Once upon a time there lived a very pious saint. He had many disciples and was very well loved.
One day while taking a walk with his disciples in the beautiful mountains of Tibet, he listened to his students talk about their dreams and lives. He considered himself extremely blessed to have such passionate students. However, they were also very competitive.
“What qualities do we need to get success in life?” He asked his students.
“Talent.” One replied.
“Good luck.” The other replied.
“Favourable circumstances.” Said another.
He sat down with them around a tree and asked them to watch the two farms in front of them.
The children obeyed and looked at two farms where farmers were ploughing the land. In one farm, the farmer had seven oxen and in the other, the farmer only had two.
In the first farm, work was getting done very easily as compared to the other.
In the farm where the farmer had better equipment, the land was ploughed faster and soon enough the farmer was done with his work. In the other farm, even though it took more work, the farmer did not stop and worked harder.
As evening fell, the farmer was done with his work too.
Both the farmers succeeded.
The saint turned to his disciples and said, “Some people have to work harder than others to achieve something, some have natural talent while others have to practice for it, some people have better luck than others but in the end even if the playing fields are uneven you succeed only if you are hardworking and disciplined.”
Moral: Discipline and work ethic are the key to success.
