**Disclaimer... all photographs were taken on a cell phone, in between conference topics, while I was trying to avoid being seen because I had slipped off my heels to enjoying the feel of Floridian grass and earth between my toes!**
If you do not question what you see around you, how will you know what possibilities are waiting for you?
I sat down next to a suit and asked "what are they?" and he shrugged
The only interest he was showing was in checking peoples name badges to make sure they were of superior enough standing to be seen talking with them.
The drivers all knew what they were though... and assured me that I needed to try one...
And so it was, on the third day after the rain had dried up that I took a walk and came across several gardeners whose job was to cull the coconuts from the trees before they fell off and knocked someone out. Actually, I supposed technically they came across me as I had slipped off my heels, had left the beaten path, and just happened to have a green pod in my hands when they came back after their lunch break! I was shamelessly wondering if there was anyway I could stash it in my back pocket until I got home so that James could open it up, when they gardener offered to lop off the top for me. He wielded a machete that Rambo would have been proud of he handed it back to me, and I do have to stress that yes, the water dripped down my chin, and yes I did have to go to the restroom and wash up as soon as I was done, however, the sun-warmed coconut was indescribable. It didn't even need an umbrella, although the straw would have been useful! (and maybe a shot of vodka). It truly was amazing, sweet, refreshing and simple at the same time.
And I realized that I felt nothing but sympathy for the suit. The moment we lose our childlike zest for life, we are done living. Like a child who questions everything we need to sustain our curiosity... it needs chocolate cake, lots of chocolate cake! Take a look around you and pretend you are a guest in your own life. Actually look, look at everything, all too often we miss the small gifts of gold because we get lost in the bigger picture. Look at the trees, the people, the life that is happening around you. Be a traveler on your own journey - one that will never end, it has no destination, it is just about which station you choose to pull into next. You, and only you have the power to choose what you see, and what you do.
There is one other side of the coin here; All that you do affects others... At the end of conference banquet I sat down and my neighbor grinned. She had watched me walk over the thick green carpet, she had watched me examining the coconuts and talking to the gardeners, she had held her breath when they topped it, and did not dare to let it out until I had taken my first sip. And she thanked me for being willing to question life, to try new things and for inspiring her to become excited about her own world.
So, enthusiasm and curiosity, or lackluster same ole same ole... what would you choose?