A successful businessman sent his son on a long journey to learn about the secret of success and happiness from the wisest man in the world. The lad wandered through different places for many days in search of the wisest man. At last he was guided to a beautiful castle, atop a hill by some people saying that there lived a wise man. On entering the main room, the lad saw a hive of activity, diamond merchants and other traders came and went, people were conversing in the corners, there was a group of musicians playing instrumental music., etc. The wise man was conversing with people and the lad had to wait for two hours before it was his turn to be given attention. The lad finally met the wise man and explained to him why he had come. The wise man listened patiently and advised the lad to look around the castle and return in two hours.
"Meanwhile I want to ask you to do something", said the wise man, handing to the lad a spoon containing three drops of oil. "You can wander about the castle, however, you should see that you are not allowing the drops of oil to spill in the ground". The lad went here and there climbing and descending many stairways, keeping his eyes glued to the spoon. After three hours he returned to the wise man. The wise man asked, "How many wall hangings studded with gold you had seen ? How many pictures you had seen in the drawing room ? How many statutes you had seen in the main hall ? Had you visited the nine jeweled royal temple ?" The lad was quite embarrassed and confessed that he had observed nothing as his only concern had been not to spill the oil in the spoon.
"Then go back and observe the marvels of this castle", said the wise man. "You cannot trust a man if you don't know his house". The lad again picked up the spoon and started exploring the castle. This time he observed everything with full concentration, returned to the wise man and explained in detail about the things he had seen in the castle. "But where are the drops of oil I entrusted to you ?" asked the wise man. The lad then noticed that there were no drops of oil in the spoon
"The secret of success and happiness is to see all the marvels of the world and never forget the drops of oil in the spoon ." The lad understood the meaning of the two drops of oil – the vision and values. Vision is the mental picture of our desired future and values are our emotions based on which we choose and decide things and how we accomplish them."
Source: Unknown
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