think for 10 seconds after you read this parable, you will change yourself =)
Once upon a time, there lived two brothers. They lived on the 80th floor of a tall apartment building. One day, they returned from a vacation, only to discover that the elevators in the building were broken. The brothers then had no choice but to climb up the stairs carrying their heavy luggages.
After much lugging and heaving, they arrived on the 20th floor, and felt very exhausted. The older brother said: "Our luggage is too heavy. We can't drag them all the way up, so how about we leave our luggage here, and after the elevators are fixed, we'll come back for them?" And so they left their bags on the 20th floor and continued their upwards climb.
It was a much easier ascent without having to carry heavy suitcases, and so the brothers relaxed and began to chat while their continued to climb up. However, it wasn't long before fatigue hit them again, and when they reached the 40th floor, they were extremely tired. The brothers were disappointed that they had made it only half way, and so they started arguing and blaming each other for their current situation, and continued to argue until they reached the 60th floor. From the 60th floor on, however, they were simply so exhausted that they were without energy to continue arguing. The younger brother said, "Let's just stop disagreeing with each other so we can make it to the top." And so, they trudged up step after step in silence to the 80th floor...
The 80th floor... they made it! The brothers were so excited that they finally made it home that they mustered up enough energy to run towards the front door. Yet after stumbling in their pockets for some time, they brothers only just then realized that they had left their keys in their luggage... on the 20th floor.
Some say that this story parallels our own lives: before we reach 20 years of age, we live under our parents' and teachers' expectations, carrying much stress but are not mature enough or capable of many things. It is therefore difficult to keep a steady pace. After age 20, we are relieved from previous external influences, and so "drop" our "luggage" and begin to concentrate on pursuing our dreams. However, 20 years of good times fly by fast, and when we reach age 40, the passions of our youth die out, and we are left with many regrets and disappointments. And so then, we live 20 years of our lives regretting what we could have done with ourselves, disappointed in this, jealous of that... Until, finally, upon reaching our 60th winter, we realize that not much time is left in our lives, and so tell ourselves to stop complaining and treasure the little time that remain. Quietly, we arrive at the ends of our lives, only then to remember that there is something we have forgotten to do - and finally to realize that all of our dreams are still left in our past - when we were once young, and 20.
Note: I found this inspirational Chinese parable randomly on the internet and I translated it. Hopefully it will motivate all of you who still have great dreams and passions. =)
