Long ago, in a village of Korea, a
rich, wise old woman had a son who was in a marriageable age. With his parents’ riches behind, this
handsome man was a target of every marriageable girl in the village. But the old lady wasn’t into any conventional
types of match making for her son. She
wanted a daughter-in-law who is capable of carrying on the legacy of the
family, not just a pretty face or impressive family background.
One day she put up a test in the
village notice board,
“Whomever can live one month with 1 kg of rice, together
with a maid, in an isolated hut, will be chose to be my daughter-in-law!”
Of course almost all the girls in the
village applied for the contest. They tried
to save rice as much as possible: some cooked very water porridges and eat it
every other day. But no matter how much
they tried to save, because there were two persons (with the maid), sooner or
later they ran out of rice. They then
lived only on water for some time, but soon all of them starved and had to be carried
out in carriages long before the one-month deadline.
Then came this plumb girl with a
not-so-pretty look but pleasant manners.
As soon as she entered the hut, she cooked a very handsome meal and
dessert by using the whole 1 kg rice and ate sumptuously with the maid. After that she ordered the maid to go around
the neighbors to take orders for work—washing, sewing, cooking…she worked
together with the maid and got paid in return.
Then she bought themselves more food for good meals. Because she was reliable and hardworking,
there were more and more work that poured in.
She was busy but could afford the best meals every day. By the month end, she not only survived with
a mere 1 kg of rice, but also has some savings for the household. Of course, she became the daughter-in-law of
this rich family.
This is a story I read when I was a child and
somehow it stays in my memory until now.
Most of us are used to think in a linear way in solving life’s puzzles—if
you follow A way, you will get B result or try C way, then D result…etc. We faithfully try A, expecting B result, but
sometimes get C, D or completely different Z result. Then what do we do? We get unnerved and complain of unfairness in
life. But to whom are we demanding
fairness, and will life always be fair and even? In reality, life is unpredictable and things
or events seldom unfold according to our wishes. But living does not stop just because it didn’t
turn out to be the way our small minds have hoped for.
Therefore, we need to adopt much flexibility
in our attitudes if we do not want to waste our efforts and live in vain. By adopting an open mind, you can see far and
wide, thereby increasing efficiency in your action. Let’s not be like the many narrow-minded
village girls who starved themselves on porridges, but learn to be productive
and creative like this heroic daughter-in-law.
Beauty fades, but being dumb is forever!
