Become a Virtual Tourist Member Today!  Sign Up for Free | Sign In

magor65's VirtualTourist Home Page

Search:
Home » magor65
Get Your Own Home Page
Fast, fun, free.
Click to start building now!

magor65's VirtualTourist Home Page


Click Picture to enlarge.
 email me
 add as friend


magor65   
I'm no longer sure that what's important is more important than what is not


Real Name: Malgorzata
Lives In: Wroclaw, PL
Birth Date: May 2, 1956
Member Since: May 26, 2004
Last Login: Nov 08, 2009   12:12 UTC
Member's Time: Nov 08, 2009   20:07 CET
VT Rank: 210
Deals Rank: Unranked
Travel Interests: Historical Travel, Arts and Culture, Hiking and Walking, National/State Park, Architecture

 > View Larger Map
Portugal  27  103
Israel  38  84
Khett Siem Reab, KH  25  91
Wroclaw, PL  41  68
Ireland  26  76
Czech Republic  19  79
Laos  21  73
Poland  34  42
Greece  16  41
» more...
 

Page Views: 10,247            

Waking up

by magor65 - last update: Feb 9, 2007

On Waking Up by Anthony De Mello

'A gentleman knocks on his son's door.
-Jaime, he says, wake up!
Jaime answers:
- I don't want to get up, Papa.
The father shouts:
- Get up, you have to go to school.
Jaime says:
- I don't want to go to school.
- Why not? - asks the father.
- Three reasons, says Jaime. First, because it's so dull; second, the kids tease me; and third, I hate school.
And the father says:
- Well, I'm going to give you three reasons why you must go to school. First, because it's your duty; second, because you are forty-five years old, and third, because you are the headmaster.'

Wake up, wake up! You've grown up. You're too big to be asleep. Wake up! stop playing with your toys.
Most people tell you they want to get out of kindergarten, but don't believe them. Don't believe them! All they want you to do is to mend their broken toys. "Give me back my wife. Give me back my job. Give me back my money. Give me back my reputation, my success." This is what they want; they want their toys replaced. That's all. Even the best psychologist will tell you that people don't really want to be cured. What they want is relief; a cure is painful.
Waking up is unpleasant, you know. You are nice and comfortable in bed. It's irritating to be woken up. That's the reason the wise guru will not attempt to wake people up. I hope I'm going to be wise here and make no attempt whatsoever to wake you up if you are asleep. It's really none of my business, even though I say to you at times, 'Wake up!" My business is to do my thing, to dance my dance. If you profit from it, fine.; if you don't, too bad! As the Arabs say, "The nature of rain is the same, but it makes thorns grow in the marshes and flowers in the gardens."
Anthony De Mello - "On Waking Up"

I discovered Anthony De Mello a couple of years ago. Since then I've been coming back to his books again and again. His thoughts helped me out in many difficult moments. But have I woken up? Probably not yet .... but I'm trying not to expect others to mend my broken toys...
1977 - Prague

A bit of history

I can't say I have always been keen on travelling. The turning point was meeting my husband-to-be, who at that time was a student of geography. He made me realize that travelling 'does broaden the mind' and is worth all the efforts and sacrifices. And so it started ...
First we visited the countries of so called 'eastern block' : Bulgaria, Rumunia, East Germany, Czecholovakia, Hungary. They weren't very expensive so for a couple of years we spent there all summer holidays.
The city I visited most frequently was Budapest. I used to spend there my summer holidays. For a long time it was at the top of my private list of most beautiful places I had visited. What a pity I haven't been there for at least 15 years now.
1978 - Budapest
1979 - York
In 1979 we went to 'the West' for the first time. We bought ferry tickets to Dover and for a month hitch hiked all over Great Britain going as far as Edinburgh. Now it's hard to believe that we managed to survive having only 100 dollars each. On the way back to Poland we stayed in Paris for a couple of days.
In 1989 I spent a month on Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands. It seemed like a paradise to me. Beautiful nature, smiling people, shops full of all possible goods ... After grey reality of Poland in the 1980's this colourful world came as a shock.
1989 - Gurnsey
1995 - Gargano
The 1990's were mainly the time of family vacations in Italy, France and Spain. With the political situation different in Poland it was much easier to get a passport and go abroad. We stopped feeling 'the second category citizens'. Not predicting the hardships that capitalistic system was to bring soon, we joyfully spent money and enjoyed life. Our beloved destination was Italy, and especially Gargano.
In 1996 I discovered for myself Barcelona and fell in love with it. This unique place with Gaudi's spirit present almost everywhere is for me the most beautiful European city. Although I have visited it several times there is always somehing that delights me anew.
1996 - Barcelona
1999 - Malaysia
In 1999 I went to Asia for the first time in my life ( not counting several crossings to the Asian part of Istanbul on different occasions). For a month I and my sister-in-law with a small group of other people were travelling in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. It was an unforgettable experience which made me desire for more...
Of course, there were many other journeys and trips in these past years, and I hope there are still many to come.
Plans? Unlike some VTers I think that there are no dull, uninteresting places. It's enough to make an effort, open your eyes wider, and you will find something unique or exciting in things seemingly unattractive. So I'll be happy to visit any place - 20 or 20 000 km from my home.

Comments for magor65
scottishvisitor Sun Oct 25, 2009 19:44 UTC
 Thanks for visiting my Lloret de Mar page it has some beauty in its Church
gilabrand Sun Oct 25, 2009 13:07 UTC
 Malgorzata! How've you been these days?
lindyz Sat Oct 24, 2009 22:34 UTC
 Malgorzata,thankyou so much for visiting my Xian and Guilin pages, I am glad my writing kept you entertained! Please feel free to delve deeper into my travel pages :)
evaanna Sat Oct 17, 2009 09:12 UTC
 Thank you for your visit to my County Cork page. Loved the photo on your HP.
See More Comments


Hotels Around the World

About VirtualTourist10 Great Things to Do On VirtualTouristContact UsPress CenterHelpUser AgreementPrivacy Statement
Virtual Tourist® ©1994-2009 VirtualTourist.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved.