Seeing your Opportunities

Years ago a man was complaining a lot about his life.He lived unhappily saying, “I work hard. I work very hard, but I am still poor.”

At last he decided that he would find an angel and speak to him about his life. The man began his journey. While he was crossing a mountain, he came upon a wolf. The wolf was so lean that he could hardly stand. The wolf came up to the man and asked where he was going. The man told the wolf about his unfortunate life, and the wolf said to him,” Can you help me? I search day and night, but I can hardly find a loaf of bread. Speak to that angel about me, too, would you please?”

The man continued on his way. After a little time he came upon a beautiful girl.
The girl also asked him where he was going. When she found out, she pleaded and asked him,
“Please speak to that angel about me, too. I am young, beautiful, and rich, I have everything, but I am very unhappy.”

The man promised to speak o the angel about the girl and went on.

After a long time he lay under a tree to rest. Although all the trees around this tree were very green, this particular tree hardly had any leaves and it was not very tall. The tree was very unhappy about this and spoke to the man about this situation. The tree said,
“If you find that angel, would you speak to him about me,too? As you see I am on very fertile soil. All the trees, fruits, and plants are very green, but I have no leaves or fruit on my tree.”

The man said to the tree, “Alright, I will speak to the angel about your problem.”

And so he continued on his way. Finally when he felt completely hopeless about ever finding an angel, he saw him. He began to speak to the angel about himself first.
“I work night and day, but I cannot find any goodness in this world. I am a poor man. There are a number of people who work less than I do, but they live better than I do. Where is the justice in this situation? Where is the equality?”
“OK, OK,” said the angel.” I will give you a chance to be happy and rich. Now return home the same way you came here.”

The man was glad the angel would help him, but before he left, he also spoke to the angel about the wolf, the girl, and the tree. The angel talked with the man about them, as well, and then the man began his journey home.

After a long wolf, he came to the tree and told the tree what the angel had said,
“There is a trunk of gold buried in your roots. That is why you can are not growing tall, nor are you fruitful. When this trunk is taken out, you’ll also be green, fruitful, and as tall as other trees.”

The tree cried out,
“Wonderful, now quickly dig into the ground and take the trunk out.”

The man said,
“No I can not. The angel has given me my own chance. I must return home.”

Then he continued on his way again. He came upon the girl who had been waiting for him. The girl asked,
“What did the angel say?”

The man replied,
“If you find a person to marry, then you will have someone with whom you can share your sorrows and joys. You’ll both be very happy.”

“Let’s get married and try to be happy,” the girl said.

“No, I can’t. I have no time left. I must hurry to find the chance the angel has given me,” the man said.
After a short time the weak wolf saw him. The man told him what had occurred on his journey. He explained what the angel had said about the angel tree and the girl. Then told the wolf he had to leave in order to find his own opportunity to be happy and wealthy.

“OK, but what about me?” asked the wolf.” what did the angel tell me to do?”

“I didn’t understand what he said for you”, the man said.

The angel said that if the wolf had not found any foolish man to eat, he would be condemned to be hungry forever.”

The wolf said, “I understand very well,” and began to eat this foolish man and was no longer hungry.

The lesson of this story is that the man had the opportunity to help the tree, and could have become wealthy himself. Then he could have helped the girl, and have become happy. He chose neither of them because he kept thinking there was something back at his own home waiting to make him happy and rich. He didn’t see the opportunities that the angel put in front of him. The oral of this story is that we often do not see the great opportunities during our lives. I order to realize our dreams, first of all we must wake up, look around, and try not to miss out on the chances life has given us.