steve carter

I was a drop of water floating in a cloud, but I was restless and yearned for something different. I wanted to be a raindrop racing towards the earth.

I was a drop of water in a shower of rain, but I was scared by the falling and wanted it to stop. I wanted to be part of a lake, settled in peace on the side of a mountain.

I was a drop of water in a fresh mountain pool, but I was stifled and knew I could be something bigger, something deeper. I wanted to be in a river, travelling in the direction of the ocean, carving my way through the countryside.

I was a drop of water in a river, but I felt exhausted and impotent as I was carried along by the current, never in control of the twists and turns it made. I wanted to rest in the ocean and rock myself to sleep on the tides.

I was a drop of water in the sea, but soon the tides seemed to me a mundane and directionless routine. I was eager to change again, to take the next step that I knew must be before me.

When I was lifted from the earth and returned once more to float in a cloud, I screamed and protested that this should be my fate. "How can it be possible," I cried, "that I strived to develop and constantly move forwards, yet I am back where I started?"

Another drop of water, hearing my anguish, said to me:
"I am a drop of water in a cloud,

Without me the cloud is not whole. I am the cloud.

Without the cloud, the rain will not fall. I am the rain.

Without the rain, the lake is not fed. I am the lake.

Without the lake, the river has no beginning. I am the river.

Without the river, the ocean would dry up. I am the ocean. Without the ocean, there can be no clouds.

I am cloud, rain, lake, river and ocean.

I am all these things and the eternal cycle that connects them. I am a drop of water.

And that is all I need to be."

I am a drop of water, and now that I understand what that means, I can rejoice in every moment.