THE CIRCUS

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Have I told you
about the young man
who wanted to explore the circus
He wanted to look at the performances of all the acts...
the elephants...
the lions...
the .beautiful acrobats twirling high above the rings.
Yet this young man could not do what he had wanted to do.
He looked at the rings
and remembered what he had been told...
that the center ring is always the best ring
and thought he had to stay with that one...
to keep well within that one.
He moved to that ring.
He wondered about everything moving about him
the blur of motion above and beside the ring.
In the audience
In the other rings as well.
But he was standing at the center ring..
and did not leave it.
He thought it was a good place to understand.
He thought that it was the only right place to be.
He knew from what he had always read and been told about the circus - 
that the center ring was always best.
So he stayed there, unable to look beyond what he saw
right there.
He occasionally wondered what the rest of the audience saw.
He saw them look up, but he knew he was in the right place.
He saw the audience look to the other rings, 
But he knew that they could not
be seeing the best of the circus there.
The audience was looking at the twinkling lights above the ring
Glittering like so many stars in the sky.
But the young man did not see them...
he only looked within the center ring.
The clowns who roamed the audience made many children happy..
and the parents laughed in merriment
But the young man didn't see the humor in this because they were beyond the ring...
beyond his experience.
But interestingly enough, the woman who was riding
a white Arabian stallion bareback within the ring
caught his interest.
She was beautiful beyond what he had ever seen
she smiled a knowing smile
and nodded his way.
While she performed her act...
the young man watched her intently.
She was costumed in white satin, 
and her costume gleamed in the spotlights
pure and shining.
Then, upon a cue in the music, 
the bareback rider's horse
leaped over the ring and moved to the next ring.
The young man was astonished.
She went to the next other ring, 
and he didn't think she should do that

After all, the center ring was best.
He began to wonder...

really wonder...
why she would do that.
Did she have a reason?
Was there something better there?
Was there something beyond the center ring that he had not seen before?
The young man wondered, 
and then followed the bareback rider to the far ring.
He followed her gaze as she looked up at the top of the tent.

He was surprised to see the acrobats there, leaping and spinning on ropes.
He looked at the ring below.. and saw that there were 
beautiful dancers moving about
and a lion tamer with a magnificent lion.
He wondered why he had missed all of this...
Why he had not looked at the possibilities in the other rings.
He began to look about... 
and realized there was much more to the circus
than he had thought... more than was in just the center ring.
He opened his eyes and his mind to the music... the lights.. the movement...
and began to smile... and thoroughly enjoyed what he had discovered.
Just as you can wonder...
You can open your mind to many possibilities
you might see the magic of small things...
and of large things as well..
As you open your mind, you can see...
you can hear...
you can feel...
when you see, feel and hear, 
you can wonder
about what lies beyond
what is magic in complexity and what is magic in yourself.
What is magic in a circus under the big top
and in stepping beyond an unending ring
to possible futures.
Looking beyond the limitations
we set for ourselves
and those set by others
in new and different ways...
To know what it means to open up to the magic
discovering that there are new possibilities
new ideas
like a fresh breeze
New thoughts
leaving those preconceived ideas
far behind.
And as you move on...
you can find there can be many truths
but remember that you might not have considered
there are no ultimate truths
no ultimate lies 
and the magic of it all
is that it is all magic...

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