Secrets About Life Every Woman Should Know: Ten principles for spiritual and emotional fulfillment. Barbara Angelis De

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СКАЧАТЬ They had recognized me from television, and teased me about how glamorous I looked soaking wet with a mop in my hand. The guys went about their business of trying to get the water out of my house with vacuums and special hoses, and I went about my business of picking up all the things that lay soaking on the floor. Somehow, I was having a good time.

      I’d noticed one particular fireman grinning at me whenever I went by, and at one point, I walked past him with my arms full of dripping wet towels. He glanced up from his equipment and with a mischievous look on his face, said, “So Barbara: Are you having a ‘real moment’?”

      My book Real Moments^® had been about learning how to make each experience in life meaningful. This guy had obviously read the book, and figured that I probably wasn’t having an enjoyable “real moment” right then, and decided to tease me about it.

      “You know,” I answered with a smile, “I actually AM having a real moment right now!” And I was. Somehow, I was happy. Certainly, I was not pleased with the flood or the mess or the impending cleanup. But on the inside, I still felt a state of contentment and peace that this incident had not been able to steal from me. I was grateful that I had been home. I was grateful that the firemen came so quickly. I was grateful that nothing worse had happened.

      It was long past midnight when the firemen had most of the water out of the house and had packed up to leave. By this time, we were all good buddies. On a whim, I ran upstairs to get my camera, and there in the middle of my wet living room we all posed for pictures together. They probably thought I was crazy, but I didn’t care. I was having fun! And that was my thought as I waved good-bye to them and watched their big trucks drive away: “This was fun!”

      When I went upstairs to turn off my computer, I looked at the screen and read the last thing I’d written before I’d gone downstairs and discovered the flood:

       Nothing can make you happy without your permission.

       Nothing can make you unhappy without your permission.

      Standing there in my damp clothes, I knew that what I’d written was true. I had not allowed the flood to make me unhappy. It was just a series of neutral events, events that I easily could have used to make myself miserable but didn’t. In fact, I’d found moments of joy, connection, and gratitude in the experience. I’d practiced the very principle I was writing about, and it had worked. The universe had actually given me a great gift that evening, one I would never forget.

      That night as I lay in bed, I suddenly remembered a line I’d included in my proposal to the publisher for this book: “You can’t stop the flood, but you can learn to build an ark.”

      Little did I know back then how prophetic these words were going to be. The flood had, indeed, come. And the ark of my own inner state of happiness had remained intact.

      I fell asleep with a smile on my face.

       The foolish person seeks happiness in the distance; the wise person grows it under his feet.

      JAMES OPPENHEIM

      I began this chapter with a story about how God hid the secret for happiness in the human heart. So let me end with another story, this one about how God helped one woman find that very same secret in her own heart, but only when she was ready to stop looking for it on the outside.

      The Greatest Wish of All

      Once upon a time in a very small village in India, there lived a poor but pious woman who worshipped Lord Vishnu, the form of God that is responsible for maintaining all of creation. Each morning, before she did anything else, this dedicated woman would perform a puja, or ceremony, to the statue of him that she had in her house. She would offer flowers and fruits and incense before his form, and then bathe and dress the statue, chanting special hymns of love and gratitude. As she loved the Lord in this symbolic way, the woman’s heart would swell with joy and wonder.

      One day, Vishnu, moved by this woman’s devotion, decided to appear before her. The woman was overcome with ecstasy at the miracle of seeing her beloved Lord, and tears of joy poured down her cheeks.

      “You have pleased me with your diligent worship,” the Lord said to his devotee. “I have decided to reward you. Ask me to fulfill any wish you desire.”

      The woman could hardly believe what she was hearing. What amazing good fortune! The Lord was offering her anything she wanted! Her mind began to race: “What should I ask for? Riches? Many healthy children? A large and luxurious home? What about lasting beauty?” She was so busy trying to decide what she wanted the most that she almost forgot about Vishnu standing right there in front of her.

      “Please, Lord,” she implored in a trembling voice, “May I have some more time to think this over? I just can’t seem to make up my mind.”

      “Take as much time as you like,” Vishnu replied compassionately, and with a parting smile, vanished.

      The woman was beside herself with confusion. What should she do? How could she make such an important choice as this? She decided to ask her friends for their advice on what she should wish for, feeling that perhaps they would be more clear-minded about this than she was.

      The next day, she called all of her friends together, and posed the question to them: What should her one wish be?

      “Ask for money,” the first friend insisted. “If you have money, you can buy whatever else you want.”

      “No, don’t ask for money,” the second friend disagreed. “What good is wealth if you don’t have your health? You won’t be able to enjoy the money. I tell you, you should ask for good health.”

      “Health isn’t specific enough,” a third friend advised strongly. “Ask for a long life, not just a healthy one, and give the Lord a specific number of years.”

      The devoted woman’s husband, who was not very devoted himself and lacked good understanding of spiritual matters, had been standing there listening to these suggestions. “All your friends are fools,” he declared in an irritated voice. “If this lord said you could ask for any boon you wanted, what about asking him for the boon of even more boons?”

      All this time, the woman listened anxiously to everything her friends and her husband had to say, but still, none of their answers satisfied her.

      Weeks and then months passed, and all the woman could think about was what to ask Vishnu. This dilemma consumed her awareness so completely that, without realizing it, she stopped worshipping the Lord in her morning ritual as she had done for her whole life. She stopped thinking about how much she loved him. She stopped chanting songs of praise to him. Instead, her mind was totally focused on what she wanted the Lord to give her. Soon, she began to lose all the joy she had possessed in her heart, and even her love for Vishnu began to evaporate.

      Finally, a day came when the woman felt the last shred of inner contentment vanish from her soul. In a panic, she fell down on her knees and prayed fervently: “Oh, Lord Vishnu! Help me! You promised that you would grant me a great boon, and asked me what wish I wanted you to fulfill. But I cannot answer your question myself, and I can think about nothing else. Please, I beg you, tell me what to ask for!”

      Before the woman could even finish her prayer, Lord Vishnu was СКАЧАТЬ