There is an ancient fable about a poor girl from a small town whose father had died, and who earned a hard living with her mother by making handicrafts. She always felt inferior to others because she never wore any beautiful clothes or jewelry.
During Christmas, when she was 18, her mother surprisingly gave her twenty dollars to buy a gift for herself.
She was so excited, but dared not walk too freely down the street. Holding the money, she avoided the crowd and headed toward the shop, walking on the street side.
She thought everyone she saw on the street lived better than her and she must be the most humble girl in town. A young lad she loved passed by and she wondered who would be lucky enough to become his dancing partner at the ball that evening.
Filled with such thoughts in her mind, she arrived at the shop. Entering the door, she was shocked by the brilliant and beautiful silk hair accessories put on the counter. The salesperson said:
Little girl, your flaxen hair looks so nice! It would be perfect with this light green flower in it.
Seeing "$16" on the price tag, the girl thanked the salesperson, saying she didn't want to buy it. But the salesperson had pinned the flower on her hair and placed a mirror before her.
The girl couldn't believe what she saw in the mirror. She never expected to see her self to look like this. A flower could bring such a great change!
She wouldn't hesitate anymore and bought the flower at once. Excited, she took the four dollars from the salesperson, turned around immediately and ran out of the shop. She was in such a hurry that she almost bumped into an old gentleman at the door. He might have called out to her, but she didn¡¯t care and rushed back home.
Soon she came to the main street of downtown. She felt all the other passerby's looking at her and discussing her with great surprise. They said to each other that they didn¡¯t know there was such a beautiful girl living in this town. She later met that boy she had been secretly in love with, who called her and asked whether he would be honored to have her as a dancing partner at the Christmas ball.
The girl was nearly bursting with joy. She decided to spend the rest of her four dollars to buy something more for herself and returned to the shop.
As soon as she entered the shop, that old gentleman smiled at her and said:
Girl, I knew you would come back. When you bumped into me just a moment ago, the flower on your head fell. I¡¯ve been waiting for you to take it back.
The story ends here. Was it the hair accessory that changed this girl's life? No, it was because she regained confidence in herself.
Where does one's source for confidence come from? From the peace and serenity in your heart.
Confucius said, "For he that is really Good is never unhappy, he that is really wise is never perplexed, he that is really brave is never afraid", which means power in your heart could drive away much unhappiness in life.
To obtain that, one must not care so much about what you get and what you give. Those who care too much are considered by Confucius as a "small man".
Confucius once said: could you let such a "small man" with running state affairs? No. Such persons would complain when they don't receive extra benefits and fear its loss after getting it. Since they fear loosing their wealth, they would do anything to protect what they have. Such persons wouldn't have an open heart, or a peaceful mind, and thus no real bravery. |
