The Touchstone story
The story goes to the time when the great library of Alexandria burned. One of the books which was saved, was not a very valuable one. So a poor man, who could read a little, bought it for a few coppers.
The book wasn't very interesting. However, between its pages was a secret : The secret of the touchstone !
The touchstone was a small pebble which when brought in contact with any metal, would turn the metal to GOLD.
The secret said that the touchstone was lying under thousands and thousands of pebbles, that looked exactly like it, near the shore of the Mediterranean. The secret to recognize the touchstone was : the real stone would feel warm, while the other ordinary pebbles were cold.
So the man sold his few belongings, bought some simple supplies, camped on the seashore, and began testing pebbles.
He knew that if he picked up ordinary pebbles and threw them down again because they were cold, he might pick up the same pebble hundreds of times. So, when he felt one that was cold, he threw it into the sea. He spent a whole day doing this but none of them was the touchstone. Yet he went on and on this way. Pick up a pebble. Cold - throw it into the sea. Pick up another. Throw it into the sea.
The days stretched into weeks and the weeks into months. One day, however, about mid afternoon, he picked up a pebble and it was warm. He threw it into the sea before he realized what he had done. He had formed such a strong habit of throwing each pebble into the sea that when the one he wanted came along, he still threw it away.
So it is with opportunity. Unless we are vigilant, it's easy to fail to recognize an opportunity when it is in hand and it's just as easy to throw it away.
We must learn to be open and alert. When an opportunity knocks at our door, we must grab it and make the full use of it. We must also try to create our own opportunities. Its possible. With the realization of your purpose, faith and confidence in your dreams, you can create opportunities for yourself. Believe me, then there will be no looking back...
Wherever we are, in whatever profession, lets realize our dreams, lets give it our best, the ultimate, the utmost passion, perseverance and determination.... remember
"When work is your purpose, hard work is not an option, its a necessity."
3 comments:
You have portrayed life's small secret in a very nice manner. I wish we all could realise this and then there would be no depressions and frustrations around.
I agree with you Shailika. We should utilize each and every moment of our lives, give each fleeting moment something to keep in store... We should be alert towards opportunities which may silently cross the path of our lives.
isn't it very true...
In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.
---Abraham Lincoln
yes, it is. but most of us fail u realise this at the right time. we keep ourselves engrossed in futile affairs and miss the opportunities that come in our way.
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