Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 160 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom.

Life Is Like a Mouse

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 160 of our Trek, and yesterday we looked at why life is like a storm. For the next three days, we are presenting a series of short wisdom stories. If you miss any days of our Wisdom-Trek, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal.

We are recording our podcast from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. This episode is being released on Saturday as Paula and I are returning from our 7-day podcasting cruise. After we disembark, we will be traveling to Ft. Myer, Florida, to visit Paula’s aunt for a few days. This week while we are out at sea I will have a series of podcasts covering short stories about wisdom without a lot of additional commentary. Once we get back from the cruise, we will remain at camp for a few days as we dive back into the commentary on the book of Proverbs.

Today we will hike on the Mouse Trail as we see that even the smallest act of kindness can have a huge impact.

Today’s story is...

Life Is Like a Mouse

There are times in life when we don't take action because we feel the act of kindness is too little or that it wouldn't make a difference. However, sometimes the smallest gesture can make a huge impact on someone's life.

The simplest of things may make the difference. A smile, a door being held open, a handwritten note, a kind word…The list can go on and on.

I was recently reading some of Aesop's fables and came across the story of The Lion and The Mouse. While this story has been around for a long time, it still has wisdom in its words. Below is the story.

One day a Lion was asleep when a little Mouse began running up and down his back. This soon wakened the Lion, who placed his huge paw upon him and opened his big jaws to swallow him.

"Please don't," cried the little Mouse. "Forgive me this time, I shall never forget it. Who knows but what I may be able to do you a turn some of these days?"

The Lion was so tickled at the idea of the Mouse being able to help him that he lifted up his paw and let him go.

Some time after the Lion was caught in a trap, he pulled with all his might, but the ropes were too strong. Just then the little Mouse happened to pass by, and seeing the sad plight in which the Lion was, went up to him, and with his sharp little teeth gnawed away the ropes, setting the Lion free.

"You once laughed at me," said the Mouse. You thought I was too little to do you a good turn. But see, you owe your life to a poor little mouse."

While you may think the story is far-fetched, the point I found in reading the story is not the size of the action that is important, but the difference that a small action made. Small acts of kindness make a difference in ways you may not realize!

Do you have opportunities to give small acts of kindness? Some people might think that they do not have a chance to show another person a small measure of kindness, but these opportunities are everywhere you go through the day. For example, if you ride on a bus, have you ever said good morning to the bus driver, or do you just ignore him or her and proceed to your seat? A simple good morning or good afternoon tells the person that you acknowledge them, and it is even an acknowledgment that can help to brighten a day.

If you drive a car anywhere, do you let someone enter into to traffic, or do you just keep driving inching along and ignoring the other driver?