A Fable - Journey of A Hero

There once was a little boy

He was granted super power by the universe to be able to carry huge amount of weight.

He thought of the biggest problem there was and realized that bringing water to his village was the biggest thing he can do with his time.

He crosses the huge desert and reaches a pond.

He uses the nearby wooden planks to create a huge tank and fills it up with water.

The tank is filled barely 1/3rd but the weight is already near the capacity he can carry.

After all there was a limit to his gift!

He ties the tank on his back with belts and bolts.

As he passed through the desert, the little particles of sand start falling in his tank because of the wind.

Mostly those are harmless, but sometimes there is a storm that deposits lots of sand in the tank.

As he continues his arduous journey, the task gets heavier and heavier before of all the sand that is getting deposited.

Knowing his mission, he braves through the desert trying to forget the strain and the pain.

A part of him says it is making him stronger.

Other part of him keeps reminding him of the pain and the unnecessary need to carry the sand to the village that anyways is surrounded by the sand!

As he keeps toiling crossing miles after miles, he comes across a wiseman.

As they walk together, the boy tells him about his quest and what it means for him.

Then he tells this old man about the sand problem.

“Why don’t you clean it up?” Asks the man.

“There is no way, it is too deep and deposited at the bottom” the boy says.

Hmm, the old man thinks and asked,

“So, what CAN you do?

“I guess, I can make another smaller tank using the upper half of this tank that is not submerged under water, but it will take too much time”, the boy says.

The old man looks at the boy with deep penetrating eyes.

The boy tries to avoid his eyes and says,

“This tank has been very useful and I was hoping that when we reach the village, we will use the wood to build up some houses”

The old man asks,

“Do you think you will reach the village this way?”

The boy looks at the horizon, torn with the feeling of failure but somehow becoming aware of the looming reality.

“Yes, you are right, I need to give this falsehood up” said the boy resignedly.

The boy starts cutting out the tank’s upper part and finds that it was far easier than he told himself.

As he is building the tank, another large storm surrounds them depositing more sand in the big tank.

When the new tank gets completed, using his immense is strength, he tried to lift the older tank.

But to his surprise, he cannot.

“It has become too heavy!! I cannot lift it” He exclaims!

The old man wonders nearby,

“Well, what CAN you lift?

“I can lift the lighter tank but that is useless…”

As he says that the idea and the simplicity of it strikes him.

He removes a plank in the side of the smaller tank high up for water to get in.

He then lifts the smaller tank and puts it in the bigger one.

The water starts falling into it from all the sides, filling it up and making it heavier and as it sinks to the bottom, filling it with more water.

Finally, with that done, the boy is now faced with another choice.

How to get the smaller tank out?

“I can lift it but how would I step out the big tank?” He says to the old man.

“Well, what CAN you do”, the old man repeats the question.

“Well, I can break open the big tank”, the boy exclaims!

But that immediately makes him sad.

He loved that tank; he had built it up with his own hands.

To break it would mean breaking a part of himself.

But he also knows his quest is important.

Divided in conflicting emotions, he turns to the old man.

“I have toiled for long to build this big tank, I carried it till here, how can I break it?”

The old man smiles compassionately, knowing what it meant for him and knows that the time has come to share his wisdom.

“Sometimes in life, we have to let go of what we have loved for where we are meant to be. This tank has been your companion and it served you very well. But this was its destiny to be left here.

Maybe it has something more but you don’t know”

“But what happens to all this water in the bigger tank, if I break it open to continue my quest?”, the boy asks,

“What happens to the remaining water is also its destiny” the old man replies.

Gathering his mental strength, the boy breaks open the tank.

And in this moment of decision and action, which he was sure he will regret, his eyes start growing with wonder.

The water that was getting absorbed by the sand was now rising all around them.

What he didn’t know is that he was in an area where there was thin sand and it used to be a Rockpool.

His water that he was worried will be lost filled it up and now will become a much-needed rest point to weary travelers from and to his village.

Almost ecstatic, he is hit by another idea.

He uses the wood of the larger now destroyed tank to create a huge cap for his new tank, so that no more sand will fall into it.

“I wish I had thought about it when I made this tank immediately” he says aloud beating himself up.

The old man, touches his elbow.

“You didn’t because you didn’t know. This is how journeys are meant to be, we discover things that are totally new and they bring new meaning in our life.”

Look at this rock pool, look at the extra wood you are leaving here. Sometimes in future someone will pass through this area and find a way to use the wood you are leaving behind.

That is how we all are meant to be, we leave behind what can be used by other people”

Well satisfied, the boy bids goodbye to the old man who has decided to lay down on the wood to the rest by this beautiful Rockpool!

What is your takeaway!