Now and then, he would shake the sack violently. This behavior caught the attention of one of the passengers, an agricultural engineer. The engineer could not control his curiosity and asked, “Why are you shaking the sack? What is inside?” The farmer smiled and said, “There are dozens of mice in the sack. If I leave them alone for too long, they will realize they are trapped and might stop fighting amongst themselves. They will start working together to gnaw at the sack to escape, and then I will lose everything I collected.” The farmer added, “Whenever I sense the mice starting to calm down, I shake the sack and start to make them confused. They think the danger is coming from those inside, so they go back to attack each other.”
The mice forgot that the real problem is not the mouse next to them, but the sack that trapped them. The story may seem simple, but it raises a question far bigger than that sack. How often do we get caught up in fighting amongst ourselves, while ignoring the one who made us believe our enemy is the person standing right next to us? We often argue over trivial matters, becoming adversaries because of differences in opinion, sect or affiliation, while the issues that truly affect our lives remain outside our sphere of concern.
When a difference of opinion turns into hatred, it becomes easy to forget who holds the power. When a debate turns into fanaticism, it becomes easy to believe that the problem is in the person next to us, not the reality that contains all of us. When we are engulfed in petty battles, we may not notice that someone is continuing to build their interests away from our noise.
The most dangerous thing that could happen to a person is not disagreeing with someone, but losing the ability to think during the disagreement. Do not be like the mouse fighting the mouse next to it, while ignoring the bag trapping both of them. In a world where noise is increasing, perhaps the most aware person is the one who looks around and asks, “Who is making us fight, as he continues to go forward calmly?”
As soon as the rain stops, the umbrella becomes a heavy burden that no one wants to carry. As soon as the blind man regains his sight, the first thing he discards is the cane that supported him for years. When the sun rises, the first thing one extinguishes is the candle that guided him in the darkness. Is this how loyalty should be? So, do not be surprised if you feel different, since you live in a society that considers the shepherd ignorant and the dog breeder civilized.
An elderly watermelon seller put up a sign that read, “Buy one watermelon for three dollars or three watermelons for ten dollars.” A young man drove past the seller, and the sign caught his attention. The young man decided to teach the seller a lesson in economics. He got out of his car, bought one watermelon, left for a short while, and returned to buy a second. Then he came back a little later to buy a third one. The young man turned to the elderly watermelon seller and said, “I bought three watermelons for nine dollars, not ten. I do not think you are good in business.” The elderly watermelon seller smiled and thought to himself, “How strange people are! Every time, they buy three watermelons instead of one, yet they insist on teaching me how to do business.”
