Little Prince

Thinking Out Loud ~ Discover the Gifts

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Saint-Exupéry writes that the Little Prince is telling the author he is leaving and will return to his planet. The Little Prince tries to console the author.

“At night, you will look at the stars. . . . My star will be one of the stars for you so, you will love to look at all stars. They will all be your friends. And then I will make you a gift . . . You will have stars like no one else has.”

“What do you mean?”

“At night when you look at the sky, as I will live in one of them, then it will be for you as if all stars were laughing. You will have stars that know how to laugh. . . . And when you will be consoled you’ll be glad to have known me. You’ll be my friend forever. You will want to laugh with me. And, sometimes, you will open your window to have fun and your friends will be amazed to see you laughing at the sky.”

Note: We feel a deep sadness when someone we love is about to leave us ,whether it’s moving a long distance away or they are nearing death. The author felt this sadness when the Little Prince was about to leave him. The author knew he had been tamed making the Little Prince’s leaving more difficult. When someone we love leaves us they leave us a gift just as the Little Prince left the gift of laughing to the author. It took me a while to discover the gifts my wife left me when she died, but I discovered them and they were given to me in abundance.

Thinking Out Loud ~ Bloom Where You’re Planted

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Saint-Exupéry writes in The Little Prince of the Little Prince meeting a switchman in a railroad yard. The Little Prince is curious about the trains arriving and leaving.

“They are in a hurry,” said the little Prince. “What are they looking for?”

“The locomotive man ignores himself,” said the switchman .

Then in the opposite direction, a second flashing light rumbled.

“Are they already coming back?” asked the little prince.

“They are not the same,” said the switchman. “This is an interchange.”

“Weren’t they happy where they were?”

 “We are never happy where we are ,”said the switchman.

Note: This morning I was speaking to a person who was unhappy with their life. This person said they had no choice but to continue living their unhappy life. They were place bound and job bound. I suggested there were other options, but this person was blind to any other options other than her unhappiness. Where we are is where we are. In the moment that’s the only place we have to be. It may not be what we want but it is where we are. We have a choice of making our situation work for us or fighting against it. When we fight against it we expend needless energy we could to create a happier life.

Thinking Out Loud ~ The Little Prince: The Fox’s Secret About Love

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Saint-Exupéry writes in The Little Prince of the Little Prince and the fox parting. The fox tells the Little Prince a secret about love as they are parting.

“Goodbye,” said the little prince.

“Goodbye,” said the fox. “Here is my secret. It is very simple: we see well only with the heart. The essential is invisible to the eyes.”

“The essential is invisible to the eyes,” the little prince repeated in order to remember it.

“It is the time you have spent for your rose that makes your rose so important.”

“It is the time I have spent for my rose,” the little prince said in order to remember.

“Men have forgotten this truth,” said the fox. “But you must not forget it. You become responsible forever for what you have tamed. You are responsible for your rose.”

“I am responsible for my rose, the little prince repeated in order to remember.

Note: Two people, who are deeply in love, sitting together can look at each other and know that each is loved; they read each other ‘s thoughts; they know when each other is troubled; they know when each other is happy; they know when they are in each other ‘s company that there is no place else in the world that they would like to be. Their hearts are communicating and beating as one. I hope you have this kind of love in your life.

Thinking Out Loud ~ Falling in Love

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Saint-Exupéry writes in The Little Prince of the Little Prince meeting a fox. The fox asks the Little Prince for a favor that will change both their lives.

The fox was silent and looked a long time at the little Prince: “Please tame me!” It said’

“I want to,” replied the little Prince, “but I don’t have a lot of time. I have friends to find and lots of things to know.”

“We know only the things we tame,” said the fox. “Men do not have more time to know anything. They buy things all made at merchants. But as there is no point of merchants of friends, men do not have friends anymore. If you want a friend, tame me.”

“What should be done?” said the little Prince.

“We need to be very patient,” answered the fox.

Note: We may fall in love at first sight, but we haven’t fallen in love with the person we first saw. We fell in love with an image. Falling in love is a process much like the peeling of layers of an onion. There’s always another layer. With each layer we learn something new about the person with whom we are falling in love. Each day is a new falling in love adventure. There is no steady state. We are either falling in love or falling out of love. Falling in love takes patience and hard work and it is worth the time and the effort.

Thinking Out Loud ~ Love, It’s Wonderful

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The Little Prince Learns Something Important

Saint-Exupéry writes in The Little Prince of the Little Prince meeting a fox. The Little Prince discovers something about himself..

“I am looking for friends,” said the little prince. “What does tame mean?”

“It is something really forgotten,” said the fox. “It means create connections.”

“Create connections?” said the Little Prince.

“Of course,” said the fox. “You are only a little boy for me just like 100,000 little boys. And I don’t need you. And you don’t need me either. I am only a fox just like 100,000 foxes. But if you tame me, we will need each other. You will be unique in the world for me. I will be unique in the world for you.”

Note: “This is what love does to us. It tames us. We discover the someone in our world who loves us and whom we love. We give our heart to this person and this person gives their heart to us. We trust each other believing that each one of us will hold each other’s heart with care and love. When we are tamed by love there is no need for anyone else in our world. We have found the one person who could tame us and we agreed to be tamed.

