“It’s easier to put on slippers than to carpet the whole world.”– Al Franken (1951 – ) U.S. Senator / satirist twins
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What type of self-care have you practiced lately, when the going gets tough?
Sunset Over the Ocean Mediation LP (22:01)
The story of the Twins
an African folktale
A long time ago at the village of Serki, a woman gave birth to twins – both boys. They were very nice children. One of the twins, Eiba by name, had a white spot on his right hand. The other one – they called him Saiba – had two white spots on his left hand. Father and mother were very happy and very sad at the same time. You will ask – why? Because there was a very bad custom in Serki to kill twins. And the chief of Serki said, “Those twins must die, too.” But their father and mother did not want to kill the twins.
“What?” said the chief angrily? “You don’t want to kill them? Go away from the village and never come back or I shall kill you together with your children.”
So the poor family went away from the village.
For many years the family lived in a forest. Life was not easy there. But the children grew up strong. When they grew up, they helped their father and mother with their work. They were good and handsome young men.
One day they found a man in the forest. He was dying. They tried to help him. But he said, “Don’t help me. I shall die soon. I came from Serki. There is a war on there now. We fought bravely. But the enemy is stronger than we are. Go and help my people if you can.”
With these words he died.
Eiba and Saiba wanted to go to Serki and help to fight. But their father and mother were against it and said, “The Chief does not want you there. He wanted to kill you when you were small children. That’s why we went away from Serki and came to live in the forest.”
But the twins wanted to go and help Serki. They said, “This is our country. We must help the people of our country.” So the boys came to Serki and fought against the enemies. They fought bravely. The people of that country won the fight and made the enemy run. So the war was over. Then a feast at the chief’s house began. Saiba and Eiba were at the feast, too. Then one of the men stood up and said, “There are two young men here, two brothers. I think they are very brave soldiers. But we don’t know who they are.”
The twins’ uncle was at the feast, too. He said to the chief, “Do you remember two little twins – one with a spot on his right hand and the other with two spots on his left hand? Eighteen years ago you told their father and mother to go away from our village as they did not want to kill the twins. These are the same twins.”
The chief stood up and asked the twins to forgive him. Then he sent the two young men back to their father and mother with many presents and a letter in which he asked them to come back.
From, that day on they stopped killing twins in Serki.
I try to run 4 times per week which really clears my head. Watching what I eat and how much caffeine I consume helps my mental outlook a lot. This new year I will be incorporating daily meditation and yoga throughout the week. For me, to keep my mind in a steady calm and generally happy state, I have to focus on diet, meditation, exercise, and taking care of my personal business. It all needs to be in balance.
“It is easier to put on slippers than to carpet the rest of the world.” How often I wish the world would reconfigure itself to my complete satisfaction. And then I get mad when I perceive that others are doing the same. Life on life’s terms – whether I like them or not.
Lol. Ya. That’s a very graphic reason why letting people rent room in our heads is not the best idea. Nowadays I get busy doing something like this which helps me shift gears.
Here the saying comes to mind… Resentment us like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die. It eats MY insides not theirs.