Greetings!
Recently, I happened to pick up a print-out of an incident among my notebooks. The incident took place on August 31, 2011. I wrote down what happened after I was home that night. I had forgotten the details. As I read it, I felt this experience was worth sharing.
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I went to a forum. The auditorium was completely filled. I saw some of my friends from the small church. I also saw a friend from the Unity church that I went to once in a while. We were excited to be there. The presenter was very loved and highly respected. She had come with her daughter. I had heard about the presenter, but it was the first time I saw her. She laughed freely as she shared with us the interesting stories of her life. Every now and then, she played the piano. Her music brought forth her joy. Though many of us had heard or read about her life story, we felt blessed to be in her presence that night. Her enthusiasm of life was contagious that seemed very much to be part of our nature.
Near the end of the gathering, there was a drawing for prizes. The presenter had donated a few of her books, her music CD, and her husband's book as prizes. A holistic store had also donated two gift certificates. Altogether, there might be about 12 prizes. (Not sure about the actual number of prizes) We had put our names on small pieces of paper and placed them in a basket. The host of the event (another wonderful soul) randomly asked a woman in the audience to come up the stage to pick names from the basket.
Many of my friends voiced how much they wish they would win the books or CD. I would love to read the presenter or her husband's books too. If the presenter had brought with her some of their books for sale, I would have bought one. Seeing the filled auditorium, I thought, "Those who win a prize deserve the prize, and I am happy for them."
The woman picked a paper from the basket, and handed it to the presenter. The presenter announced the name, and that person went up the stage to receive the prize. As this went on, I said in my heart to every person that won a prize 'I am happy for you'. I let go of wanting to win anything. After the books and CD, someone received the holistic store's first gift certificate. Before they drew a winner for the second gift certificate, I suddenly thought, "I have not visited the store since I held my workshop there. I know it has moved to a new location. If it is in the divine plan that I should visit the store again in the new location, then I will win this gift certificate." Just then, I heard the presenter called my name!
(Re the store and my first workshop, please view A beautiful pink fish on the back of a white dove )
When the gathering was over, I talked to my friends. Before I left, I thought I should go to thank the presenter. It was truly an honor to meet her. There was a line of people that wanted to talk to her. I waited. After a while, the woman in front of me did not want to wait any longer. She left. I stayed because I wanted to hug the presenter. When I finally stood in front of the presenter, she looked into my eyes for a while as I looked into hers. Then we hugged. She said, "Do I pronounce your name right, (she said my name including my married name)? She just saw my name earlier on a piece of paper, and we had not met before this night. Many people found it hard to say or remember my name. There she was saying my name right in every way. At 91, her mind / memory was truly incredible.
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I used 'my thought and the outcome' as the title of this post. It was interesting how my thought correlated with the outcome.
I found out online that the presenter had moved on in 2019 at the age of 99. I could not visualize, and had a hard time of recalling faces of people that I met. However, I could easily remember her face, her laughs and her joyful expression of the love of life.
To the wonderful sister and teacher, thank you!
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