Here is a lovely story from a friend of mine who was recently on a yoga retreat. I hope you don’t mind me sharing it with you.
Mike’s story
One
morning,
whilst on retreat in the forests of Western Portugal,
I decided to take a walk. I chose my direction and set off on my journey to the top of my chosen mountain with the
intention of seeing all below.
The
path was tough and quite steep and I came across several forks. I always chose the path that looked like it would take me
straight to the top. Each corner I turned I expected to see the grand vista,
but instead came across another fork; left,
right or straight on. Each time I chose the path I thought would take me to the
top.
After
an hour of walking I reached the top and turned to find that the view was
blocked by the trees. After all that
effort I was left disappointed with the results.
I now
had another decision to make - I could take the route left down the hill, right
down the hill, or back the way I had come.
Lunch
time was approaching, so I decided to head directly back.
The
path was the same, but this time it was different. I was no longer looking for
something but I could see – I saw white, yellow, and purple
flowers and every colour of green. I heard the
wind in the trees, the bees, the birds singing. I smelt the sweet fragrance of the pines. I
felt the sun on my face. I could see the path ahead and the view I had been
searching for was there right in front of me.