Happiness now

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On Nov. 18, 1995, Itzhak Perlman, a violinist, came on stage to give a concert at Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center in New York City.

If you have ever been to a Perlman concert, you know that getting on stage is no small achievement for him. He was stricken with polio as a child, and so he has braces on both legs and walks with the aid of two crutches. To see him walk across the stage one step at a time, painfully and slowly, is an awesome sight.

He walks painfully, yet majestically, until he reaches his chair. Then he sits down, slowly, puts his crutches on the floor, undoes the clasps on his legs, tucks one foot back and extends the other foot forward. Then he bends down and picks up the violin, puts it under his chin, nods to the conductor and proceeds to play.

By now, the audience is used to this ritual. They sit quietly while he makes his way across the stage to his chair. They remain reverently silent while he undoes the clasps on his legs. They wait until he is ready to play.

But this time, something went wrong. Just as he finished the first few bars, one of the strings on his violin broke. You could hear it snap – it went off like gunfire across the room. There was no mistaking what that sound meant. There was no mistaking what he had to do.

We figured that he would have to get up, put on the clasps again, pick up the crutches and limp his way off stage – to either find another violin or else find another string for this one. But he didn’t. Instead, he waited a moment, closed his eyes and then signaled the conductor to begin again.

The orchestra began, and he played from where he had left off. And he played with such passion and such power and such purity as they had never heard before.

Of course, anyone knows that it is impossible to play a symphonic work with just three strings. I know that, and you know that, but that night Itzhak Perlman refused to know that.

You could see him modulating, changing, re-composing the piece in his head. At one point, it sounded like he was de-tuning the strings to get new sounds from them that they had never made before.

When he finished, there was an awesome silence in the room. And then people rose and cheered. There was an extraordinary outburst of applause from every corner of the auditorium. We were all on our feet, screaming and cheering, doing everything we could to show how much we appreciated what he had done.

He smiled, wiped the sweat from this brow, raised his bow to quiet us, and then he said – not boastfully, but in a quiet, pensive, reverent tone – “You know, sometimes it is the artist’s task to find out how much music you can still make with what you have left.”

What a powerful line that is. It has stayed in my mind ever since I heard it. And who knows? Perhaps that is the definition of life – not just for artists but for all of us.

Here is a man who has prepared all his life to make music on a violin of four strings, who, all of a sudden, in the middle of a concert, finds himself with only three strings; so he makes music with three strings, and the music he made that night with just three strings was more beautiful, more sacred, more memorable, than any that he had ever made before, when he had four strings.

So, perhaps our task in this shaky, fast-changing, bewildering world in which we live is to make ‘music’, at first with all that we have, and then, when that is no longer possible, to make ‘music’ with what we have left.

By Jack Riemer
 
My first post went to mod.... hope it shows up.

“Our lives are the only meaningful expression of what we believe and in Whom we believe. And the only real wealth, for any of us, lies in our faith.”
― Gordon B. Hinckley

“Hearts rebuilt from hope resurrect dreams killed by hate.”
― Aberjhani

“Believe more deeply. Hold your face up to the light,even though for the moment you do not see.”
― Bill Wilson


“God does not require that we be successful only that we be faithful.”
― Mother Teresa

“Though wrong gratifies in the moment, good yields its gifts over a lifetime.”
― Desmond Tutu
 
Faith and Hope rebuilding hearts, believing even in times of darkness and our true
wealth being in our faith....these words are so replenishing to read.

I find that if I don't react in really stressful situations, that they pass and I am more
centered. I can then review my day knowing that I chose my responses. So often,
the stress is on my thinking about it and how I am labeling it. I have seen that so
much lately.

I love the words of Mother Teresa, that we only have to be faithful and go from there.
I have to be true to myself too, and admit that I need time for meditation and alone
time. Having always tried to be like others, now through faith and self-love, I am being
more true to my self.

Our real wealth being in our faith, I must let those words soak in. I love knowing that
even though I get thrown easily, that I do come back to my God-centered peace.
Thank you!
 
Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty only because there is ugliness.
All can know good as good only because there is evil.
Therefore having and not having arise together.
Difficult and easy complement each other.
Long and short contrast each other:
High and low rest upon each other;
Voice and sound harmonize each other;
Front and back follow one another.
Therefore the sage goes about doing nothing, teaching no-talking.
The ten thousand things rise and fall without cease,
Creating, yet not.
Working, yet not taking credit.
Work is done, then forgotten.
Therefore it lasts forever.

Lao Tzu

Knowing others is wisdom;
Knowing the self is enlightenment.
Mastering others requires force;
Mastering the self needs strength.
He who knows he has enough is rich.
Perseverance is a sign of willpower.
He who stays where he is endures.
To die but not to perish is to be eternally present.

Lao Tzu
 
l love the story of Itzhak Perlman, what an inspiring message! And the
wisdom of Lao Tzu seems to go with the story...knowing that you have
enough and perseverance.

Knowing oneself and accepting and loving who we are...this is my journey.
Every time that I try to be like others it doesn't work. I need what I need.
Today, having reflection time and returning to meditation, I feel happier
and more centered.

Today, I am doing an affirmation all day of "I AM": in alignment with God, and
Love. Happiness today is being true to myself; accepting myself and seeing
God's hand throughout the day....this makes me happy and more peaceful...
thank you for the deeply inspiring messages!
 
my post went to mod......again......
 
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