Storie per riflettere e imparare.
The samurai lesson
A young warrior, never beaten, went to challenge an old Zen master. He did not use the sword: he insulted him for hours, trying to provoke in him anger or fear.
The teacher didn't move. He didn't answer. She remained serene.
The young man, exhausted, left.
The students asked: «How did you not react?»
The teacher answered:
«If someone gives you a gift and you don't accept it, who's the gift?»
«To those who offered it.»
«The offenses are like that. If you don't accept them, they're left of who threw them. You don't have to take them.»
The point to take home: Other anger is a package. You can open it and hurt yourself, or you can leave it where it is. The choice is always you'llto.
You are special to Max Lucado
The Wemmicks were a small wooden people, carved by a carpenter named Eli. His workshop was at the top of a hill overlooking the village.
Each Wemmick was different: some had a big nose, others had big eyes, someone was tall and someone was low. Someone wore the hat, someone else wore the coat, but they were all made by the same sculptor and everyone lived in the village.
Throughout the day, every day, the Wemmicks did the same thing — stickers attached to each other. Each Wemmick had a box of golden stars and a box of gray dots.
Up and down the streets of the city, the Wemmicks spent time attacking the stars or balls with each other.
Those beautiful, smooth and well-painted wood, always received stars, but, if someone's wood was rough or the color was detached, the Wemmicks gave him gray balls.
Talented people also received stars. Someone could lift heavy pieces of wood over the head or skip large boxes. Others still knew long words or knew how to sing beautiful songs. To these, everyone gave stars.
There was literally some covered in stars! These Wemmicks, every time they took a star, they were happy. So they wanted to do something else and take another star.
Others, however, knew to do little. And they took balls.
Chicken was one of them.
He tried to jump up like the others, but he always fell and, when he died, the others surrounded him and gave him balls. Sometimes, when he landed, the wood was scratched and so people gave him more balls.
Then, when he tried to explain why he fell, he said something silly, and the Wemmicks still attacked him.
After a while he had so many balls to no longer want to go out. He was afraid to do something silly, like forgetting his hat or putting a foot in the water, because then people would give him other balls. In fact, he had so many gray balls that sometimes someone glued one without a particular reason.
«He deserves a lot of balls.», the wood people said.
«She's not a good wood person.»
After a while Pulcinello began to believe it.
«I'm not a good Wemmick.»He said.
The few times she went out she was with Wemmicks who had a lot of bullets. He felt comfortable with them.
One day Pulcinello met a Wemmick different from the others: she had no stars or balls, she was simply wooden. Her name was Lucia. Not that people didn't try to stick stick stickers, but on her the stickers didn't stick. Some Wemmick appreciated the fact that Lucia had no balls, so she ran to give her a star, but this fell down!
Others disapproved of it because it had no stars, so they gave it a ball, but it also detached!
That's how I want to be, Pulcinello thought: I don't want anyone's votes. So he went to ask Wemmick without stickers how to do something like that.
«It's simple.»Lucia answered. «I'm going to visit Eli every day.»
«Eli?»
«Yes, Eli. The sculptor. I sit in the shop with him!»
«Why?»
«Why don't you find out yourself? Go to the hill. He's there.», said the Wemmick without stickers, then turned and went away.
«But will he see me?» he shouted Pulcinello, but Lucia did not hear it. So Pulcinello went home, sat down at the window, and looked at the people of wood who were busy staring at each other.
«It's not fair.», drooped in. And he decided to go see Eli.
Pulcinello walked along the narrow path leading to the top of the hill and entered the large workshop. He developed the eyes of wood for the size of the things he saw. The stool was as high as he was! To see the work plan he had to stand on the tip of his feet. A hammer was as long as his arm.
Pulcinello hardly swallowed.
«I'm not staying here!», he said, and turned to leave.
Then he heard his name.
«Pulcinello?» The voice was deep and strong. Pulcinello stopped.
«Pulcinello! Good to see you. Come and have a look.»
Pulcinello turned slowly and looked at the big bearded craftsman.
«You know my name?» asked little Wemmick.
«Of course I know him. I made you.»
Eli stooped, took him, and laid him on the bench.
«Hmm.», thoughtful, seeing the gray balls. «Looks like you got some bad votes.»
«I didn't want to, Eli. I did my best.»
«Oh, you don't have to excuse me, my son. I don’t care what the other Wemmicks think.»
«Oh, no?»
«E non dovrebbe importare nemmeno a te. Chi sono loro per dare stelle o pallini? Sono solo Wemmicks, come te. Quello che pensano non importa, Pulcinello. Importa solo quello che penso io. E io penso che tu sia davvero speciale.»
Chicken laughed.
«Speciale, io? Perché? Non so camminare veloce. Non so saltare. Mi si stacca la pittura. Perché dovrebbe importarti di me?»
Eli looked at Pulcinello, laid his hands on his small wooden shoulders and spoke slowly.
«Perché tu sei mio. È per questo che m’importa di te.»
No one had ever looked at Chicken like that and he didn't know what to say.
«Ogni giorno ho sperato che saresti venuto», spiegò Eli.
«Sono venuto perché ho conosciuto qualcuno senza adesivi», disse Pulcinello.
«Lo so. Mi ha parlato di te.»
«Perché su di lei gli adesivi non si attaccano?»
Eli spoke quietly.
«Perché ha deciso che ciò che penso io sia più importante di quello che pensano gli altri. Gli adesivi restano attaccati solo se tu permetti che accada.»
«Cosa?»
«Gli adesivi si attaccano solo se per te vogliono dire qualcosa. Più sarai sicuro del mio amore e meno ti importerà dei loro adesivi.»
«Non sono sicuro di capire.»
Eli sorrise.
«Capirai, ma ci vorrà del tempo. Hai un sacco di adesivi attaccati. Per adesso passa a trovarmi tutti i giorni e ricordati quanto sei importante per me.»
Then Eli lifted Pulcinello off the counter and laid him down.
«Ricorda», disse Eli, mentre il Wemmick usciva dalla porta, «tu sei speciale perché ti ho fatto io. E io non faccio errori.»
Pulcinello did not stop, but inside he thought:
I think he's serious.
And at that moment the first ball fell on the ground.
(You are special to Max Lucado)
