Gifts, Given and Received

On my desk sits a small bronze figure of Buddha. It represents to me the many wise lessons imparted to the world by this insightful man. But it also means something else: friendship. The inexpensive figurine was handed to me spontaneously by a woman at a shop along the Chao Phraya River in Bangkok, Thailand. The sales clerk did this as a kindness, I believe, a gesture of good will between us. I already had bought several masks and other art pieces at her store and paid for them. She had nothing to gain except my smile.

Just now, as I dusted the Buddha during my weekly housecleaning, this thought occurred to me: the gift was given with no knowledge of how I would receive it. I might just as easily have seen this as worthless junk and tossed it in the nearest trash can. Or I might have put it in some jewelry box when I returned home and never glanced at it again. Or. Or … yes, I might have looked at this small gift in the way I do, as an object I genuinely appreciate and use to enhance my life. That thought led me to another. Isn’t the same true of our own gifts, the talent and experience and enthusiasm we can share with others? All we can do is to give these, with no knowledge of how they will be received. Just like the Buddha from my friend in Bangkok. We only have the power to hand out our individual treasures to the world. What the world does with them is entirely up to others to decide.

One Mom & Two Kids

Just a quick post to let our many blog followers know about a podcast they may want to check out. It's called "One Mom & Two Kids," the first Humanity Project show on which we've heard the voices of children who actually have experienced bullying first-hand in their school. It's an engaging interview with a mom and her kids and you can listen to all or part of the program, which runs about 1/2 hour long. An interesting way to spend a little free Web-surfing time! Check it out at http://www.thehumanityproject.com/podcasts/Podcast61.html. Thanks -- and please email the link to your friends!

This is the fifth in a series of original modern fables by The Humanity Project. They are short, fun, fictional tales that we hope will help demonstrate key points of The Humanity Project message. Stories have been used to teach moral lessons for centuries, from the ancient Greeks through the Bible and up to today’s self-help gurus. That’s also our goal with these stories. We hope you’ll enjoy “The Tale of the Yellowbright Flower.”

The Tale of the Yellowbright Flower

Flowers feel feelings. Strong emotions vibrating out through their stamens and pistils. It’s a secret well known by flower lovers who coax blooms open with whispered encouragements. So it should be no surprise that the Yellowbright Flower growing in a large red field trembled with feelings now. Yes, he trembled each day from the strong feelings he felt. He felt different, after all, which is always a strong and unsettling thing to feel. He was the only Yellowbright Flower flowering in a field of red something-or-other plants. Whatever they were. He knew walkers walking by stopped walking and wondered at the sight of the Yellowbright Flower, stopped and stared before walking on. He knew he was some special thing, the only thing of his kind. But so what? Because the only thing of anything is always a very lonely thing to be, no matter what thing it is.

Until one midnight moonful lightbright night, as the Yellowbright Flower bobbed on a summer wind, the field spoke to him. Yes, a voice came from the field itself, from one red something-or-other plant itself in the field itself. This plant, whatever it was, now spoke to the Yellowbright Flower by saying this: “You’re not really alone, you know.” No one and nothing had ever spoken to the Yellowbright Flower before. To say the Yellowbright Flower was startled would be an understatement. Remember, flowers feel strong feelings.

“You’ve missed it along,” the red plant went on to the Yellowbright Flower. “You’re a rose. So am I. So are we all, all of us in this big field. If you’re yellow, with a different bloom, your color only adds to the beauty of this field. But it’s all of us, together, that the walkers stop walking to see. Not just you. Together, we’re a garden. Alone, you’re only one pretty but very small blossom.” Funny how this changed things for the Yellowbright Flower, who now recognized he was really a Yellowbright Rose. Funny how those few words changed everything. Because no thing is really the only thing of anything, no matter how special that one thing is. Somehow it helps to feel this when you’re a flower feeling strong feelings. Yes, somehow a flower garden just feels like a much less lonely place to flower, don’t you think?

At The Humanity Project, we believe that human beings flower most fully when we begin to understand we’re part of something much larger than ourselves – humanity. And then commit ourselves to working for the betterment of humanity in whatever ways we each best can. That’s what The Humanity Project is all about: teaching individuals how to take practical action for the improvement of both humanity and ourselves. Find out more by contacting us at 954-205-2722 or go to the Contact Us page at www.thehumanityproject.com