LOVE WORKS DAILY 02/19/07 - TREASURES AND HEROES

LOVE WORKS DAILY 02/19/07 - TREASURES AND HEROES

Hello Friends! I hope today finds you happy and well
and filled with the infinity that is love and the
capacity to give and receive it freely today!

Join our mailing list:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/loveworksdaily/

Or read us on the web:
http://loveworks.ebloggy.com/
http://loveworksdaily.blogspot.com/

INSPIRATIONAL MOMENT:
(Great Thoughts By History's Inspired Thinking Men and Women)

Good friendships are fragile things and require as
 much care as any other fragile and precious thing.

-Randolph Bourne

TIM's BLOG
(Random Thoughts and Tim's Daily World):

Good Morning and welcome to another wonderful week!
 I've just spent the last 4 days dog-sitting for by dad's
three white schnauzers,  and we had a good time, although they
were not at all quiet at night,  and I am ready for a good nights
sleep in my own bed and to get back to my own routines.

In 2005, while finishing up the last phases of the
primary construction of our new home,  I was up on the roof
in the blazing sun fastening down 3 foot by 10 food sheets of
metal roofing onto the roof.  It was dreadful work and I
was sore and exhausted for weeks after. 

Every screw I pounded through the metal and then tightened
down I kept saying to myself "when we get this done..I'll
be a hero!"  Specifically I was thinking of my wife..as she
was down on the ground helping to hand the sheets up.
I would be her hero....and she was my treasure!

It got done, and I was....and it was just then that I realize
that we all had many treasures and heroes in our lives.  Sometimes
for a short while, other times for a lifetime.

From 2005, Here is TREASURES AND HEROES.....

 

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
(Brand New and Classic Love Works Essays 2001-2007)

To me, all people are valuable and important.

Every person has his or her contribution (even if
it is hard to spot sometimes)

But today, I'm going to talk about TREASURES and HEROES.

These are two terms that I use in reference to many people
in my life (at least in my mind).

I don't say it out loud as often as I should, and that is a shame.
But I am working on it.

When someone is TREASURE to me,  they are priceless and
unique.  They are more valuable than any diamond or gold.

A few years ago, I got a Christmas present from my wife that
is the very best present that I had and have ever received, in
terms of a physical item.

In ancient Japan,  seven items represented the very
most expensive and elusive items that a person could collect.
As a matter of fact they represented items that were so impossible
to gather in those days, and in that place, that it was considered
the ultimate treasure.

The seven are gold, silver, lapis lazuli, seashell,
agate, pearl, and carnelian.

On Christmas morning, I opened a wooden box and it was filled with
a sandy beach covered with the seven treasures gathered over many months
and from all over North America.

According to the stories told in Japanese texts,  a box filled
with these seven items was the most valuable gift that one
human could give another...short of perfect ENLIGHTENMENT.

I was so moved.  I was a treasure more valuable than the
greatest treasure.

Whenever I need reminding,  I look at my box in wonder.

I've shown others my box, and even explained it,  but they usually
don't really "get it".  And they don't need to...

What amounts to $100 worth of stones, shells and minerals today....is
infinitely valueable to me!

How often do we remind those we love how valuable a treasure they are?

Next,  HEROES!

I've used the word "treasure" alot in the past,  but granted with
only a select few people.

But the concept of Heroes is relatively new to me.

It came about in the last few years as a result of me doing
physical task for people I loved.

In one case, it was painting a deck and putting on a new roof.
In another, it was digging a ditch to put down conduit pipe.
In another, it was driving through the ice and snow to
get a car out that was stuck or driving someone I love down
icy roads to safety.
And most recently, It has been building a 1100 square foot mountain
cabin,  by hand, from the foundation up with a hammer and generator
powered skill-saw.

I started saying "Hero" more lately because my wife, who
has cooked and cleaned and been a fantastic helper in the building of
the house,  has often felt that she was not doing her share.

I was up on the roof,  in the hot sun,  pounding away...and she
was sweeping up and painting and bringing me tools and nails, ect.
(Now, she has done MUCH MORE than that...but she has felt that she
has not contributed as much)

And it occured to me.  Not only is she my most valuable treasure,
but she is also my HERO.

And when I worked an hour past when I should have quite to get that
last window in before dark, I was trying to be her HERO.

A HERO is someone that is THERE FOR YOU....they come through in
a pinch,  and they go the extra mile.

And when she takes care of me,  even if she isn't pounding nails
or installing siding...she is my HERO...she is there for me, and
comes through when I need it, and she makes me proud.

And when I come down from the roof with my pants torn and my hair
matted with tar and pitch...after a quick shower...I am her HERO too!

And nothing makes you feel better.  Knowing that you are a treasure
and a hero.

Have you let your HEROES AND TREASURES know how you feel about them recently?

It doesn't always require a box of priceless gems or a medal of honor.

Sometimes,  just a note or a card....sometimes an unexpected
Pineapple....sometimes it's an "I missed you" or friendly smile.

I have been blessed to know that I am a TREASURE and a HERO.....

And blessed to everyday have someone that doesn't put onions
in my potatoes...and tells me "you worked hard today!" to remind me.

If only I can remember to remind them how much it means to me....
and that they are my TREASURE and my HERO, as well.

 

Love In Thought! Love In Word! Love In Action!

Love To You Today!

 

"May we endeavor today to increase our understanding and appreciation of
what others have given and contributed to us. And develop constant,
mindful consideration of how our thoughts and actions will BENIFICIALLY
CONTRIBUTE to others"

The best to you today in discovering the answers to life's difficult
questions!

 

A Final Thought:

Love is always the right thing to do. Even if it isn't the easiest
thing to do.

May we have compassion for the struggles of others, wisdom to
acknowledge our own, and courage to address them both every day.

Respectfully,
Tim

This is a daily newsletter of LOVE WORKS DAILY:
A collective of individuals of different beliefs and
backgrounds, dedicated to a better world by living LOVE in thought,
word and action. Compassion. Wisdom. Courage.

Nam Myoho Renge Kyo
Peace be with you.

LOVE WORKS DAILY 08/25/05
(c)2007 T.Thomas Henry