Don't try to carry the weight of the world

The Taihang and Wangwu Mountains have a considerable height.

The Foolish Old Man of the North Mountain, nearly ninety years of age, lived behind these mountains. He was unhappy about the fact that the mountains blocked his way to the south and he had to walk round them whenever he went out or came back, so he called the whole family together to talk about the matter.

"And if all together we dismount the mountains?" He suggested. "Then we could open a path to the South, to the bank of the Hanshui River."

Everyone agreed. Only his wife hesitated.

"With your strength," she said, "you could hardly remove a small hill. What could you do with the Taihang and Wangwu Mountains? Besides, where could you deposit the earth and rocks?"

"We will take them to the sea", was the answer.

Then the Foolish Old Man, helped by his son and grandson who could carry things, began to break rocks and dig earth, which they carried in baskets and dustbins to the shores of the Sea. The seven-year-old son of a widow named Jingcheng, one of the old man's neighbours, came running up to offer his help. One trip to the sea took them a long time: they left in winter and came back in summer.

A man who lived at the turn of the river, whom they called the Wise Old Man, laughed at his efforts and tried to dissuade them.

"Enough of this foolishness!", he exclaimed. "How unwise you are! At your age, old and feeble as you are, you cannot even remove one hair on the mountain, let alone so much earth and so many rocks!"

The Foolish Old Man heaved a long sign.

"You are so conceited that you are blind to reason", he said. "Even a widow and a child know better than you. When I die, there will be my sons, who will have their sons and grandsons. Those grandsons will have their sons and grandsons, and so on. But the mountains will not grow. Why is it impossible to remove them?"

Then the Wise Old Man could not answer him.

Source: Attributed to Lie Yukou (Between the 5th and 4th century BC).

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The first time I read this fable, some time ago, for some reason I associated it with perseverance. It is not about perseverance. However persevering the Foolish Old Man might have been, he was never able to move that mountain while alive. It is about faith.

Many people tend to notice many problems in modern society. They notice a lot of things that are wrong, and they realize that they are not able to fix everything, so they tend to adopt a fatalistic position.

It is true that there are countless problems around the globe, but it is also true that there are billions of people, and there will be many more in the future, of which many, perhaps millions, are thinking or will think like you, realizing the same problems, and they will look for, find and carry out a solution, if they are not already doing it.

The problems are like the Taihang and Wangwu mountains. If the Foolish Old Man were as fool as many people today, who believe they should personally solve each of the world's problems, then those mountains would never have been removed. The Foolish Old Man would be demotivated because his abilities were not enough, and he would give up long before started.

Don't try to carry the weight of the world. You don't know how many are seeing the same problem as you, and for trying to be omnipotent they have not been able to remove even the first rock. And I am not talking about not being responsible for the problem, but rather that, although we can be responsible, we know that we are not capable of solving them alone, and what corresponds, as individuals, is remove little by little the small rocks.

You know what they say, if you want to change the world, change yourself, be the change you wish to see, and start off by making your bed. Preach by example. Contribute with a grain of sand.

In this publication I am talking, of course, about big problems, national problems, perhaps global ones, problems that some (perhaps many, perhaps few) we can see. And the big problems are inevitably problems that affect many people, so don't expect that one can solve them.

Anyone who believes that he can solve all the world's problems, is only fooling himself, and anyone who tells you that he can solve all the world's problems, is trying to fooling you.

Don't be like the Wise Old Man, he was a fool, be like the Foolish Old Man, and remember that the only way to move the mountains is to gradually remove some rocks, if you try to do everything yourself, you will get tired, and you will not succeed, if you accept your role as an individual and try to move the rocks that correspond to you, then someday, sooner or later, those mountains will not be there.

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