Anonymous
Once upon a time, there lived a King who, despite his luxurious lifestyle, was neither happy nor content.
One day the King came upon a servant who was singing happily while he worked. This fascinated the King. Why was he, the Supreme Ruler of the Land, unhappy and gloomy, while a lowly servant had so much joy?
The King asked the servant, “Why are you so happy?”
The man replied, “Your Majesty, I am nothing but a servant, but my family and I don’t need too much; just a roof over our heads and warm food to fill our tummies.”
The king, not satisfied with the reply consulted his most trusted advisor. After hearing the King’s woes and the servant’s story, the advisor shared the following story.
“Your Majesty, I believe that the servant has not been made part of the 99 CLUB.”
“99 CLUB, inquired the King?”
The advisor replied, “Your Majesty, to truly know what the 99 CLUB is, place 99 gold coins in a bag and leave it at this servant’s doorstep.”
The king did so and when the servant opened the bag he was overjoyed to see so many gold coins. He started to count and finally satisfied himself that there were 99 gold coins in the bag. But this also puzzled him. What could’ve happened to that last gold coin? Surely, no one would leave 99 coins. So he looked everywhere for that final elusive gold coin but just couldn’t find it. Finally, exhausted he decided that he was going to have to work harder than ever to earn that gold coin and complete his collection. From that day on the servant’s life changed. He overworked himself which made him horribly grumpy and irritable. He stopped singing and started castigating his family for not helping him make that elusive 100th gold coin. Witnessing this drastic transformation, the King was puzzled, but the advisor was not.
“Your Majesty, the servant has now officially joined the 99 CLUB. The 99 CLUB is a name for those who think that only by getting that “one more” can they be truly happy. Such people are in such a constant state of yearning that they fail to enjoy what they already have.”
The moral of the story is: Plan for the future and by all means strive for more. But don’t neglect the present and enjoy what you already have.
Doug
©2013 Robinson Training Solutions, LLC
