Theme: Live life. Do not prepare for a living... Know this:
(1) Life is like a journey, enjoy the journey.
(2) We gather material, money and other things as though we are preparing for a journey.
(3) We fail to realize that we are already in the journey and the journey would come to an end any time soon. All that was gathered for the journey will be left behind when the journey comes to an end.
(4) So, stop preparing for the journey and start enjoying it.
Theme: Live your life, rather than preparing for a living.
Short Story 11
How much do you need for your life?
Living in Poverty is like hell on earth. We need resources to live our lives. The issue is, “how much is good enough”. There are numerous stories that convey the same message, “Stop preparation, Start enjoying the journey popularly called life”.
It is possible you have read the Russian Short story by Leo Tolstoy with the same theme. There are several other stories that were told in various parts of the world.
Now lets move on to two very short stories here. Story A: A farmer felt that the land that he owned was not enough for a happy living.He undertook a penance for several years. One day, the Gods were moved by the devotion of their disciple and descended on to the earth. God offered the farmer, three boons. The farmer said he would be happy with just one.
He wanted to lead a happy life and so wanted more land than what he possessed.
God said, “Your wish is granted”.The offer was that the farmer would start running or walking at sunrise and come back to the starting point before sunset. The area covered in the intervening time will be his.
Should he fail to reach the starting point, he would not get any land.Next day, at sunrise, the devotee started running. This greedy person ran without having food or rest. He ran over hills, stones and thorns. His feet were injured. Blood was oozing out of his injured feet. That did not deter him. He ran under scorching sun, hungry and thirsty.
The sunset was fast approaching. His body was tired but not his spirit.There were only few tens of steps to reach the finishing point (the starting place), when the sun had set. Driven by despair and fatigue he dropped down dead.
His friends and relatives came running to see him crashing to the ground and were shocked. He was dead. They conducted his last rites and dug a six feet by four feet pit and buried him.
In the sky, an angel stopped over to see what was happening down below. God explained to the angel, the following:“Man requires only this much piece of land. But, he becomes greedy, ruins his life and returns to me in a hurry!”
Man in his greed, spends his entire life accumulating wealth. In this process he deprives the people around of their dues, becomes responsible for poverty and distress of several people in his society.
He should never introspect on how much wealth he needs, but on whether he would live so long, to enjoy the wealth he amasses.