The Four-Leaf Clover Lesson

 

One autumn afternoon, about 30 years ago, I was beside a small church in the United States, somewhat similar to the picture above. The area look pleasant and refreshing with grass, plants and trees around, so I took a walk just to relax. Then I began to realize that I am in the field of clovers. A lot of these pretty green plants are everywhere on the ground. Then I remember that someone told me if you find four-leaf clover you are very lucky and you can make a wish. So I began to diligently look for one. I walked here, I walked there, I looked and looked and looked....but all that I saw were the regular three-leaf ones. After some time passed, I grew tired and gave up, thinking that...well...it's a rare thing to find and I might not be the lucky one. "That's ok" I told myself, "I'll sit and rest and enjoy this pretty atmosphere." And I did just that. I sat there in the middle of the field and just enjoyed the moments of peace. After several minutes, ready to go home, I got up...and...right there between my two feet was a four-leaf clover!

I was so excited and happy, I picked it up and made a wish right there. If you ask me if my wish had come true, the answer is....partly yes and partly no. The wish was one of the most important dreams of my life it still is even now. Part of it had already come true...but not whole. I'm still waiting for the complete dream come true. 

It might sound like a small incident but I never forgot that day. What I learned was that if I intentionally look, I might not find it no matter how hard I tried. But if I just let myself be peaceful and stay with the moment, it will appear to me. 

The same message came to me again about 4 years ago, at a serene seaside town in Thailand. I was having my usual three-night holiday of the month and I was traveling by myself. I heard that one can see the sunrise from the bay so I tried so hard to get up and take some pictures of the sunrise, and I was able to get up early at dawn (that's already a miracle in itself, actually.) and walked to the beach. It was not even six o'clock yet. The sky was cloudy and the sun could not be seen. I waited there for a while. The sky had some lights in it already, but still, I could not see the sun. It was probably hidden behind some thick clouds. I felt a bit sad but then I said to myself, "That's ok. You've tried, let's just go walk along the beach and enjoyed the atmosphere." So I did just that. During my walk I saw that there were many large pieces of garbage on the beach and a thought popped up in my head that if I picked them up, I would be doing a good thing to the Earth, a good deed for this trip. I began to picked up a lot of garbage from the beach for several minutes until I sweated. I felt so good of myself. Then...after picking up the last one, I stood up, turned to the sea, and the most beautiful sunrise was in front of me! 

I took several pictures of the sunrise. (They were more beautiful than the picture above but they were trapped inside a broken phone of mine.) The message that came to me on that day was quite similar to the message on the day that I found the four-leaf clover. Just keep doing the good things, don't try to look for it, and you will find just what you are looking for. 

This message came to me again, just some minutes ago. Last night I was looking for this one picture I collected from the net. The folder was full of so many, many pictures but I am usually able to find what I look for. However, I looked and looked and looked over and over again but I could not find that one particular picture. So I thought to myself, "That's ok. I probably deleted it and I didn't remember." And today, just when I am making this post and was looking for another picture in the same folder, the one I looked for last night appear! It was right there, so easily to be seen, while last night I could not see it at all no matter how hard I tried. It was almost like a confirmation that the message I am writing about is still something that I should keep in mind. 

If you look for that very dream of yours to come true but it's just not there, stop looking or waiting. It will come to you when it's time. 

PS. So far, all the pictures on my blog are not mine. They are from the net. Thank you to the owners for sharing them.