2007-10-21 21:14:46 · 45 answers · asked by ? 6 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
William I think I just learned it tonight, I read a short story on MYSPACE and I want to share it with you and all who may answer this question; in hopes we can all be like little LING in this story :)
Thank you to Gary "Living For God & Country
The Emperor's Seed
An emperor in the Far East was growing old and knew it was time to choose his successor. Instead of choosing one of his assistants or his children, he decided something different.
He called young people in the kingdom together one day. He said, "It is time for me to step down and choose the next emperor. I have decided to choose one of you."
The kids were shocked! But the emperor continued. "I am going to give each one of you a seed today, one very special seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from this one seed. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next emperor!"
One boy named Ling was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly told his mother the story. She helped him get a pot and planting soil, and he planted the seed and watered it carefully.
Every day he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about 3 weeks, some of the other youths began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Ling kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. 3 weeks, 4 weeks, 5 weeks went by. Still nothing.
By now, others were talking about their plants but Ling didn't have a plant, and he felt like a failure. 6 months went by; still nothing in Ling's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing.
Ling didn't say anything to his friends. He just kept waiting for his seed to grow. A year finally went by and all the youths of the kingdom brought their plants to the emperor for inspection.
Ling told his mother that he wasn't going to take an empty pot but his Mother said he must be honest about what happened. Ling felt sick to his stomach, but he knew his Mother was right.
He took his empty pot to the palace. When Ling arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other youths. They were beautiful, in all shapes and sizes. Ling put his empty pot on the floor and many of the other kinds laughed at him. A few felt sorry for him and just said, "Hey nice try."
When the emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young people. Ling just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees and flowers you have grown," said the emperor. "Today, one of you will be appointed the next emperor!"
All of a sudden, the emperor spotted Ling at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered his guards to bring him to the front. Ling was terrified. "The emperor knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me killed!"
When Ling got to the front, the Emperor asked his name. "My name is Ling," he replied. All the kids were laughing and making fun of him. The emperor asked everyone to quiet down.
He looked at Ling, and then announced to the crowd, "Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!" Ling couldn't believe it. Ling couldn't even grow his seed. How could he be the new emperor?
Then the emperor said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone here a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds, which would not grow. All of you, except Ling, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you.
Ling was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new emperor!"
If you plant honesty, you will reap trust.
If you plant goodness, you will reap friends.
If you plant humility, you will reap greatness.
If you plant perseverance, you will reap victory.
If you plant consideration, you will reap harmony.
If you plant hard work, you will reap success.
If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation.
If you plant openness, you will reap intimacy.
If you plant patience, you will reap improvements.
If you plant faith, you will reap miracles.
But:
If you plant dishonesty, you will reap distrust.
If you plant selfishness, you will reap loneliness.
If you plant pride, you will reap destruction.
If you plant envy, you will reap trouble.
If you plant laziness, you will reap stagnation.
If you plant bitterness, you will reap isolation.
If you plant greed, you will reap loss.
If you plant gossip, you will reap enemies.
If you plant worries, you will reap wrinkles.
If you plant sin, you will reap guilt.
So be careful what you plant now, it will determine what you will reap tomorrow.
The seeds you now scatter will make life worse or better your life or the ones who will come after. Yes, someday, you will enjoy the fruits, or you will pay for the choices you plant today.
~ Author Unknown ~
2007-10-21 21:19:01 · answer #1 · answered by Daddy in a box :) 3 · 5⤊ 4⤋
I would like to teach others that some people and some things in life cannot be changed. They are are meant to be the way they are. You have to accept certain things no matter what which is hard for most people including myself. But, I have a better understanding now to accept things that cannot be changed. It actually freed me from alot of mental burdens because I'm not always wasting energy hoping for a change when it's not coming. It's so much more peaceful this way.
2007-10-21 21:22:54 · answer #2 · answered by ang11222 . 3 · 4⤊ 0⤋
Forgiveness. I have always been forgiving, but when it came to my father, it was hard for me to forgive him for the abuse I received from him, for a very long time. 25 years in fact. He was an alcoholic, an emotional abuser, and physical abuser. I saw many hateful/violent things between the ages 5-12. Now, I'm 37, and I recently reconnected with him and my step mother a couple of years ago. I finally got the courage to tell my father and step mother how they made me feel when I was little. That was the hardest thing I have ever done because I had such great fear of them growing up. They surprisingly sat there and listened to me. Which shocked me. My father stopped drinking for a long time now, but I had a hard time believing that, and believing that he stopped the violence. I learned that he has. He still has a chip on his shoulder with a lot of stuff, but this I can handle. I'm not afraid any more. Which feels so good. That little girl inside does not feel afraid to speak her mind any more.
