The answer is inside you all along

According to an ancient legend, there was a time when ordinary people had access to all the knowledge of the gods. Yet time and again, they ingnored this wisdom. One day, the gods grew tired of so freely giving a gift the people didnt use, so they decided to hide this precious wisdom where only the most committed of seeker would discover it. They believed that if people had to work to find this wisdom, they would use it more carefully.

One of the gods suggested that they bury it deep in the earth.

No, the other said. Too many people could easily dig down and find it.

"Let's put it in the deepest ocean" suggested another. But that idea was also rejected. They knew that people would one day learn to dive and thus would find it too easily.

One of the gods suggested hiding it on the highest mountain top, bu tit was quickly agreed that people would climb mountains.

Finally, one of the wisest gods suggested, "Let's hide it deep inside the people themselves. They'll never think to look in there." And so it came to be - and so it continues today.

Extracted from Success Principles Page 314, Jack Canfield

Travel and humble lemon water

  There are signs that one grows in wisdom. I think mine comes from learning from my travels. 

In the past when I travel, all I seem to care about is what I see. The buildings, the landscape, the souvenir shops. The more I see, the better. And oh, of course, how many photos I take WITH these sights. It also matters the quantity of souvenirs lugged home (the bigger, heavier, more, the better).

Slowly, after becoming more of a seasoned traveller, a curious thing happened. Quality started to take over quantity. Quality mattered more than quantity. It is not how MANY sights, but how MUCH pleasure these sights give me. And how much inner joy I get when I draw them, colour them. Then, it is not just about the buildings, but the food, the sound, the smell. And most of all, the people.  The conversations around the streets, the gesture, the look. The smile. The twinkle in the eye. Suddenly everything comes alive, everything interacts with one another. Everything has meaning.

In fact, funnily enough, once I learnt to appreciate quality during my travel, I started to appreciate other little things in my life. Like the humble Lemon Water. We always had lemon water, I just never appreciated them fully for what they are. Reminds you of the old way which I used to travel. I can only see. But I seldom feel, sense, smell, taste.

Back to lemon water. Waiters in posh restaurants wait upon tables with a glass jug of water, slices of lemon fashionably added - perhaps for colour? I just never thought too much about them, except that the lemon slices looked kind of nice and adds a touch of glamour to what is plain tap water. Then as I grow (wiser, I hope) I see beyond the superficial addition of lemon slices and grasp the underlying goodness of lemon in water. The wholesome health benefits, the alkaline qualities that lemon brings to plain water. That drinking lemon water can be a source to promote good well-being. 

Signs of wisdom? Appreciate more would be mine.