Move the Obstacle
Long ago in a faraway kingdom, a wise king decided to set aside part of his wealth and reward someone worthy within his realm. Without consulting his advisors, he acts alone and decides to put a small test. The king goes to the busiest part of the kingdom and arranges a small undercover mission. He orders his servants to dig a hole, place an anonymous box, and set a large stone atop it, blocking the busy walkway. The operation took place at night when no one was around. In the morning, the king dressed as a commoner to see who would move the stone off the path.
The king watched as a few of his advisors passed by the stone, ignoring it. Later, others noticed the obstacle and complained about it, but kept going without taking action. This echoes stories like the Story of Struggle where perseverance matters, not excuses.
A vegetable seller riding on his donkey stops and sees the stone. He gets off and tries to move the stone, but it is too heavy to lift alone. The vegetable seller decides to arrange a rope and tie it to the stone, and use his donkey to pull the weight. This is a practical example of problem-solving you’ll also see in the Story of a Frog.
While he was getting ready to go back to the donkey, he looked back and saw a note where someone had removed the stone. The note said:
This note is from the King. Please dig here and I would like to reward you with Gold and Silver for removing the stone. Please visit the castle with this note and have a personal meeting with the king, Do bring a copy of this note along with you.
Moral of the story
Every obstacle we come across gives us an opportunity to improve our circumstances. While others keep complaining, you go and start doing it. Never complain—be the change you want to see, a sentiment echoed in A Story on the Honesty and other parables. Unless you make a change of mentality, there cannot be a change of character. Be the change and not the complaint.
