The Road . . .

There was once a king who had a wonderful highway built for all the subjects in his kingdom. Once completed, yet before he had it opened to the public, he decided it would be great fun to have a contest to celebrate it's opening. He invited as many of his people to participate as wanted to. Their challenge??? To see who could travel the highway the best.

 A great many people showed up on the day of the contest. Some came driving fine chariots. Other's dressed in their finest clothing,sporting beautiful hairdos and bringing wonderfully rich and tasty food along for the journey. Some young men came in their track clothes and ran along the highway. The people traveled the highway all day, but each one, when they arrived at the end, complained to the king about the huge pile of debris and rocks that they had discovered left on the road at one spot, and related how this had hindered their travel and gotten in their way.

 At the end of the day of the contest, a lone traveler crossed the finish line, wearily walking over to the king. As tired and dirty as he was, he still took the time to address the king with respect and as he did so, he handed him a big bag of gold, saying as he did so, "I stopped along the way to clear away a huge pile of rocks and debris that was blocking the road. This bag of gold was underneath it all and I thought you might want to return it to it's rightful owner."

The King looked down at him with a compassionate smile. "You are the rightful owner." he said.

"Oh no," replied the traveler, "this gold is not mine. I am only a poor man. This belongs to someone else."

"Yes," said the King. "This surely is yours, for you have earned this gold. You won my contest. He who travels the road best, is he who makes the road smoother for those who will follow."

There's a lesson in there for each of us, don't you think? 

 

This past week we have been watching a program on Netflix called Consumed. 

"Consumed by a house overstuffed with stuff that hasn't been used in a while? In this series former television producer-turned-de-cluttering expert Jill Pollack helps families cut through their physical and emotional clutter and rebuild their lives from scratch."

Its been a real eye opener.  I have never seen personally houses filled with so much clutter. I don't know how people can cope with so much stuff in their house. I know how I feel just when the little I have becomes a bit much for me, and I know how great it feels when I have a big sort out.  Less really is more. 

Back home I used to see this woman who would drive about town and her car was stuffed to the rafters with magazines and newspapers.  I think she must have been a hoarder to the extreme. It seemed a wonder that she could even get into the car to drive it.

My craft room is a bit like that at the moment.  I really need to make myself get into it and sort it out.  That's why nothing is happening on my creative side lately.  I go in, take a look, and walk out again.  Its a bit overwhelming, and I'm not sure how it got that way.  Its become a storage room where we have just been throwing anything that we don't want anyplace else.  I need to just go in and be tough with myself/us and just decide that if we haven't used it in the last year or so, we probably never will, and just get rid of it.  I need to get past this "We might need it someday" mentality that is holding us back. 

In  fact I could probably apply that principle to every room in the house.

And with that I will leave you with a thought for the day  . . .

° * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
•。★★ 。* 。
° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π_____*。*˚
˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜門 ★
 *Ideally the ultimate retreat is

to retreat from the past and the future,

and to always remain in the present. 
~unknown   •。★★ 。* 。 

 

Baking in the kitchen today . . .  Ginger & Jam Sandwich Cookies.  Oh my word, these are the epitomy of morishness. 

Have a wonderful Sunday, no matter what you get up to.  Don't forget . . . 

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And I do too!