|
Today's
Quotation:
The aster has not wasted spring and summer
because it has
not blossomed. It has been all the time preparing for what is
to follow, and
in autumn it is the glory of the field,
and only the frost lays it low.
So there are many
people who must live forty or fifty years, and have the
crude
sap of their natural dispositions changed and sweetened
before the
blossoming time can come; but their lives
have not been wasted.
Henry Ward Beecher
|
|
Today's
Meditation:
Some
people peak very early, and many of them are in the public
spotlight at a very young age. Musicians who make
popular music, athletes, and actors and actresses are among
the people who hit great heights at very early ages.
Most
of us, though, take more time to hit our peaks. Most
people can't expect to hit their highest heights until
they're well into their forties or fifties-- or even later--
for they've
then hit a point at which they can give a very mature, very
valuable contribution to the world. Most of the music
written by twenty-year-olds is simply immature and
self-indulgent, for the songwriters haven't had enough life
experience to allow them to write anything that's not a copy
of other songs that they've heard. Most very young
athletes know only athletics, and they tend to get lost in
other areas of their lives-- how many of them ruin their
athletic careers by making the decision to use
performance-enhancing drugs in their training?
There's
absolutely nothing wrong with blooming late. All this
means is that we've been spending time learning and living,
and that our contribution therefore is more balanced, more
mature, more loving, less self-centered or
self-serving. And if that's the case, then this
contribution can help more people in more ways, which is one
of the best gifts we can give to anyone.
Perhaps
you haven't hit your peak yet, and your time of blooming has
not yet arrived. Be patient, and keep living and
learning. Your time will come, and when it does, it
will be as beautiful as the asters in the autumn, the asters
who have waited patiently all through spring and summer
while the other flowers all were showing off their beauty.
|
|
For further thought:
Nothing
great is created suddenly, any more than a bunch of grapes
or a fig. If you tell me that you desire a fig, I answer
that there must be time. Let the tree first blossom, then bear fruit, then
ripen.
Epictetus |
