Tomato Seeds Don’t Grow Apples

Serendipity Strikes Straight from Synergy

I have written previously on this blog about occurrences of serendipity in my life. Of course, there are many other examples that I have not written about. I had another occurrence this week that was so incredible and shocking that I had to share. This still gives me shivers when I think about it.

I was sitting in my hotel room in Austin, Texas working on one of my blog posts. I was in Austin for a business trip so the rest of my family was home in Colorado. I had just finished eating my dinner that I brought back to my room and was sipping on my GT’s Synergy Kombucha drink and a small piece of after dinner chocolate. The Strawberry Serenity flavor drink and the chocolate pair nicely together.

I had hit a momentary speed bump and was having trouble finding the words for my post. Instead of banging my head against the wall, I took a break and hopped over to Facebook to see what was going on in the world. There at the top of the screen was a blue and white number one over the tiny image of the world. As any Facebook user knows this means that I had a notification.

Excited like one of Pavlov’s dogs, I quickly clicked the button anticipating the reward of seeing who had something to say to me. Oddly enough, it was a message from GT’s Synergy Kombucha’s Facebook page.

They have a section on their bottle’s label that is called “Words of Enlightenment” that always has a famous quote or a saying from someone. At the bottom of that section, they invite anyone to go to their Facebook page and submit their own words of enlightenment and if GT’s like it, they may put it on their bottles.

The previous night I had gone onto their Facebook page and posted a sentence that I had come up with after some classes that I had been taking regarding the teachings of Ernest Holmes. The quote was:

Thoughts are seeds for future results and you can’t create positive results with a negative mindset just like you can’t grow an apple with a tomato seed.

The notification from GT’s was that they loved my post and were asking if I had come up with that on my own. I hit send on my reply indicating that it was my words and explaining a little bit about why I came up with that phrase.

Here’s where it gets weird. I can feel the butterflies well up just thinking about it again.

I glanced over at the Synergy bottle that was sitting in front of me that I had just purchased earlier that night at the Whole Foods store a couple of blocks from my Austin hotel room.

It was the third bottle of Synergy that I had bought on this particular trip. I love the stuff and it really helps to quell my acid reflux because of the probiotics it contains. I had realized when I arrived in Austin that I had left my probiotic pills at home and my wife had said to drink a Synergy each day and that should get me through until I got home. Several years earlier, I had found that by taking probiotics religiously and instituting some dietary changes I could get off the acid reflux medication that I had been on for many years. This approach is much healthier and I am not cramming medications in my gut that are causing other side effects.

Have I stalled long enough?

On the bottle in front of me in the Words of Enlightenment section was my name with one of my sayings on it. No, not the one that I had submitted the previous day. That would have been mind bogglingly weird.

It was a saying (shown below) that I had posted on GT’s Facebook page several months prior. I was shocked and confused at first. I had no idea that my words would be on one of their bottles. Here I was in a totally different state having randomly picked a bottle off the shelves at a local store that I happened to find by my hotel and there was my name and my words staring me in the face.

That isn’t the really weird part either. No, it gets better.

I called my wife immediately and told her the story. We laughed and she replied a few times “na-ah”.

“Hang up and text me a picture” she exclaimed after my repeated replies that it was true.

Now back on the phone after sending the incriminating evidence, she went to the refrigerator at home…which like I said is in Colorado. Can you guess what happened next?

She broke out into excited laughter.

“Oh my God she exclaimed, your quote is on a half empty bottle in our fridge.”

Can you say serendipity?

I went back to Whole Foods on the last day of my trip to get one more Synergy and to see my words on the shelf since I didn’t notice it the previous times I was in the store.

Have you ever had anything like this happen?

