Parable
| The Troubles Tree The carpenter I hired to help me restore an old farmhouse had just finished a rough first day on the job. A flat tire made him lose an hour of work, his electric saw quit, and now his ancient pickup truck refused to start. While I drove him home, he sat in stoney silence. On arriving, he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands. After opening the door, he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face was wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss. Afterward, he walked me to my car. We passed the tree, and my curiosity got the better of me. I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier. "Oh, that's my trouble tree," he replied. "I know I can't help having troubles on the job, but one thing for sure, troubles don't belong in the house with my wife and the children. So I just hang them up on the tree every night when I come home. Then in the morning, I pick them up again." "Funny thing is," he smiled, "when I come out in the morning to pick them up, there aren't nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before." |
| To Fool a Wiseman There once was a man who was digging for gold. And he discovered a large streak of gold, deep under his town. But he said to himself, "if word gets out about this, everyone else will grab it". So he tried to devised a plan. "It's easy to fool a fool", he said, "I've done that many times, but there are many wise people in this town, how will I keep them from finding this gold?" After a while, he thought of an ingenious plan. He went across the state and purchased a large load of Iron Pyrite (fools gold). Then he then planted 1000's of pieces all over his town, in rivers, creeks, gullies, and everywhere one could imagine. Then he took the largest piece and ran down the main street screaming, "I'VE FOUND GOLD, I'VE FOUND GOLD." This caused quite a commotion in his little town, and soon dozens of people were out with picks and shovels. In a few days, 100s of pieces were found, and there was a great euphoria covering the town. But when people started taking their pieces to the town jeweler, he gave them the terrible news. "All FAKES." The people were heart broken, their euphoria turned into gloom. But the wise people of the town, who were cautious and not so quick to rush in, they got a good laugh out of it. Then the man who devised the plan, slowly started to buy up all the fake pieces, all the Picks, shovels and other mining equipment. And every once in a while a real piece of gold would surface, but people would take it to him, instead of the town jeweler. And the wise people of the town would scoff whenever a rumor came up about real gold. So he continued to mine to gold in peace, fooling both the fools and the wise men. |
| 3 bananas in the Morning and 4 in the Afternoon. Zhuangzi told this story to his disciples to make a point: Once a zookeeper said to his monkeys: "You'll get 3 bananas in the Morning and 4 in the afternoon." All monkeys are upset. "OK. How about 4 bananas in Morning and 3 in the afternoon?" Hearing this, the monkeys are content. One should realize that sometimes a change in phrasing does not represent a real change. |
| Time Management One day, an expert in time management was speaking to a group of business students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration those students will never forget. As he stood in front of the group of high-powered over-achievers he said, "Okay, time for a quiz" and he pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouth mason jar and set it on the table in front of him. He also produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar. When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is this jar full?" Everyone in the class yelled, "Yes." The time management expert replied, "Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. He dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks. He then asked the group once more, "Is the jar full?" By this time the class was on to him. "Probably not," one of them answered. "Good!" he replied. He reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in the jar and it went into all of the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar full?" "No!" the class shouted. Once again he said, "Good." Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?" One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard you can always fit some more things in it!" "No," the speaker replied, "that's not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is, "If you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all. What are the 'big rocks' in your life, time with loved ones, your faith, your education, your dreams, a worthy cause, teaching or mentoring others? Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you'll never get them in at all. So, tonight, or in the morning, when you are reflecting on this short story, ask yourself this question, "What are the 'big rocks' in my life?" Then, put those in your jar first. |
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