There was once a young man from a humble background who lived in a poor village. His whole life he saw the royals come and go in their carriages, flaunting their riches as they paraded through town, and he could not help to wonder why they were so disconnected from reality. You see, in his view, the royals should be able to see that their crass way of showing they had so much more than the villagers did little in the way of evoking love and respect for them, and a lot more to inspire resentment.

img src

The young man of the story would often say to himself - "If I ever become rich, I will make sure I'm not like that... I will make sure to be giving, to be caring" - Of course the idea, the dream was nothing but wishful thinking. But, when the days under the sun were at their most merciless, those thoughts sure helped with his endurance.

As he was working in the field he sees an old man at a distance on an old carriage, a somewhat beaten down carriage that somehow still works. The old man doesn't look that well, it almost seems as if he is about to pass out. The young man rushes to the carriage as the old man completely loses consciousness and right before his head hits the ground, the young man saves the day.

With the carriage all tied up, and sitting comfortably under the shade of a tree the old man regains his consciousness. He thanks his savior, smiles and begins to tell his story. The old man had lived a fascinating life - "The young man thought" - He had seen the world on that one carriage.

The young man of the story was very curious. Being someone who had never left his village, he was confused as to how the old man found himself as an impromptu gypsy. All of the sudden the old man's face turned grim, and he told the lad - "I won't be on this earth for much longer, I can feel my time is coming... You might not think much of it now, but... The next time I fall asleep might be my last and I would like for you to keep the carriage and all it contains. Think of it as a gift... try to be a little wiser than me, don't wait to build your castle"- The old man fell asleep once again and never woke up.

The protagonist of my story walks up the carriage, removes the covers and finally sees what the old man had been lugging around for all this years. Under the rags and the dirt and the items one would expect from a traveler, sat a small chest under lock. He turned around to look at the old man once again now lying there peacefully and noticed he had something on his hand... a key.

After securing the key, he opened the chest and what do you know.... Gold. Enough gold for him to live the rest of his life like a royal himself. As if it had just started to rain, he felt the fear of losing something that up until that moment he had never had, Money.

The young man got on the carriage, covered himself up and left the scene. He knew that if he stayed in the village he would not be safe. Not from the royals, not from his own people who now could rob him, hurt him, extort him. He knew the sensible thing was to travel the roads pretending to be poor. But above all he knew, never to spend the money, because that would reveal he was not poor anymore.

Some clarifications that might be needed

I'm sure my thoughts might not resonate with everyone, but maybe this message is intended for a very specific group of people and no one else. The way I see it, definitions of success, fulfilment and other non tangibles are so personal, that there is not a single universality that can apply to all scenarios.

I think it's important for me to point out, that there are no morals absolutes either. Meaning, that as much as my truth might be moral or ethical to you or me, it does not necessarily mean that it is in a macro sense. It might require a whole different post all together to attempt to tackle the subject of subjective morality, but for now I will just like to make this one distinction, as it's not my purpose to shame anyone who doesn't share my points of view.