3 Stories that changed the way I view the world
"Short stories, long-term effects"
These are 3 stories, I heard as a teen, that changed the way I view the world forever. They are short, but the effect they had on me, will last a lifetime. A quick disclaimer here: I am presenting these stories in the version I heard them. You may have come across these stories in different versions, however the principles are still the same. Also, I don’t know the titles of these stories, as they were presented to me without a title, so I’m gonna get a little creative here :)
1. The Man in the river
A man was drowning in a river. As he was struggling to stay afloat, to his luck a boat came by. The boat crew asked the man who was drowning “Do you need help?”. The man answered “No, thank you. God will save me!”. Upon hearing this, the boat left. A few moments later, another boat comes by. And again the crew asks the man “Do you need help?”. But the man again answers “No, thank you. God will save me!”. So the boat leaves. Now the man was too tired to tread the water and was struggling to stay afloat, so he drowns. When he arrives in heaven, he meets God. He then asks God “God. Why didn’t you save me?”. And God replies “I sent you two boats you dummy!”.
I love this story, especially the ending, because it’s so unexpected and funny. And telling this story makes me feel like a wise man, although I’m still in my late twenties and have a lot to learn. This story taught me that, God will help me. He will give me opportunities to succeed, but I’ll succeed only if I take action. So prayer alone is not enough.
2. The Chinese farmer
There was once a Chinese farmer, who had some horses. But one day, one of his horses runs away. Now all the townspeople, come to see him, and they say “Oh no. That’s bad isn’t it?”. And the farmer replies “Maybe.”. The next day, seven wild horses come back. Again the townspeople gather and say “Well, that’s great isn’t it?”. But the farmer says “Maybe.”. And then, the next day, the farmer’s son takes one of the wild horses for a ride, but he falls off the horse and breaks his leg. The townspeople gather again and say “Well, that’s terrible isn’t it?”. Again the farmer replies “Maybe.”. The next day the conscription officers come to town, to take young men in the military. But when they pass by his son, they don’t take him, because he’s got a broken leg. The whole town comes over and they say “That’s great isn’t it?”. But again the farmer replies “Maybe.”
The point of this this story is, that you never really know if something is good or bad, because you can never be 100% certain how it’s going to affect your future. Things might look bad for now, but we don’t know if they’re still be the same in the future. Better? Worse? Maybe…
3. The Bird, the Cow and the Cat
A tiny little bird was so happy and exuberant. When winter started closing down, the bird should have left, and gone south. But it was so happy, that it forgot. And when winter finally came, its wings froze and the bird fell on the ground. A cow passes by and drops a heap of dung on the bird. The dung was warm enough to defrost the wings of the bird. And although the bird couldn’t get out of the dung, it was happy, because of the warmth and started tweaking again. Later a cat passes by the dung, and hears the bird tweaking, so the cat opens up the dung, sees the bird inside, and eats it.
This story has two main messages. “The first one is: Not everyone who heaps dung on you, is your enemy. And not everyone who gets you out of dung, is your friend”. And the second one: “When you’re in heap of dung, keep your mouth shut”.
Disclaimer
I am presenting these stories to you in the way, they were presented to me. There may be different versions of these stories, these are the versions I heard these stories in. And as for the morals or the lessons from these stories, I presented what I’ve personally learned from these stories, and by no mean do I intend you look at them in the same way I did. You can feel free to do so, but I recommend you read these stories yourself and spend some time thinking about them if you want to form a proper opinion.
If you’ve made it this far I want to thank you for taking your time to read this blog and I hope you enjoyed it as well as learned something from it.
About the Creator
Andi Fejzullahu
Hi there! I am Andi, a young nurse who’s passionate about medicine, psychology, art, music, storytelling/-writing and exploring life in general. Happy life :)
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