Life

Life

High in the Himalaya mountains, there was a town. In this town, there was a wise old man. People would travel from miles and miles around to visit the old wise man to consult with him on many matters: life, matters of the heart, destiny, etc. He was known to have the answers they searched for.

In the same town, there were three little boys. Friends. You know, the age when little boys want to test the limits and challenge the world ..

One day, the boys were playing outside, as little boys do, and as they got together, they contemplated what they would do that day. One of them spoke up, “I’ve got an idea!” He was excited and lit up with the announcement of his founded idea. “You know the old wise man? Let’s find something to completely stump him! Let’s prove he is not as wise as everyone thinks. What do you say?”

“Well, how are we going to do that,” the second boy asked. The other one piped up with an idea, “Let’s ask him what the square root of a zillion is!!” The first boy piped against him, “No, that won’t work – we don’t even know the answer to that one.” The second boy came up with an idea: “Let’s ask him about some far away place that no one knows about!” “No, with our luck, he will be from there or something,” the others commented.

They thought for some time. Then, one of them came up with an idea: “I’ve got it! I’ll find a baby bird. We will take it to the old wise man. I’ll hold it in my hand, and we will ask him if the bird is alive, or if it is dead. I’ll hold it in my hand. See, if he says it is alive, I’ll crush it, and it will be dead. I will open my hand and show everyone that he was wrong. If the old man says that it is dead, I will open my hand and let it fly free, and show everyone that he is wrong.”

They all agreed that it was an ingenious idea. It would work! So, they set out to find a baby bird to capture. It was springtime, after all.

They found one.

So, they gathered a crowd to the old wise man’s house. The one boy stood off to the side in the front yard, the crowd around him. The whole town was there. Everyone wanted to see what would happen as the boys told them their question. Everyone wanted to know, if the old wise man would answer correctly and thus showing if he was truly wise or not.

One boy knocked on the door. The old wise man answered. Seeing the crowd, he asked the young boy, “what is it I can do for you, young man?”

“Well, sir,” the boy began, “my friend over there,” (he pointed) “has a bird in his hand. I want to know, is it alive, or is it dead?”

The old wise man looked at the little boy, studying him, thinking, pondering. He scratched his beard, as old wise men do. He raised his hand to his mouth in traditional thinking pose. The little boys were giddy – they knew, for sure, they had the old man in their hands. They eagerly awaited his response, as did the entire town at his doorstep. Everyone was quiet.

The old wise man cleared his throat. “Well, young man, it’s whatever you want it to be.”

Moral of the story? Life is exactly what you want it to be. It is exactly what you create it to be. You can clench up and close off to the world when things happen, or you can let loose and let free and fly.

The choice is yours. No one else can make the decision for you.

Bless you! Bless your life!