Once Upon A Time....

Once upon a time there was a prosperous and peaceful kingdom ruled by a just king. The king was an able administrator and was prompt in attending to grievances of his subjects. He took care of them like his own children and he too was loved and admired by his subjects. He never went for a war and instead directed all the resources in making his kingdom prosperous.

One fine summer morning, dark clouds appeared on the horizon and the king felt a bit uneasy by their untimely presence. He took it as a bad omen. Soon his fears came true as a messenger entered his court panting and informed him that barbarian hordes had attacked the countryside and soon will launch their assault on the capital itself. Its been centuries this kingdom had seen a war. The king summoned his ministers and asked them to get the army ready for the battle. Though the soldiers haven't had any first hand battle experience, they were very much eager to fight for their king. They fought bravely but were routed by much experienced and fiercer army. The barbarian army broke through the capital gates and ravaged the whole kingdom, slaughtering men, women and children whoever came in its way.

Finding themselves defeated, the ministers advised the king to leave the  kingdom and seek refuge in nearby forest. The king was reluctant and wanted to fight till the last drop of his blood. But, the ministers talked some sense into him and persuaded him to escape to the forest. As he left the kingdom, he was pained to see his kingdom ravaged and his people butchered. Tired and wounded, the king and his remaining ministers made it to the forest out of harm's way.

The king was inconsolable. He never anticipated such a thing would happen to him and his people. He cursed his fate and looked upwards towards the sky and ranted, "What sins have I committed that I and my people are being punished so mercilessly?". He cried even harder when visions of his ravaged kingdom flashed before his eyes. He could not adjust himself to the sudden change of fortunes. His ministers were no better and could not comfort him. The king felt so painful at heart for failing his people that he was on the verge of losing his sanity. He even contemplated running a sword through himself to put an end to this life and pain once and for all. But his alert ministers held him back. As the king ranted about his loss, a hermit who was passing by spoke to the king and said, "O King, cry and shout as hard as you can tonight, release all your sorrows but tomorrow morning when you wake up, you will have two choices, one you continue to be as miserable and slip into oblivion and spend rest of your life like a beggar and other take your loss in your own stride, brace yourself up and fight back to regain your glory". If you choose the latter, come to me, my hermitage is nearby and pointed in the direction of some trees.

Life isn't smooth always, some unexpected turn of events could put one in disarray. But you always have the choice of either being miserable or happy as both take similar efforts, only the end results differ.

The king stopped being miserable and chose to fight back. The hermit had poured some sanity into his senses. Next morning, he went to meet the hermit. The hermit led him to his pupils who were training martial arts and told the king pointing towards them, "This is the army you have to lead in the battle but first you must prove your efficiency as a warrior and leader. The hermit handed the king a bow and arrow and asked him to shoot at a target. The king shot the arrow but missed the target widely. The hermit asked the king to observe him and practice till he hits the bull's eye. The king started practising vigourously day and night as he wanted to lead a fightback and regain his kingdom as soon as possible. Soon the king's arrow started finding the bull's eye every time he shot. He confidently went up to the master and claimed he could shoot the bull's eye. He shot 3 consecutive arrows into the bull's eye but the master wasn't impressed. He asked the king to practise more and observe him while he shot. The king could not understand what the hermit meant as even after shooting 3 arrows into the bull's eye the hermit asked him to practise more. He got frustrated and lost all hope of getting any help from the hermit and started to leave to find his own band of soldiers.

As he packed, a voice in his head said, "hey, your master is not insane, maybe he is trying to convey a message". He stayed back to learn more. Next morning, as he saw his master pick up the bow and arrow, a sudden enlightenment dawned on him. He rushed to his master and once again claimed he could shoot perfectly now. This time as he picked up the bow and took aim, the master said, "Yes, you have perfected the art". The king released the arrow and hit the bull's eye.

What the king realised here was that hitting the target was not all that is important, but the way you hit the target, how relaxed you are, how calm you are and how focussed you are without worrying about the result was important. A good leader needs to be relaxed and should keep aside his worries as he plans his next moves as worries and anger cloud ones thinking and play with their emotions. The king learnt to relax both his body and mind and with a sound mind and a handful of soldiers he led a fightback and soon reclaimed his kingdom driving out all of the barbarians.

Like the king, many of us might have enjoyed the comforts of life but some unexpected events might have turned the world upside down for us. Such drastic changes can unsettle anyone. Like the king everyone has a choice and to pursue our goals inspite of difficulties, we need to learn to endure the pain, stop being miserable and relax and plan our next course of action. The result is always fruitful when you plan your actions with a relaxed mind.