Becoming A Millionaire With A Piece Of Straw
A rich man born out of giving!
There is an old historical Japanese tale about giving and it shows how we can receive the most extraordinary gifts when we're giving and appreciative of what we already have.
This is the folk tale.
Once upon a time, there was a poor young farmer. Everything he did in his life never seemed to produce any wealth for him. He was totally broke with no money, no family and no food. So one night he sneaked into a temple and sat by the altar and in desperation asked the Gods what he was supposed to do.
"I have always been sincere and industrious, but all my industriousness never became beneficial to me. Where have I gone wrong?"
He fell asleep besides the altar just after having asking his question. In the morning, as he was waking up, he saw one of the Gods in his dream surrounded by a blinding golden light. The God's voice echoed through his mind.
"After you wake up in the morning, value that which you have in your hand and keep giving it fully to others as you move forward," the God told him.
The farmer woke up. He still had many questions jumping through his mind but he lifted himself up and tried to shake off the strangely vivid dream he just had. To his surprise, he saw a piece of straw in his hand. Maybe it was on his clothes after the long day of fieldwork.
He nearly dropped it to the ground, but stopped for a moment remembering what the God said. He sat down again. And looked at the straw.
He sat for a while unable to comprehend what all that meant. He did not know how a piece of straw can turn out to be useful. Then he saw a wasp hovering around. After a while the wasp settled on one end of his straw. He caught it and with the help of a thread from his clothes, tied it to the straw. And with a wasp at the end of his straw, he went on his way.
He had only walked for a few minutes before he saw a little boy and his mother coming from the other direction. The boy was crying. As he said hello, the boy noticed the wasp moving on the straw that the farmer was holding. He stopped crying and asked for the straw. The farmer nearly declined but then he remembered about the God's message that he needed to treasure what he had but also remembered that he was to give it away to others. So, he offered the straw to the boy. The mother was very appreciative as now the boy stopped crying and began smiling. The mother offered the farmer three tangerines.
The farmer moved on. As he proceeded, he felt hungry. He was about to eat the tangerines when he again remembered that what was important was giving things to others, not giving it to himself.
As he went over a steep hill, he saw a merchant sitting down on the ground by a tree. Next to him was a wooden box. The farmer said hello to the merchant. He seemed to be exhausted. The merchant saw the tangerines in the farmer's hand and asked if he minded giving him the tangerines. He said he was so thirsty.
The farmer was also quite thirsty having walked for a long time during the heat of the day but he offered all the tangerines to the merchant. The merchant ate the three tangerines and regained his strength. He was very grateful for the kindness of the farmer and opened the wooden box next to him. There were rolls of hand dyed silk fabric. The merchant handed him one roll, thanked him and walked off.
The farmer walked again and continued on the same path. After a while he found a river from which he drank water. He felt recharged. He went forward with more energy and a feeling of ease.
He walked for some more time but did not come across anyone else. He felt that the silk might be that which would bring him something good. So he chose to go to a town in the vicinity and trade the fabric.
But as soon as he turned the corner, he found a group of soldiers. One of them, who appeared to be the leader of the group, was standing near a horse that had fallen on the ground. The leader of the soldiers was saying something to the men of his group.
"This horse is not likely to live long. We will have to abandon it here. Just look after it and follow me." Saying this, he climbed on to another horse and rode off and disappeared.
The other warriors were left talking to each other about what to do. They did not want to kill the horse but there seemed to be no other choice. One of them finally drew his sword.
The farmer pleaded with them not to do that. He said he was ready to look after the animal. He said they can have the bolt of silk for letting him care for the horse. They agreed to the deal and left the place quickly.
Now the farmer stood there with a dying horse. He thought he might have made a mistake that after all he was not meant to be wealthy. Then he remembered something. There was the stream he'd just passed.
He immediately went back to the stream, took off his shirt and soaked it in the fresh water so he could give water to horse. He returned to the horse still lying there on the ground. The farmer squeezed the wet cloth over the horse's mouth. Very soon the horse began to respond and regained its consciousness, so the farmer pulled it up with all his might.
The horse finally stood up on its legs so the farmer could take the horse to the stream. As the horse took more water and ate some fresh green grass around the stream, it soon began to regain strength.