Related Posts:

• If you dare, today is the day you will soar.
• The “Coincidences” that Led Me to this Journey

Words Along the Way – #1

“Knowing that there is a creative principle that reacts to that which I entertain in thought, I now establish in my thinking an attitude of expectancy of good things. I let go of the limitations of the past and live with an enthusiastic expectancy of the good that will encounter today.” ~ excerpt from Creative Ideas by Ernest Holmes

Use this as a daily affirmation. Try it for a week and see how it changes your outlook on things. When negative and limiting thoughts come, remind yourself of this excerpt and realize that those thoughts are not worth entertaining. If your thoughts have a creative force behind them, then do you really want to create more negativity?

Related articles

• Three little words…. (araparisien.wordpress.com)

Reflections on The Road Not Taken – Part II

I decided to take a slightly different approach on this post and write it as a story. This is a follow up to the post earlier this week on this poem. Above is a picture of the actual book that I am referring to in the post. I hope you enjoy.

A Love Affair is Born

Exuberance echoed through the sunny, spring afternoon as the newly released poured out into the parking lot like wrongly accused prisoners finally released after years of fighting their charges. It was the last day of high school and as I stood on the curb, I felt the past four years of distrust, mental and physical anguish, racism and classism that ruled the halls of the school wash away.

I was free and relieved knowing that I would never lurk the halls of the dilapidated and depressing building. Yet there was a gnawing feeling of missed opportunities and regrets that hung over my head as I looked back at the school.

The senior parking lot was bustling with excited graduates ready for the challenges of life beyond the confinement of this rite of passage referred to as the high school years.  Everyone was saying their goodbyes, exchanging phone numbers, and making plans for connecting over the summer. This was the age before cell phones, texting, Facebook, and other social media capabilities. Without someone’s phone number or physical address, there was a good chance that you might never see them again.

That fact became even more evident as one of my regrets and missed opportunities walked out of the school passing by the small groups that gathered along the sidewalk. She was someone that I had been infatuated with for the past four years, but never had the guts to approach in any more capacity than  a passing friendship.

Julie’s long, straight, blond hair swayed and glimmered in the sun as she sauntered with her surfer girl swagger. She epitomized the surfer girl persona that I had ogled over in the surfer magazines. According to my adolescent male mental matchmaker, she was the perfect girl for me. Only, I had never pursued her other than casual conversations in the few classes that we had together.

She paused a few yards away from me just in front of the first line of cars in order to talk to someone. I suddenly felt like the rest of my life would hinge on this moment as if this was my last opportunity to talk to her before she was engulfed by the humming rows of cars that were anticipating escape from this asphalt prison almost as much as the student pouring into them. I was correct that talking to her would affect the rest of my life, but not for the reason that I imagined.

I had no idea where she lived or how to reach her. If I didn’t act now, I would never know if anything would become of the potential beautiful relationship that I had built in my imagination.

This was it. This was my chance. But wait, she was talking with someone else. What if she spurned me or responded with disgust by the idea of giving me her phone number? I would be embarrassed. I would be humiliated and I am sure everyone would know it.

Too bad, I gathered up as much courage as I could muster and approached her.

“Hey Julie”, I said attempting to hide my nerves that I was sure would turn into visible shaking at any second.

“Oh, hey Sean”, she replied happily. That was a good start. She opened the door with her welcoming response.

The three of us proceeded to talk about plans for the summer and any other topic that I could think of to draw the conversation out while keeping her from the clutches of the waiting sea of cars just behind her. I was also hopeful that the other, unwelcome participant in our verbal triad would leave. I could then proceed with my quest with no witnesses to the potential repulsive response from Julie that my mind was drumming up as a worst case scenario.

Nothing doing, the guy wasn’t leaving and the conversation was about to reach its end of normalcy and stray into the strange world of uncomfortable forced conversation. I had to act.

“Hey Julie”, I was going for it; “I was wondering if you wanted to hang out sometime over the summer?”

“Sure that would be great”, she responded enthusiastically.

Wait, no disgusted look on her face. No telling me to get lost or only in my dreams or some other colorful denial of request attack.

