Once upon a time, there was a young boy and an old man making
their way up a mountain path. Accompanying them on the journey was a single
donkey. As the trek progressed, the little boy became fatigued and the old man
helped him up on the donkey. Upon seeing an old man walking up the steep path
while a young boy rode, other travelers began to sneer and scoff, “Look at that
poor old man having to walk the trail, while the boy comfortably rides their
donkey.”
After several of these comments, the old man and the boy
decided to switch places and the old man then rode the donkey. It didn’t take
long before another passerby commented, “Why is that man riding the donkey and
forcing that cute little kid to walk? How selfish!”
After a few more similar remarks, the boy and the old man
decided they would both walk. But once again, the snide remarks soon followed, “Look
at those two idiots walking when they have a perfectly good donkey to ride!”
Irritated and embarrassed, our two travelers decided they
would both get on the donkey and ride it together. Surely, now their critics
would be silenced. But once again, onlookers chided them, “That poor donkey can
barely walk with that fat old man and chubby kid (they had, in fact, visited
Krispy Kreme earlier that day) crushing his spine. How cruel!”
Now irate, the old man and the boy jumped off the donkey,
and in a last-ditch effort to put an end to judgments of the strangers, decided
they would carry the donkey up the path. But under the weight of the animal,
the two hikers soon became exhausted and started to lose their footing. As they
slipped, the dropped the poor donkey and he tumbled down the side of the mountain,
lost forever.
***
As you travel through life, you will never be able to please
everyone, and this is especially true if you desire to make a difference in
this life and in the lives of others. So be careful to not overvalue the judgments
and opinions of your critics, because you just might end up losing your ass.
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