Today's
quotation:
People
individually and collectively are entitled to life in all
abundance. El Dorado, a country rich beyond all precedent in gold and
jewels, lies
at every person's door. Your bonanza lies under your
feet. Your luck is
already at hand. All is within; nothing is without.
Herbert
Seibert
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Today's
Meditation:
What
are riches? In Voltaire's novel Candide, when
the protagonists reach the land of El Dorado they find the
citizens of that land playing with gemstones as if they
were simply shiny rocks--which really is what they
are. Their value is simply assigned by people.
It truly didn't matter to the people of the land that
other people thought of these stones as being
valuable--anyone could take as many as they wanted.
There
are many people in the world who feel that their families
are a burden; there are just as many people who would love
to be able to have a family. There are many who
don't appreciate their jobs, and many who would love to
have the opportunity to work for decent pay and working
conditions. There are many who spend much time
wishing for a larger or more lavish home, and others who
wish they had a decent place to live.
Our
lives are full of amazing blessings, treasures that truly
are beyond measure. When Herbert says that all is
within, though, he means that our "treasures"
depend upon us seeing them as treasures, if they're going
to be treasures at all. We have abundance in our
lives, but do we see it, recognize it, and appreciate it,
or do we take it for granted and even wish it were more?
Every
person has the opportunity to recognize their own
abundance for what it is--they only have to choose to open
their eyes and acknowledge things for just what they
are. My abundance depends upon my awareness and my
willingness to receive. My lack of abundance is my
choice, but not a choice that I want to make.
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