Daily Motivation : Story 8 : Blessings

Nestled in the valley of high mountains was a quiet little village. The village had surreal beauty and the people there were kind. Rich in generosity and care, not so much in material wealth, the pious people of the village had built a beautiful prayer hall right on the banks of a beautiful and peaceful lake.

The priest of the prayer hall would often go out for walks alongside the banks of the peaceful lake. On one such walk he saw a young boy sitting by the lake with a basket beside him. The priest couldn't help but notice the boy's hands folded as if in prayer. He walked up to the boy and asked him what he was doing. The boy replied, "my family has not eaten fish in many months, I wish to get some fish from the lake. I believe and have faith that God is the one who provides, so I'm asking him for the fish". The priest smiled, put his hands on the boy's shoulder and explained "It is true that you must believe in God, but he can help you only if you help yourself. You have to work towards your goals and then he will bless you with the reward, if you don't put in the effort, even God can't help you. It is like this, having drinking water in a glass is a blessing, but yet you must extend your hand to pick up the glass and drink the water. So get a fishing rod and some bait and try again tomorrow ".

The next morning he saw the boy there with a fishing rod in his hands, waiting for some fish to take the bait. In the evening that day the boy stormed into the prayer hall with tears in his eyes," Oh priest, I have waited all day!", he exclaimed, "not a single fish!! Is God angry with me?". The priest made the boy sit and offered him some water before going on to explain, "Everything happens at the right time. You must be patient my boy, you have to put in your best effort, but when the blessing will come, is not certain. When is the right time, that only God knows, neither you nor me can know. God will reward you thats for certain, when will he do it, only he knows. So do not get disheartened, try again tomorrow".

The next morning as the priest was out on his walk he saw the boy jumping with joy, indeed he had caught a fish! He yelled out "God has rewarded me, I finally have a fish". The priest waved at him with happiness and said 'well done'. Just then the slippery fish, with all its strength made a bid to escape with a strong jolt and fell from the boy's hand back into the water. His grief was tremendous as he stared at the injured fish at the shallow bed of the crystal clear lake. The priest approached him again and explained "Sometimes in life God takes away something from us, only to give us something better. Losing something may not always be bad, sometimes it may be a stroke of good luck because it makes room for something better! You have to let go of that which is lost and try to achieve something better. So try again and see what happens". As the boy prepared his fishing rod again, the priest went to the prayer hall.

The boy patiently waited, as he watched the injured fish struggling to move around. To his surprise he saw some really big, deep water fish come towards the shallow parts of the lake, attracted by the struggle of the fish he had dropped, probably to eat it. One such big fish took the bait and the boy had to use all his strength to pull it out of the water, "this fish will feed my entire family and I can also share with our neighbours", the boy thought. His happiness know no bounds as he rushed towards the prayer hall to show the priest his reward for putting his best efforts, being patient, letting go and most importantly having faith!!