A Short Story By Blowing It.
Two young brothers are playing in a village one day when a old man approaches them. In his hands he carries two weathered and worn, slightly aged hand cranks. He tells the boys sealed in these hand cranks is power wisdom, release it and great riches can be yours. So the first boy, eager to receive such riches takes the old man’s offer. He runs home with one of the cranks. Excited to live his rich life he immediately finds a hammer and smashes the crank to pieces, to his utter dismay no such wisdom is released. He returns to the village and finds the old man, crank shards in hand and cries foul, “their is no wisdom locked in this worthless piece of machine, you lied to me.” The old man agrees with the boy and excepts his broken crank back.
The other brother just as eager to receive such wisdom, is more steadfast in his resolve, he takes his crank home and begins to turn the wheel. Day in and day out he toils over this crank. He starts to gain strength from the exertion on his muscles. He then begins to read and gain new knowledge to pass the time while turning this machine. He soon finds meaning and purpose in his menial task. For he will one day own powerful wisdom through this process. Before long people from towns far and wide hear of this boy and they come to see him. As the onlookers stop and marvel, he begins to use his new audience as a platform to teach all those willing to listen. He teaches them everything he can, he freely expels his new found knowledge. Knowledge he has gained over the years while laboring away. Soon the patrons begin to pay to hear what this young man has to say. He continues to share with the world the wisdom he has obtained while turning this crank. After quite awhile of teaching, he becomes very wealthy.
The old man returns to the village to come to see him again. The boy who is now a bit older, jumps up to hug the old man and thank him for such gifts he has bestowed upon him. The old man gracious in his praise reveals to the boy he did absolutely nothing to deserve such praise. For the cranks he gave to the boys were nothing more than a pile of junk. That the boy himself through his very own hard work and effort developed the powerful wisdom that he sought, and the riches that followed. It was always within him and only him. No material thing can give you such power, it’s all what you do with it and your belief in yourself. He tells the boy as you can see from your brother, instant gratification, although thrilling to begin with, usually leaves you very disappointed with your results in the end. Only effort gets you what you truly want. We are the only people who can control our meaning, we give the things around us that meaning. The crank was junk but held incredible meaning within you, and it was only you who used that meaning to channel your purpose towards gaining the wisdom and subsequent riches. I have done nothing but pass along an opportunity. The young man blown away by the old mans confession greeted him a loving smile. He tells the old man thank you again, for he discovered this fact on his own long ago.
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