MONEY OR WORDS

A serious famine took over a little town making a young man leave his home to search for greener pastures. He told his wife, ' my darling wife, I will leaving for years to find a better life for us because no one knows when this famine will be over. I will using twenty years and I want you to promise me you won't marry another man after my departure'. She promised and he departed the following day. He walked for fifteen days before meeting a rich man who accepted to take him in for twenty years. It was agreed that he would collect his total salary at the end of the service with the man catering for his other needs. Two years, four years, and the twenty years was complete, he went to the man and, ' Sir, I have served under you diligently and faithfully, I think it's time I moved on, I will like to collect my total salary'. The man sighed and said, ' Yes! You've truly served me well but I have a question for you; Will you prefer to collect your total salary or collect three words of advice'? It was hard to decide so, he was given two days to meditate over it. He made a decision no one would have made, he chose the words of advice. The man was amazed, ' Hmmm, it was a hard decision indeed. I congratulate you for choosing the words of advice, I pray you make good things out of it. I want you to keep them dearly. The first is never think of taking a shortcut because the easiest path is always long. Be patient no matter what, patience never bores. Lastly, don't act out of rage because you might destroy the dearest of things. Before you leave, take these three loafs of bread, eat two on the way and the last one when you reach your destination. The journey would take fifteen days, I will advise you rest and start the journey tomorrow'. On the fifth day, he stopped over at a market where he ate a loaf and slept. He hadn't walked five kilometers when he met a man who showed him a shortcut that might possibly hasten his journey. He was so happy and thanked the man; he was ten kilometers away when he remembered the man's advice. He ran back to the spot he took off and continued on the right path. He came by an old friend after walking for another five days and slept at his place. At midnight, a person came knocking furiously, he had almost opened the door when he remembered the man's words about patience, he gently went back to sleep. When it was morning, he was made to realise that the person knocking would have beheaded him if he had opened the door. He thanked the Lord and his friend and left. He was some metres away from his house when he saw his wife hugging a young man, he was so furious but controlled himself after remembering the man's last words. He waited for some minutes before going home. As most men would do, he was still having this feeling and after persistent questioning, he opened up to his wife. His wife was like giggling out loud when she heard his reason and told him, ' I was actually praying for the young man you saw. It was after you left that I realised that I was pregnant and since then, I had been doing everything to make him have a better life and now that you are back, I hope he is going to have the best life'. The thought running through his mind was ' hmmm, best life with one loaf of bread, aiy'! His son was a photocopy of him, he prayed for him and they sat to eat dinner. As the head, he was about sharing the bread when he realised that the knife wasn't going through. He used his hand, lo and behold, his total salary and some additional benefits... Life! Nowadays, people find it stressful to take the long route, they want to reach their destination but in the process, they end at the starting point, 'over' stressed out. If you don't know, the easiest route you are looking for is the longest so, don't disturb your mind looking for a shortcut because there is none. What leads to searching for a shortcut? Lack of patience. If you are not that patient with your life, you take wrong steps that can possibly terminate you. So, be patient because it's the only thing that doesn't kill. Rage takes everything from you no matter how much or large, it destroys you. Why live a 'rageful' life when you know you have a lot to live for, don't worry everything is going to be better, it's just for a matter of time. Cheer up, everytime, anytime; choose the words not the money!