I'd Rather Be a Happy Turtle
Zhuang Zi
lived in ancient China and he was a brilliant philosopher and strategist. His
abilities were many and several rulers sought his services.
One of them,
King Wei, sent his courtiers out to Zhuang Zi's pastoral home to invite him to
come to Wei's court and be the leader's chief counselor. They found him there
fishing by the riverbank.
Seeing his
poor situation, they thought Zhuang Zi would jump at the chance for status and
reward. Yet when they made their proposal to him, he said, "Once upon a
time there was a sacred turtle, which was happy living his life in the mud.
Yet, because he was sacred, the king's men found him, took him to the royal
palace, killed him and used his shell to foresee the future. Now tell me, would
that turtle prefer to have given up his life to be honored at the palace, or
would he rather be alive and enjoying himself in the mud?"
The courtiers
responded that, of course, the turtle would be happier in the mud.
To which
Zhuang Zi replied, "And so you have my answer. Go home and let me be a
happy turtle here in the mud."
The moral of
the story: we are often easily bewitched by advancement, fame, and reward. And
we are so seduced by it that we trade our most precious resource, time, to get
it. And many times, looking back, we are unhappy with the trade-off.
So before you
take on more, try and think whether you’d be happier with "fame" or
would you have more fun enjoying your time "in the mud.”
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