Drop By Drop
One day, in a very timely manner, the following message came
across my desk:
Think not lightly of good, saying, "It will not come to me."
Drop by drop is the water pot filled.
Likewise, the wise man, gathering it little by little,
fills himself with good.
-- Dhammapada 122 --
It's a promise. It's also a message of hope and faith and
optimism and patience.
It promises that things can get better even if we don't
notice them at the time. And it suggests that we don't have to leap tall
buildings to have it happen.
Little things, day after day, add up.
Twenty-five years after planting a sapling, we may look
out our window and be surprised to discover the sapling has become a
full-grown maple tree. Over the years, little by little, it has taken what
it needed to thrive. The changes happened gradually, but that sapling
continued to grow steadily. In the same way, we can gather good, "little by
little".
Little things done often really add up. For example:
- Changing one thought a day from one of complaint to one of
gratitude.
- Replacing an acquaintance who is toxic with one who is
cheerful or generous.
- Saying grace at suppertime and really feeling
thankful.
- Listening to birdsong.
- Putting a single drop of flower essence into a bottle of
drinking water.
- Changing the channel from a show that is mean-spirited to
one that feels joyful.
- Walking in the trees or by the water.
Each little change brings about its own reward. These
little changes are like simple pleasures they can be satisfying in and of
themselves. Yet they add up, too. Drop by drop our lives change until one
day, we look up and see that life is good.
Stories like these are a regular feature of my free monthly Ezine, Starry Night.
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