An old Sufi story talks about a beggar who always complained to God about the things which were missing in his life. Especially when he saw the other beggars who lived better lives or the people who came to throw coins on which they survived. One night, before going to sleep, he begged God “My life is a bundle of unbearable burdens. Please take it away”. That night he had a dream that he was led to a warehouse. Thousands of people were sitting in that big hall, many people he knew and a lot of unknown faces too. There were thousands of hangers on the wall. Each person sitting down there had a bundle or their worries in their hands with their names written on that bundle. A voice echoed in the hall “go and hang your bundle on the nail and come and sit down.” Everyone complied. After a while the voice commanded “now you can pick up any bundle you want and your life will be changed forever.” The man got up and went to pick up the smallest bundle on the wall. When he came back to sit in his place he was surprised to see, he had picked up his own bundle. When we look at our lives, we feel we have the most distraught life because we know the problems we are going through. All we see are the smiles on the faces of others and think they have no worries, no problems and we are the unfortunate ones who have the worst life. Less do we know that others could be hiding their tears of misery behind those smiles and masks, perhaps there are those who have learnt how to deal with their bundles and are able to deal with their challenges. Let’s open our bundle of problems and give solutions to our problems instead of comparing our lives with others. All our blessings are also in the same bundle once we start finding solutions to our problems by changing our attitude. To avoid disappointment, know what is sufficient. To avoid trouble, know when to stop. If you are able to do this, you will last a long time.
