Inspiration From Books

For the past year or so of my life I have been completely mesmerized by the author Paulo Coelho. When I was sixteen years old I read The Alchemist and it instantly became one of my ultimate favorite books. Today, I have read almost every other book he has written since. With each one I continue to feel blown away by the writing, not only because it is inspirational, but because it always seems to provide me with the wisdom I need to get through what I am going through at the time. I have certain morals, beliefs and life philosophies that I choose to live my life by and these always seem to come up in his books. One of my major life philosophies is to never lose our inner child. With this I always try to do something childlike each day I'm alive. I read something the other day in his book, "By The River Piedra I Sat Down And Wept". It is simple, but really goes along with my life philosophy that I would like to share...

"Sometimes an uncontrollable feeling of sadness grips us. We recognize that the magic moment of the day has passed and that we've done nothing about it. Life begins to conceal its magic and its art.

We have to listen to the child we once were, the child who still exsist inside us. That child understands magic moments. We can stifle its cries, but we cannot silence its voice.

The child we once were is still there. Blessed are the children, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

If we are not reborn-if we cannot learn to look at life with the innocence and the enthusiasm of childhood- it makes no sense to go on living...

We have to pay attention to what the child in our hearts tells us. We should not be embarrassed by this child. We must not allow this child to be scared because the child is alone and is almost never heard.

We must allows ourselves to take the rein of our lives. The child knows that each day is different from every other day.

We have to allow it to feel loved again. We must please the child- even if this means that we act in ways we are not used to, in ways that may seem foolish to others.

Remember that human wisdom is madness in the eyes of God. but if we listen to the child who lives in our soul, our eyes will grow bright. If we do not lose contact with that child, we will not lose contact with life."

PS Today, for my child activity, I ran and danced through a pile of leaves in the park. The Koreans thought I was crazy, but it was damn fun! :)