“Really, ok cool”, I said attempting to hide the fireworks that were going off in my body.

Of course, I hadn’t thought of having a piece of paper or anything to write her number down.

Without me even having to ask she added, “Why don’t you get my number from Mark and give me a call”. Mark was a mutual friend that I hung out with sometimes and I did have his phone number.

“Great, I will do that. I’ll give you a call.”

“Sounds fun”, see said as we all said our goodbyes and she finally disappeared into the rows of cars and I stood their feeling elated, shocked and once again regretful. If it was that easy, why I waited so many years, I wondered.  Oh well, no matter, I did it.

It was about a week before I got her number and worked up the courage to call her. We did end up going out once and we talked on the phone numerous times. However, much to my disappointment, we were two different people on two different paths in life. After a short time, we stopped calling each other and I never saw her again.

Sounds like a sad ending, but this was actually just the beginning of something much more important than this short, passing relationship. Long since then, I have come to see people pass in and out of my life for different reasons. These reasons are often different than I expected and sometimes for reasons that I never fully understood.

It took me years to realize the reason that our paths had crossed the way that they did. The reason was a small but very significant exchange that we had while talking on the phone one night.

She was a bit of a poetry buff and one night she decided to share with me one of her favorite poems. She read the poem to me and I was instantly attracted to and emotionally moved by the message carried by its words. I immediately wrote down the name of the poem and the author and vowed to find a copy of it for myself.

The poem was “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost. This poem conveyed a strong message that deeply influenced me. Up to that point in my life and for many more years to come, I struggled with my own identity and as a result suffered from depression and low self-esteem. This poem opened up the possibility to me that it was ok if I didn’t always fit in or follow that same tune as everyone else. What mattered was that I was following the path in life that was meaningful to me.

A Rekindled Romance

“Daddy, we are learning about poetry in class and I need to find a poem to read for homework”, my seven-year-old daughter said to me in a sweet yet confused voice after dinner.

“You don’t sound excited about that”, I responded

“I am, but I don’t know where to find any poetry”, she said desperately.

“Ah, I have some books that we can look at or we can look on the internet”, I said as she perked up and regained her composure.

“Ok, will you help me”, she asked now excited at the prospect.

“Of course I will.”

I contemplated the best place to look for poetry as we entered the study and approached the desk.

“I know one we can look at”, I exclaimed as I remembered my beloved Robert Frost poetry book on the shelves that lined the wall behind the desk.

I pulled out the familiar book and studied it for a second. It had been twenty-four years since that exchange with Julie when I first heard about this book. The memory of and desire for Julie has long faded, but my love affair with this book and one particular poem still burned bright. In fact, I would say that it has grown over the years.

The cover was well worn and ripped along the lower right corner. The pages had turned a dusty yellow as most old books do. It felt familiar in my hands. It was different than most of the other books that were on the shelf. It seemed to have more character. The pages were thick and ruff and the edges coarse. For the past few years, most of the books that I read were in electronic format and it felt nostalgic to hold this cherished book in my hands.

“This one has my favorite poem inside”, I told my daughter as her eyes lit up at the thought.

“Really, let’s read it.”

“Whatcha guys doing” asked my eleven-year-old son as has walked into the study.

“We are gonna read some poetry for homework. Wanna listen”, I asked. “This book has my favorite poem in it.”

“Cool, sure”, he said as he pulled up an extra chair.

I sat down in the desk chair and my daughter climbed up in my lap and leaned her head back against my shoulder waiting for me to find the poem. My son scooted his chair over next to mine and leaned in on my other shoulder. This was like a scene out of a Norman Rockwell painting and I loved it. How exciting it was to see my kids interested in hearing my beloved poem.

Several of the pages in the book were dog-eared, but my fingers seemed to remember the exact location of the poem. They opened the book and there it was. The words of this short poem along with a drawing of a sign post pointing two directions was a familiar and welcomed site.

