The Cockroach Story

At a restaurant, a cockroach suddenly flew from somewhere and sat on a lady. She started screaming out of fear. With a panic-stricken face and trembling voice, she started jumping, with both her hands trying to get rid of the cockroach.

Her reaction was contagious, as everyone in her ladies group also got panicky. The lady finally struggled to push the cockroach away but…it landed on another lady in the group.

Now, it was the turn of the other lady in the group to repeat the drama. In the meantime, a man, who was observing these ladies, rushed forward to her rescue. But the cockroach fell upon the savior. He stood composed and observed the behavior of the cockroach on his shirt.

When he was confident enough, he grabbed it with a tissue paper and threw it out of the restaurant.

Just Think: Was the cockroach responsible for the hysteric behavior of the ladies? If so, then why was the man not disturbed? He handled the situation calmly, without creating any panic. It was not the cockroach, but the inability of the ladies to handle the disturbance caused by the cockroach that upset them.

Similarly, in life it is not the shouting of our fathers or bosses or our wives that disturbs us. But, it’s our inability to handle the disturbances caused by their shouting that troubles us.

“More than the problem, it’s our reaction to the problem that creates panic and pain in our life. When we solve our problem, it makes us better, bolder.”