Can A Story Make You Feel Differently?

So its world book day! I love books and enjoy getting to bed early with a book I can get lost in. Stories are for pleasure of course, but sometimes they can carry a meaning and it can be as if the message was written just for you. So it felt relevant to me, to tell you a short story. I hope this resonates:

A Story About Critique

There was old, wise, spiritual man and one day a journalist went to meet with him. The journalist’s intention was to make this man feel stupid. To diminish him. He said “all you believe in, this is all nonsense, its rubbish and you are crazy”

He stood there, in front of the spiritual man, saying all of these horrible things, but the older man just smiled.

This was confusing to the journalist, he knew he was being nasty and criticising and just couldn’t fathom how someone on the receiving end of his cruel words could smile, so he asked him, he asked “why are you smiling, I’m telling you, you are a fake, a fool!?”

And the spiritual man said, “Well my dear boy, if you give me a gift, and I do not accept that gift, then who has the gift?”

The journalist replied “well that would be me.”

“Precisely” said the spiritual man, “I am not accepting your critique, I’m just leaving it with you, and here is your gift.”

Take it or Leave it

You see, if someone gives you a gift and you do not accept it, you can just leave it with them. It is theirs for them to keep. This metaphor, I hope makes you realise that some people will offer up things you don’t want but you do not have to accept it.

Over to you

Next time some one is offering up their ‘advice’ or other cutting remarks, and you may find this could be someone close to you, thinking they are trying to be helpful, try saying “thanks for that, but Im already sorted”.

As always let me know what you think, do you know any good stories that share a good message? Also, of course, if you need any help in changing your thinking to get to this point. Give me a shout, you know how to reach me.