Category No accidents

Inspiration: How can I soar with eagles when I am flying with buzzards?

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Eagle EyesI’ve always been fascinated by eagles. It started when my father got frustrated with his four kids for working too slow or not thinking fast enough on the building site. He would shake his head and say, “How can I soar with eagles, when I am flying with buzzards!”

I always chuckled in my mind when he said that. I would immediately envision those sad looking vultures toward the end of the animated movie, “The Jungle Book” and think, “What… vultures… I’m not a vulture!”

If you’ve never seen the animated Jungle Book movie, watch this clip on YouTube, uploaded by Thomas Ferrin, “vultures on jungle book.”  You’ll have a better understanding on why you wouldn’t want to be a vulture. They have no “joie de vivre!”

Like the photo of the vultures I have, that’s how they look… but it’s important for you to see how they talk and act. They have no energy, no purpose, no goals.

Vultures

Then I would think, “NO WAY, I am an eagle!”

This phrase has stayed with me all my life. It’s a tape recording in my mind for those times that I find myself challenged for whatever reason. When I need to draw strength, because I feel there is “no hope,” I remember those words and somehow I stand taller, I take the buzzard out of my mind and I focus on the photo of the eagle above. I draw from his “no nonsense” character, the “determination” in his eyes, and remember, “I do have goals!”

I AM STRONG!

I WILL SOAR!

My Dad will be PROUD!

 

 

 

Miracles… Lost items that are found.

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img_4152

Scarf when lost.

Guest Blogger:

Francesca Meffert / Ireland

Tuesday

My heels clicked against the pavement as I crossed the street already ¾ of my way home from campus when the first stab of panic hit, “Why don’t I feel my scarf around my neck?”

The wind howled, mocking my inattention.

Touching my neck, bare flesh greeted me and my stomach flopped as I realized the wind had surely snatched it in my scurry home.

I asked myself, “Do you want to go back for it?” “No, it wasn’t my favorite scarf and I rarely wore it anyways. Besides, if the wind took it who knows where it might be.”

I resumed my walk home, my feet scuffling a tad heavier.

Wednesday – Saturday

Cycling into campus I took the route I came the previous day and alas there was no scarf to be found.

The next day was the same….

And the next…..

and the next.

Sunday

I gazed out the window as the bus prattled its way closer to campus. That morning I had cycled into college; a fact I was struggling with at this moment when deciding whether to get off on campus to collect my bike or head home. Sighing, I did also want to stop by Church at some stage to light a candle, which, if I went for that option would entail having to walk back into campus for my bike. As the scenery passed by with increasing alacrity I found myself facing a decision among 3 options:

Option 1: stop at college, get bike, go home.

Option 2: stop off a bit later, go to Church, get bike, go home.

Option 3: go home.

(It is worth noting that the route via Option 1 or 3 would take me different paths to/from college and my house).

Going with Option 2

I pressed the button and got off the bus and began my walk to Church. This is a route I had taken the last four days. As I was about to cross the street, I looked down and saw a heap of wet, dirty, grimy cloth that had clearly been exposed to the elements for a good while. My heart felt a moment of sadness for the poor thing and all of a sudden I felt myself doing a double-take, wait a second, that’s MY scarf!!

I crouched down and delicately plucked the grimy scarf from the ground and placed it in my bag, arousing stares of intrigue and distain from drivers and passerby’s alike. Standing up, I was grinning from ear to ear like a fool. It wasn’t even the fact that I had my scarf back, it hadn’t been super important to me, it was “what finding it represented,” and I couldn’t help but think:

scarf-found
                                            Scarf when found.

What was once lost can always be found.

Perhaps that could be true of objects, but I felt this was a gift from the universe more symbolic in nature.

Often times, we find ourselves in predicaments or situations that are stressful, hard, or challenging in some manner or another – be it in our work, relationships, life decisions or more. It is in those moments that we must ignite the best in ourselves – be it motivation, love, passion, determination, patience, hope or whatever is required to see us through it. We all have the capacity to ignite these elements within ourselves, but it’s up to us to trigger them. Finding the scarf reminded me, that although it can be difficult to imagine, “what was once lost can always be found” and we can find it in ourselves to recall our best traits to see us through.

Had I chosen Option 1 or 3, I would surely not have found my scarf or remembered this important life lesson. As my friend reminded me, everything happens for a reason.

I hope that this scarf can serve as a lesson, that you too, can find whatever it is in your heart that you are searching for, it just takes faith!

Africa – A Zebra and a Lucky Penny

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zebra and penny2I read a book not long ago called, “There are No Accidents,” by Robert H. Hopcke.

The book was interesting, because we can all look back at our lives and remember situations where we met someone or were guided in a direction that felt like “it was meant to be.”

For years, I had been wondering if I would make it to Africa. It wasn’t my biggest desire to go there preferring to see Morocco, but still Africa lingered in my mind.

One day, I was out walking with my daughter in the neighborhood. We were sharing stories and suddenly in the middle of the side walk we saw this toy zebra.

We both stopped in surprise… How funny to see a zebra!?!

You see my father has been to Africa many times and we love the zebra, so I suddenly had that feeling of “you’re going to Africa, but I shook my head and thought — this is strange, no trip planned, why am I seeing this zebra?”

Another feeling came over us and that was a child who would be very sad when he/she got home and realized they had lost their zebra. We were on a busy street, no child in site. If we left the zebra someone else would take it, so we decided it was “meant to be” that it was passed on to us.

As we kept walking, suddenly there was a shiny penny in our path. Again, we BOTH looked at each other in surprise. I think you know, the penny is Lucky, because it says, “In God We Trust.”

I took a picture of the zebra and lucky penny and thought, “let’s see what happens.”

It must have been 18 months later when my Dad called and said, “Do you want to go to Namibia?”

What??  I had him repeat himself. I thought of my zebra and lucky penny and said, “YES, let’s go!”

I knew it had been pre-destined!

So, don’t pass up a “sign” no matter how odd it might seem… who knows where it will take you.