Image Credit: +Housing.com
There are a lot of times when I feel
depressed or simply frustrated when things don’t
exactly pan out the way I want them to and I, like any normal person, start
freaking out. And after I calm down a bit, I open this e-mail that my mother forwarded to me when I was in 9th class.
This email entails the story of two travellers, a monk and their attitude
towards the same situation and that is all that makes a big difference. I'm sharing the story (typed out in my own
words) below so that everyone can enjoy
it –
There was once a traveller who was walking from a village in the
mountains to a village in the valley.
As he
walked along, he saw a monk working in a field, so he stopped and said to the
monk, “I'm on my way to the village in the valley, can you tell me what it’s
like?”
The
monk looked up from his labour and asked the man where he had come from.
The man responded, “I have come from the village in the
mountains.”
“What
was that like?” the monk asked.
“Terrible!” the man exclaimed, “no-one spoke my language,
I had to sleep on a dirt floor in one of their houses, they fed me some sort of
stew that had yak or dog or both in it and the weather was atrocious.”
“Then
I think that you will find that the village in the valley is much the same,”
the monk noted.
A few
hours later another traveller passed by and he said to the monk, “I am on my
way to the village in the valley, can you tell what it’s like?”
“Where
have you come from?” enquired the monk.
“I
have come from the village in the mountains.”
“And
what was that like?”
“It
was awesome!” the man replied, “No-one spoke my language so we had to
communicate using our hands and facial expressions. I had to sleep on the
dirt floor which was really cool as I've never done that before. They fed
me some sort of weird stew and I have no idea what was in it but just to
experience how the locals lived was great and the weather was freezing cold,
which meant that I really got a taste of the local conditions. It was one
of the best experiences of my life.”
“Then
I think that you’ll find that the village in the valley is much the same,”
responded the monk.
The
story above highlights a simple truth about Life, life is 10% what happens to
us and 90% how we respond. Don’t allow the challenges of life to take
away your joy. What makes succeeding so amazing is the struggle! It is
important to find the silver-lining of every cloud to lead a happy life.
There
are lots of reasons to complain and be miserable if that’s how you look at
life. I'm sure there are a million reasons that we can conjure up to explain
why thing are ‘bad.’
There
are lots of reasons to be enthusiastic and joyful if that’s how you look at
life. I'm sure we can think of a lot of reasons to be grateful for in life.
I am really grateful that my mother sent me this story as it
helped me not only to move past difficult situations but also because it taught
me that our attitude determines our altitude in life.
How do
you look at life?
Note: I was motivated by Housing.com #LookUp to write this post. Housing.com is one of those fun, upbeat start-ups that have a whole new outlook towards life. It is refreshing and I wish them the very best!
