THE APPLE STORY – A LOOK AT LIFE
There is a box of apples of which some are infested with worms. Which apple would you choose? Would you choose a good apple or one with a worm sticking out? Most people with the right mind would have chosen a good one. Since birth, we were educated to accept things that look good or feel good. This has turned into a custom or a belief in our life from generations after generations, without mindfully considering the effect it will have on out lives.
If I were to be given a third choice, I would not choose any apples from that box. What for I choose an apple which look beautiful amongst all that are infested with worms? The apples would have come from the same tree and there could be worms inside too. The same way applies to our life. Looks can be deceiving until you understand deeply into the heart of a person. We would not know the intentions or motives of a person by just having a glance. It will take time before we can understand him better to accept him into our life.
If I have no choice but to choose either one of the apples, I would have chosen the one which looks good but with a worm sticking out of it. At least I will know there is a bad part which I can cut off in order to enjoy the balance of the fruit. As in life, no one is perfect and all of us have a bit of evil in us. If we are aware of the bad section of our life, we can learn how to cut that part off in order to have a sweeter life.
The key to a person’s heart is by understanding him better. And in any relationships in our life, the most valuable part is friendship. Life cannot be real if a relationship is not real. Thus friendship would not be real either. In most cases, friendship is not for real. It is just a game. It is just a deep craving for companionships. The days of having an honest, sincere, genuine, non-manipulative relationships hardly existed anymore. What has happened to the mutual respect and trust of a relationship today? People are becoming more inhuman due to lack of good relationships. Just like the apples, the more worms they have, the faster they get infested.
Nowadays, it is getting harder and harder to pick a good apple from any box as most of the boxes out there are having the same problems, worm infestations. There are so much uncertainty, insecurity, grief and anguish in our world. Can you really find someone who is almost perfect nowadays? I doubt it. Conditions are ever changing. One moment you see a good apple, and as time passes, it might not last up to your expectations. Just as in life. Good things in life are ever changing too. The happy moments, a loving relationship, success, good fortune, friendships; they are always changing. As in the gravity principle, what goes up will eventually come down. Life is full of the unexpected and impermanence.
We are all caught in this condition. We hardly have the control over life situations. We tend to have the mind set of “If you can’t beat the crowd, join them”. We adapt ourselves to the ever changing conditions, thinking that it will liberate us from any harm. This is totally wrong. How sure are you that being a good apple in a box of worm infested ones will not affect you at all? It is a matter of time that you will have a “soft spot” unknowingly and the worm will slowly creep into your heart.
This is life. A life filled with unseen threats. Unless a person is fully conscious to acknowledge things as how they are, whether they are good or bad influences to his life, he would be just like an apple in the worm infested box. There would not be any ending to any problems.
I'm thirsty for a drink now. Would you be kind enough to treat me?
