Points of You story 2: OPTIMIST

A traveler walking alone saw a monk working in a field, so he stopped and asked him: “I’m on my way to the village in the valley, can you tell me what it’s like?” “Where have you come from?” enquired the monk. “I have come from the village in the mountains. It was terrible!” the man exclaimed, “no-one spoke my language, I had to sleep on a dirt floor, they fed me disgusting stew and the weather was atrocious.” “Then I think that you will find that the village in the valley is much the same,” the monk noted.

A few hours later another traveler passed by and he said to the monk, “I am on my way to the village in the valley, can you tell what it’s like?” “Where have you come from?” enquired the monk. “I have come from the village in the mountains – it was awesome!” the man replied, “No-one spoke my language so we had to communicate using our hands! I had to sleep on the dirt floor – I’ve never done that before! They fed me some sort of weird stew and it was so cool to experience how the locals lived! The weather was freezing cold, which meant that I really got a taste of the local conditions. It was one of the best experiences of my life.” “Then I think that you’ll find that the village in the valley is much the same,” responded the monk.

Zen Story