Inspirational Short Story, Female Fantasy Art, Relaxing Music

Many of our fears are tissue-paper-thin,

and a single courageous step would carry us

clear through them.

-- Brendan Francis

There was a huge slide at the park and Jason was afraid to go on it. There were so many steps to climb to reach the top.

All of his friends were climbing up the steps and yelling as they came down the long rolling slide.

"Come on," said his friend Steve. "It's lots of fun!"

"Isn't it scary?" asked Jason.

"A little bit," answered Steve, "but you get used to it."

He ran off to go again.

Jason walked to the steps of the slide, his heart pounding in his chest.

Slowly he placed his foot on the first step and lifted himself up.

Courageously he climbed the ladder.

When he reached the high platform he felt as if he were standing on top of the world.

We can learn from Jason that by taking that first step we can experience many exciting and wonderful things.

We have all done it before, on the slide, on a bicycle, in school.

Why not again?

I'll be the sun upon your head,

The wind about your face,

My love upon the path you tread,

And upon your wanderings, peace.

-- Gordon Bok

Today I will feel. I will feel wind and water, earth and sun.

I will feel rain, the taste of it, the soft sting of its coolness.

I will feel the familiar touch of my shirt against my skin, my hair across my face in the wind.

Today I will feel love like a candle on a birthday cake that never goes out.

No matter how much you blow on it.

I will feel compassion like a toothache, a dull pain that lets me go about my business but never goes away.

I will feel joy and sorrow, pain, and pleasure. Today I will feel. I will feel like a human being, unique as a snowflake, common as grass.

but of the beauty that still remains.

-- Anne Frank

We don't find the rewards of today by searching through our misfortunes.

Pausing to seek out something good for everything we find bad is a step in the right direction.

We may find the good outweighs the bad.

But how much more chance we will have of living a happy day if we skip over our setbacks and concentrate as much as we can on what is going well.

It is smarter to look for diamonds in a diamond mine than in a garbage dump.

Let us discard our failures, using only what we have learned from them to achieve success.

Looking back at missed opportunities will make it impossible for us to recognize new chances to enjoy life to the fullest.

Looking only for beauty is a beautiful thing in itself.

_______________

10/25/2024

Dividers from Graphics by Sharon (dead link 08/01/2011)