We hear a lot of stories and some of them just stay with us because we hear it at the right time. It makes the story so relatable that we gain strength from it. This is one such story and I could not resist myself from sharing it here: 

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A person pays a visit to his guru and says, “Salutations, master! I have a question for you. This question has been bugging me for a while now. What is the value of my life?” The guru digs into his bag and takes out a beautiful sparkling stone. He gives the stone to his devotee and asks him to find the value of the stone from different people. He was not supposed to sell the stone, just find the value of the stone. 

The person goes to a fruit vendor and asks him how much he was willing to pay for the stone. The fruit vendor offers him a basket of fruits in return. He then approaches a vegetable seller. The vegetable seller offers a big sack full of vegetables for the stone. The person then spots a small jewellery and asks the jeweller the value of the stone. The jeweller examines the stone carefully and agrees to pay him a huge amount of money. The person was taken aback. There was no comparison between the money offered by the jeweller and a bag of fruits or vegetables. He was very confused and decided to approach another jeweller, just to double check. That jeweller says he could not match the prize of the stone even if he gave away his entire store. He describes the stone as prizeless. 

With all this information, the person returns to the guru and describes the happenings of the day. The guru smiles and says,” This is the answer to your question. If you ask anyone the value of your life, they will respond with an answer that is in accordance with their experience, their level of understanding, their motive behind entertaining you, their ambition and their risk taking ability. But, don’t worry, you will find someone who will discern your true value. And that person who can discern your true value is no one, but yourself.“ 

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This story comes so handy whenever we try to evaluate ourselves based on the reaction we get from others. If we can just think of those people as the fruit vendor or the vegetable seller and not depend on what they have to offer, we will never undervalue ourselves. 

Losing confidence is as easy as gaining it. But then, the more we base it on other people’s opinion about us, the more we find it confusing and undependable. The more we lose control of our understanding of our own self worth, the more we base it on other’s remarks, comments and valuations. That is just  like the person in the story walking from shop to shop trying to find the value of a stone. 

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