The story of two pebbles

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I saw this great story on Facebook recently and thought I would share it with you…

Many years ago in a small Indian village, a farmer had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to a village moneylender. The moneylender, who was old and ugly, fancied the farmer’s beautiful daughter. So he proposed a bargain.

He said he would forgo the farmer’s debt if he could marry his daughter. Both the farmer and his daughter were horrified by the proposal. So the cunning money-lender suggested that they let providence decide the matter.

He told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty money bag. Then the girl would have to pick one pebble from the bag.

If she picked the black pebble, she would become his wife and her father’s debt would be forgiven.
If she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her father’s debt would still be forgiven.
But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail.

They were standing on a pebble strewn path in the farmer’s field. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked the girl to pick a pebble from the bag.

Now, imagine that you were standing in the field. What would you have done if you were the girl? If you had to advise her, what would you have told her?

Careful analysis would produce three possibilities:

* The girl should refuse to take a pebble.
* The girl should show that there were two black pebbles in the bag and expose the money-lender as a cheat.
* The girl should pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order to save her father from his debt and imprisonment.

Well, here is what she did…

The girl put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles.

“Oh, how clumsy of me,” she said. “But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked.”

Since the remaining pebble is black, it must be assumed that she had picked the white one.

And since the money-lender dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an extremely advantageous one!

Moral of the story:
Very often when we face serious challenges in our lives and think that it cannot get any worse; it actually turns out to be a positive life experience or lesson.

An example is losing your job, which then spurs you on to start your own business (I personally know someone that was faced with this challenge and although at first she was worried about losing her 'secure' job and not being able to pay her mortgage and bills, she has never looked back and now runs her own successful business).

Most complex problems do have a solution. But quite often we panic and cannot think clearly. So the next time you face a problem, consciously make an attempt to think more clearly, cleverly and calmly… and you will surely find the best solution for it.

You can overcome your limiting beliefs, and a time of challenge is the perfect time to show your strength.

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Please feel free to leave a comment (below). Have you had a life experience that didn't seem very positive at first, but turned out fantastic in the end? I would love to hear your thoughts, tips or questions about this topic – but no spam please! Please use your real name.