This came through the email:
Once upon a time.......there lived a King who.....despite his luxurious lifestyle... ..was neither happy nor content.
One day, the King came upon a servant who was singing happily while he worked. This fascinated the King; why was he......the Supreme Ruler of the Land........ ..unhappy and gloomy, while a lowly servant had so much joy.
The King asked the servant, " How come you are so happy?"
The man replied, " Your Majesty, I am nothing but a servant, but my family and I don't need too much........ ....just a roof over our heads and warm food to fill our tummies ."
The king was not satisfied with that reply. Later in the day, he
sought the advice of his most trusted advisor. After hearing the
King's woes and the servant's story, the advisor said, " Your
Majesty, I believe that the servant has not been made part of The 99 Club."
" The 99 Club? And what exactly is that?" the King inquired.
The advisor replied, " Your Majesty, to truly know what The 99 Club is.......... .place 99 Gold coins in a bag and leave it at this servant's doorstep."
When the servant saw the bag.......he took it into his house. When he opened the bag, he let out a great shout of joy....... wow....so many gold coins!
He began to count them. After several counts.....he was at last
convinced that there were 99 coins. He wondered, " What could've happened to that last gold coin? Surely, no one would leave 99 coins! "
He looked everywhere he could..... but that last coin was elusive.
Finally, exhausted, he decided that he was going to have to work
harder than ever to earn that gold coin and complete his collection.
From that day....the servant's life changed. He was overworked,
horribly grumpy, and castigated his family for not helping him make that 100th gold coin. He felt so unhappy all the time.... he stopped singing while he worked.
Witnessing this drastic transformation. ...the King was puzzled. When he sought his advisor's help, the advisor said, " Your Majesty, the servant has now officially joined The 99 Club. "
He continued, " The 99 Club is a name given to those people who have enough to be happy but are never contented... ....because they're always yearning and striving for that extra 1....... telling themselves: "Let me get that one final thing and then I will be happy for life ."
We too can be happy with very little in our lives....... but the minute we're given something bigger and better...... we need to watch out for our monkey minds ......... which may want even more!
We lose our sleep....... .our happiness... ...we hurt the people around us.......all these as a price for our growing needs and desires.
So my dear brothers & sisters...... ...its all up to us.......whether we
want to join 'The 99 Club' .........or not!
3 comments:
You know Justin,the anecdotes you provide from time to time are so philosophical and true.
I remember the one you wrote about our ambitions and capabilities as we age.That was also so true!
I hope all is well with you.Maybe we can meet up one day.You seem to have a life well lived.What do you do nowadays to while away your time?
Hi Stephen,
Thanks for visiting and comment.
I actually feel a bit saddened that I had to stop writing about the local political scene and the idiots and bastards who are running our country. But as I explained in my "new direction" posting, there was simply no local audience here. I am still very busy in Hubpages. Although I did not churn up articles fast enough, I have been very busy in the internet. You see, to write a good and informative and interesting article, you need a lot of time doing research.
Apart from that, I still have not enough time to read all my emails and visit other sites. Bearing in mind I also have to answer Buddhist questions in the Allexperts site, apart from maintaining 2 blogs.
If you are not aware of the change, you can click below link to read: (also on top right corner of my blog page.)
http://blackandwhite999.blogspot.com/2011/01/time-for-review-and-new-direction.html
Hi Stephen,
Yes, about meeting up. You know, it's dangerous nowadays simply meeting up with "strangers"! However, at my age and being an old man, the chance of being harrassed is reduced. Hahaha!!!
Please communicate through email if you wish to strengthen communication.
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