The children of a kindergarten group should bring different things with them, which have a special meaning to them. So they supposed to getting known each other and learn to speak with self-confidence in front of the group. One boy brought his football, others their toys or even their pets. Only one girl has nothing to show. Maybe she had forgotten to bring something with her or she didn’t know about it. When the teacher asked her to show her and the other kids what she had brought along, she answered spontaneously: “I bring myself”. The teacher was astounded and the rest of the group looked with great eyes at that girl.
This little story is from the awesome book “The Wooden Bowl” by Clark Strand. It’s about Zen Meditation. I love this book and read it several times a few years ago. This way I recall the story.
It tells in a nutshell what it is all about in life. This is the real spirit of Zen. Life is not about things but about yourself. You don’t need a lot of money to be happy. If money made you happy, no rich person would be unhappy. It depends on your personal attitude to yourself and to life if you are happy or not.
You don’t need to fix on a special partner to be happy. There are a lot of soulmates out there, not only one. There is not “the” one job, which gives you fulfillment. All depends first on your attitude to yourself. If you are happy with yourself, if you can accept yourself with your weak points and your double chin, your relationships get in order, and you begin to live in harmony with yourself. When you live in harmony with yourself, what is a learning process, which needs time, you are able to live in harmony with the whole world. (Volker Schunck)
Drifter's Day 