Serenity

My computer is misbehaving and I was doing a bunch of random clicking in my email trying to get it to wake up and tell me if I have email. Somehow I wound up in a file I haven't accessed since approximately 1999 (really). In there I found a little story I had totally forgotten. I was given this by a former therapist when I was really miserable (depressed plus discouraged) in grad school. It probably was during one of my first mixed episodes, although knowing of those was years away.

Anyway, it seems like a pretty perfect Thanksgiving entry, especially when Thanksgiving seems to be bringing me some good news. It's still way too early to be certain, but I seem to be beginning to feel better. Two days in a row now. My only problem is that I seem to be having trouble with food tasting really bad. Hopefully this will not affect turkey and stuffing. We got pizza tonight and I had to throw my piece away after one bite. Regardless, as my story goes, all does not need to be perfection:


The Meaning of Serenity

There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would pain the best picture of serenity. Many artists tried. The king looked at all the pictures, but there were only 2 he really liked and he had to choose between them. Once picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for the peaceful towering mountains that were all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of serenity. The other picture had mountains too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky from which rain fell, and in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all, but when the king looked, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest.......perfect serenity.

Which picture do you think won the prize? The king chose the second picture. Do you know why? "Because," explained the King, "serenity does not mean to be in a place where there in no noise, trouble, or hard work. Serenity means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of serenity."

Have a good Thanksgiving.