60 Seconds for Thoughts on Thursday: If This Isn’t Happiness, What Is? A Story.

Hello to you listening in Lake Villa, Illinois!Coming to you from Whidbey Island, Washington this is Stories From Women Who Walk with 60 Seconds (and a bit more) for Thoughts on Thursday and your host, Diane Wyzga.As the old ones say, “If we are not grateful for what we have in this present moment, what makes us think we will be happy with more?”  Maybe it’s true and maybe it isn’t but long ago and far away there lived a man in a small country village. He had everything he had ever asked for: friends, livelihood, wife, family - and yet and yet something was stirring in him: Looking around he asked himself, Is this all there is? Perhaps he was meant for something more. Perhaps he should go and seek it.One summer morning he left his home, carefully closed the garden gate behind him and walked away. He walked for miles and miles until he could no longer see where he had been. Night fell and he found himself deep in a dark forest. Having no other shelter he took off his shoes, spread his coat on the ground, and fell asleep against the trunk of a tree for he was very tired.Watching him sleep his angel shook her head at the folly of his adventure. But what could she do? She could turn his shoes around facing them back in the direction from which he came. And so she did.When the man awoke he pulled on his coat, put his feet into his shoes and began to walk. After many miles of walking the man began to see familiar fields, a few farmhouses, a village - all looking very much like what he had left; but how could that be? People in the village market greeted him as if he was familiar to them; but how could that be? Arriving at a cottage with a garden gate he was startled to be greeted by children and a woman as if he were their long lost father and husband; but how could that be? They welcomed him inside, took off his shoes, sat him at a table very much like one he knew, fed him food that tasted like home; but how could that be?To this very day the man lives with that family in that home in that village and wonders, if this isn’t happiness, what is?  Practical Tip: As the old ones say, “If we are not grateful for what we have in this present moment, what makes us think we will be happy with more?”  60 Seconds is your daily dose of hope, imagination, wisdom, stories, practical tips, and general riffing on this and that. This is the place to thrive together. Come for the stories - stay for the magic. Speaking of magic, I hope you’ll subscribe, follow, share a nice shout out on your social media or podcast channel of choice, including Android, and join us next time! You’re invited to stop by the website and subscribe to stay current with Diane, her journeys, her guests, as well as creativity, imagination, walking, stories, camaraderie, and so much more: Quarter Moon Story Arts✓ Check out Services I Offer,✓ Arrange your no-sales, Complimentary Coaching Consult,✓ Stay current with Diane as “Wyzga on Words” on Substack and on LinkedInStories From Women Who Walk Production TeamPodcaster: Diane F Wyzga & Quarter Moon Story ArtsMusic: Mer’s Waltz from Crossing the Waters by Steve Schuch & Night Heron MusicAll content and image © 2019 to Present Quarter Moon Story Arts. All rights reserved.