THE WATER WELL

I'm a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.
THOMAS JEFFERSON

Once in a small town a couple was blessed with a baby boy. The couple had longed for child since their marriage and after several unsuccessful attempts, was very grateful to finally have a son. The boy was loved and pampered to eternity by his parents. The couple lived in a joint family with all their close relatives. This family was one of the richest of the town with a well to do established business. The boy being the youngest was a favorite of the house and was always loved and pampered.
Due to the immense love the family had for him, the boy was never questioned about his whereabouts and habits. Everything in life came fairly easy for him while growing up. The boy’s father started to become concerned of the fact that the boy would never learn what the value of hard work is and weaved up a little plan. He decided to change his attitude and approach towards the boy.
The father decided to pass a ruling that the boy would only get to eat his if he earned any amount of money in a day. The boy’s pocket money allowance was stopped and he would need to go out in search of work everyday so that he can eat or else he would have to sleep hungry. The boy became really worried as to what he would do but he could not neglect his father’s command and hence from that day forward went out in search of work everyday.
Day 1 – The boy roamed around the entire day but he found no work. He thought that he is not capable of doing anything and hence decided to while away time. As evening drew near he suddenly became weary of the fact that he would have to sleep hungry tonight. The boy’s mother could not see his agony and hence decided to give him a buck. He entered the dining room and showed the buck to his father. His father asked him to throw the buck in the water well in the backyard and come and have his dinner. The boy did exactly as told and was extremely satisfied after a full meal.
Day 2 – The same cycle continued. No money made at the end of day and this time his aunt decided to help him. She gave him a buck as she could not bear to see him sleep hungry. He again showed the buck to his dad and his dad gave him the exact same directions to throw the buck in the water well and come and eat. Again, the boy slept peacefully after a nice meal.
The same cycle continued for many days where the boy would find someone or the other to help him out with some money so he could eat. Finally one day a situation arose in which there was no one there to help the boy. The boy knew that he had to find some way out to get food tonight. He decided to stop by a construction site and look for work. He worked at the construction site the entire day lifting bricks and carrying heavy loads. He was compensated with a dime for his work and returned home tired and exhausted with bruises all over his hands. He went and showed the dime to his father and his father again asked him to throw the dime in the water well and come and eat dinner. This time the boy reacted angrily at his father saying that” I worked the entire day to make this dime and how dare you ask me to throw this in the well. It was not at all easy earning this and I worked really hard for this. I will never throw this dime into the well”.
From that day onwards there was no such restriction and the boy started helping the father in the family business eventually to take it over because the father trusted his son as his son had realized one of the most important virtues to humankind, the virtue of hard work.

ANONYMOUS