Day 25 - The Transforming Power of Love

Time cannot change you. Only you can change yourself. If you do not want to change, you are like a solid rock that refuses to let the sun or the wind or the waves alter you.

There is a story of a bet made between the wind and the sun. They see a man wrapped in a thick coat and both bet the other that they will be the first to get the man to take off his coat. The sun lets the wind go first and the wind blows his best and finest gale. However, the more he huffs and puffs, the tighter the man holds onto his coat.

The sun then says, “It’s my turn,” and as the sun pours her warmth on the man, he gradually begins to warm and then become so hot that he has no choice but to take his coat off.

Both the wind and the sun are powerful forces but for those who stubbornly refuse to change, it will only be the force of the sun’s warmth that will eventually have any chance to release them from their coat of fears, worries, false attitudes, wrong thinking, concerns and everything else that prevents them from changing.

We can nag someone to death but still they will die with their coat clutched tightly to them. However, when we love others, they may be willing to undo one coat button and then another and may eventually trust us enough to let go of whatever has been holding them back from becoming their true self.

At times, this can feel frustrating for the suns in the world and they might be tempted to huff and puff instead like the wind, believing they will achieve more. But remember the story, the more the wind puffed, the tighter the man held on to his coat.

“It is often the ones who have forgotten how to love who most need to be loved”.

Can you think of someone you know who refuses to change? Why is that do you think?

How might you or others be like the sun in that person’s life? What might you do?

Think about times when you have tried to change. What things encouraged you and what made you hold onto your coat even tighter?