Today’s Excerpt: Zen Story

“One day a small boy was playing near the river when he saw an old man with a long beard seated in the sand. The boy moved closer and watched as the old man drew a perfect circle into the sand.

“Hey, old man, how did you draw such a perfect circle?” asked the boy.

The old man looked at the boy and said, “I don’t know, I just tried, and tried again…here, you try.”

The old man handed the stick to the boy and walked away. The boy began drawing circles in the sand.

At first his circles came out too wide, or too long, or too crooked. But as time went by the circles began to look better and better.

He kept trying and then, one bright morning, he drew a perfect circle into the sand. Then he heard a small voice behind him.

“Hey old man, how did you draw such a perfect circle?”

Reflect:

• Have you ever seen someone do something with amazing skill and felt inspired to practice that thing?
• Have you ever been so caught up in practicing something that you lost track of time?
• Can you imagine yourself enjoying practicing something in particular for the rest of your life?