stars
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It was night, and we were standing outside her house. I looked up at the sky and I saw a star. I said, “Hey, look! There’s a star! It’s so beautiful.”
But she looked up at the same sky and said, “There’s only one star. If there were more stars, then it would be beautiful.” She wasn’t impressed at all. And I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. We were both looking at the same star, but our feelings were so different. And that made me feel there was a vast and lonely distance between us – the same long distance that exists between two stars.
I see one star, and she sees one star. We both see the same one star. But I see beauty and she doesn’t; I feel happy and she feels nothing. The sky is full to me, but to her it’s empty.
Two people can see the same thing – but at the same time, they DON’T see the same thing. And to me, that’s really amazing. Everything I see in this world, whether it’s a star, a tree, a child walking down the street, maybe I am alone in how I see it, and how I feel about it. We all live in the same world – but at the same time, maybe we all live in different worlds.
How can I see one star and be happy, while she can see the same star and feel nothing? Maybe we just value different things, and I just like stars, and she doesn’t. But my guess is that maybe I can see one star and be happy… because I was already happy. That star was one more star than I was expecting, and I felt grateful to see it. But she sees one star and she isn’t happy – because one star for her is not enough. And maybe that’s why our worlds are so different – I feel I have enough, but she doesn’t. She wants more stars in her sky – maybe like a lot of people want more money, more things, more love, more whatever. Just more.
So maybe it has nothing to do with the stars. If the night sky looks full or empty, maybe it’s because inside your heart you feel full or empty. Maybe if you’re unhappy, it’s because you don’t realize how full you truly are. You may feel you need more, but maybe you already have enough. Perhaps you decide what the stars are in your life and in yourself - and you decide whether to see them as being enough. If you’re happy or unhappy, it’s because of you – not because of anything in the world. Which means you create your world and your happiness. And I believe that’s the most amazing thing of all.
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