When my Granny got ill with alzheimers, and dementia (she's my father's mother), she wanted 'everyone' to get along. I wanted that as well but was too afraid to make the first move, because I had made the first move some years back, and it backfired on me. So, this time my Granny helped me, and when my father and step mother went to see her, she had them call me. My son was a year old, and they had never met him, nor my husband. I talked with them for a while, and I asked if they would like to meet their grandson, and meet my husband. They said yes. So on their way home from New Mexico, they stopped here in AZ and stayed with us over night.
I found that forgiving them for the abuse, helped me tremendously! It's helped me heal inside. Even though I still have the memories of the abuse, I don't cry about it any more. That there shows me that forgiving, has made me stronger.
It's easy for me to forgive a lot of people, but with my father and step mother, it took me a long time. That there was leaving me weak inside because I was not dealing with it in a healthy way. I was emotional, and the memories would control my thoughts often, and I was a mess at times. Now I find that my mind doesn't race with those bad memories as it did before. My mind is more at peace. Does that make sense?
Great question here. You get a star! :-)
2007-10-22 06:18:01 · answer #3 · answered by lady_bella 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
The late great Nat King Cole said it best in his famous song "Nature Boy." "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." And I'm not just talking ab. romance here. Life is too short, and it could just be my perspective right now in the big city, but the world seems to be getting colder. Let the people you love know you love them. Tell them and show them before it's too late. Love yourself too. Be a gentle force of love wherever you go and with whomever you encounter. When it is all said and done, love is the final equation.
2007-10-22 00:55:28 · answer #4 · answered by Indi 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
-You must find happiness in your failure
When you are little you believe that your life is so important and are convinced that the world revolves around you. The older you become the more you come to realize how insignificant you are. You come to terms with the fact that you have so many limitations and that you have little time in this world. You grow up and life just does not happen the way that you envisioned. Full of disappointments: marriages, jobs, death, etc...Through all life's dissapointments you have to find a way to be happy, to keep going and not give up.
2007-10-21 21:51:28 · answer #5 · answered by smartass23 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I learned that life is tough.but I am tougher..I learned how to deal with all the tribulations that came into my life and shared them to others, I learned to be contented because the more you want the more you fail, L learned that word of kindness can be the best weapon to tame even the most cruel persom , I learned to communicate with people ..because through people I will learn from their own experiences too , to serve as my emrgency kit in times of trouble..........after all life is what we make it````
2007-10-21 21:26:32 · answer #6 · answered by E@rthGoddess 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Life is too short to hold grudges. Forgive unconditionally
and freely. Love the sinner hate the sin. Help those that
can't help themselves. Be ready with a hug when someone
is down and a listening ear.
Daddy in a box---I loved what you had to say--I made a
copy of it. Thank you for sharing that.
2007-10-21 21:24:57 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
The only thing that matters in life is health - if you have good health, everything else can be sorted out. Without good health, nothing else will seem important.
- I learned this from someone very special. I wish more people realised the truth in it.
2007-10-22 10:41:01 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
That we can influence our emotional state - for real - not by some kind of hokey mental gymnastics or by having 50 cats - but by genuine knowledge of interpersonal relationships and their effects on us. I think most people deep down feel powerless to affect their own level of happiness in life. I'd like to see them realize otherwise.
2007-10-22 04:27:05 · answer #9 · answered by All hat 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
King's Solomon mine.
With all the golds and jewellery left behind back in the past.
Having found it.
Could not bring it all back to the graveyard with me.
Just leave it behind for all the little ones to continue in mining it.
Since I came with two empty hands will be leaving with two empty hands too.
May be have to check out at the entrance of the graveyard as the " Has been " too.
What do you think?
2007-10-21 21:22:13 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Nothing worth sharing in life with others can be readily taught .
2007-10-21 21:22:41 · answer #11 · answered by dogpatch USA 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