“This is called The Road Not Taken”, I proclaimed.

“Let me read it”, my daughter jumped in.

“Sure thing, that would be great”, I replied. I was tickled by the prospect of hearing those sweet words recited from my daughter’s mouth.

“Two roads…”, she paused and stared at the next word and then looked up at me as if to say give me some help here.

“Diverged”, I added

She started again, “Two roads di…verged in a yellow wood and sorry I could not travel both….”

As she read the rest of the poem, I couldn’t help but gloat at this fatherly moment. There are many moments in my time as a father that I am not proud of retelling. This, however, was one of those beloved moments when I felt that I was raising my own perception of my fathering abilities.

As she finished the poem both of my kids looked at me with a pleased yet perplexed look on their faces. I could tell that the poem needed an explanation.

“What the poem means to me is that everyone lives their life a certain way. Some people choose to follow others and do what everyone else is doing. Some decide to do what they believe is right for themselves even if it is something different than what everyone else is doing or telling them to do. Sometimes like in the poem, you have a choice to do what everyone else is doing or follow your heart and do what you feel is right for you. By doing what is right for you, you will live a much happier and satisfying life. “

“Cool, I like that poem”, chimed in my son.

“Yeah me too, I wanna read it again”, chirped my daughter excitedly. “And can I take this book to school tomorrow to share.”

“Sure, that’s a great idea”, I replied feeling accomplished in my fatherly duties of imparting some wisdom on my kids.

My daughter proceeded to read the poem three more times and then take the book to bed with her. I was happy that my kids connected with the poem and I felt reunited with an old friend. The poem was once again rattling around in my head and its meaning became even clearer to me than in the past.

Later that night, I walked into my daughter’s room to check on her before going to bed. There she lay sound asleep with innocence that sleeping children typically display. She was snuggled up in her blankets with stuffed animals neatly positioned around her like servants patiently awaiting their next command.

Tucked into one arm was her favorite stuffed cow and in the other hand lay something quite familiar. She held the poetry book tightly against her chest like a cherished friend.

As she quietly slept, I stood there observing her and thinking about how the message of the poem had influenced my life. Many decisions that I have made in my life and meaningful experiences that I have had I attribute to this lesson from this poem of taking paths less traveled.

Marrying my beautiful wife and spiritual partner and journeying into the wild and wooly world of parenthood, moving half way across the country on a whim and settling down in a new state, running a marathon, participating in triathlons, flying in a twin-engine plane over an active volcano, skydiving, surfing in a hurricane charged ocean, hiking to the tops of numerous Colorado 14ers, trying to start my own business, starting down a spiritual path, and starting this blog are all examples of where I have stepped off the safe and comfortable road and took a chance on something that was more meaningful to me.

Eventually, I will be fully committed to the path not traveled and let go of the well-traveled road that I have been resistant to let out of my sight…and that will make all the difference.

For the full poem, see the previous post.

Related Posts

1. Jonathon Hilton on The Road Not Taken

Reflections on The Road Not Taken – Part I

Source: piccsy.com via Dimi on Pinterest

Since It was introduced to me many years ago, “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost has been my favorite poem. I have a book containing a collection of his poems that is worn and weary with the page containing this poem dog-eared and well used from its repeated reading.

I have had the intention to share this poem for a while now and to write about how I came across it and what it has meant to me. However as intentions often do, this particular intention had been collecting dust in one of my idea notebooks.

That is until recently. Over the last several weeks, I have been reminded of this poem repeatedly. In fact, so many times that I can’t ignore it any longer.

Tuesday night, when I posted the video by Kid President, I heard him recite those familiar words “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by”. It reminded me of my intention and I realized that I had heard this poem mentioned several times recently.

The next morning was the final straw when I turned on the radio and immediately heard a report on NPR about the 50th anniversary of Robert Frost’s death. About an hour later as I sat crossed legged on my yoga mat, the teacher set the intention for the class. You guessed it; the intention for the class came from the very same poem that I was being reminded of so frequently.

