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Unexpected! A very long time ago ;o) someone told me a story I have never forgotten. It’s a story that often makes me think, and I have changed it slightly... (as I have forgotten all the details), so please forgive my literary embellishments). “In a village in the heart of Africa lived a very wealthy king with six lovely daughters and one very plain, some would say ugly daughter. Now, this king being wise, knew the value of having daughters and was not at all distressed by the fact that he had no sons. As his daughters grew and matured it was time for them to be married. As was tradition in those days, a ‘labolla’ or wedding gift was to be presented to the king, before a marriage proposal could be offered to the daughter of choice. Now the pretty daughters, were chosen and married as soon as they came of age. The plain daughter matured and it was her turn to be married. The villagers where not kind as they laughed behind their hands and snickered at who would be the unfortunate candidate to have to marry the most ugly of the kings daughters. The king, although being a materialistic man, was a kind father, and decided to seek out a husband for his daughter as he was concerned with her unhappiness and despair. Approaching the prince of a neighbouring village, he tried to strike a deal of compromise, saying that the lowest of ‘labolla’ would be most acceptable. Unfortunately the prince turned him down flat. The distressed king, offered a lower compromise, and still he was refused. The king offered no ‘labolla’ and was convinced that at least this would be accepted, how could he be refused. And yet, the prince did refuse. The astonished king, then asked if he was expected to pay to have this prince marry his daughter. The prince looked into the eyes of the very unhappy king, paused for some minutes, and then asked the strangest of questions. He asked how much had been the highest labolla paid for one of the kings daughters? Spluttering, the king replied, “Five cows!” The prince, once again paused. Quietly, he looked into the eyes of the king and said, The shocked king, unable to comprehend his good fortune quickly accepted and closed the deal. Hurrying back to his village, pleased with himself for striking such a good deal, was happy to spread the news of this most prosperous of events. The villagers were astounded. The king called for the very best of preparations to be made for the wedding feast. The kings plain daughter became even more unhappy and distressed. Why, had this happened? How could this be. Always being shy, the attention just made her retreat more into herself. As the wedding day approached and her sisters gathered around to help with the preparations, their joy, their enthusiasm and laughter, soon had the plain daughter coming out of her shell. The wedding celebration was a long and happy event. The prince and his bride left to go to their new home. Some months later, all the daughters gathered in their home village for a celebration. As the plain daughter entered the village and approached the gathering, everyone stopped to watch in amazement. This plain ugly daughter had transformed into a glowing and beautiful woman. Through the celebration she recounted how the prince had secretly been in love with her all these years. How he waited for the day to offer her marriage. How he was willing to pay the highest of ‘labolla’ to show how much he valued and treasured her. Because, the prince saw the beauty inside of the plain ugly daughter, she was able to recognise and manifest this beauty allowing it to shine through.” When we expect things to go wrong and we expect to fail, when we expect people to be mean, when we expect disasters to happen and they do, we take it personally and we feel rejected. We feel responsible, we feel ugly, we feel fat and we get anxious and depressed. This is somehow acceptable! When someone does the unexpected thing, being generous, kind and loving - although these are normally human characteristics, we are shocked and surprised. Being kind, being good, being nice, being generous, being honest, being beautiful, being courageous, seems to be the unexpected, in some bizarre way is the ‘unaccepted’ thing. It creates shock and surprise. Be Bold! Do the ‘unexpected’ things! See your kindness, your honesty, your integrity, your beauty! Believe in yourself, trust your heart, discover your truth © 2001 to 2007 Mands WhyWeight - All Rights Reserved |