Thinking Out Loud ~ Is It Time to Make a Good Decision?

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It Takes Courage

Saint-Exupéry writes in The Little Prince of the Little Prince visiting another planet, this planet is inhabited by a drinker. The Little Prince asked the drinker why he is drinking,

“To forget,” replied the drinker.

“To forget what?” asked the little Prince who was already complaining.

“To forget that I am ashamed,” confessed the drinker lowing the head.

“Ashamed of what inquired the little prince who wanted to rescue him.

“Ashamed of drinking!” Completed the drinker who definitely shut himself up in silence.

And the little Prince went away, puzzled.

NOTE: some years ago I read a book written the Harvard Negotiating Team on decision making. One of the key points they made has remained with me. They said, in the book, often the best decision we can make is to stop making a bad decision. It takes awareness to know that we are making a bad decision. Once we are aware of our bad decision, it takes heaps of courage to admit it and stop making the bad decision. In its place, we can make a better decision.

 

Thinking Out Loud ~ A Bit of Humility Goes a Long Way

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Yes, One Can Be Too Full of Him/Herself

Saint-Exupéry writes in The Little Prince of the Little Prince visiting another planet, this planet is inhabited by a vainglorious man. The Little Prince asked the vainglorious man a question,

“But the vainglorious man did not hear it. The van glorious man only hears praise. ‘Do you really admire me a lot?'” he asked the little prince.

“What does admire mean?”

“Admiring means recognizing that I’m the most handsome, the best dressed, the richest, and the most intelligent man on the planet.”

“But you’re alone on your planet!”

“Do me this favor. Admire me anyway.”

NOTE: Have you ever been in the presence of people like the van glorious man? I have and it’s not a pleasant experience. They only talk about themselves and their interests as they drone on. Those who are like the vainglorious man are unable to learn from the vast diversity of people that surround them. When we open ourselves to listening to and learning from the vast diversity of people who surround us our worldview broadens, and we grasp a greater understanding and compassionate feel for other human beings.

Thinking Out Loud ~ Watch Where You Point Your Finger

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Who am I Really Judging?

Saint-Exupéry writes in The Little Prince of the Little Prince leaving his planet and visiting another planet governed by a king. The king makes the Little Prince the minister of justice. “Ah! But I have seen, said the little Prince who bent over to take a look at the other side of the planet. There is nobody there either.”

“So you will judge yourself, the king answered. It is the most difficult it is much more difficult to judge oneself than to judge others. If you succeed to judge yourself well, you are a truly wise man.”

NOTE: How easy it is for us to judge other people. We see this in social media. We see this on the news shows. We see it on sports broadcasts. We hear it on politically slanted podcasts. People are paid to judge other people. No one is paid to judge him or herself. When we look at ourselves in the clear light of day we may see things that we do not like. Often we will project what we don’t like in ourselves on others. It’s ironic that when we judge others we are often judging ourselves.

Thinking Out Loud ~ Dare to Say, I Love You

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Three Power-filled Word: I Love You

Saint-Exupéry in writes in The Little Prince of the Little Prince leaving his planet and flower, “’Goodbye’, he said to the flower. But it did not answer him. ‘Goodbye’, he repeated. The flower coughed but it was not because of his cold. ‘I was a fool,’ it finally said. ‘Excuse me try to be happy.’ He was surprised by the absence of reproaches. He just stood there all bewildered, the glass case in the air. He did not understand this quiet sweetness.  ‘But yes, I love you,’ said the flower. ‘You did not know, my fault. This has no importance. But you have been as stupid as me.”

NOTE: Three words, I love you may be the most difficult words for a human being to say. I know someone very well who, as a young child, stopped telling his father that he loved him. It wasn’t because he didn’t love him, it was because it wasn’t said. One day this person was inspired by a sermon at his church and he decided to call his father that night and tell him he loved him. After talking to his father for 45 minutes, he finally had the courage to say I love you. And he said it every time he spoke to his father and it made all the difference for him and his father. Have the courage to say I love you. You never know it may be returned to you. In any event, you will have made the world a little bit better because you had the courage to say I love you.

Thinking Out Loud ~ Waiting With Patient Expectations

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Good Things are Coming Your Way

Saint-Exupéry in writes in The Little Prince, “The little prince, who watched the installation of a huge button, felt that he would get a miraculous appearance, but the flower did not finish preparing to become beautiful, sheltered in its green room. It chose with care its colors. It got dressed slowly, it adjusted one by one its petals. It did not want to come out all wrinkles like the poppies. It didn’t want to appear in the full radiance of its beauty. . . . And then, in one morning, precisely at the time of the rising of the sun, it showed up.”

NOTE: Have you ever wanted something so badly you felt as if what you wanted wouldn’t happen? I think we’ve all had that experience. It’s easy to begin to believe that it will not happen, it wasn’t meant for us, and to push our wishes and dreams aside. What if we wait with patient expectations? Then, like the little prince, we shall see our flower arriving at the precise time it was meant to arrive.

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