The Monks and the woman in the forest
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I recently came across this old story and I think that it may well spark something in you when you read it..
Many years ago, two monks were walking through the forest one bright and sunny morning when they came across a young woman who appeared to be in some distress.
She looked up at them as they walked up to her and through her tears she asked them if they could help her in crossing the river, which had swollen from recent rains, so she could get home safely.
Although they had both taken strict vows to not communicate in any way with the outside world, the first monk happily agreed, carrying the young woman across on his back to her safety.
She thanked him with much gratitude and left, and the two monks continued their journey for many hours in silence.
Finally, when night fell, they set up their camp. But before they went to sleep, the second monk could not contain his emotions any more.
"How could you!" he burst out. "We have taken strict vows of chastity! We vowed to never communicate with outsiders! But you carried that woman on your back!" he said to his friend.
The first monk looked at his red face and simply replied:
"My friend, I carried her for only a few minutes... You, however, have carried her all day!"
What does this story say to you? Sometimes we may carry things with us from our past for a very long time. Perhaps it may well be time to let them go? I wonder if carrying them with you is helping you or stopping you from moving forward in your life?
So..How long are you prepared to carry your past experiences with you?
We don't have to pretend that something from our past never existed, we just need to understand that it doesn't need to control our lives any longer.
Enjoy the rest of the week, and you can begin to start looking forward to the weekend now.
