The basket of life
Once upon a time, a young idealistic and honest villager who worked in a palace reached his best performance in his career. He was promoted to be the treasury supervisor afteryear honest, loyal and good servce he had performed to the kingdom. He was chosen because his idealism and honesty would fit the responsibility to keep the flow and balance of the taxes. There were some corrupt officials in the palace and it was his responsibility to stop them from stealing more from the country and the people.
His position made him a well known and respected government official among other. The job gave him him a big responsibility and target. He had to handle the flow of the cash to ensure that there would not be any leakage and on the other hand, he had to be brave enough to drag the corruptors before the law. As the result, after a few months of his career, he had a lot of pressure and threat.
Feeling his life was full of pressure and threat he felt worried and started to lose his faith. I have a good position but its is really hard to do. How I can keep my job without having such a heavy load in my back?” he asked himself. After a deep thougt for some time, he still could not find a satisfactory answer. Then he remembered that there was a wise old man this village. Finally, he decided to pay him a visit to seek for his advice.
When he met the old man, he explained everything he had to the wise man. Upon hearing his problem and difficulties, the wise old man gave him a big bamboo basket. “come on young man. Carry the basket on your back and follow me!” Ordered him. The official was doubtful and reluctant for a second. “ I’m an important official, why did he ask me to do this? What does he want?” grumled the young man. But the decided to follow the order.
The old man then took him to take a walk down the village. “now, what you have to do is taking every rock that you see on the road and put it in the basket on your back,” said the old man. The young man firstly would like to refuse. He thought it wasw ridiculous. However, he did what the oldman said without any comliants. After quit some time, the basket was almost full of rocks. The young man barely could walk.we waw out of breath and very axhausted. “ do you feel the basket is heavier?” asked the old man. “yes, it is. My shoulder… my shoulder … uh… it’s realy hurt…” answered the young man. When they met a big and shady tree, the old man asked the young man to take a rest. OK, young man we can have a rest here. Now you can lie downan listen carefully Young man, the basket and therock arejust like you. Theyrepresent your life now. When you just born, you are like an empty basket. In the journey of your life, you take whatever you want and put them in your basket of life. What are they ? they are a teenage time, adult time, family, achievements, joy, wishes, jobs, responsibilities, idealism and problems. They all have their own prices. The further the journey is, the heavier your basket will be,” explained the old man.
“How can I make it lighter and simpler?” asked the young man.
“Would you leave all you have now; your fortune, family, achievement, position and idealism?” asked the old man instead of giving straight answer. “Of course not, all I have now is the result of my hard work, and I want to clearup this coutry from corruptors,” answer the young man.
“That is problems, dificulities, obstacles will always appear in our life. We cannot escape from this reality. Every time we go through a problem, we become more mature. Then there will be another test and so on. This is the fact of life, young man. “ explained the old man again. The young official seemed to get the explanation. Then the old man continued, The more accomplishments we get, the more responsibilities we have. My advice if you don’t want to lose whatever you got, take the consequences. And you should not consider them as the burdens only. Consider them as the responsibilities that would bring happiness. So that, no matter how heavy the burdens are, you will not feel them any longer. And you have to remember, all people have to bear their own responsibilities. The responsibilities cannot be shifted to other. Do you understand?”
His position made him a well known and respected government official among other. The job gave him him a big responsibility and target. He had to handle the flow of the cash to ensure that there would not be any leakage and on the other hand, he had to be brave enough to drag the corruptors before the law. As the result, after a few months of his career, he had a lot of pressure and threat.
Feeling his life was full of pressure and threat he felt worried and started to lose his faith. I have a good position but its is really hard to do. How I can keep my job without having such a heavy load in my back?” he asked himself. After a deep thougt for some time, he still could not find a satisfactory answer. Then he remembered that there was a wise old man this village. Finally, he decided to pay him a visit to seek for his advice.
When he met the old man, he explained everything he had to the wise man. Upon hearing his problem and difficulties, the wise old man gave him a big bamboo basket. “come on young man. Carry the basket on your back and follow me!” Ordered him. The official was doubtful and reluctant for a second. “ I’m an important official, why did he ask me to do this? What does he want?” grumled the young man. But the decided to follow the order.
The old man then took him to take a walk down the village. “now, what you have to do is taking every rock that you see on the road and put it in the basket on your back,” said the old man. The young man firstly would like to refuse. He thought it wasw ridiculous. However, he did what the oldman said without any comliants. After quit some time, the basket was almost full of rocks. The young man barely could walk.we waw out of breath and very axhausted. “ do you feel the basket is heavier?” asked the old man. “yes, it is. My shoulder… my shoulder … uh… it’s realy hurt…” answered the young man. When they met a big and shady tree, the old man asked the young man to take a rest. OK, young man we can have a rest here. Now you can lie downan listen carefully Young man, the basket and therock arejust like you. Theyrepresent your life now. When you just born, you are like an empty basket. In the journey of your life, you take whatever you want and put them in your basket of life. What are they ? they are a teenage time, adult time, family, achievements, joy, wishes, jobs, responsibilities, idealism and problems. They all have their own prices. The further the journey is, the heavier your basket will be,” explained the old man.
“How can I make it lighter and simpler?” asked the young man.
“Would you leave all you have now; your fortune, family, achievement, position and idealism?” asked the old man instead of giving straight answer. “Of course not, all I have now is the result of my hard work, and I want to clearup this coutry from corruptors,” answer the young man.
“That is problems, dificulities, obstacles will always appear in our life. We cannot escape from this reality. Every time we go through a problem, we become more mature. Then there will be another test and so on. This is the fact of life, young man. “ explained the old man again. The young official seemed to get the explanation. Then the old man continued, The more accomplishments we get, the more responsibilities we have. My advice if you don’t want to lose whatever you got, take the consequences. And you should not consider them as the burdens only. Consider them as the responsibilities that would bring happiness. So that, no matter how heavy the burdens are, you will not feel them any longer. And you have to remember, all people have to bear their own responsibilities. The responsibilities cannot be shifted to other. Do you understand?”
posted by Iwan Setiawan at 1:44 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home