An experience that changed my life

[Saul]

I like that story because it illustrates my experiences in a nutshell, kinda. When I was about 3 I had a dream that I walked out to the hallway and an black entity took my hand and hugged me. Now.. when I say black, I mean absolute no color, I mean black as a tin of black paint. And it, he or she, hugged me. I remember being freaked.

[Constance Neal]

Posted by Bill Ryan (here)
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Dear All:

Richard has already shared a moving personal story about the Butterfly Lady. I do recommend that you read it.

Charles has also shared a profound experience that changed him. Please also read this.

I'd like to join Richard and Charles by telling a story of my own. It's a simple story which I've never shared except with my closest friends.

In 1989 I was in Nairobi for a couple of weeks. I was staying in a small guest house a couple of miles from the city center.

Every day I walked down the long road to the post office and market, and walked back. And every day I passed a beggar who was sitting on a dirty blanket at a street corner.

This man's arms and legs were shriveled. He could not walk. He wore a loincloth. He sat on the ground, and crawled around on his blanket. He had nothing at all.

But each time I passed by - twice a day for 14 days - he was surrounded by people. They were laughing, joking, having fun. The little beggar-man was always happy. His face was permanently wreathed in smiles. This was where the party was at, all the time, every day.

He was the man. I never once saw him other than enjoying life to the full. His friends - many of them - clearly loved him dearly.

This experience changed me profoundly. Every day I wondered at this man and his friends. One of my greatest regrets is that I never approached him to say hello.

Ten years later, I returned to Nairobi. I tried hard to find him. I wanted to give him something to thank him for his great contribution to my life. I could not. I assume he had died.

I can never tell this story on stage or in an interview: I would not be able to keep it together. That little man, bless his eternal soul, taught me that one does not have not have things to be happy: one only has to create one's own joy with the people one loves. In the context of this, little else matters.

Thank you for sharing that story Bill. My heart just leapt with joy for you and that little man.
with lots of love and light,
Constance

[Otho]

Amazing story Bill Thanks. I wouldn't inflict poverty on anyone, but my own experience was that after my ideas about it and fear went away it was pretty rad, actually. Much, much better for example than when I worked in a rubber mill and went out drinking every night.

[Cottage Rose]

When my mother was in the hospital due to probable malpractice, I waited in the ICU waiting room with family members. The air was so thick, it was claustrophobic. My mother was only 59 and unable to breathe on her own again after what should have been a simple surgery.

At some point, I looked up from a magazine and my eyes met a childhood schoolmate I had not seen for 18 years. We had been in the same classes grade 1-12, both rather shy, and had never spoken to each other outside of the classroom. My classmate's father was in the ICU down the hall from my mother and in the same condition.

Someone must had been smiling down because we were then able to spend those difficult days on a bench outside in the sun catching up on intervening years. It was October, 1987. He had just returned from the Mt. Shasta Harmonic Convergence with news of this journey. He had been abused by his father as a child. My relatonship with my mother was somewhat difficult. For days we sorted matters out on that balcony looking into their ICU windows. It was a very valuable catharsis.

My friend attended my mother's funeral. (My husband, at that time, had a flat tire on the way.) And, I attended his father's funeral. It was such a blessing to have the comfort of a fellow wanderer during that time.

[latte]

Wonderful and beautiful stories of love, kindness and compassion. Thanks to you all for sharing your hearts.

[Cottage Rose]

I do have another short experience:

Immediately after 9/11, I was extremely sad. All the voices of the tragedy.

I was in my laundry area.

I heard a noise and saw something in the corner of my vision.

I called out, "What's that?"

The cutest little puppy I had ever seen was standing there.

He has been my best buddy ever since.

How could anyone keep crying with a new friend like this around?

He saved me from many tears.

[Linden]

Bill, Thank you for sharing this story. what a lesson for us all! With gratitude, Linda

[Strat]

Thanks for that Bill! Nobody but God himself can imagine living that mans life. I'll bet that man never thought that people from all over the world would come together to admire him. Is that an example of the Butterfly Effect?

1 He(the beggar) kept a smile on his face
2 The passerby (Bill) catches this and is then inspired
3 The passerby spreads the message across the globe, inspiring everyone

If that is the Butterfly Effect, then that has to be one of the most beautiful examples I've heard (including the Butterfly Lady of course! No pun intended). Life never ceases to fascinate me!

It's times like this I feel lucky to be a part of this community.

~~Every little thing, is gonna be alright~~

Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUgyAC7z9yM

[str8thinker]

Thank you Bill and everyone else who has posted their own story here, for teaching us what is really important in life.

[Budaheart]

Thanks Bill

I had a similar story to yours when I crossed the Nubian desert from Sudan to Egypt in 1983... We came across a village that was totally abandonned as everybody had moved to the other side of the Nile. Only two persons were left in the town, no food, no ways of living really... these two old men were sitting there in the middle of nowhere, with their blanket on the floor, a little fire cooking their "chai"...as we approached them with curiosity and respect, they looked at us, gather ALL THEY HAD, I mean ALL THEY HAD in their two hands, and offer them to us.
My heart fell to the floor, realizing the beauty of this gesture, the grandiosity of the generosity I was witnessing...they gave us ALL THEY HAD... some dates and some chai.
that was it. That was ALL THEY HAD. And they shared it. With a Smile.