The farmer now had a companion. They journeyed together, the horse in front, and the farmer panting behind to keep up with it. They traveled for miles in that manner. At last, as the sun was about to set, the animal came to a stop just in front of a rather big house. When the farmer drew alongside, the horse pushed him in the direction of the gate with its snout.
As the farmer approached the gate, the doors swung open and to his surprise, an old man appeared. The old man was rushing outside and was looking a little pale. He noticed the farmer and the horse standing by the gate.
The old man asked the farmer what it was that he needed. The farmer said that he wanted a place where he could sleep at night. The old man queried the farmer if he would mind looking after the house till his return as he had to leave for the nearby town on a pressing matter. He also said that it might take some time for him to return.
As the old man seemed to be in a hurry, the farmer offered him the horse. The old man appreciated the generous offer and took off with the horse. As he was leaving, he said something peculiar to the farmer.
"If I do not return within three years, this house is yours."
As you possibly deduced, the old man did not come back.
The farmer lived in the large house for the rest of his life with a land full of crops surrounded by kind neighbors happily ever after. But he never forgot to always give away the things he had.
I am grateful to you for reading this story. And how did you feel about it?
Maybe there is a key to something. When we can turn our 'getting game' into a 'giving game', our life often flows bringing more abundance. But it is not always easy to practice the old wisdom in our real life.
The following are the interesting principles we can see in the tale:
* When we are willing to provide what others want, their value for it enhances more than when we are trying to 'barter' it (as mostly we hope to get something out of it) since they compare the price with what we expect for it and would obviously pay less.
* When there is no lasting attachment to the things we own, we will see that we have wider chances since we are able to free ourselves from what we have.
* When life seems to deal us a bad hand, instead of focusing on the problem if instead we focused on giving and caring, life seems to end up bringing better luck later.
* If we try to turn into cash what we have accumulated, because of the conviction that "this is all it would get" thinking that if we do not encash it, we will lose, our life will stand still. Instead, why don't we keep on giving more and more irrespective of what we have or whether we are actually rich or not.
Giving is part of many successful people's lives. When we give first, we have more chance of living a life of magnificence, ease and expansion.
There is an old historical Japanese tale about giving and it shows how we can receive the most extraordinary gifts when we're giving and appreciative of what we already have.
This is the folk tale.
Once upon a time, there was a poor young farmer. Everything he did in his life never seemed to produce any wealth for him. He was totally broke with no money, no family and no food. So one night he sneaked into a temple and sat by the altar and in desperation asked the Gods what he was supposed to do.
"I have always been sincere and industrious, but all my industriousness never became beneficial to me. Where have I gone wrong?"
He fell asleep besides the altar just after having asking his question. In the morning, as he was waking up, he saw one of the Gods in his dream surrounded by a blinding golden light. The God's voice echoed through his mind.
"After you wake up in the morning, value that which you have in your hand and keep giving it fully to others as you move forward," the God told him.
The farmer woke up. He still had many questions jumping through his mind but he lifted himself up and tried to shake off the strangely vivid dream he just had. To his surprise, he saw a piece of straw in his hand. Maybe it was on his clothes after the long day of fieldwork.
He nearly dropped it to the ground, but stopped for a moment remembering what the God said. He sat down again. And looked at the straw.
He sat for a while unable to comprehend what all that meant. He did not know how a piece of straw can turn out to be useful. Then he saw a wasp hovering around. After a while the wasp settled on one end of his straw. He caught it and with the help of a thread from his clothes, tied it to the straw. And with a wasp at the end of his straw, he went on his way.
He had only walked for a few minutes before he saw a little boy and his mother coming from the other direction. The boy was crying. As he said hello, the boy noticed the wasp moving on the straw that the farmer was holding. He stopped crying and asked for the straw. The farmer nearly declined but then he remembered about the God's message that he needed to treasure what he had but also remembered that he was to give it away to others. So, he offered the straw to the boy. The mother was very appreciative as now the boy stopped crying and began smiling. The mother offered the farmer three tangerines.
The farmer moved on. As he proceeded, he felt hungry. He was about to eat the tangerines when he again remembered that what was important was giving things to others, not giving it to himself.
