This Zen Story Will Make You Stop Worrying
In a beautiful mountain range near China, there was a small village where a farmer lived peacefully with his family.
The following year, due to poor rainfall, farming was affected, and their family’s financial condition was badly affected.
After this incident, the farmer worried too much, and these worries slowly affected his daily activities. He couldn’t focus, sleep, or make any important decisions. This also affected both his mental and physical health.
Seeing the farmer’s condition, an old village man offered him advice to visit a monk living outside the village nearby the mountains.
Taking his advice, the farmer visited the monk and shared all his struggles with him.
After listening to the farmer’s struggles, the monk smiled and took an empty glass, filling it halfway with water.
After pouring the water, the monk showed the glass to the farmer and asked, ‘How much does the glass weigh?’
The farmer replied, ‘Since the glass is only half-full, it won’t weigh much.’
The monk said, ‘Okay! Now, hold this glass in your hand for one hour. Then, tell me how much it weighs.’
The farmer replied, ‘Oh! If I have to hold it for an hour, it will weigh more.’
‘Okay! What about holding it for an entire day?’ the monk asked the farmer again.
The farmer replied, ‘No, it will become too heavy, and it will be difficult to hold it all day as my hands would become painful.’
After hearing this, the monk placed the glass down and told the farmer, ‘Just like this in your life, if you keep holding onto your problems, they will hurt you more and more.’
‘You have to let go of your worries and focus on current action, as holding onto worries will not give you anything; instead, it will give you more pain,’ said the monk.
Life is filled with problems; I really don’t know how bad your situation is, but one thing I can say is that you should keep your worries aside. If you can’t keep your worries in check, they will consume your daily life.
It’s easy to say, but how can we let go our worries?
Take a notebook or paper and write down all your worries. After writing, ask yourself two questions:
Do I have any control over this worry?
Can I overcome this worry if I can do something about it?
By asking these questions, you will look for solutions to overcome your worries rather than dwelling on past actions.
Like changes, problems come in different modes at different stages of life. All you have to do is trust yourself and keep moving on.
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