Life will also reward you with balance

Once upon a time, there was a young worker in a factory. His mentor was an elderly craftsman there. That experienced craftsman taught him, “Learn to work with full focus without talking too much and try to make yourself the best at everything in the factory so that no one can replace you. “Ten  years later, when the elderly craftsman retired, the young man took his place. Following his mentor’s path, he kept working with dedication and hard effort. One day he went to visit his old teacher. The elder saw his student sitting a little upset and asked, “What happened to you? Any problem?” The young man sighed and said, “I have followed every word you told me. I work with full focus. I stay quiet. I know no one in the factory is as skilled as me. I have made myself fully competent in everything. But one thing I can’t understand. Those who don’t even have half of my skills have been promoted. Yet my salary is still as low as it was when I was your assistant. The elderly craftsman asked, “Do you truly believe you have become very important to this factory?” The young man firmly nodded. “Yes.” Then the old man thought for a while and said, “Then do one thing. Take a day off tomorrow with some excuse. You need a little rest. The young man was surprised but found the advice reasonable. He thanked his mentor and immediately applied for leave. The next day when he returned to work, his manager called him to the office. He said, “Because you were absent, the factory faced many problems. The tasks you usually handle so easily could not be solved properly by others. Realizing his importance, the manager promoted him to senior technician and encouraged him to continue working with the same dedication. The young man was grateful for his mentor wisdom. He felt this was the real secret of success. From then on, whenever he felt he was not getting the respect or benefits he deserved, he would take a day off. And the next day, he would find the situation had turned in his favor. This went on for several months. One day, to his shock, he found he was not allowed to enter the factory. He learned that he no longer had a job. He could not believe it. Hurt and confused, he went back to his old mentor. With a voice full of wounded pride, he asked, “Why did I lose my job? Didn’t I work according to your advice?” The elder shook his head and said, “Actually, you learned only half the lesson, not the whole. You understood that if a lamp always stays on, no one notices its importance. People realize its value only when it suddenly goes out. Then they realize they had been ignoring it. But you were in such a hurry to apply that lesson that you didn’t listen to the second part.” The young man was stunned and asked, “The second part?” The wise craftsman slowly said, “The second part is even more important than the first. If a lamp keeps going out again and again, sooner or later it will be replaced with a better one.” Because who would want a lamp they can’t rely on? Look in our lives too, we often take our family or friends for granted because they are always there for us. But what if one day they are not there? Only then do we realize their importance. So don’t wait for that day. Be grateful to them today and don’t let yourself be ignored by others. But that doesn’t mean you should stop everything just to prove your importance. Keep doing your work and maintain a balance in everything. Then you’ll see life will also reward you with balance.