Story Of A Watch

Today, someone took the watch off their wrist and handed it to me.  It was a very nice watch.

It reminded me of another story.

Few years ago, in one of these circles, a gentleman opens up and says, "In this field of love, I realize that it makes no sense to be attached -- to material things, to anything.  Love is a dynamic flow."  All of a sudden, he starts sobbing and adds, "I'm not too attached to material things, but there is this one thing I've always cherished -- it's this watch on my wrist, given to me by my fathers, many decades ago.  It means the world to me, and today, I want to release it." With that, he walks to the center of the circle and places it there. It was a very moving moment.

Just then, I realized that in my bag was a very special watch as well.  Ishwar Patel's watch, one of his very few possessions when he passed away.  I spontaneously took out that watch and went up to this man and put that watch on his wrist, after explaining Ishwar Patel's story.  That created a yet another beyond-words moment.

And today, when I got this watch, I remembered that episode. I felt moved to pay-forward my newest watch to a young woman.  I shared the context, the story above, and how a special person had given the watch to me with a lot of love.  She was moved to tears and said, "I don't easily get attached to material things, but I'll never remove this from my hand."

That night, she ended up being in a deep, life-saving conversation with a 21-year-old going through terrible depression.  At the end of their several hour dialogue, she gifted him the watch: "Most special thing I have."  It meant the world to that 21-year-old, who then said, "Every time I'm down, I look at the dial and remind myself that it's time for compassion.  I'll keep this forever."

Forever is relative.  The story continues.  

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