Pearls

One of the great perks of being in a relationship is that we can have deep conversations at 8 am, on the way to work. 

Better yet it's when you've been together for 25+ years and still learning together. 

This morning Alex presented me with a great analogy and explanation about pearls. Then I added my 2 cents and this is what we came up with in the end. 

A pearl is the product of love and sacrifice of an oyster. 

Every pearl starts as a grain of sand. By entering the shell, it causes friction and pain to the oyster.  

I don't know about you, but I still have the tendency to push away anything that hurts or rubs me in the wrong way. Now here comes a simple mollusk to show me a different way to deal with adversities. 

For the oyster, it would probably be very easy to just stay there, hold the shells open for a bit and let the water circulates, washing away the grain of sand. Or it could even push the intrusion away.

However, we see acceptance. Despite its own pain, the oyster encapsulates it with its own essence and keep adding layer after layer of love, until the grain of sand becomes something beautiful, a shiny and unique pearl that can be presented as its own labor of love. 

Yup, some mornings are very productive! Another "One in a Roll" for Alex.   

Obituary

Today I watched a fascinating Ted Talk with Lux Narayan describing his findings after studying obituaries for 20 months. He compared the most used words in obituaries of famous and non-famous people. 

I was happily surprised by the fact that one of the most used words is HELP. 

We will be remembered by what we do, more than by who we are, or what we have. 

Amazingly enough, we crawl thru our lives giving such a great importance to what we gather and what we conquer, while knowing that our main goal is the things we do, especially for others, and how we make our surroundings, be our house or our planet, a better place. 

We mostly forget that we are writing our own obituary, one day at a time. Each action deposits your journey in a line. Your obituary is not something done after you pass to the next plan. It's something done now, done by you, each and every day. 

What are you writing in our obituary today?