There is a well known ancient story – “How Much Land Does a Man Need?”
Once there was a poor farmer. He believed that the only reason people had problems was because they did not own enough land.
Soon, the farmer got a chance to buy some land. He worked hard and became the owner of a small farm. At first, he was happy. But after some time, he wanted even more land. He thought having more land would make him richer and happier.
Whenever the farmer heard about better and cheaper land somewhere else, he sold his old land and moved to the new place. Each time he bought more land, he felt satisfied only for a short while. Soon, he wanted even more.
One day, the farmer heard that the king was going to sell large areas of land at a very low price. So the farmer travelled to meet the king.
The king had a special offer. He told the farmer, “For a small amount of money, you can have as much land as you can walk around in one day. You must start at sunrise and return to the same place before sunset. If you fail to return in time, you will lose your money.”
The farmer became excited. He decided to walk as far as possible so he could claim a huge amount of land.
Early the next morning, he started walking. As he saw fertile fields, he kept going farther and farther. Instead of turning back, he always thought, “Just a little farther.”
By afternoon, he realized he had walked too far. He had to hurry back before sunset.
He ran as fast as he could. He was tired, thirsty and completely exhausted but he kept running because he did not want to lose the land.
Just as the sun was setting, the farmer reached the starting point. Everyone cheered because he had completed the challenge.
But the moment he arrived, he collapsed on the ground.
The farmer was dead.
His body was cremated and ashes cast in the river. The farmer did not need any land.
Most of us have heard this story and think that this is a story about greed and contentment. And then we go about our daily lives behaving exactly as the farmer does, just in different circumstances and varying degrees. If you look carefully, the farmer is in all of us.
Why does this happen? It happens because we do not ask ourselves the real question – For What?
For what are we living?
For what are we doing what we are doing?
For what are we ultimately striving for?
For What – ask yourself this question. You will start to know and understand yourself better. And then – life will be a pleasure to be enjoyed, a mystery to be solved, a journey to be embraced.
This life is a Blessing in Disguise. Use the blessing wisely and with gratitude.