The Sue Atkins Wednesday Story To Ponder

Today’s story from my never ending notebook and everlasting pencil is called The Princess and the Crown

“There was once a beautiful and powerful princess whose every whim and
desire was immediately satisfied by a legion of attentive servants.

One starlit night the princess was reclining in the garden, gazing down
into a serene clear pool admiring her own perfect reflection. Suddenly, the
crown slipped from her head and disappeared under the surface. The princess
screamed at the top of her voice and instantly a swarm of servants appeared.

“My precious crown has been lost in the pool!” bellowed the
princess. “Retrieve it at once!”

So the servants of course at once leapt into the pool and began diving
for the crown. In-deed, they thrashed around so desperately in their eagerness
to find it that clouds of mud were stirred up from the bottom, turning the
water even murkier. And to no avail.

Suddenly the old story teller appeared in the garden. Calmly surveying
the turmoil all around, he approached the agitated princess and said,
“Your Highness, let me tell you a story…..”

“Away, you foolish man!” she cried. “What good is a
children’s tale in remedying my misfortune?”

Ignoring the reproof as if she had not spoken, the teller of tales
began to tell his story anyway.

And so beguiling, absorbing and engrossing was his tale that in spite
of herself the princess was drawn in, and began to feel that she could almost
see the characters and places of the story. Indeed, so compelling were the
story teller’s words that the servants themselves ceased their search for the
lost crown and instead rested at the side of the pool to listen.

At last the tale was finished. Silence reigned over the garden as the
princess and her servants sat enthralled, not even noticing that the water in
the pool was now as clear as glass.

And the old story teller peered into the pool and dived headlong into
the water, and immediately resurfaced with the crown clasped in his hand.

• So what is this story really about and what has it got to teach you as a parent?

• How can you remember to stop muddying the waters and look for more clarity  in your relationships and situations?

• What would that give you?

• How would that benefit you, your children, your partner or your life generally?

• When can you take more time to quiet your mind and step back from your busy world?

• What things can you do to quiet your mind – walk the dogs, read a book, do an exercise class, go for a drive on your own without the radio on?

• Start to ask yourself better, more empowering questions like “If I knew the answer to this problem what would it be?”

• “What would a detached kindly observer say to me about this situation?”

• “How can I trust my intuition or gut feelings more?”

• What’s stopping you making an active choice,  right now, to finding your own answers in the quiet, still moments of your life?