Gathering Pebbles

This week I learned so much about living a better story. Living a great story has many sides, sides that you come to see only after you search for them. In my eyes, that's because living a story means living a great life. Living a great life involves so many individual choices, thoughts and actions. Each of these seemingly small and inconsequential decisions shapes who we are.

I heard a story a while back that goes something like this:

One night several travellers were preparing to retire for the evening when suddenly they found themselves in the presence of an aged nomad. They stood in confusion, wondering why he had come. 

Finally, the nomad spoke.Gather as many pebbles as you can. Put them in your saddle bags. Travel a day’s journey and tomorrow night will find you both glad and sad. 

With that, he departed. The travellers discussed the meaning of this cryptic message. The nomad had been known to deliver important messages to other travellers, but they did not understand why they would be both glad and sad. Either way, each traveller gathered a few pebbles and deposited them in their saddle bags. They travelled a day’s journey and that night while making camp, the reached into their saddle bags and discovered every pebble they had gathered had become a glittering jewel. They were glad at their new wealth but sad they had not gathered more.

This idea is what I learned this week. It is so easy to get busy and forget to do little things, isn't it? This week I discovered that although big things make a difference, it's the little things that make more of a difference. When I skip out on things like keeping a gratitude journal or serving others, my day is noticeably different. Epiphany! If I want to ensure that the days, months, years that will inevitably come will be amazing, I must develop habits now that help me live up to my potential. 

In conclusion, here is a quote from Within Reach: My Everest Story by Mark Pfetzer (a fantastic book, by the way): "Whether I work hard at something or play around...the time will still pass by and I'll either be using the time well, intensely, or just waiting for something to happen." This is our time. All along the path we're on, the path to awesome, there are pebbles that will one day be valuable gems. Are we gathering them?