An old man with his young son were leading a donkey to a market when they met a man. The man shouted, "Oh man! Your son can hardly walk. Let him sit on the donkey." The old man complied and the boy then sat on the donkey. After sometime, came another man and shouted, "Oh boy! Your father can hardly walk. Let him sit with you on the donkey." So both the man and the boy sat on the donkey. The donkey was carrying too much weight and moved very slowly. Then a man got very angry and ran to them. He screamed and shouted because they were torturing the donkey. The old man and the young boy finally got down from the donkey. They looked at one another, didn't know what to do. Then they decided to carry the donkey.
What do you think the old man and the young boy should do?
Sometime we listen too much to what people said.
We reason with ourselves and we think what they have said has some truth in it.
There is nothing wrong in allowing the young boy to sit on the donkey. After all he is not that heavy and the donkey can easily carry his weight.
There is nothing wrong in allowing the old man to sit on the donkey too. After all, he can hardly walk anymore and the donkey can easily carry his weight too.
The problem arises when they both sit on the donkey.
Now the donkey is suffering; the load is just too heavy.
It is good that the old man and the young boy can get down; the donkey is really tired.
But the decision to carry the donkey on their backs is a stupid one.
What they should do is to take turns riding the donkey, and to let the donkey rest once in a while.
The old man can walk and let the young boy ride the donkey for sometime.
The young man can walk and let the old man ride the donkey for sometime.
Then the old man and the young boy can walk and let the donkey rest for sometime.
In life, we must learn to make our own decisions.
We cannot just depend too much on others.
And we don't follow blindly everything said by others.
We must learn to study ideas, analyze them, critique them and fully scrutinized them.
So be very careful the next time you listen to people. They maybe true but sometimes not very true.
Remember, when the blind leads the blind, they may both fall into the same pit.
Don't carry the donkey!
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Read this one many times.
ReplyDeleteWe can't just listen to people and take what they say for granted. We need to use our own "head and heart" also.
Thanks. We must be our own self. Too very often, our life is control by others. Some of us are so miserable all our life.
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