Walter the Donkey
Dear Reader,
We're at the lake at the moment, taking a few days off for our summer vacation, and recently we had a very nice experience with two boys. They're 10 years old, from China, and they're being hosted by some of our friends here at the lake.
We invited them for a boat ride, and as always when I get on the boat and there are kids on the boat, just before we start, I asked them, "Have you met Walter before?"
Walter is a donkey that lives on the other side of the lake and the kids love seeing him. So when I asked these Chinese boys, "Have you met Walter before?" They said, "No", and I said, "Well, Walter is a donkey who lives on the other side of the lake". The older one looked at me and asked, "What is a donkey?"
Then I realized that these kids from China aren't really exposed to what we're exposed to, and farm animals, that we take for granted, is a new adventure for them. So we sped over the lake, crossed the lake and we got to the other side and lo and behold, after a search, we found Walter.
But Walter was grazing on the ground and his face was behind a big log and we could only see his backside. So we stopped the boat and we called, "Eeyore!", and made donkey sounds and we attracted his attention.
I was watching these two Chinese boys. Every moment to them was an adventure. When Walter lifted his head, what I saw was a grayish donkey, nothing spectacular, but these two boys were in awe. They couldn't stop looking at this donkey and the one said, "Oh he's a beautiful donkey!"
I realized, you know, there's so much beauty in nature around us, and everything we take for granted every day, that is actually worth celebrating. By looking at life through the eyes of these kids we could celebrate with them every new experience.
Later on that same trip, as they were jumping from the boat into the lake - to them a new experience, they loved it - we found so much joy watching them, experiencing what we take for granted.
So I want to challenge you today: where can you find joy in everyday things that we take for granted? Look at a donkey's face - he may be gray, but have you seen the darkness around the eyes and the long, big lashes? I mean, they look like models with those lashes they have. They're gorgeous, if you look closely.
So there you have it, joy is around us every day, we just need to look, through the eyes of wonderment.
Have a great day!
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