5 short stories to reflect on

On this occasion, we bring five short stories to reflect on. They are stories without a known author, but that have been transmitted through popular culture since many years. All of them aim to provide teaching.

The five short stories to reflect on tell us about situations in which two realities confront each other.. One of them is on the surface and that’s why it seems like it was real. The other is hidden and, therefore, is not detected in the first instance.

What these short stories want us to see to reflect is that many times things are not what they seem. To understand the world we cannot remain only in appearance, but it is necessary to ask ourselves about the reason for things.

1. The rose and the toad, one of the short stories to reflect

This is one of the short stories to reflect that tells us about balance. He says that this was a red rose and everyone He commented that there was no more beautiful flower than that in the garden.. The rose got excited when she was flattered. However, she wanted to be seen closer and she didn’t understand why everyone was watching her from a distance.

One day he noticed that at his feet there was always a huge, dark toad. In truth she was not at all handsome, with her dull color and her ugly spots. Furthermore, his eyes were too bulging and he scared anyone. The rose understood that people did not come close because of that animal.

He immediately ordered the toad to leave.. Didn’t she realize that she gave him a bad image? The toad, very humble and obedient, immediately accepted. He didn’t want to make her uncomfortable and so he walked away.

Within a few days, the rose began to deteriorate. Its leaves and petals began to fall. Nobody wanted to look at her anymore. She was passing a lizard nearby and saw the rose crying. He asked her what was wrong and she replied that the ants were killing her. Then the lizard said what the rose already knew: “It was the toad who ate the ants and kept you beautiful ”.

2. The frog pit

The second of the short stories to reflect on tells us about the power of other people’s opinions. He says that there was a large group of frogs that always went to have fun in the forest.. They all sang and jumped until night fell. They remained dead with laughter and nothing separated them.

One day, on their usual outing, they went to see a new forest. They were playing their games when three of them fell into a deep pit. which no one had noticed. The rest were shocked. They looked down at the bottom of the pit and saw that it was too deep. “we lost them”they said.

The three fallen frogs tried to climb the walls of the pit, but it was very difficult. They barely advanced a meter and fell again. The others began to comment that their efforts were useless. How were they going to manage to climb such a high wall? It was better that they resign themselves. There was nothing to do.

Two of the frogs heard those comments and began to give up. They thought the others were right. The third frog, on the other hand, continued rising and falling, but after a couple of hours, it managed to rise to the surface. The others were amazed. One asked him: “How did you do it?” But the frog did not answer. She was deaf.

3. The fearful lion

The third of the short stories to reflect on tells us about fear. It begins in a beautiful African savanna, where a lion had gotten lost from his group. He had been walking from one place to another for 20 days and could not find his loved ones. He was hungry and thirsty, but also very afraid of being alone.

At last He saw a pool of fresh water. She immediately ran towards him with all her strength.. He was dying of thirst and needed at all costs to drink some of the vital liquid. However, when he reached the shore he saw the image of a thirsty lion above the waters. He then he retired. “The pond already has an owner“, thought.

That night he stayed near there, but he did not dare to go to the pond again.. If the lion who owned the place appeared, he would surely attack him for messing with his property. And he was in no condition to confront anyone. A day passed and the sun was burning.

The thirst was already so great that the lion decided to take a risk. He couldn’t take it anymore. So he cautiously approached the stake and when he reached the shore he saw the lion again. His thirst was so great that he didn’t care. He stuck his head in to drink the cool water. At that moment, the lion disappeared: he had been seeing only his reflection. That’s what fears are like: they disappear when we face them.

4. The Problem

The fourth story invites us to reflect on our attitude towards life’s problems. This takes place in a Zen monastery, whose guardian of time dies. So the great teacher performs a test on his disciples, to determine which of them will have the honor of supplanting him.

The great teacher tells them “I am going to present you a problem. The one who solves it first will be the new guardian of the temple”. He brought a bench to the center of the room, placed on it a huge, beautiful porcelain vase with a beautiful red rose and pointed out: “This is the problem.”

“You are the new guardian,” the great teacher told him, and explained: “I was very clear, I told them that they were facing a problem. No matter how beautiful and fascinating they are, the problems have to be solved. It could be a very rare porcelain glass, a beautiful love that no longer makes sense, a path that we must abandon, but that we insist on traveling because it brings us comfort. There is only one way to deal with problems: attack them head-on.”

this story shows us how we tend to paralyze ourselves in the analysis of the problem: we contemplate it, we think about it, we comment on it, etc. Consequently, we forget the most important thing: solving it.

5. Sharpen the ax

The last of the short stories invites us to reflect on work and our daily performance within it. The story is the following:

On one occasion, A young man arrived at a lumberjack field with the purpose of obtaining work. He spoke to the person in charge and he, seeing the appearance and strength of that young man, accepted him without thinking and told him that he could start the next day.

During his first day on the mountain he worked hard and cut down many trees. The second day he worked as much as the first, but its production was barely half of the first day. On the third day he set out to improve his production. From the first moment he hit the ax with all his fury against the trees. Even so, the results were null.

When the chief woodcutter noticed the young woodcutter’s poor performance, he asked him: “When was the last time you sharpened your axe?”

The young man replied: ““I haven’t really had time… I’ve been too busy cutting down trees.”

It is likely that “sharpening the axe” has a different meaning for everyone.. Some will think about training, others about the need to rest, or also about how important good organization is.

The fact is that at work, if we didn’t have anyone to give us guidance, it is very possible that many of us would end up blindly working on unproductive tasks, because it is very easy to lose perspective.

Normally, if you are an employee, you always have a boss to remind you that you have to sharpen the axe, but if you work alone, you run the risk of desperately hitting a log without seeing the real problem. That’s why, From time to time you have to take a break and reflect on what you do.

Therefore, The next time you feel stuck and notice that you are not moving forward, take a moment and remember the story of the woodcutter.since it is very possible that you will need to sharpen the axe.

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