I CAME across the following piece some time back, and after having read it a couple of times, began to appreciate its contents. It goes as follows:
“A long time ago, there was an Emperor who told his favorite horseman that if he could ride on his horse and cover as much land area within a specified period, then the Emperor would grant him the area of land he had covered.
“Sure enough, the horseman quickly jumped onto his horse and rode as fast as possible to cover as much land area as he could. He kept on riding and riding, whipping the horse to go as fast as possible. When he was hungry or tired, he did not stop because he wanted to cover as much area as possible within the time given.
“By the end of the specified duration, he had covered a substantial area of the region, but he was close to exhaustion, starvation and death. As he lay out there all alone in the wilderness, he wondered to himself, ‘Why did I push myself so hard to cover so much land area? Now I am all alone and dying and all I need is only a very small area to bury myself.’”
The above story is similar to the journey of our life. We push ourselves very hard everyday to make more money, to gain more power and more recognition. We neglect time with our families and forget to appreciate the surrounding beauty and the hobbies we love to do.
One day when we look back, we will realize that we don’t really need that much, but then we cannot turn back time for what we had missed. Life is not just about making money, acquiring power or recognition. Life is definitely not just about only work! Work is only necessary to keep us living so as to enjoy the beauty and pleasures of life.
Life is a balance of work and play, family, time with God and time for ones self. Happiness is a very important ingredient for us to live a healthy and fruitful life. Only when you have filled the joy in your heart are you able to share this joy with others.
So, take it easy, do what you want to do within reason and appreciate the beauty of nature around you. Take some time today to think of some things that you’ve always wanted to do, and make the effort to really do it!
