A parable- The woman and the cookies.

source- https://celebratingsweets.com

One day a woman arrives to take a train and is told that it will be an hour late, so she walks to the store down the road and buys a packet of cookies and a juice for the ride. She kills a little more time in train station before sitting down at the stop and reading some news on her cell phone. A boy sits down next to her and to her amazement begins to open her packet of cookies and eats them one by one. She watches him in disbelief thinking “its one thing to take someone elses possession, and another thing altogether to do it and act as though nothing is even happening”.

Astonished, she continues to watch until, at last half of the cookies remain. Thinking she cannot just let it go she reaches down and takes a cooking staring deeply and forcefully at the boy. He returns her hatred but laughing and smiling and continues to eat the cookies. She eats one, them him, then her, then him… until one cookie remains. The boy takes the cookie in his had, again smiling and laughing in joy and splits it directly down the middle. He then hands half of the perfectly split cookie to her and eats his half with a smile.
She takes hers and wolfs it down with a frown.
At last, the train arrives. She stands without a word to the boy and brushes herself free of the crumbs and races back angrily to her seat. As she is getting settled she notices the boy, joyfully sitting down with that stupid smile on his face.

Sometime passes and she thinks to have the juice she purchased. She reaches into her purse and to her surprise finds an unopened package of cookies. Untouched and perfect.

What is the lesson of this story?

To me, the boy and woman were both faced with the same situation and each had a different response. The boy thought the lady was eating his cookies and she thought the same of him. It seems in life you have a choice with each moment to interpret it with joy or with fear. Which ever one you choose is what you will experience.