You don't know what's there until you start to look....

When I was a kid, sometimes I would love just lying back in the grass, staring up towards the sky.

Sometimes, while lying on my back I'd stick my feet up in the air and look at my little feet with the clouds moving behind, them, and pretend I was walking across the sky. These are some of the fun things we do as kids, and as we grow up we forget about this kind of magic....

Another thing I used to do is to look at the clouds and see what sort of shapes I could make out.

Sometimes I'd see a bird of some kind, sometimes a boat floating across the sky, and sometimes I'd even see a person's profile.... and countless other images.

These shapes are always in the sky. How long has it been since you looked? They are always there when there are the right kind of clouds, but you don't see them unless you look for them.

It's like the talent and knowledge that you have inside of you. All of us have within us very useful knowledge that would be valuable to many other people. It's all based on the things we have done. But much of the time we may often think, "I don't know anything of value."

This is like looking for the shapes in the clouds. Unless we look for them, we don't see anything there. But once we start searching, we discover that there are many meaningful shapes in the clouds, that until a moment ago were completely invisible.

We all have this valuable knowledge inside of us. When we spend some time looking for it, we can come up with quite a lot. I could list here the many things I've come up with for myself, but it's more important for *you* to come up with *your own* list.

What have been your experiences in life? I'm sure there have been plenty....

Instead of talking about myself, let me tell you about a good friend of mine. He's a very talented fellow -- he plays bass guitar and has also written what I think is a very good movie script, which I hope one day gets made. But another thing which interests me is that this friend of mine has traveled a LOT.

He's been a "backpacker" -- traveling from country to country -- for about 10 years, mostly working as a waiter or bartender in the various locations. He's ready to settle down now -- I think! But he's lived all over Europe, Asia, and Australia (he's originally from Canada).

I've told him that many people would find it interesting to read about his experiences. This is a lifestyle that many people wonder about, but due to circumstances, never get to try. I know that I would find it very interesting! However, he questions whether people would really be interested in this, even though his traveling experiences are unique and beyond the experiences of most of us.

Many of us are like that. We have unique experiences and knowledge, yet because we are so close to what we know, we don't realize how interesting and useful it could be to other people.

You have some very interesting and useful knowledge lurking inside of you. To find it, start searching for it.

It's like looking for the shapes in the clouds -- you don't see them until you start to look....

Best wishes,

Dien Rice