Hi There,

 

There is something about sitting around a fire that lights a sparks within us, comforts us, keeps us safe and allows us to share.

 

Ancient traditions knew this- the fire cooked their food, kept them warm and kept the wolves away keeping them safe from danger. It was there they would share stories, their traditions, their values and beliefs.

 

Dr Rachel Naomi Ramen, author of Kitchen Table Wisdom, talks about this in her book. “Everybody is a story,” writes Dr Ramen. “When I was a child, people sat around kitchen tables and told their stories. We don’t do that so much anymore. Sitting around the table telling stories is not just a way of passing time, it is the way the wisdom gets passed along. The stuff that helps us to live a life worth remembering. Despite the awesome powers of technology many of us still do not live very well. We may need to listen to one another’s stories again.”

 

Growing up I fondly remember visiting each set of grandparents each week, sitting at the dining table surrounded by cousins, aunts and uncles and listening to their stories. A lot of very funny stories of their time growing up, some sad stories that taught me about grief and loss, many stories about their worries and how they were overcoming them, or not. I learnt a lot around those tables about how to live life, or how not to.

 

So once a month I share stories with you, some personal, some from the ancient traditions and wisdoms…Lao Tzu, Native and South America, the Sages and the metaphysicians like Shakespeare and Dr Suess. These stories are reminders to look at life a little differently, more positively and in support of your spirit, your true essence.

 

The following story was given to me with a dvd of “The Rise of the Guardians” as truly one of the very best birthday presents I have ever received – they speak to my heart and feed my spirit. For that gift and for the gift of taking the time to see my spirit I am deeply grateful. That’s what stories do- allow you to take the time to listen to your heart and spirit….it’s the most profound way to be healthy.

 

Now, because a gift shared is a gift that keeps on giving, here is part of the story for you. Enjoy!

 

A 5 Minute Story

 

“ The Wemmicks were small wooden people. All of the wooden people were carved by a woodworker named Eli. His workshop sat on a hill overlooking their village.

 

Each Wemmick was different. Some had big noses, others had large eyes. Some were tall and others were short. Some wore hats, others wore coats. But all were made by the same carver and all lived in the village.

 

And all day, every day, the Wemmicks did the same thing: They gave each other stickers. Each Wemmick had a box of golden star stickers and a box of grey dot stickers. Up and down the streets all over the city, people spent their days sticking stars or dots on one another.

 

The pretty ones, those with smooth wood and fine paint, always got stars. But if the wood was rough or the paint chipped, the Wemmicks gave dots.

 

The talented one got stars, too. Some could lift big sticks high about their heads or jump over tall boxes. Still others knew big words or could sing pretty songs. Everyone gave them stars.

 

Some Wemmicks had stars all over  them! Every time they got a star it made them feel so good! It made them want to do something else and get another star.

 

Others, though, could do little. They got dots.

 

Punchinello was one of these. He tried to jump high like the others, but he always fell. And when he fell, the others would gather around and give him dots.

 

Sometimes when he fell, his wood got scratched, so the people would give him more dots.

 

When he tried to explain why he had fallen, he would say something silly, and the Wemmicks would give him more dots.

 

After a while he had so many dots that he didn’t want to go outside. He was afraid he would do something silly, such as forget his hat or step in the water, and then people would give him another dot. In fact, he had so many grey dots that some people came up and gave him dots for no reason at all.

 

“He deserves lots of dots,” the wooden people would agree with one another.

 

“He’s not a good wooden person.”

 

After a while Pinchinello believed them. “I’m not a good Wemmick,’ he would say.

 

The few times he went outside, he hung around other Wemmicks who also had a lot of dots. He felt better around them.

 

One day he met a Wemmick who was unlike any he’d ever met. She had no dots or stars. She was just wooden. Her name was Lucia.

 

It wasn’t that people didn’t try to give her stickers; it was just that the stickers didn’t stick. Some of the Wemmicks admired Lucia for having no dots, so they would run up and give her a star. But it would fall off. Others looked down on her for having no stars, so they would give her a dot. But that wouldn’t stick either.

 

That’s the way I want to be, thought Punchinello. I don’t want anyone’s marks.

 

So he asked the stickerless  Wemmick how she did it.

 

“It’s easy,” Lucia replied. “Every day I go to see Eli.”

 

“Eli?”

 

“Yes, Eli. The woodcarver.  I sit in the workshop with him.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Why don’t you find out for yourself? Go up the hill. He’s there.”

 

And with that the Wemmick who had no stickers turned and skipped away.”

 

This is an extract from You Are Special, by Max Lucado and beautifully illustrated by Sergio Martinez, Candle Books 2004.