Obstacles and Hope

Continued Short Story

"15 years this stream has been here," the dad said. 

Sitting with his daughter, admiring her purity, who is only 3. She loves watching the flow of the water, and constantly wants to sit by the stream. The two have been sitting there for half an hour as his daughter continues to ask questions. To the little girl's amazement, the water keeps on moving past the rocks in the stream. This year, the land they live on has hit a drought like no other. Even the grass closest to the stream is tan and no longer the beloved, soft green. Despite this, the two still enjoyed the day by the stream.  

"Dad," the little girl persists, "Will there be any rain anytime soon?"

"Hopefully," he relays. 

"That's what you always say..." his daughter sighs. 

"Well, it's good to have hope. Our hope is the stream, as it is still running." 

Blocking his daughter's argument, he gets up and takes a picture of the stream. When he returns, he explains to his daughter that the stream represents people and the rocks represent obstacles.

"We can have hope in knowing that no matter how many or how big the rocks are, the water will always find a way to get through. It might take a little bit, but the flow will continue. We can always help. " the dad says. 

He got up and took a medium sized rock out of the water and the flow increased. More water was poured into the lake, which is where their town is located. Taking the rock out of the stream not only produced more water in the lake for their family, but the whole town.

"Ah..." she pauses to think about what her dad just told her. 

Question of the Day:

How can we help others today? 

Any comments regarding the short stories or questions of the day are welcomed :-)

Obstacles

Mini Short Story 

The shallow stream flows around each rock. Every rock seemingly misplaced, yet important in the streams flow. Moss and Algae surround the water line on each rock. Rough and jagged textures restrict the flow of the water. Smaller and smaller the flow becomes, as the size of each rock increases. Eventually, the stream reaches its greatest potential by becoming part of a lake. 

Time goes by, and the rocks slowly become smaller. Sediment is knocked off the rock as each passing rush of the water occurs. The water grows stronger in flow because the obstacles are breaking away. Though new one's come, the waters strong persistence allows it to keep reaching the lake, no matter how long it takes.

We all have obstacles, but we can 'break' our obstacles if we persist like the streams of the earth do.

Question of the Day:

What obstacles are present in today's life? 

It's the People Who Make a Difference

Feeling small and insignificant is something everyone has gone through at some point in their life. But, I tell you that everyone in this world has great value. In fact, it's the people, as a whole, who make the world. With each step we take, we should be looking to make the world a better place. For some that means running a company, but for others it is simply collecting trash from trash cans. 

How do we make a difference?

Picking up litter is a great way to make a difference in the world. The more people do it, the more others will join in. Every day, I walk around my local park and I see litter in the same places. One day, I saw broken glass and thought, "That's ridiculous, someone could cut their foot on that." , so I picked up as many pieces as I could. I know some go around thinking someone else will do it, yet what if the very next person was wearing sandals and stepped on the glass? Take initiative and do the little things that make a difference. 

It's the little, simple things that form the environment we live in today that reaffirms who we are, the world we want and our values. It's never to late to start caring about the little things. Everyone is important in this world, so lets show our love for others and the planet we live on!