{"id":17559,"date":"2019-09-14T16:30:15","date_gmt":"2019-09-14T20:30:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nearariver.com\/?p=17559"},"modified":"2026-09-10T12:10:06","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T16:10:06","slug":"purpose-near-a-river-bj-rae-bald-eagle-encouragement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bobbiejrae.com\/nearariver\/purpose-near-a-river-bj-rae-bald-eagle-encouragement\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Purpose"},"content":{"rendered":"

A reminder to never lose sight of your purpose!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"near
Your purpose is not to check your reflection through others’ eyes.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On a cool September night, while circling within the cosmos, the moon\u2019s eyes gazed down upon the Olympus Mons volcano on the planet Mars.<\/p>\n

A lake lay silver nearby, not a perfect geometric shape but irregular like an ink splat on parchment paper. The rippled water ran into the crevices, washing the soil from the rocks. \u00a0Around the edges were trees that were chaotic in their spacing but never more than a few feet apart. The only sound was the soft whispering of the wind.<\/p>\n

Two Martians sat by the shore. The larger figure pointed toward the lake, whispering something in the ear of the smaller one.<\/p>\n

Both smiled as they turned to admire the moon again.<\/h4>\n

The moon pressed its ear to hear what the two were saying. One recited poetry about how splendidly the heavenly body above shone and how the companion in his arms looked even more beautiful than it did.<\/p>\n

The moon chuckled as it heard the words, \u201cI love you to the moon and back.\u201d<\/p>\n

But then the moon\u2019s eyes fell upon the lake. The water was still, occasionally disturbed by small ripples as fall leaves drifted downward. Amid the lilies and Iris Moon saw growing under the surface, he saw his own reflection.<\/p>\n

\u201cI certainly do look handsome!\u201d he said to himself. \u201cAnd all of these years I\u2019ve been too busy to notice!\u201d<\/p>\n

The next night, Moon eagerly sought his reflection in the lake again. But, as he approached, he noticed that his brightness had diminished and his shape was no longer perfect.<\/p>\n

Moon felt disheartened and he wondered why his reflection looked a bit dimmer. Nevertheless, he continued on his journey.<\/p>\n

As the days passed, his reflection became thinner and even fainter and he worried about what was happening to him.<\/p>\n

One night, his image vanished completely, and he panicked.<\/h4>\n

There must be something wrong with me<\/em>, he thought.<\/h4>\n

Not knowing who to ask about his condition, he continued tarrying through his usual course.<\/p>\n

A few days later, he appeared in the lake again. Slowly and steadily he regained his size and brightness. Then a few weeks later, he once again believed he was unwell.<\/p>\n

Maybe I am dying<\/em>, he said aloud to himself.<\/p>\n

A voice from outer space above him boomed back, \u201cCome with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moon followed the voice to Oceanus Borealis.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you see yourself in its eyes?\u201d it asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes!\u201d moon cheerfully agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven on the days when you found yourself thin and pale, there has never been anything wrong with you. The water had diminished, so you couldn\u2019t see your image.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll this time you have been sad over how you appear in one lake\u2019s eyes, while you have been forgetting the greater role you play.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough you have contributed to the evolution of life since it began, you wasted your time worrying about your image in one lake\u2019s eyes instead of realizing your importance in the cosmos,\u201d the voice reprimanded.<\/p>\n

\u201cNever forget that you have a bigger purpose in life. Don\u2019t waste your energy over such petty matters. Instead, think about all the lives you have affected and those you have yet to affect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since that day, the moon has continued to serve his bigger purpose without bothering to check his reflection in anything.<\/p>\n

Never forget what your purpose in life is!<\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

Let the\u00a0encouraging words<\/a>\u00a0in these\u00a0near\u00a0a\u00a0river<\/a>\u00a0posts help you<\/h4>\n

soar like an\u00a0eagle<\/a>\u00a0above life\u2019s storms.<\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

Learn better, more easily…<\/a><\/h4>\n

A new procedure changes lives!<\/h4>\n

Ever had wild thoughts and dreams?<\/h4>\n

Here is a shocking way to help yourself…<\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

Enjoy BJ\u2019s\u00a0encouraging words<\/a><\/h4>\n

on\u00a0near a river<\/a>!<\/h4>\n

<\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A reminder to never lose sight of your purpose! On a cool September night, while circling within the cosmos, the moon\u2019s eyes gazed down upon the Olympus Mons volcano on the planet Mars. A lake lay silver nearby, not a Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,190,133],"tags":[1588,2612,77,1271,1269,1328,1334,1270,1329,1337,1714,1332,1321,12,9754,1331,9755,9753,1330,1320,1273,1322,1302,1274,1323,1325,1326,1324,19,1275,1319,1318,716,9410,9552,1327,1336,1335,1268,10676,10675,1333,297,1299,10674],"class_list":["post-17559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-parenting-positive-near-river","category-successful-bj-rae","tag-common-core-eagle-reading-book","tag-bald-eagle","tag-bj-rae","tag-books-for-children","tag-books-for-kids","tag-child-eagle-reading-book","tag-childrens-book","tag-childrens-books","tag-childrens-eagle-reading-book","tag-childrens-reading-book","tag-common-core-book","tag-common-core-reading-book","tag-core-reading-book","tag-eagle","tag-eagle-book","tag-eagle-book-for-child","tag-eagle-book-for-children","tag-eagle-book-for-kids","tag-eagle-child-book","tag-eagle-children-book","tag-eagle-childrens-book","tag-eagle-core-reading-book","tag-eagle-kid-book","tag-eagle-kids-book","tag-eagle-reading-book","tag-eagle-reading-book-for-child","tag-eagle-reading-book-for-children","tag-eagle-reading-book-for-kids","tag-encouragement","tag-encouraging","tag-encouraging-childrens-book","tag-encouraging-kids-book","tag-encouraging-words","tag-for-children","tag-for-kids","tag-kid-eagle-reading-book","tag-kid-reading-book","tag-kids-book","tag-kids-books","tag-moon","tag-purpose-in-life","tag-reading-book","tag-soar-like-an-eagle","tag-words-of-encouragement","tag-your-purpose"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bobbiejrae.com\/nearariver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bobbiejrae.com\/nearariver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bobbiejrae.com\/nearariver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bobbiejrae.com\/nearariver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bobbiejrae.com\/nearariver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17559"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/bobbiejrae.com\/nearariver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17559\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21387,"href":"https:\/\/bobbiejrae.com\/nearariver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17559\/revisions\/21387"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bobbiejrae.com\/nearariver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bobbiejrae.com\/nearariver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bobbiejrae.com\/nearariver\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}