not prevented him from becoming a household name. With more focus and louder this time, he said, ‘What would you do if you knew you could not fail?’ Still, it was offered as if his mind were elsewhere and, as the students followed his speech, they learned that it was. He was reminiscing about a time, sixty-eight years earlier, when he was fourteen. He talked about a dream he had had. A profound dream that had directed the course of his life, shaped him as an icon, not only in his own country but also around the world. In the dream, he saw himself determinedly striding up a mountain, higher and higher, short of breath, tired but driven. Onwards he continued, passing gnarled, stunted trees and ice-covered moss until, in mist and cold, he reached the summit. Immediately, he heard a friendly voice, ‘So you finally made it?’ Peering into the swirling haze, he saw an elfin man, with a long white beard and bushy hair that seemed to merge with the fog. ‘Sit down on this stone and rest, for I have a message that I am to pass on to you.’ Some forty-five minutes later, zombie-like, he made his way back down the mountain with the words of the elfin man ringing in his ears, “Live your life as if you cannot fail.” ‘And so, ladies and gentlemen, I did,’ announced Dr Poon Gooey. ‘I had the mantra I cannot fail guiding me all these years. Consequently, I did not have the insecurities that seem to inhibit most of society. I recommend that you contemplate what you would do if you knew you could not fail.’ He became quiet, letting that last thought sink in. ‘You would be dauntless, navigating through life’s impediments, as if they did not exist. Knowing that you could not fail would give you the confidence to embark on any project, in any situation, knowing that you would win. With no thought of ridicule, your creativity would flow. With the outcome assured, you would work with zeal for the early fruition of all that you did. You would do more in your life and there would be no procrastination. Imagine the tasks you could accomplish in your allotted time if you knew that there was no risk!’ Other than his voice, there was not a sound; all eyes were trained on Dr. Gooey, totally intent on imbibing the wisdom that was offered to them. ‘By knowing that you could not fail, and because of your positive, no-nonsense approach, you would attract a willing band of supporters, all carried along by your vision and unconquerable will. When you have thoughts of failure, there are barriers. When you believe in yourself, there can be no obstacles or none that are insurmountable. You would not be paralysed as most of humanity is when confronted with a dilemma. With the mantra, I cannot fail, you would always find solutions. Because you would experience no scarcity, you would have no greed. What you built would be for the good of all.’ He then paused, to let the magnitude of what he was saying sink in. He resumed, ‘When you know that you cannot fail, you will not have self-esteem issues. There would be no space for them in your consciousness. Knowing that you cannot fail permits you to live without the necessity for a large ego.’ Then lowering his voice for emphasis, he added, ‘Life is so much simpler when there is no need for airs or graces, or to impress.’ He continued along these lines for some time, with the students clinging to every utterance. Then, by way of winding-up, with his assured smile, he said, ‘The premium is probably in the relationships you will form. I have been married for fifty-two years. They have been good years, very good years, and do you know why? I married because I knew I could not fail! I was not afraid to be myself – there was no pretence. Knowing that I could not fail granted me the freedom to allow my wife, Hao, to be who she was.’ When he finished, the ovation was long and thunderous. For a few moments he just stood there, with that open smile, knowing that once again he had not failed and that the guidance he had received from the mystic would continue to guide others. That was thirty-six years ago. Mine was one of those eager young faces and I have never forgotten his message. He has long departed, but his legacy remains. I embraced his words “I cannot fail”, and they have served me well. A folk tale - The Search for Happiness The following story is loosely based on an ancient Chinese fairy tale. Ancient China was feudal, where the wealthy owned the land and the people were peasants or vassals – who, for the privilege of a piece of land to live and work on, were expected to offer service or produce in return. Many of the Landowners were greedy and overly taxed their tenants, or serfs. The Landowners literally owned the peasants and could do as they pleased with them. There was however, one young man, who having nearly starved, even though he had worked “like a dog” for his lord, wondered “what’s the point?” This led him to ponder what is the point of life, perhaps much as you do. His conclusion was that life was what each made of it. That being the case, he was determined to make his a happy one… but how to obtain happiness? In fact, it was this last question that preoccupied much of his mind but he could not find a satisfactory answer. His name was Gawa. At first, he asked just about everybody he came across. Most got annoyed with him, saying, ‘We have enough to worry about just trying to survive, let alone to worry about happiness… life is hard and we must bend our back and be submissive to it and the landowner.’ Nevertheless, Gawa, being a clever thinker, thought that there was a deeper reason why they did not answer the question, and that was that they were afraid to seek happiness, thinking that it was not to be had, or that it would always elude them. He kept wondering, how can we live a happy life? One day, without saying a word to anyone in the village, he packed what little food he had and set off to ask the immortal Princess Wencheng. I need to tell you about Princess Wencheng. She was, and still is, a legendary figure who had watched over humanity for thousands of years. She was loved by everyone for her compassion, humility and wisdom. Therefore, if she did not know the answer as to how to have happiness, then no one would. It was mid-summer and hot as Gawa trudged in the direction he thought he needed to go to find the Princess Wencheng. He headed towards the Tibetan region near the Himalayas. He had been walking all day, and feeling thirsty under the fiery sun, before going into a farmhouse and asked for water. The man was kind and invited him to stay and have some tea. Seeing how thirsty the young man was, and the sweat that soaked his clothes, he asked, ‘Where do you go?’ Gawa told him of his quest as to how to find happiness. The man stroked his chin, which only had a short beard, and with a smile full of broken teeth, complimented Gawa for his ambition. The man was pensive for a moment as he thought of his daughter. She was well-featured and hardworking but had not spoken a single word in all her eighteen years of life. Of, course she was not married. The man, hesitating, asked the young fellow, ‘If you see Princess Wencheng, could you ask her for me why my daughter does not speak?’ Gawa said he would, finished his tea, and feeling refreshed, continued his journey. In his search for Princess Wencheng, and the understanding of happiness, he tramped over hills and dales, where days turned to into weeks. One very dark night, he deemed it unsafe as there were wild animals that prowled the area. Finding a small village, he begged from one household to another for a place to stay. As he was a stranger, and a scraggly looking one in his rags, the villagers were reluctant to put him up for a night – after all, they knew nothing of him. At last, an owner took pity on him and treated him with hospitality and let him sleep in the work shed. Hearing the young man’s quest for happiness, the owner said, ‘There is a peach tree in my garden, which blooms but no fruit grows. Could you please ask Princess Wencheng why fruit does not grow on it?’ Again, he said that he would ask the Princess. He walked not knowing how many days had passed. One day, just when he hoped he was getting closer to the Princess Wencheng, he came to a wide river. There was no ferry or bridge, and so as he was figuring out how to cross when a large carp splashed out of the water and from its open mouth came the words, ‘Where are you going? Amazed, but happy to answer the question, Gawa said, ‘I want to see Princess Wencheng but I need to cross this wide river.’ The carp cruised close to the bank, ‘Why do you want to see her?’ So Gawa explained again. Hearing this, the carp announced, ‘Get on my back and I’ll carry you to the other side.’ On the other side, the young man thanked the carp for the lift. The carp waved its tail, and after hesitating asked shyly, ‘Please ask the Princess Wencheng why can’t I jump over the dragon gate (in Chinese mythology, a carp that jumps over the gate became a dragon, which is deemed auspicious) at such an old age.’ The young man accepted the carp’s question and bid it farewell. A week later, he finally found Princess Wencheng. He had never met an immortal before and was afraid that he did not pay her enough respect. Soon he relaxed as she was most friendly and accommodating. So he asked the three questions, ‘Why cannot the girl speak?... Why does the peach tree yield no fruit?... And Why can’t the carp jump over the dragon gate? With a knowing smile, the Princess answered each question. When he was about to ask his question, and the reason for seeking her, she suddenly vanished. One minute she was there, the next she was gone. Gawa waited patiently under a tree but the Princess did not return. He slept under the tree, and lived under there for a week, but there was not a sign of her returning. Realising that she was not going to return, nor was he going to get his answer, he decided to return home. Even though his question had not been answered, he thought, since I had asked for others, and received satisfactory answers, it was worth the journey anyway. As he walked the long distance back, he realised he was happy, and was starting to understand about happiness. When the young man returned to the river, the carp was there waiting for him, and was anxiously swimming up and down the riverbank. The young man was greatly moved and told him what the Princess Wencheng had said, ‘You should pull off the two large whiskers on your chin if you want to jump over the dragon gate.’ The carp was delighted with this answer. It leaped about and opened its mouth cheerfully as he conveyed Gawa back to the opposite bank. 10 The carp gave the young man a gift, a blessing, ‘Gawa, you will be happy since you have found happiness for others.’ Then with a wave of a fin, the carp lowered itself under water. Feeling good, Gawa strode briskly and returned to the house where he had stayed for the night. Before the owner asked, Gawa with a smile gave the answer, ‘My friend, the Princess asked you to dig the mud from around the peach tree, and then then it will bear fruit, and indeed, you will be well blessed.’ The man laughed with joy, first, that there was an answer from the Princess Wencheng, and secondly because it made sense, as for some reason there was piled up mud, as if someone had dug it up and filled it in again. He immediately asked Gawa to dig out the mud at the base of the tree. He dug, and dug some more, until he felt something solid. There was a bag! Upon examining it contents, it turned out to be full of valuable coins. The man was not a wealthy man and cried with joy. Being generous, he offered Gawa some of the coins. Gawa did not accept the riches, no matter how much the man persuaded him, for Gawa only wanted to help the man, and not receive profit by doing so. The man was touched and blessed him with, ‘Thank you for finding our happiness. By doing so I am sure that you will also be happy!’ The man and his family members all asked him to stay for more days, but the young man had one more thing to deal with, so he only stayed for two days and said good-bye, and once again headed off. A month later there were many peaches hanging on the tree, so many, the branches hung to the ground. After Gawa walked for many days, he returned to the first man’s farmhouse where he asked for tea. The daughter answered Gawa’s knock at the door. As she saw who it was, smiled and shouted, ‘Father, your son-in-law is back!’ The old man was so excited that he ran to the door. Yes, he could see it was the young man looking for happiness – but equally delighted that his daughter had spoken. Surely this was a miracle? The farmer invited him in and offered tea. His daughter welcomed him like an old friend, chatting endlessly. The man was delighted to see his daughter become so lively and active in front of this young man and talking. He asked the young man what Princess Wencheng said. Gawa flushed, ‘He… he… he said your daughter would only speak at the sight of her husband.’ The man’s eyes smiled, and so held their hands in a ceremony of marriage – they were husband and wife. When the good news spread, all the folk came to bless them. The man who had the peach tree also came to bless them. He and his wife carried the bag of money and offered some as a wedding present. Gawa, and his new wife walked throughout the community and handed everyone a coin until none were left. This made everyone happy as they could pay off the landlord. The carp was correct; that by giving happiness to others, Gawa found happiness, and Gawa learnt that in giving there is receiving. The immortal Princess Wencheng, as always, displayed great wisdom by letting Gawa find his own answer to his question. Gawa, became known as a man of wisdom and people came from far to seek him out for advice on all matters. He was known as the happiest man in the region. In his own time, Gawa became an immortal, and was known as “The Happy Immortal”. Life – does it have to be Fair? The wild dog cautiously led her five cubs away. Having been out of the den for only two weeks, they were small and clumsy but instinct had warned her of danger. The young male lion had been prowling for three days and was hungry. He had been chased away from his pack as it was time to fend for himself and create his own pride in another territory. Coming over a rise, a movement caught his eyes. Crouching, he scanned the lush, green bush. There… he spied a pack of wild dogs, the male in the lead. The mother was constantly shepherding her young, who were full of play and excitement, thinking that the outing was a game. After a few short-tempered nips on the ear, they sensed her seriousness. The lion had been well trained by his pride and was patient. If he rushed, he could lose the prey. Nor did he let out his fearsome roar, as this would have warned the dogs. Watching them with close attention, he considered his strategy; going for the young would force the adults to attack him. However, if he ambushed the lead dog, the female would run with her cubs and leave him to fend for himself as best as he could. Yes, that would be the way. Slinking, with stealth and tracking a parallel course, he wanted to meet the dog on open ground. He was not concerned about detection as there was no breeze and plenty of cover. Further along was the open ground that he sought and increased his speed to get there at the same time as his prey. As hunter and hunted broke cover, the lion accelerated into a loping run. Thick armour-like shoulders powered the body forward, while his perfectly still head held total focus on the lead dog. With tail lowered and ears erect, he was beautiful, but devastating. Simultaneously the dog saw the lion and feared that he was in trouble. Instinct and reflexes came to the fore in an attempt at survival. Somewhere in his mind, he knew that he had to direct the lion away from the pups but it was already too late. The lion, with speed and power, leaped onto the terrified dog, its huge claws digging into his hide, while his weight pinned the dog to the ground. At this point, it is possible that the dog’s brain-chemical would have changed and it is unlikely that he would have felt the lion biting his windpipe, suffocating him. Death came swiftly. We cannot judge the lion by our rules but must understand that many things in life do not seem fair. This meal was not just for the lion, it was for many other creatures – jackals and vultures, ants and other microscopic animals. Nothing is wasted. Even the herbivore eats from the plant kingdom! The female dog was aware of the death of her mate. As humans, we cannot measure an animal’s grief, but it is likely that there is an acceptance of life’s harshness. She, in turn, must take the lives of other animals to feed herself and her cubs, and knows that one animal’s tragedy is another’s meal. It is we humans who consider life to be unfair and let it affect us in negative ways. We retain the thought that life is tough, long after an event has passed, allowing it to reduce our power. Although life can be harsh, it can also be beautiful, provided you get on with it. When you have been bullied and brutalised, as you will be in one form or another, you must remain aware of your place in the universe. When you live in the, ‘life is not fair’, camp you lose your balance. You can moan, whine and feel sorry for yourself or you can put it behind you, and, like the female dog, let it go and get on with life. Winners know that life does not have to be fair in order to win and win you can with the right attitude! Luck and Positive Thinking Driving the other day, I was listening to the radio. The talkback was about luck and whether it exists. There were many views on this including, when you are prepared (as after many years of dedicated training) then luck is more likely to find you. Some simply said luck does not exist, and there were people, who with a scientific mind, thought all things are chance based and ultimately a mathematical calculation. There were people who said they were lucky and those who were not. My take on luck is that it is linked to positivity. I categorically know that when I live with a positive mindset, things work better for me. Conversely, when negative, things invariably go pear-shaped. Therefore, luck is really a factor of being positive, and bad luck one of negativity. Those who called in and said they were lucky, seemed luckier, and more uplifted than those who said they had bad luck were certainly dogged with bad luck. So, convinced of their bad luck they strove to convince us listeners of all the unlucky things that have happened to them. Their lists were long. There were even some who were convinced that bad things come in threes, and waited for bad luck two and three to arrive, with great expectation. Irrespective, your belief in luck or no luck, will happen according to the positivity you hold.