Words to Live By…
“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” —Confucius
You may have heard or seen in the news last week the extraordinary tale of heroism and perseverance of a 13-year old boy in Australia.
One of many things that stood out to me after hearing in Austin Appelbee’s own words what took place as he swam over 2.5 miles to shore to sound the alarm of his family trapped out in the sea, was how he willed himself to go on for about four hours to achieve his goal.
After sharing that one by one, he needed to let go of the safety of the kayak and life vest he had with him in order to make headway in the rough, cold sea, Appelbee said that one of the things he thought about when he started to waver was the story of Thomas the Tank Engine!
Whether he read the books himself or watched TV shows about the adventures of Thomas the Tank Engine, there was a life-saving message woven in those words that gave him the strength to carry on. I have no doubt that “amazing grace” was with him too, but the messages about hard work and perseverance stayed with Appelbee and helped give him the courage to keep going.
“Poor Thomas was going faster than he had ever gone before. He was out of breath and his wheels hurt him, but he had to go on.” — The Reverend W. Awdry, Thomas the Tank Engine
What childhood stories, inspiring quotes or poems, or autobiographies can you call on now to support you in persevering through any challenges you’re facing? Perhaps Austin Appelbee’s real life experience can be shared with your children and grandchildren and become the story they call on when they come upon the headwinds and waves of life.
May you be blessed by inspiring stories that feed your soul, give you courage, and remind you that others have been where you are and ultimately thrived.
Never Give Up Then…
“When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you…never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.”
―Harriet Beecher Stowe
Like Magic
“Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.”
― John Quincy Adams
The Buddha’s Last Instruction
“Make of yourself a light,”
said the Buddha,
before he died.
I think of this every morning
as the east begins
to tear off its many clouds
of darkness, to send up the first
signal — a white fan
streaked with pink and violet,
even green.
An old man, he lay down
between two sala trees,
and he might have said anything,
knowing it was his final hour.
The light burns upward,
it thickens and settles over the fields.
Around him, the villagers gathered
and stretched forward to listen.
Even before the sun itself
hangs, disattached, in the blue air,
I am touched everywhere
by its ocean of yellow waves.
No doubt he thought of everything
that had happened in his difficult life.
And then I feel the sun itself
as it blazes over the hills,
like a million flowers on fire —
clearly I’m not needed,
yet I feel myself turning
into something of inexplicable value.
Slowly, beneath the branches,
he raised his head.
He looked into the faces of that frightened crowd.
―Mary Oliver, New and Selected Poems, Beacon Press
