There was a boy who was always happy and cheerful. One day, he went to an old man and asked him,
"Sir, what is the biggest destroyer of happiness? I have a naturally happy disposition, and I spend most of my time chatting and laughing. However, I fear that one day, I might become sad and sorrowful. Please tell me how to stay happy and positive every day."
The old man thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Alright, I'll tell you what you want to know. But before I do, you have to agree to do something for me."
The boy, smiling at the old man's serious expression, asked, "Okay, sir, what is it?"
The old man replied, "There's an empty drum in my backyard, and I want you to fill it with water. I'm too old and weak to fetch water from the river. If you do that, I'll reward you with two coins. Two coins, all for you, boy!"
The boy was suddenly filled with excitement and enthusiasm, as he was in great need of money. He grabbed a bucket and hurried down to the stream to fetch the water. A short while later, he returned to the old man and told him he had filled the drum with water.
However, the old man said, "Oh, I forgot to tell you, there is another empty drum in my kitchen. Would you mind filling that one up as well? I'll offer you another two coins as a reward, for a total of four coins! You’ll be able to buy a lot of things with all that money. Four coins, all for you, boy!"
The boy, determined to earn the four coins, didn’t think twice. He quickly grabbed the bucket and rushed back to the stream. In no time, he had filled the second drum with water. When he returned, however, the old man said,
"Oh my goodness, I’m such a forgetful old man! I just remembered there's another empty drum in my garden. If you can fill that one up too, I'll add another two coins to your reward, bringing it to six coins in total. You'll have plenty of money for yourself. Six coins, all for you, boy!"
A look of cheerful excitement flashed across the boy’s face. As he thought about what he would buy with all that money, he couldn’t contain his excitement. It didn’t take him long to fill the third drum and return to the old man. He was tired and exhausted. But instead of giving him the six coins, the old man frowned and mumbled,
"Oh no, I think I'm the most forgetful old man in the whole world! I just realized I have no coins with me. I'm completely broke and don’t have any money to give you. I’m sorry, but you’ll have to go home empty-handed. Nothing for you, boy!"
Hearing this, the smile on the boy’s face vanished, replaced with a look of sad surprise. His happiness was gone, replaced by sadness and disappointment.
Just then, the old man hugged the boy tightly for a moment, then smiled broadly and said,
"Don't worry, boy! The truth is, I do have some coins for you. Everything I did was to teach you a valuable lesson about life. When you asked me to tell you the biggest destroyer of happiness, I devised a plan to make you sad, so I could teach you properly. Listen, the biggest destroyer of happiness is your EXPECTATIONS. It was your expectation of six coins from me that made you sad when you didn’t get them.
When we do things for others, we often expect something in return, whether it’s a favor or a feeling of appreciation. But those expectations may not be met. Most of the time, our expectations are too high or unrealistic for others to fulfill. We expect people to love us because we love them. We expect people to be kind to us because we are kind to them. We expect everything to go our way. These expectations can easily lead to frustration, disappointment, discouragement, stress, anger, and resentment.
However, if we lower our expectations of others and understand that they won’t always live up to them, we can remain happy in life."
0 Comments
Share your feedback.