An ancient Persian fable tells of a man who had only one thought: to possess gold, all the gold possible.
It was a voracious thought that devoured his brain and heart. He could thus have no other thought, no other desire for anything but gold.
When he walked past the shop windows in his town, he only saw the goldsmiths’ windows. He did not notice so many other wonderful things.
He did not notice the people, did not pay attention to the blue sky or the scent of the flowers.
One day he couldn’t resist: he ran into a jeweller’s shop and started filling his pockets with gold bracelets, rings and brooches.
Of course, on his way out of the shop, he was arrested. The police asked him, “But how did you think you could get away with it? The shop was full of people.”
“Really?” the astonished man said. “I didn’t notice. I only saw the gold.”
“They have eyes and do not see,” the Bible says about false idols. It can be said of so many people today. They are dazzled by the glitter of the things that shine the brightest: those that the daily advertisements slide before our eyes, as if they were a hypnotist’s pendulum.
Once, a teacher made a black speck in the centre of a beautiful white sheet of paper and then showed it to his pupils.
“What do you see?” he asked.
“A black spot!” they replied in chorus.
“You have all seen the black spot that is tiny,” retorted the teacher, “and no one has seen the big white sheet.”
In the Talmud, which brings together the wisdom of the Jewish teachers of the first five centuries, it is written: “In the world to come, each one of us will be called to account for all the beautiful things that God has put on earth and that we have refused to see.”
Life is a series of moments: true success lies in living them all.
Don’t risk losing the big white paper to chase a black speck.
