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One day a young woman decided to travel by foot to the far North Pole. It was going to be a long and dangerous journey but she felt confident that she could do it. She prepared herself the best she could and headed out on her adventure.
The first part of the trip went well. There was plenty of beautiful scenery to look at and she had plenty of supplies. As the days became colder and the further North she traveled the beautiful scenery began to diminish. What started to appear were rocks, only a few at first, then more and more.
The days turned into weeks, and the weeks into months, and as far as the young woman could see were rocks, and to make things worse - were that all the rocks seemed to look alike. The remoteness combined with the never changing rock landscape was having a negative effect on the young adventurer. She began to feel like she was the only one in the world, and so she began to feel very lonely. She had not planned on this. Looking around all she could see were rocks and more rocks.
One day while taking a rest she noticed a spectacular sight. Just a few feet from where she was sitting was a single flower in full blossom. The woman marveled at the sight. It was indeed a sight to behold. Here amongst all these rocks was a flower. The flower reminded her of the loving man who was waiting for her to return from her trip. In that moment she began to cry - she missed him. She sat there all day beside the flower and in time she noticed that the flower's bloom turned with sun as it made its way across the sky. The woman too, understood why, because she too felt the sun's warmth on her body, and it felt good. They spent the rest of the day together, basking in the sun's warmth, re-energizing themselves.
She decided to camp there for the night. That evening the stars began to appear, one after the other. She felt as if they were signaling to her, letting her know that they were there for her, and the North star seemed to shine the brightest of them all. The adventurer felt a sudden peace come over her, and for the first time in a long time she did not feel alone. That night she slept the best sleep she had in a long time. "Life is good!" she thought to herself. Amongst all this ruggedness was some beauty. She just had to open her eyes to see it.
In the morning she woke up, made and ate breakfast from her dwindling supplies and was about to once again commence her trip. Looking at the flower for the last time she thought about picking it and taking it with her. Then she realized this would be wrong. The flower deserved better than what she could offer it. Who was she to tamper with Mother nature. The flower was a precious gift from the universe, and not hers to pick. So she left it where she had found it, in its natural habitat.
The days went on. In time the adventurer ran out of supplies, and to make things worse she was still amongst all these rocks. With the lack of food and the long hours of traveling she became very tired and weak. Then one day in exhaustion she collapsed. She thought that she just couldn't go on. She closed her eyes and dreamt about the man she loved, she wondered if she would ever see him again. After a short period of time she opened her eyes and what do you suppose lay before her - the flower. How wonderful it looked. Then she reckonized it - it was her beloved flower. In that moment the young adventurer realized that she had lost her way - she had been traveling in circles. She also realized that if she had picked the flower she would not have come across it a second time, and along with it, she would have probably died way out there on the rocky tundra. The flower, from just being there, had saved her life.
That night she decided that she would use the light of the stars to guide her way back home.
Her goal in the beginning was to find the North Pole, instead on this trip she had found herself.
The woman awoke. She was laying in her bed in the comfort of her
home next to the man she loved very much. She rolled over to see
if he was awake. And he was. Looking into his loving eyes she said,
"How's my flower?" "Fine," he said, "How did you sleep last night?"
he asked.
"I dreamt about you!" - how did you sleep?"
she asked in turn.
"I dreamt that you and I were sleeping under
the stars," he replied.
Upon hearing this, the woman smiled and pulling him in close
to her said, "Yes, sweetheart, we definitely were!"
There are two
types of flowers in this world. There are those flowers you meet
on your day to day travels that you love and admire, avoiding the
temptation to pick, and then there's that special one that you hold
close to you, dear to your heart, that you love and cherish above
all others. And the beautiful thing about true love, is that, where-ever
you go or in what-ever you do, he or she, is in their own special
way - are always with you.
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