Ok Universe, I hear you. It’s time to dust off that intention and get the pen warmed up (or keyboard depending on the mood).

As I work on writing the words that my intention was leading me to and prepare a post that I hope to complete in the next day or two, I thought I would leave you with the poem in the meantime.

Enjoy! I would love to hear what the poem means to you.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

~ Robert Frost

51st Verse – The Hidden Virtue

Source: mostbeautifulpages.com via Sharon on Pinterest

The Way connects all things to their source.
It springs into existence, unconscious, perfect, free;
takes on a physical body;
lets circumstances complete it.

Therefore all beings honor the Way and value its virtue.
They have not been commanded to worship the Tao and do homage to virtue,
but they always do so spontaneously.

The Tao gives them life.
Virtue nourishes them,
rears and shelters and protects them.
The Tao produces but does not possess;
the Tao gives without expecting;
the Tao fosters growth without ruling.
This is called hidden virtue.

According to the teachings on Lao Tzu, we are all connected to the source/God/Universe. That source is a part of us and we are a part of it.

The source “springs us into existence”, we take our physical form and then we are let to live our lives. We are still connected to the source and we can tap into its power, but it does not seek to possess or control us.

We can live in fear of some outside force that seeks to control and govern over us or we can realize that we are one with that force and we can live our lives in concert with it.

We can also employ this hidden virtue in our own lives. We can create and not control. We can let go of the desire to control others. We can let go of the desire to control the circumstances in our lives.

Since we are connected to the source of our creation, we are also already connected to everything that we need and everything that we think is missing. We can only realize this once we clear the fog of control, fear, and lack that we create in our lives.

We already innately possess the ability to connect with the source and thus we have the ability within us to see clearly the path to the circumstances that will complete us.

Not Cool Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a wood
and I took the one less traveled…
and it hurt man!

Hysterical spin on one of my favorite poems.

Check out the video below and don’t forget to dance!

To know yourself, be yourself.

To know yourself, be yourself. To be yourself, stop imagining yourself to be this or that. Just be. Let your true nature emerge. Don’t disturb your mind with seeking.

– Nisargadatta Maharaj –

I am There

Do you need Me ?
I am there.

You cannot see Me, yet I am the light you see by.
You cannot hear Me, yet I speak through your voice.
You cannot feel Me, yet I am the power at work in your hands.

I am at work, though you do not understand My ways.
I am at work, though you do not understand My works.
I am not strange visions. I am not mysteries.

Only in absolute stillness, beyond self, can you know Me
as I AM, and then but as a feeling and a faith.

Yet I am here. Yet I hear. Yet I answer.
When you need ME, I am there.
Even if you deny Me, I am there.
Even when you feel most alone, I am there.
Even in your fears, I am there.
Even in your pain, I am there.

I am there when you pray and when you do not pray.
I am in you, and you are in Me.
Only in your mind can you feel separate from Me, for
only in your mind are the mists of “yours” and “mine”.
Yet only with your mind can you know Me and experience Me.

Empty your heart of empty fears.
When you get yourself out of the way, I am there.
You can of yourself do nothing, but I can do all.
And I AM in all.

Though you may not see the good, good is there, for
I am there. I am there because I have to be, because I AM.

Only in Me does the world have meaning; only out of Me does the world take form; only because of ME does the world go forward.
I am the law on which the movement of the stars and the growth of living cells are founded.

I am the love that is the law’s fulfilling. I am assurance.
I am peace. I am oneness. I am the law that you can live by.
I am the love that you can cling to. I am your assurance.
I am your peace. I am ONE with you. I am.

Though you fail to find ME, I do not fail you.
Though your faith in Me is unsure, My faith in you never
wavers, because I know you, because I love you.

Beloved, I AM there.

~ James Dillet Freeman

Time Has Finally Come to Get Around To It