Will the impatient King learn his lesson or lose it all?
“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” - Arthur Ashe
Once upon a time, there was a great king who set out alone to explore his kingdom.
The king had set out on his own to get unfiltered information from those in his kingdom. After traveling for many days in the forest, he soon lost his way. He scrambled around and found a hilltop to look out from, but he could not see any people or villages nearby. It was becoming dark.
The king saw a light which he followed and it lead him to a hut.
The king knocked on the door to the hut and an elderly woman answered the door. The king being soaked, tired, hungry, and cold, asked the elderly woman if he could stay the night to get warm, and possibly get something to eat.
Before the elderly woman could decide whether she was going to let him in or not, the king took one step trying to enter. The elderly woman stopped him and asked, “Why are you so impatient, I have not invited you in!” The elderly woman decided to let him in.
The elderly woman believed the king was a soldier and she got him some water to clean himself up and then gave him something to sit on while she prepared him some food to eat. She brought him a bowl of hot rice and the king immediately tried to eat it because he was so hungry, however, because it was so hot, the king burned his mouth and dropped the bowl, breaking it.
The elderly woman was annoyed by his behavior and said he was impatient, just like their king. The king was intrigued by this statement and asked her why she thought he was impatient like the king.
She explained that the king’s impatience and his desire to quickly defeat his enemy was causing a greater loss of his men than was necessary and was resulting in his men, the people of the kingdom trusting him less, and the enemy becoming more confident with each battle.
The king asked the elderly woman what would she do if she were in the king’s shoes.
She gave him a strategy that involved patience and thoughtfulness. She further explained that if he had been patient with his bowl of rice, he would not have burned his mouth and dropped the bowl.
We live in a world where instant gratification seems to be the norm. While instant results may seem normal, they are not. More often than not, we expect results too soon.
We have to be patient, we have to be thoughtful in our approach. We have to trust the process.
Forward, always!