In a small village in India, there lived a wise old man named Ravi. Every evening, he would sit under a banyan tree and share stories with the villagers.
One day, a young man named Arjun approached him, frustrated and confused. “Sir, why does life have so many problems?” he asked.
Ravi smiled and handed Arjun a cup filled to the brim with water. “Carry this to the other side of the village without spilling a drop,” he instructed.
Arjun walked carefully, focusing intently on the cup. When he returned, Ravi asked, “Did you notice the beautiful flowers along the path?”
Arjun shook his head. “I was too focused on the cup to avoid spilling any water, so I didn’t look around.”
Ravi nodded. “Life is like that path. If you focus only on the problems, you’ll miss the beauty surrounding you. Pay attention to the journey, and your burdens will feel lighter.”
Arjun pondered this and asked, “O Learned one, how could I look around and yet ensure that no water in the cup spilled? Both things couldn’t have been achieved.”
Ravi explained, “My condition for you was not to spill the water in the cup and nothing else. You could have drunk part of that water yourself or offered it to a passerby to reduce the level so you could have comfortably carried the cup and enjoyed the beauty along the route.”
The moral of the story is that when you confront problems, you need to absorb some of their impact and still enjoy the beauty along the way. Manage your problems, share them with loved ones, be bold enough to absorb their shock, and carry on with life smilingly.
Guchi.
Improve Your Life 