Like the Flowing River

9th read of Paulo. It is very different from the other books I have read of the author as this one is a collection of short stories based on author's experiences in life. A total of 102 stories with individual story length spanning from 1 to 4 pages. Some stories I felt lost , I could not get even a hint of what Paulo is trying to convey while others I could understand easily. Since the stories are short it was easy for me to read in breaks. Again the reading provokes lot of thinking and looking at things from an entirely different perspective. I would say many stories are inclined towards spirituality but still a lot of things to ponder and reflect upon. I put down some notes from some of the most interesting stories :

- A simple Pencil can teach us a lot of things

* You are capable of great things, but you must never forget that there is a hand guiding your steps.

* Now and then, I have to stop writing and use a sharpener. That makes the pencil suffer a little, but afterwards, he's much sharper. So you , too, must learn to bear certain pains and sorrows, because they will make you a better person.

* The pencil always allows us to use an eraser to rub out any mistakes. This means that correcting something we did is not necessarily a bad thing; it helps us keep us on the road to justice.

* What really matters in a pencil is not its wooden exterior , but the graphite inside. So always pay attention to what is happening inside you.

* It always leaves a mark. In just the same way one should know that everything you do in life will leave a mark, so try to be conscious of that in your every action.

 

- On some days when one decides to do nothing and just sit ...there is lot of anxiety as to one is useless, wasting time, how can one have nothing to do?, there should be something to keep one busy all time. Gradually the anxiety gives way to contemplation, and one starts to listen to one's soul. It always is trying to speak but one is always too busy to notice it. 

- Acting on Impulse was one of the stories which relates to sudden voice heard by ones inner self to do something. Many a times people don't do it as they think it would be very silly to do so and they resist. But if one does listen to and do as per the voice heard from within there is a sense of accomplishment felt. It may be very trivial to the third person but not to self. So one would listen to the inner voice calls from time to time.

- In one of the sorties named Rome: Isabella returns from Nepal a comparison is made between life and bananas

Rotten Banana- relates to life that has been gone, and which was not used to the full and for which it is now too late

Green Banana- relates to life that has yet to happen, and for which we need to wait until the moment is right

Ripe Banana- relates to the present moment. Learn how to gobble it up without fear or guilt

- In one of the stories named Norma and the Good Things an old day celebrates each day of the year. She has put down in her calender (which she refers as "Magic Calender") what good had happened on each particular day and happily celebrates the same with all others.  

- What is the human being's funniest characteristics?

Contradictoriness. We are in such a hurry to grow up , and then we long for our lost childhood. We make ourselves ill earning money, and then spend all the money on getting well again. We think so much about the future that we neglect the present, and thus experience neither the present nor the future. We live as if we were never going to die, and die as if we had never lived.

-Law of Jante - "You are worthless; no one is interested in what you think, therefore you had better opt for mediocrity and anonymity. Do this, and you will never face any major problems in life." It puts into context the feelings of jealousy and envy that can prove so problematic to people. 

Anti Law of Jante- " You are worth much more than you think. Your work and your presence on this earth are important, even though you may not believe it." Continue to live without fear , and you will triumph in the end.