Welcome to Positive Thinking Teens!

What else are we Missing?

Perception

..something to think about…

Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work. 

After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule. 

4 minutes later: 

The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk. 

6 minutes: 

A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again. 

10 minutes:

A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.

45 minutes:

The musician played continuously.  Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money, but continued to walk at their normal pace.  The man collected a total of $32.

1 hour:

He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition. 

Findings:

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. 

He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. 

Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a true story. 

Joshua Bell playing incognito in the Metro Station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste, and people’s priorities. 

The questions raised: “In a common place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?

Do we stop to appreciate it?

Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?”

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:  If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made…. How many other things are we missing?………

To dream the impossible dream,
To fight the unbeatable foe,
To bear with unbearable sorrow,
To run where the brave dare not go.

To right the unrightable wrong,
To love pure and chaste from afar,
To try when your arms are too weary,
To reach the unreachable star.

This is my quest,
To follow that star —
No matter how hopeless,
No matter how far.

To fight for the right
Without question or pause,
To be willing to march
Into hell for a heavenly cause.

And I know if I’ll only be true
To this glorious quest
That my heart will be peaceful and calm
when I’m laid to my rest.

And the world will be better for this,
that one man scorned and covered with scars
still strove with his last ounce of courage.
To reach the unreachable star.

To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go.

To right the unrightable wrong
To be better far than you are
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star.

This is my quest, to follow that star,
No matter how hopeless, no matter how far
To be willing to give when there’s no more to give
To be willing to die so that honor and justice may live

And I know if I’ll only be true to this glorious quest
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm when I’m laid to my rest

And the world will be better for this
That one man scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To reach the unreachable star.

Lyrics by Joe Darion Music by Mitch Leigh

This story reminds us how important a healthy self-image really is.

A man found an eagle’s egg and put it in a nest of a
barnyard hen. The eagle hatched with the brood of chicks and grew
up with them. All his life, the eagle did what the barnyard chicks
did, thinking he was a barnyard chicken. He scratched the earth
for worms and insects. He clucked and cackled. And he thrashed his
wings and flew a few feet in the air.

Years passed and the eagle grew very old. One day he saw a
magnificent bird above him in the cloudless sky. It glided in
graceful majesty among powerful wind currents, with scarcely a
beat of its strong, golden wings.

The old eagle looked up in awe. “Who’s that?” he asked.
“That’s the eagle, the king of the birds,” said his neighbor. “He
belongs to the sky. We belong to the earth – we’re chickens.” So
the eagle lived and died a chicken, for that is what he thought he
was. (Author unknown)

You were meant for the skies - not the chicken coop. Who will believe in you if you do not believe in yourself?

Found on Lifesign Quotes

Finish every day and be done with it.
You have done what you could.
Some blunders and absurdities
no doubt have crept in;
forget them as soon as you can.

Tomorrow is a new day;
begin it well and serenely
and with too high a spirit
to be cumbered with
your old nonsense.

This day is all that is
good and fair.
It is too dear,
with its hopes and invitations,
to waste a moment on yesterdays.

by Ralph Waldo Emerson