Once upon a time, there was a big king, powerful and immensely rich but also very
unhappy. This sad king had a very happy servant. The servant was bubbly, smiley and
he was always singing happily. The king became impatient with his happiness and asked him:
“Why are you always so happy?”
“Well, you treat me right, I make ends meet enough to feed my family and myself, even a
little bit more, I have a beautiful wife and healthy kids. Why shouldn’t I be happy? I’m just
happy.”
Of course the king was not satisfied with his answer and called the wise man from his
Kingdom to help him solve the mystery.
The wise consultant said:
“It’s because he is outside the circle of 99 while you’re inside.”
“What are you talking about? What is the circle of 99?” the puzzled king asked.
“Are you willing to lose some golden coins to find out?” the wise man suggested to which the
king answered positively.
“Prepare for tomorrow a sac with 99 golden coins and at night we will go to the servant’s
house” said the wise man.
When it was night, the wise man and the king went secretly to the servant’s house, knocking
on the door they left the sac with the coins and a note that said: “This money is yours. It’s your
prize for being such a good man. Enjoy!”
When the servant found the sac, he couldn’t believe his eyes. He was over the moon. He was
laughing and singing and thanking God for his good fortune. He then started counting the money
by making piles of 10 coins till he realized a pile had only 9 coins. There were 99 golden coins.
“There is one missing, there should be 100” he thought. He searched all around the house for
hours, couldn’t find anything. He was sure that someone took his one coin and he started
swearing and cursing. He began to think how he could gain one golden coin. He thought “with
100 coins I can say that I’m rich, I will not have to work, I will be important and respected in the
kingdom”.
He did some calculations and realized that he needed 10 years in order to earn one
more golden coin, “10 years, that’s too much” he thought. “Perhaps my wife can help me by
selling in the market on weekends, even depriving from certain things, perhaps in 4 or 5 years I
will make it.
He got a second job, he was eating only a piece of bread every day and he stopped
burning wood to keep warm so he was sleeping in a cold room every night with hardly anything
to wear and starving.
In few days, the tired and haggard servant serving the King when the latter asked:
“What’s wrong servant? Why are you not smiling and singing like before?”
“Sir, I do my duty as I should. You pay me to do my job, I don’t need to give you explanations
for my behavior or frame of mind” the upset servant replied.
The king laid off the servant for being insolent and understood perfectly this was how he
entered the circle of 99. He stopped being happy.
99 coins are the 100% of our treasure. Nothing is missing, no one stole anything, 100 is not
as round as 99 is. It’s just a trap, a carrot they swing in front of us, to make us stupid enough to
keep moving tired, unhappy and compromised.
A trap so that we never stop to push so that everything remains the same.
Things can change only if we become able to enjoy our treasures
as they are.
Thanks to : Mr. Jorge Bucay
From India, New Delhi
unhappy. This sad king had a very happy servant. The servant was bubbly, smiley and
he was always singing happily. The king became impatient with his happiness and asked him:
“Why are you always so happy?”
“Well, you treat me right, I make ends meet enough to feed my family and myself, even a
little bit more, I have a beautiful wife and healthy kids. Why shouldn’t I be happy? I’m just
happy.”
Of course the king was not satisfied with his answer and called the wise man from his
Kingdom to help him solve the mystery.
The wise consultant said:
“It’s because he is outside the circle of 99 while you’re inside.”
“What are you talking about? What is the circle of 99?” the puzzled king asked.
“Are you willing to lose some golden coins to find out?” the wise man suggested to which the
king answered positively.
“Prepare for tomorrow a sac with 99 golden coins and at night we will go to the servant’s
house” said the wise man.
When it was night, the wise man and the king went secretly to the servant’s house, knocking
on the door they left the sac with the coins and a note that said: “This money is yours. It’s your
prize for being such a good man. Enjoy!”
When the servant found the sac, he couldn’t believe his eyes. He was over the moon. He was
laughing and singing and thanking God for his good fortune. He then started counting the money
by making piles of 10 coins till he realized a pile had only 9 coins. There were 99 golden coins.
“There is one missing, there should be 100” he thought. He searched all around the house for
hours, couldn’t find anything. He was sure that someone took his one coin and he started
swearing and cursing. He began to think how he could gain one golden coin. He thought “with
100 coins I can say that I’m rich, I will not have to work, I will be important and respected in the
kingdom”.
He did some calculations and realized that he needed 10 years in order to earn one
more golden coin, “10 years, that’s too much” he thought. “Perhaps my wife can help me by
selling in the market on weekends, even depriving from certain things, perhaps in 4 or 5 years I
will make it.
He got a second job, he was eating only a piece of bread every day and he stopped
burning wood to keep warm so he was sleeping in a cold room every night with hardly anything
to wear and starving.
In few days, the tired and haggard servant serving the King when the latter asked:
“What’s wrong servant? Why are you not smiling and singing like before?”
“Sir, I do my duty as I should. You pay me to do my job, I don’t need to give you explanations
for my behavior or frame of mind” the upset servant replied.
The king laid off the servant for being insolent and understood perfectly this was how he
entered the circle of 99. He stopped being happy.
99 coins are the 100% of our treasure. Nothing is missing, no one stole anything, 100 is not
as round as 99 is. It’s just a trap, a carrot they swing in front of us, to make us stupid enough to
keep moving tired, unhappy and compromised.
A trap so that we never stop to push so that everything remains the same.
Things can change only if we become able to enjoy our treasures
as they are.
Thanks to : Mr. Jorge Bucay
From India, New Delhi
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