How Do You Judge Life?
I think this is beautiful because it is true. Enjoy.
There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judgethings too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and lookat a pear tree that was a great distance away.
The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third insummer and the youngest son in the fall.
When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describewhat they had seen.
The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted.
The second son said no, it was covered with green buds and full of promise.
The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled sosweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen.
The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and droopingwith fruit, full of life and fulfillment.
The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because theyhad each seen but only one season in the tree's life.
He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season,and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that comefrom that life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up.
If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your spring,the beauty of your summer, fulfillment of your fall.
Moral lessons:
Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.
Don't judge life by one difficult season. Persevere through the difficult patchesand better times are sure to come some time later .
Author Unknown --- Submitted by Julie Feliciano --- Phillipines