Story! Story!!
Once upon a time, a certain young man went to meet a wise old man and asked the value of human life.
"Wise one, what is the value of human life?" He asked. The old wise man looked at the young man for a moment then said, "Give me your hand." The young man stretched forth his hand and the wise old man gave him a shiny stone.
"What has this stone got to do with my question," the young man asked, confused.
Smiling, the wise old man said, " First go and find the worth of this stone. Go to different shops in the market and tell them that you want to sell this stone. But remember do not sell this stone no matter what."
The young man was surprised at the old man's reply, without saying anything he did as he was told.
He went into the market. He first met a fruit seller and asked him the worth of the stone, the fruit seller took the stone in his hand and looked at it then said, "I will give a dozen of oranges for this stone." The man took the stone back and went to a vegetable vendor and asked him the exact question, "Tell me the worth of this stone." The vegetable vendor also took the stone in his hand, looked at it and said, "Leave this shiny stone with me and take a sack of potatoes instead."
The man was still not satisfied with all these answers so he kept going on.
Next, he went to a goldsmith and showed him the stone. The goldsmith was mesmerized by the shine of the stone, so he said, " Sell me this stone for one lakh gold coins." The man was surprised to hear this offer but he refused it. The Goldsmith increased his offer to five lakh gold coins, but the man refused, telling him that the one that owns the stone asked him not to sell the stone to anyone. He took the stone and finally went to a diamond merchant. The merchant could not believe his eyes when he saw the beautiful stone. First, he laid down a red velvet cloth, placed the stone on it and, he bowed before it. He then asked the man, "where did you find this precious stone? "
The man looked surprised. The merchant continued, "Even after selling the whole world we can not estimate the worth of this stone. It is priceless and invaluable."
The man stood puzzled with the varieties of experience he just had with different people. He went back to the wise old man and narrated the whole story to him. "Please tell me a wise one, what is the worth of human life?"
The wise old man smiled and replied, " you see my friend, the fruit seller offered to give a dozen oranges for the stone, the vegetable vendor said one sack of potatoes, the goldsmith valued the stone at five lakh gold coins and finally the diamond merchant said that this stone is invaluable. The same is true for human life. You are a gem but people around you will value you according to their status, knowledge and capacity. But do not worry, with time the world will one day identify and discover your true value."
With this the man was greatly pleased, he thanked the wise old man and went his way.
MORAL LESSONS.
People around you will only value you according to their status, knowledge and capacity. Know your worth.
You will settle for anything far less than you deserve if you do not know their worth.
People only understand your value as much as you value yourself. Learn to increase your value.
Where you place yourself determines the value of your life.
If you underestimate your worth, you will get less from the world but if you feel yourself worthy, then you will get more out of the world.
Do not let people evaluate your self worth. Refuse to be defined by anyone or accept people's opinions of yourself.
Set your own price, never allow people to put a price on you.
0 Comments