MONDAY MUSE (31 March 2008)
CLEAR?
An Italian priest, Fr. Gatti who taught me just for one year in school, was my
guiding muse for over three more years. His influence on me has been a part of
earlier posts of Monday Muse. His stories opened my thinking to see both the
larger picture and the intricate detail. One such story literally cleared my
vision.
A shopkeeper was forever disparaging of his competitors' storefront windows.
"Just look at them”, he would say, “Surely, they are the dirtiest windows in
town.". Everyone was tired of the man's continual criticism and fault-finding
remarks about other peoples’ windows.
However, one day over coffee, when the man carried the subject just too far,
his smart customer suggested the man get his own windows cleaned. The
shopkeeper followed the advice, and the next day at coffee, he exclaimed, "I
can't believe it. As soon as I washed my windows, my competitor must have
cleaned his too. His windows are clear and you can see them shine."
It was all very clear. The problem was with HIS windows. Since they were dusty,
the others appeared shabby, too. Too often we are seized with identifying
drawbacks and weakness of others, but the reality remains that our own minds
are in negative condition or conditioned negatively. So before we categorize
others as worse, we must discover how we can BE BETTER ourselves. After all,
Confucius once declared, "Don't complain about the snow on your neighbor's roof
when your own doorstep is unclean."
The singling out of the worst in others must go
Lets’ BE BETTER ourselves and may our actions show.
regards
Pravin-da
31 March 2008, Goa, India.
Since 2004, the MONDAY MUSE series (based on JCI-India’s annual theme) is
penned by PRAVIN SABNIS - a life coach with a passion to connect people to
their passion & potential. He employs creative competencies in theatre &
trekking in his UNLEARNING UNLIMITED workshops conducted for leading corporate
& other groups.
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