The road less travelled

"William" was born into a family that lacked.

He never had too much but always just enough.

This was very unsettling to him.

He wanted to find out how "the other half" lived.

This quest sent William on a journey to seek counsel

from a person that area elders considered a wise man.

The problem was that nobody from his hometown had ever

actually seen or heard from this wise man.

But they had heard he lived in a place far, far away.

This did not deter young William; he knew he was somehow

drawn to this person and eagerly sought his advice.

William travelled for days without any sign of this wise man.

His spirits were down until he came to a fork in the road.

At the fork, there was a sign that read;

"Wise Man ahead; choose your direction carefully."

This fork in the road was different and unlike all the other forks he had

seen before.

This fork had three options; all going in distinctly different directions.

Wanting to get to the wise man, William evaluated his choices;

Choice Number One was labeled "Something for Nothing"

It stated the "wise man" was 15 miles in this direction.

This choice tempted William because that is how his family lived.

They routinely collected unemployment checks every month and sat around

complaining about their conditions.

They chose to spend their "paychecks" on lottery tickets and were often found

in the local casino dropping coins into the "one armed bandit" hoping to

"win big".

Yes, the "Something for Nothing" road was very real to William but something

inside of him knew that there was something better awaiting him.

He then focused on Choice Number Two- the road labeled

"Nothing for Something".

This peaked William's interest and he noticed it was only 32 miles away.

The "Nothing for Something" route reminded him of what his older brother

said every day after he got home from work; "I got nothing for something

today. I earned $100 today and gave them another day of my life."

As William recalled every detail of his brother's account of his life, he could

plainly see of how every person who sits in bumper-to-bumper traffic must feel

on the way to and from their self-imposed 9 to 5 sentence.

The "Nothing for Something" choice didn't sit well with William either.

He knew that he needed to do something extraordinary to receive

extraordinary results.

Then he looked at Choice Number Three.

It was labeled "Diligence" 100 miles.

This path was further away than the other two combined but that made

William wonder if that was the direction to go.

At this point, he really wanted to see the "wise man" and knew by choosing

Route One or Two he could get there quicker but something about Choice

Number Three intrigued him.

He had heard of the word "diligence" before but he never really knew what

it meant.

Needless to say, William chose to travel the less travelled path and went in the

direction of "Diligence"

His journey was long but by applying careful, steady effort, William eventually

arrived at the home of the wise man.

William knocked on the door and was greeted by a man with a long gray beard.

William asked the man where the wise man was but the bearded man said

nothing and turned and walked towards a room full of books.

William followed the man into the room and took a seat after the man

signaled for him to do so.

Still wondering when he was going to see the "wise man", William eagerly

anticipated what was in store for him after his long journey.

Did he travel over 100 miles on foot to talk to an old man?

Was he led astray by his inner voice that suggested he take the route

labeled "Diligence"?

Minutes later, the old man pulled a book from a shelf and turned to William

and spoke;

"Young William, I know why you are here today and I know the path you chose

to get here. I will read to you a few words from this book, then you will leave

and I pray that you put into practice the message I deliver."

"But what about the wise man that I travelled to see?" questioned William.

The old man replied and told William that by taking the road marked

"Diligence" that he was the wise one and continued to read a passage from

the book on the table.

The old man read, "He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but

the hand of the diligent maketh rich"

William sat bewildered by what he had just heard, not clearly understanding

the words of the old man.

"What does that mean?" asked William.

"It is what you make of it" said the old man as he stood up and left the room.

Still wondering about the words he had just experienced, William reached for

the book so he could read the title.

The book was old and the title wasn't ledgible because of the obvious wear it

had received over the years.

As William tried to find the title of the book in the first few pages, he came

across a hand written note that read; "William, take this book with you; it

contains all the knowledge and wisdom you will ever need."

William remained puzzled as he stood up.

He then flipped over the note and continued to read;

"The 'wise man' you came to see has been with you your whole life William.

It is only until now that you found that you are here because you chose the

right path and the voice of God. Have a safe trip home"


____________________________________________________________

Above passage picked up from the cutting room floor from
"Mindspeak" sessions. It didn't make it into "Mindspeak" but
I wanted to share the message. Peace.