The Merchant and the Prospector – A Happiness Parable
Discouraged and broke, he was ready to quit until one day an old, experienced prospector said to him, “That’s quite a pile of rocks you are getting there, my boy.” The young man replied, “There’s no gold here. I’m going back home.” Walking over to the pile of rocks,
The old prospector extended his pouch toward the young man, who looked inside, expecting to see several large nuggets. He was stunned to see that the pouch was filled with thousands of flecks of gold. The old prospector said, “Son, it seems to me you are so busy looking for large nuggets that you’re missing filling your pouch with these precious flecks of gold. The patient accumulation of these little flecks has brought me great wealth.”
So many people in life are like the young merchant, always after that great big elusive goal of “true happiness”? They search and search to find those things that will make them happy but always end up frustrated. They change jobs, change cars, or change spouses looking for that big gold nugget.
The truth is that happiness is found in small flecks all throughout our every day lives. Sometimes they are out in the open and sometimes they are buried within the mundane and boring rocks but they are there, all around us, if we only look for them. When we find them, it is important that we take time to savor each one. Stop
True happiness is not found in the large nuggets of life that come sporadically but in the small flecks of happiness collected over a lifetime.
May your pan be full of gold as you search the rivers of life.
Kris
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