This is kind of a silly story with a message. It's not really serious, but it does have a serious ending.
Junkster was a man who thought he had it all. He owned
sports cars, a mansion in the most exclusive part of the most exclusive city,
held the highest position in his company, and had married his high school
sweetheart. Junkster would get up in the morning, look in the mirror, and tell
himself, “Yes, you are the man.” However, deep inside, Junkster was sad. He
wondered why he felt this way since he had everything he’d ever wanted. Then,
one day, he learned the source of his sadness. While Junkster was preparing to
sail across the bay in his hundred-foot yacht, a fairy fluttered from the sky
to deliver a message. “Junkster, you have had great success in this life, but
you are missing one thing.”
Eyes wide, Junkster’s attention was rapt as he gazed on this
mythical creature who would tell him about the secret things in his soul. “Yes,
your life has lacked just one thing, Junkster,” the fairy repeated.
“What is it, little fairy?” Junkster’s speech was garbled,
so flustered was he at this little creature’s appearance and purpose.
“It has been with you this whole time,” the fairy began,
“with you before you met your wife, before you gained success in your job, and
before you grew such great wealth.”
“What is it, little fairy?” Junkster asked again in wonder
and unbearable anticipation. “What has been with me that I cannot see, have had
much of my life, and that will take away my sadness?”
The fairy was quick to answer. “It is bottle caps. You need
lots of bottle caps: the ones from the Coca-Cola bottles. You have treated the
bottle caps with great derision by tossing them aside when you have opened your
colas. If you do not turn from this practice and treat the bottle caps more
kindly by unbending them and placing them in temperate storage facilities, they
will have their revenge.”
Puzzled but trying hard to understand, Junkster’s head began
nodding slowly, until a hard certainty adorned his face. “Okay,” he said. “I
will make sure to treat the bottle caps more kindly from now on.”
This done, the fairy fluttered away, and for the next
several months, Junkster made a conscious effort to treat his bottle caps with
great respect. He unbent each bottle cap, then placed it on a shelf with other
bottle caps. This, he though, would cure his sadness. However, at the end of
such months, he found himself sadder still than before.
“Oh, little fairy,” he said to the night sky, “I am still so
sad, though I have done what you said would cure my sadness. What more do I
need?”
A light pricked the night, a light that eventually outshined
the stars and grew until Junkster could see that it was the fairy.
“Hello, Junkster,” said the fairy when it arrived. “I have
come to help again. You have asked what more you need, and I am here to say
that you have lacked discipline in your dog petting. Yes, you are petting your
dog with such dispassion that neither you nor your dog is happy. Just pet the
dog with more enthusiasm and attention, and you will find the happiness you
seek.”
A measure of understanding came upon Junkster’s face.
“Alright, great fairy,” Junkster said. “I will do as you say.”
So it was that Junkster found his dog and pet him with such
rigor and passion that said dog was visibly content. This Junkster did for two
solid months until he observed the condition of his heart to find that he was
still, indeed, sad. Discouraged, he looked again to the sky to inquire of the
fairy.
“Great little fairy,” Junkster began. “Again, I have obeyed
your direction, and yet am still sad.”
The fairy appeared again, but this time, its light was not
as bright as before. Junkster was the first to speak. “What more do I need” he
asked.
The fairy looked with compassion on Junkster. “You have
tried so hard in this life to be someone you are not. You have amounted great
wealth and have seen great success in every area of life to which you have
applied yourself. Yet, here you are, still seeking more. Yet, look again at
your heart and you will see that something has changed. Tell me what you now
feel.”
“I feel humbled,” Junkster observed.
“That is correct,” the fairy replied. “You now understand
that acquiring things and doing all that is required will never satisfy. You
now begin a new journey toward contentment, contentment that begins with
humility. Well done, Junkster.”
Junkster turned away, sad but hopeful, knowing that he could
begin a new life, wiser than before. A smirk adorned his face, believing that
the sadness was not the end of life, but its beginning.
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