Month: February 2005

Funny that the story of Roy Horn came up today…..it’s God’s way of answering my own questions.

Last night my husband and I kicked our son out of the house because he stole a credit card from us and ran up hundreds of dollars on a hard core porn website. This kind of behavior has been ongoing for several years and we were finally able muster the courage to take action.

Even though it’s hard to stop crying, I know in my heart that I forgive him. The ache in my heart is knowing that he was raised differently and chose to take this road in his life. It’s hard to understand (as it’s hard to understand why a tiget cub raised with love and care chose to hurt his ‘parent’ Roy) why our son chose to hurt us. More importantly, though, it’s hard to understand why he chooses a path of stealing and lying when he knows better.

We can only leave him in God’s hands now. We can no longer try to live his life for him and try to lead him in the right direction.

We pray that he is safe.
____________________
Michael Norwood:

Dear Michelle,

I’m so sorry about the challenges you and your husband are facing with your son. But you bring up an exquisitely beautiful and important point.

And that is, we usually can forgive to the extent we know in our hearts we are capable of handling a situation. And it seems to me you handled the situation with your son with great deliberation, restraint, and love . . . and yet did what you had to do.

So many people who hold bitterness in their hearts are those who secretly "fear" those they can’t forgive –

     Fear they will do the same thing again.
     Fear they will not know how to handle it when they do.
     Fear they will be hurt over and over again.

Making others accountable when necessary and through increasingly stronger means is truly the path of a Wealthy Soul – as well as the path of surrendering and finding forgiveness.

God bless,
Michael Norwood

Has anyone ever hurt you or wronged you?  Has anyone you know ever acted in a way that you felt was terrible or wrong?  Have you ever hurt or wronged someone else?  Have you ever acted in a way that you felt was terrible or wrong?

The simple truth is we have all done "terrible" things at one time or another and we have all had "terrible" things done to us.

Roy’s ability to continue to love the tiger that almost killed him has an important lesson for all of us.

Roy was able to separate the tiger’s actions (or behaviour) from it’s nature (or character).  Roy had known the tiger since it was a cub.  He had played and performed with the magnificent animal hundreds of times.  He knew from the countless interactions exactly what the great cat was like.  So when it unexpectedly "attacked" him (our interpretation), he did not condemn the tiger for it’s actions but looked beyond these to see and remember its magnifigance.

When we make mistakes and act inappropriately, we need to be look beyond the actions and remember that we are a special and beautiful creation of a beautiful and loving Creator.  We don’t condemn ourselves for the mistake.  Instead, we remember our magnifigance and, from that place of remembering, take the appropriate steps to correct any harm we may have done.  This may mean apologizing and asking for forgiveness.

Likewise, when someone else acts in a way that we view as "bad", we must remember to look beyond the actions and see the person for who they truly are.  We may lovingly point out the inappopriateness of the actions while remembering and reminding the person of their wonder and value.

Whenever I feel the urge to judge or condemn, I will remember the story of Roy and the White Tiger and the important lesson it has for me.

____________________

Michael Norwood:

Beautiful point, Don. He who is without sin, cast the first stone.

Life is a matter of focus. Sometimes we can get so focused on a single impactful event with a person, or a single flaw, we lose perspective of the thousand other wonderful things this person is . . . the thousand other things they have possibly done for us or have to meant to us.

When we open our hearts while maintaining our integrity, we find that even our greatest enemies may have qualities we can learn from. And if we’re big enough . . . even love.

My husband Brian receives this newsletter. A week ago he underwent surgery for cancer of the tongue and throat. Because of his situation we needed to look at our relationships with several people and to enter this journey we both needed to embrace what has happened in the past, forgive those who had hurt us and ask to be forgiven for the things we had done.
I guess Brian’s tiger is the cancer but already so many positive things have come from something that could have proved to be very negative. We both feel blessed to have life, this day, this moment.

____________________

Michael Norwood:

Funny, Lorna, how our greatest adversity’s either can ruin us, or allow us rise to an entire new level of life. It’s obvious which of the two paths you and Brian have chosen. God bless.

In last week’s newsletter, I told the incredible story of
Roy Horn’s near-death after being dragged by the throat by a
400lb White Tiger on stage in Las Vegas. If you haven’t yet
read this amazing story and the comments you wrote, go to:

      http://snipurl.com/cjdq

To see my responses to many of your comments – which I’ll
continue to post on a daily basis over the next few weeks –
every morning check out:

      http://wealthysoul.typepad.com/wealthysoul.

What struck me most about your comments regarding this
story is The Way in which each of you perceived Siegfried
and Roy’s actions. Montecore, the tiger, as you read last
week has been kept as their beloved pet – an extraordinary
act of unconditional love.

      There is, however, a major twist to this story.

Continue reading “Your Throat in a Tiger’s Mouth (CONCLUSION)”

I have not had Cancer.  I do not know the cold fear of facing a disease that exists to steal my very life.  But I know the truth about losing your life, about waking up one day to view the wreckage of your own life – as if a train had run off its tracks in your backyard… or a plane had fallen from the sky into your garden.  I also know the miraculous reality of the worst that life offers being the best thing in your life.  At least that is how it was for me.  Once I lost my life –my old fearful, indulgent and visionless life- I was free to choose to make a life of living.  It is so scary …tinglely in the stomach scary…like in those really awesome roller coasters or maybe like just before you step out on the stage and the floodlights blind your eyes and you wonder what am I doing here?  But who told you of the joy, the delicious happiness that living in hope and wonder and gratitude for all of life that you would not only experience, but know for your own.  I glimpse a little more each day.  Just when I think that I’ve seen all that there is, I step over the edge into a whole new expanse of goodness.  It’s really quite humbling.  The things that I have dreaded the most; the insecurity; the aloneness; the honesty with my self have been the very catalyst for the safety, the friendships and the authenticity that I treasure more than gold.  The losing of my life was the finding of my Self.  How grateful I am for the gifts of the worst in my life…….they pointed me to life as I only dreamed and longed it to be.  I have glimpsed the truth of me.  I am True and Strong and Good.  I am Pure of Heart and reach toward Beauty.  I have Hope and Courage within me.  And I am also weak and timid and scared.  I carry my fears with in me.  I am all of these things. I am enough. I am ENOUGH. I AM ENOUGH

____________________

Michael Norwood:

"The losing of my life was the finding of my Self" – very beautiful Katherine. Roy Horn found something similar in his experience with the tiger. As do all people who transform themselves into Wealthy Souls.