Story of the Day: A King Had a Boulder Placed on a Roadway

People encounter obstacles on their way to greatness in life. The difference between people who succeed and those who fail is how they tackle the obstacle ahead of them.

During ancient times, a king willfully placed a boulder on a roadway where everyone, both peasants and merchants, passed. He then hid not far from the place to see what people would do.

The king intended for someone to roll away the boulder, but to his surprise, no one did. Some of the most prominent merchants in the town passed by it and did nothing. Same with some of the king’s courtiers.

People chose to walk around the boulder rather than trying to move it away. Many of them even blamed the king and cursed him for not making the road clear. Still, no one did anything about it.

The boulder was an obvious obstacle along their path, but rather than moving it; they were content with finding a way around it.Everyone expected the king to do something about the boulder on the roadway, and the king was waiting to see who will take the initiative to roll the boulder from the road.

Things continued like that until one day, a peasant was passing along the same road with a heavy load of vegetables, and he met with this obstacle on his way.

Instead of following the same path as everyone and finding his way around the boulder, he chose to put down his heavy load of vegetables and roll the boulder away from the middle of the road.

He strained himself, pushing the boulder away. He pushed it and got exhausted, but he didn’t stop. Even though there was no one to help him, that did not deter him. After a long period of straining and pushing, he finally succeeded in getting the boulder out of the road, and the road was free again.

Just as he was about to pick up his vegetables to continue his journey, he found a purse on the road where the boulder was lying. It had many gold coins, and there was a note in it for whoever moved the boulder from the road.

The peasant became a rich person by doing what others failed to do. He learned something that other people failed to realize: every obstacle on your roadway is an opportunity to improve your life.

Here's another thought-provoking parable.

Source: Englishforstudents