A Life Lesson in the Purest Form of Love.
Recently, while reading Anthony de Mello’s book “Taking Flight,” I came upon story that supports the life strategy I adopted and embraced when I was 22 years old. Back then, I had just completed reading Zig Ziglar’s “See You At The Top” and made a commitment to prove Zig’s famous quote “You can get everything you want in life, if you just help enough OTHER people get what THEY want.” The quote has served me well my entire life, and decades later this simple story of de Mello’s offers another reason why. Here’s the paraphrased story.
Two brothers inherited a farm from their father. One was a bachelor, and the other was married with five children. The farm produced an abundant harvest of grain each year, and they divided it evenly. Everything went well for the brothers. The married brother began waking up at night and thinking: “This isn’t fair. My brother isn’t married, he’s all alone, and he gets only half the produce of our farm. I have a wife and five children, so I have all the security I need for my old age. But who will care for my brother when he gets old? He needs to save more for his future than I do. His need is obviously greater than mine.” So, he would get out of bed in the middle of the night, fill a large sack with grain from his supply, take it over to his brother’s home, and pour it into his brother’s grain supply. The brother who was a bachelor also began waking up at night and thinking: “This isn’t fair. My brother has a wife and five kids, and he gets only half the produce of our land. I have no one except myself to support. His need is obviously greater than mine.” So, he would get out of bed in the middle of the night, fill a large sack with grain from his supply, take it over to his brother’s home, and pour it into his brother’s grain supply. Neither brother could figure out why their amount of grain never diminished even though they were taking out full sacks of grain almost every night.
One of the key lessons contained in this story is that no matter how much grain was given, the replenishment of it was near simultaneous. Neither brother gave with the intent of receiving anything back, which is why they couldn’t figure out why their own amount never diminished. Each brother was able to fully enjoy the way they felt when they committed to helping the other. Interestingly, in one way, their motives were completely opposite with one brother worrying about his brother being alone, and the other brother worrying about the challenges his brother faced being married with five children. Think of the beauty of that. Truly, their motives in the story were the purest form of love any person can experience.
So, imagine for a moment what each brother’s character trait list looked like. Can you believe that they were willing to share their harvest with many others as years passed by? How do you think they processed the “Love Thy Neighbor” part of their life? What lessons were passed on to the five children by their father, mother, and uncle? What lessons did other members of their community pick up on when they found out what was going on? Would you be willing to share this story of the two brothers with people you love and care about?
The real beauty of the two brothers’ story and the Zig Ziglar quote is that the thought processes they promote can work for anyone who desires to live a joyful, fulfilling, and worthwhile life. Another bonus is that it doesn’t matter if you’re two or a hundred and two, you can begin embracing right now…yes, right this very moment. But will you? I sure hope so. Writing this article reminded me of a plaque seen in the background in the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” that reads: ALL YOU CAN TAKE WITH YOU IS THAT WHICH YOU’VE GIVEN AWAY.
When we love, serve, and help others we experience the purest form of love. Begin right now, today, by performing some random act of kindness, calling someone you haven’t talked to in a while, spreading a smile filled with sunshine everywhere you encounter others. Think of ways you can help others get what they want. Share the grains of wisdom you’ve acquired in life with others when there’s an opportunity. Finally, live life giving away ALL of the love you have inside knowing that it’s the only thing you’ll be able to take with you when you depart this here earth and enter the heavens of eternity. Hey…I Believe In You! GiddyUp!