A Beautiful Story

One evening a young woman went alone to walk barefoot by the ocean after the sun had set. She stopped i n her path and turned so she could see the footsteps she had left i n the sand. But they had already been washed away by the waves. When she turned to continue her walk, she was startled by the presence of an old woman wrapped i n a blanket who out of nowhere appeared sitting by a f i re, slowly paging through the leaves of a leather covered book.

She walked up to the woman and asked. "Where d i d you come from? I didn't see you here a moment ago. And how d i d you start th i s f i re so quickly?"

Her quest i ons went unanswered but were instead met w i th a reply i n a serene voice, "S i t with me, child. I have something to show you."

As the young woman sat down beside the f i re, the mysterious stranger handed her the book. She curiously turned the pages one by one and was amazed to discover they contained the story of her whole Life from the early days of childhood to the present. She then came to the page telling of her encounter w i th the old woman by the f i re during her walk on the beach, but upon turning to the next page, she found i t empty. She frantically began to turn the rest of the pages i n the book only to find that they, too, were all empty. In bewilderment, she looked to the old woman and pleaded w i th her to explain.

"Does th i s mean my life ends this night?"

"No, my child. It means tonight your life begins."

At that moment the old woman took the book into her own hands and began to tear out each of the pages w i th words, throwing them one by one into the f i re until all that was left were blank pages.

She handed the book of empty pages to the young woman.

"You see," she said, "just as the waves washed away your footsteps i n the sand, your past i s forever gone, never to return. The only moment you ever truly possess i s here and now. Each new moment i s the beg inning of the rest of your life and i s to belived to the fullest, for you w i ll not have a chance to live that moment a second t i me. Most important of all, each new day brings an opportunity to live life--one that may never come to you again.

"As for your future, you are free to shape it as you wish, for it has not yet been written."

Then, as mysteriously as she had appeared, the old woman stood to walk away and disappeared into the darkness of the night.

So whenever you feel you d i d something wrong i n your past, forget it, tear i t apart, learn from your mistakes and move on!!!! Life i s full of unknown surprises!!!

Live life to fullest with every moment passing on!!