Thank You, Sir Winston

This afternoon, as I sat on my back porch looking at the trees, still devoid of leaves, I thought it was time to send out another newsletter. As you know, my newsletters are few and far between. I never want to burden you with lots of useless information so, as not to waste your time, I think carefully about what I should write.

It was quiet and relaxing, just sitting there with my thoughts. I let my attention shift for a moment from the trees to the sky. It was a bright, cloudless day. Not even a balmy breeze — just a cool, wonderful afternoon. As I looked up again at the sky, I wondered where all the stars were. I couldn’t see even one.

Of course, I couldn’t see them because they were all hidden by the brightness of the sun. But the stars hadn’t gone anywhere. They were always there. They do not run and hide or just disappear into nothingness when the sun comes up. They seemed to have been lost. We just cannot see them when our vision and perception are blocked by clouds or the sun or a roof or even deep thought.

Even on a clear, moonless night, we may not see stars if we are looking down at the ground. To see stars, we generally have to lift our eyes and our vision. We have to look up from where we are.

So it is in life. The noise of daily problems, the worries of making a living or our focus on the struggle may block our view to the glories of making a life. We do not only need to rely on our sight, but on our insight as well.

Sight is seeing with our physical eyes, insight is seeing with our inner eyes, our heart and soul. Sight is a storehouse. It gathers data and stores it for current or future needs. Insight is a powerhouse. It takes the data and combines it into ways that are most helpful to us.

The solutions to every problem we have are within our reach if we could see them clearly. Just like the stars seem to be hidden by the brightness of the sun, so the solution to our problem may be hidden by the intensity of our struggle or our focus on worrying.

Perhaps the world is waiting for us to take the solution that best fits us. Our attitude definitely determines how we solve our problems. If we sit back and say that there’s nothing we can do, the Universe would show us a face, which says there’s nothing you can do.

If we stand up and say that maybe there’s a solution to our problem, the Universe would say that, perhaps, there is a solution. But if we grab life boldly and look it straight in the eye and say that the solution is there for the taking, life responds by giving you what you demand.

I am reminded of the three umpires who gathered at a little pub just after the game was over. The first umpire looked at the others and said, “I calls ‘em as they are.” The second umpire shook his head and quietly  said, “I calls ‘em as I sees ‘em.” The third umpire looked at the other two and bellowed, “They ain’t nuthin’ till I calls ‘em.”

If we’ve been plagued by the frustrations of everyday living, let us look at the world slightly differently from the way we’ve been looking at it. Perhaps the solutions to all of our problems are waiting for us, within our reach, ready for us to grab them.

You are bigger than your problems. You have within you the power to live life fully and gloriously. Don’t say, like the first umpire did, “I calls ‘em as they are,” because you may not be completely aware of how they are. Don’t even be like the second one who said, “I calls ‘em as I sees ‘em.” It’s entirely possible that you may not be seeing clearly at the moment. Choose the third umpire and say, “They ain’t nuthin’ till I calls ‘em.” Your problems are nothing until you give up your power to change them. So, as Sir Winston Churchill once said, “Never give in. Never, never give in.”

Copyright © John Harricharan All rights reserved.

John Harricharan is the award-winning author of the bestseller, “When You Can Walk on Water, Take the Boat”. Get a free PDF copy and sign up for John’s free newsletter at http://www.waterbook.com. Photos of John and friends are at http://insight2000.com/pictures