The wise man and the bird
Many years ago, in a distant land, there lived a wise old man. He was greatly loved because he would always listen patiently to anyone who had a problem and then, without judgement or criticism, gently suggest ways that their situation could be resolved.
Such fame, respect and popularity are earned rather than being demanded. They come with time and are based on results. But, there are always a few individuals who become jealous and seek to enhance their own stature by demolishing a local hero, even though they frequently have nothing to offer instead.
Some troublesome individuals gathered a group of townspeople. “This man is not wise”, they said. “You are better than he is, and we can prove it to you.” Then they revealed their plan. “We will visit the old man at his home and I will hold out my clasped hands in front of me and ask, ‘Is the dove I am holding alive or is it dead?’ “If he says it is alive, I will crush it in my hands and allow it to fall to the flfloor. If he says it is dead, I will open my hands and allow it to flfly away. “Either way, we will be proved right and the old man will be wrong.
Then he will no longer enjoy your respect. You will respect us instead and pay us well, because we will have shown you the real truth.” The people agreed that this was a good plan and they followed the group to witness the outcome.
When the wise old man answered the door, they put their plan into action. They asked him, “This dove that we hold, is it alive or is it dead?” The old man looked sadly around at everyone who was watching and shook his head. Then, looking the leader of the group in the eyes, he replied with just fifive words.
“It is in your hands”, he said, and shut the door with his reputation for wisdom intact. So what is the lesson from this story?
It’s this: it’s easy to blame other people or the economy if you haven’t made good money online yet. But the truth is that it is your hands. That’s not to blame you for where you are. It’s to simply show you that you have the power to do things differently, starting right now, and do more of what the top marketers do each day, and less of what unsuccessful ones do.
Despite the chaos around us, we had the responsibility to ourselves to do the best we can. You have the training here at Wealthy Affiliates which can elevate the life of yourself and your family. What you do with it is entirely up to you
Recent Comments
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Am I the only one wondering what happened to the dove?
Well Catherine at least you've left this open for a sequel.
I am with Rosana on this.
Lots of fun to read, a wonderful story to follow, and the perfect synopsis.
Aesop, time to move over, Catherine's taken your crown.
Lovely!
Partha
Catherine I love your blog on the wise man and the bird. I like the images of the birds listening to the wise owl. Thank you.
Excellent lesson, Catherine! Wow. It really is in our hands. I was in a training yesterday and this is exactly what the instructor was saying.
Thanks for the motivation.
With 2020 vision and beyond,
Karin 😁
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Very powerful story. The power to act and change is in our hands.
As I started reading the story I naturally thought of how it would apply to those of us in WA. Looks like WA marketing concepts are on my mind a lot.
Thanks Catherine. You always come up with such neat things.