This is one of my favorite stories to illustrate how values work in life. I first came across it many moons ago and it seems even more pertinent in today’s world. I would love to credit the author however there seems to be a plethora of people claiming it as theirs. Whoever you are and wherever you are, your story is one of timeless value.
And the story goes like this.
A woman came out of her house and saw three old men with long grey beards sitting in her front yard. She did not recognize any of them, so she said:
“I don’t think I know you, but you must be hungry. Please come in and have something to eat.”
“Is this your family home?” They asked. “No, she said. “They are all out.” “Then we cannot come in,” they replied.
In the evening when her husband came home, she told him what happened. “Well he said, go tell them I am at home and invite the in now.” The woman went out again to invite the men in, but one of them replied.
“Well we don’t necessarily go into a house together.” “Why is that?” She wanted to know. One of the old men explained.
“His name is WEALTH, he said pointing to one of his companions…and pointing to the other one he said “he is SUCCESS and I am LOVE. Then he added, “Now go and discuss with your husband which one of us you want in your home.”
The woman then went in and told her husband what was said. He was overjoyed. “How nice!” he said. “Since that is the case let us invite WEALTH. Let him come and fill our home with wealth.
But his wife disagreed. “My dear, why don’t we invite Success? With success we can always expect wealth to come along later.” Their daughter, who had been listening from another room, had another suggestion.
“Would it not be better to invite Love so our home will be filled with love?” “Good point”, the husband conceded. “Well then, go out and invite LOVE to be our guest.”
The woman went out and asked the three old men, “Which one of you is Love? Please come in and be our guest.” Love got up and started walking toward the house. The other two also got up and followed him. Surprised, the lady asked Wealth and Success: “I only invited Love. Why are you coming in?” The old men replied together:
“We are blind. Therefore we depend upon LOVE to guide us. If you had invited Wealth or Success, one would still have to depend upon Love and the other would have become lost trying to follow you. So, in order to survive,
Leave a Reply