The Wise Woman's Stone

By no means am I a perfect being, and that's why every so often, I try to better myself where I can by reading short little self-help books. Today, over dinner, I was reading one titled 101 Daily Affirmations for Confidence and Self-Love.

As I sat there munching on my fish sandwich and sipping at my ginger ale, all I kept thinking about was how authors of books like the one I was reading so unselfishly take time out of their busy schedules to help out people like me who're continually looking for guidance in their life. I wish I could have such a helpful soul, but much like Jim Morrison of The Doors, "I see myself as an intelligent, sensitive human with the soul of a clown, which forces me to blow it at the most important moments."

Anyway, as I kept thinking those aforementioned thoughts about unselfish authors, it made me recall an ancient Indian parable I'd heard years before, which goes something like this...

A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day, she met another traveler who was also hungry, so the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry traveler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation. 

The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime, but a few days later, he came back to return the stone to the wise woman.

"I've been thinking," he said. "I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me whatever you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone."

Consider this my own personal way of giving a little unselfishness back to society.