The Blind Giants gift of friendship

The following short story; The Blind Giants gift of friendship, is dedicated to a Giant named Cliff. Like some of us who tend not to be aware of our great gifts, Cliff is much like us. His simple story of a very normal life reminded me of the gift of friendship and how sometimes friends can only give us what we want if and when we ask them.

What’s the hardest part of all?
What seems the easiest to you:
To see with your eyes
what is in front of your eyes.

– Goethe

May I tell you a story my friend?

In a land not too far away, there lived a giant named Cliff in a mostly happy world with shades of strife and sorrow. Food was plenty, the weather was mostly fine, he had a handful of friends he would meet occasionally and family who adored him. 

Cliff had mostly a good life except for one disability. Cliff was blind. Unlike the blind giants who made music, Cliffs blindness afflicted him in a different way. He could never quite see what he meant to the other giants around him. There was never enough appreciation or recognition.. there was just never enough anything for Cliff. His art teacher once remarked to him that he all had to do to finish his masterpiece was to put the crayon down. 

This was hard for Cliff. 

His life, like in class, was filled with multiple paintings, ideas, people, work which he could not stop painting on. He was continually improving, optimising, and wanting for things to be easier. An easy life he cherished yet the only person who’s life became much harder was his own. His efforts were always appreciated at first and spurned later. He could not understand why no one would appreciate his good intentions. After all, in his minds eye, he was helping people. He was contributing to make the world a better place. 

One day Cliff had a heart attack. He lay feeble, weak and incapacitated by this inner assault. His heart had quit and now, there was nothing to do but to lie down and wait for the reaper who would either burn him or please him. 

As his body lay there, fading back into the ether, he saw something he had never seen before. In his undoing, he understood doing.

How? 

He was surrounded by friends, family, well wishers. They were truly sorry to see him go and wished they could do more for him. Arriving with love he felt; they brought his sweets he would never eat and flowers he could smell. The people were there for him and yet, asked for nothing in return. Deep in their hearts, all they wanted for him was to get well.. and this was his choice. 

Cliff died that day. 

As his soul floated on he saw his body being burnt in a funeral pyre. Surrounded by friends, family and colleagues, his body aflame, he heard their mourning and then a surprise. The people cheered him on and they wished him well. They cast salty tears of joy as they laughed and remembered how much of a difference Cliff had made in their lives. The ones who gathered, were sad to see him go yet, they were grateful, deeply grateful to have been touched by Cliff. They wished they could have done more for him .. if he had only asked and maybe been open to help. 

Cliff, never realised how much opportunity there was, how much of a difference he had always made. Caught up in a future that did not yet exist, he missed the present moment. He missed his own party. Maybe, just maybe, he might carry this lesson on with him.

He wished he could share it with someone, just one person. 

There he was, trying to optimise again, to live in the future. Cliff smiled at the world he was leaving behind and for the first time realised the gift he had. In not doing, he was doing.

“Fifteen years of experience is different than one year of experience repeated fifteen times. This is what most people mean. Most people relive the same year similarly and unchanged over and over again with little improvement”

― Caroline McHugh

I hope you enjoyed reading the The Blind Giants gift of friendship.

You are welcome to browse through our library for more stories and flashes of inspiration here. For more on who we are and what we do, have a look here