My biggest lessons in life have come from Africa...touching the heart of the 15 years old I was, for ever.
thanks for sharing
and blessed these people who taught us the greatness of human heart.
May we all some day come close to this openess and love for that day, in truth
we would have given birth to
the greatest world of all.

Love
Barbara

[Jonathon]

Amazing story Bill. I wish I had the power to put that lovely gentleman in front of you to complete the story in the way you had wished. But then again, it's pure gold the way it is. Pure perfection. Should be carved into a stone wall for all to see.

My sincere gratitude.

[enoch]

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[sandy]

What Beautiful Stories to read for the end of Valentines Day!

I couldn't get a memory out of my thoughts that came flooding back while reading all these heart felt stories. So I will share it. I spent the first half of my life living on the wrong side of the track so to speak. The second half of my life I have worked hard to turn that all around for myself, and all the people I hurt with my anger, hate and bitterness. Once clean, I got an education and a career in the helping field at the age of 32.

I taught hard loving, hard knocking (sometimes you have to speak the love language that people understand and it is not always soft and soothing) life skills to people in trouble with the law and street people. I loved them "openly" and "honestly" because I knew 'there but for the grace of God go I'.

I went to work very early one morning to catch up on some paper work and as our premises where security locked i was surprised the the buzzer was ringing a few minutes later. It was 6:30 in the morning. I went to the door and there was one of my past students who I hadn't seen in a long time, asking if she could come in and see me. 'Sure' I said, 'but how come you are here so early'. She said "I have just been waiting to see you and wanted to catch you before others started to come". We chatted socially for a few minutes and I noticed that she was not looking too well. I asked her about what I was seeing and she began her story. I won't go into details except to say that she was covered in track marks, also in many places hidden to the naked eye. She was back working the streets and her boyfriend/ pimp was beating her and not giving her any money to live on. She was frail, suicidal,weak and sick and in bad need of a fix as well.

I listened and proposed all sorts of alternatives and she turned them all down. I didn't know what to do so I shared through my tears how much I cared for her and felt stuck because I so wanted to help her. She promptly told me I already had. Her name was Kelly and she said "I just needed to come and to be with you because I know you care". We cried and hugged each other, had coffee and talked some more and then I watched her walk away.

Kelly taught me that no matter what, show people how deeply you care and that "THEY" are loved ( not their behavior good or bad) no matter what!

[Budaheart]

Sandy thanks for sharing your Love story... it was beautiful.
In the end its all about love. All these lives embarked on the so called "wrong path", or the very painful to say the least, could be very well tracked down to a basic lack of love and care from meaningful others. So true...have found it myself aswell in my life and through my life.

The caring and the nurturing has been so unrecognized as a basic necessity! how can someone study? how can someone do anything really if he has missed the basic food ingredient of all? Love!

Hopefully we are changing this.
Love
B

[Henners]

Thanks Bill and every one else for your heart warming stories. I too have my own. Hope you'll read it to the end. I don't mean to hijack your thread Bill, just add to it.

In my career as a coach driver i travel all over Australia and meet virtually hundreds of people every week. One a three day trip with school kids to Canberra (the capital of Oz), i had a girl on board my coach who was wheel chair bound. When we left Sydney, her mother was crying and very upset because her daughter had never been away from home on a school outing and was very concerned. I put her mind at ease and told her that i would make sure she would be OK. Her mother was grateful and a little relieved.

From the time we left Sydney, this girl ( i'll call Denise) was on the defensive. I decided to treat her like any other girl on my coach. When ever Denise asked me for something, i would ask her to "get it yourself", i asked her if she was special, and before she answered, she stopped, thought for a sec and said no. This went on and on. She would drop some thing on the ground and look at me, I would say you've got hands haven't you. She would say, " you can't talk to me like that". She was used to every one treating her differently, i treated her like i treat all the other girls, She was not used to this.
By the time we got back to Sydney, she bought me a present, gave me a hug, told me i had changed her outlook on life, and made her feel normal. But the most important thing that happened was her teacher calling me and telling me that she had changed and become friendlier to everyone, became more out going, and kept talking about Henry the coach captain being a cool guy. For me this was very special thing as i had changed someones life, and she had changed mine.
I probably haven't explained myself but hope you've understood where i am coming from.
I love my job......

[enoch]

* deleted *

[Budaheart]

Henners you explained yourself beautifully You taught this girl how to step out of the box she had been placed, a very nice and comfy zone but a prison separating her from other people...
perhaps she got placed there by caring parents who couldnt do better, but she was suffering it and you managed to gradually let her step out of the box...and be herself..
she is special, we are all special but because we are all special, we can share in equality and openness,

Blessings to you! I love your job too!
Barbara

[Budaheart]

Enoch thanks for sharing!...I am not the one to answer that but I do feel love is the answer myself.
Love to you
Barbara

[Mark2112]

Great story! Thanks for sharing.

[Obeewan]

Dear all,

Thank you Bill for the wonderful story, its a great share and means so much to the story of the human condition.

(Question for Charles edited out and copied here)

Blessings to you all, may the force be with you ;-)

Obee'...