Friday, October 09, 2009

The Wise are Who They Are


I wrapped up reading The Tao of Pooh in early September, but it is still sitting on my desk. I am just delighted how many 'gems' are woven into its pages. Frankly, I poo-poo'd (no pun intended) the book when my husband suggest I should read it. I'm not sure what I thought it was about, but I had the visual of Winnie the Pooh in my head and I didn't patience for what I thought was a book for juveniles. Boy, I was I mistaken!

Currently, The Tao of Pooh, shares space on my desk with my USA Triathlon Southwest projects, Hypercat Racing business, coaching files, bills, pace charts, training plans and goofy Chococat pencils and pens. I've kept it there so that I can quickly leaf through the pages to occasionally revisit a favorite passage or two.

One of the pages I have bookmarked contains the passage below...

"In the story of the Ugly Duckling, when did the Ugly Duckling stop feeling Ugly? When he realized that he was a Swan. Each of us has something Special, s Swan of some sort, hidden inside somewhere. But until we recognize that it's there, what can we do but splash around, treading water? The Wise are Who They Are. The work with what they've got and do what they can do."

To fully comprehend what the author is trying to say, it helps to read further in the chapter, but I think the last two sentences of the quoted passage are gems and worthy of pondering!