As he went over a steep hill, he saw a merchant sitting down on the ground by a tree. Next to him was a wooden box. The farmer said hello to the merchant. He seemed to be exhausted. The merchant saw the tangerines in the farmer's hand and asked if he minded giving him the tangerines. He said he was so thirsty.
The farmer was also quite thirsty having walked for a long time during the heat of the day but he offered all the tangerines to the merchant. The merchant ate the three tangerines and regained his strength. He was very grateful for the kindness of the farmer and opened the wooden box next to him. There were rolls of hand dyed silk fabric. The merchant handed him one roll, thanked him and walked off.
The farmer walked again and continued on the same path. After a while he found a river from which he drank water. He felt recharged. He went forward with more energy and a feeling of ease.
He walked for some more time but did not come across anyone else. He felt that the silk might be that which would bring him something good. So he chose to go to a town in the vicinity and trade the fabric.
But as soon as he turned the corner, he found a group of soldiers. One of them, who appeared to be the leader of the group, was standing near a horse that had fallen on the ground. The leader of the soldiers was saying something to the men of his group.
"This horse is not likely to live long. We will have to abandon it here. Just look after it and follow me." Saying this, he climbed on to another horse and rode off and disappeared.
The other warriors were left talking to each other about what to do. They did not want to kill the horse but there seemed to be no other choice. One of them finally drew his sword.
The farmer pleaded with them not to do that. He said he was ready to look after the animal. He said they can have the bolt of silk for letting him care for the horse. They agreed to the deal and left the place quickly.
Now the farmer stood there with a dying horse. He thought he might have made a mistake that after all he was not meant to be wealthy. Then he remembered something. There was the stream he'd just passed.
He immediately went back to the stream, took off his shirt and soaked it in the fresh water so he could give water to horse. He returned to the horse still lying there on the ground. The farmer squeezed the wet cloth over the horse's mouth. Very soon the horse began to respond and regained its consciousness, so the farmer pulled it up with all his might.
The horse finally stood up on its legs so the farmer could take the horse to the stream. As the horse took more water and ate some fresh green grass around the stream, it soon began to regain strength.
The farmer now had a companion. They journeyed together, the horse in front, and the farmer panting behind to keep up with it. They traveled for miles in that manner. At last, as the sun was about to set, the animal came to a stop just in front of a rather big house. When the farmer drew alongside, the horse pushed him in the direction of the gate with its snout.
As the farmer approached the gate, the doors swung open and to his surprise, an old man appeared. The old man was rushing outside and was looking a little pale. He noticed the farmer and the horse standing by the gate.
The old man asked the farmer what it was that he needed. The farmer said that he wanted a place where he could sleep at night. The old man queried the farmer if he would mind looking after the house till his return as he had to leave for the nearby town on a pressing matter. He also said that it might take some time for him to return.
As the old man seemed to be in a hurry, the farmer offered him the horse. The old man appreciated the generous offer and took off with the horse. As he was leaving, he said something peculiar to the farmer.
"If I do not return within three years, this house is yours."
As you possibly deduced, the old man did not come back.
The farmer lived in the large house for the rest of his life with a land full of crops surrounded by kind neighbors happily ever after. But he never forgot to always give away the things he had.
I am grateful to you for reading this story. And how did you feel about it?
Maybe there is a key to something. When we can turn our 'getting game' into a 'giving game', our life often flows bringing more abundance. But it is not always easy to practice the old wisdom in our real life.
The following are the interesting principles we can see in the tale:
* When we are willing to provide what others want, their value for it enhances more than when we are trying to 'barter' it (as mostly we hope to get something out of it) since they compare the price with what we expect for it and would obviously pay less.
* When there is no lasting attachment to the things we own, we will see that we have wider chances since we are able to free ourselves from what we have.
* When life seems to deal us a bad hand, instead of focusing on the problem if instead we focused on giving and caring, life seems to end up bringing better luck later.
* If we try to turn into cash what we have accumulated, because of the conviction that "this is all it would get" thinking that if we do not encash it, we will lose, our life will stand still. Instead, why don't we keep on giving more and more irrespective of what we have or whether we are actually rich or not.
Giving is part of many successful people's lives. When we give first, we have more chance of living a life of magnificence, ease and expansion.
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