# Blessing in Disguise

Once in a kingdom, there lived a king whose passion was hunting. One day accompanied by his soldiers and trusted companions he went to the woods for a hunt. And carelessly, due to an accident, his own sharp knife cut off his little finger. The king was terribly upset and asked upon one of his counselors. He cheered him up but still the king was very much sad.

Not knowing what else to say, the counselor finally said, “Your Highness, Whatever happened, you need to be thankful.”

Upon hearing such a comment, the king was in rage. “What a comment! I had an accident, and instead of counseling, he asked me to be thankful!” And thus he sentenced the counselor into a three-year jail.

Days passed by. The loss of his little finger didn’t prevent the king from doing his hunting passions. One day, the king with his new appointed counselor, and a crowd of soldiers went for another hunting. Unexpectedly, while he was in the middle of the forest, the king and the counselor were separated from the rest of the group. Suddenly a clan of barbaric tribe caught them. Both of them were caught, and brought along to be sacrificed to the tribe’s Gods.

Before the ceremony began, both the king and the counselor were bathed. And when it was the turn for the king, they noticed that one of his small fingers was cut off. And due to this ‘invalid’ body, the king wasn’t qualified to become the ‘gift’ for their Gods. Finally, they just dumped him and released by the primitive people. And instead, the new counselor was offered to the Gods.

With a great effort, the king finally found his way back home. As soon as he arrived there, he straightaway ordered his old counselor to be released at once.

“My Counselor, I am very thankful to you. Your advice has been proven right all along. Because of my cut-off little finger, I can safely be back today...” And then he retold the whole incident.

After hearing the king’s story, with such a rush the counselor bowed down and said, Thank you Your Majesty. I am also very thankful that you have put me in jail unless it might have been me to be sacrificed to the Gods.”

The story above teaches us such a basic simple value, the power of gratitude upon receiving whatever comes our ways; when we are at a condition of progress and success we need to be thankful as well as at the lowest point of our spirit. In this life process, not everything works out smoothly or easily as we expect. Sometimes we are faced with life’s real challenges such as misunderstanding, failure, trickery, slander, sickness and all sorts of unavoidable misfortunes.

~Moral~

“When we succeed, we are thankful. When we fail, we are also thankful. The true happiness and wealth are in the thankful attitude itself.”