The Stonemason A Motivational Story About Being Content with Who You Are

Once upon a time there lived a stonemason, who went to the mountains every day to dig out and break stones. He enjoyed his work, so he was constantly singing, satisfied with what he had, bothered by nothing.

One time, he was invited to work in a mansion. Upon seeing the luxurious palace, the stonemason experienced something he had never experienced before. It was a sincere desire to live in a different way. He felt a bit sad at his destiny.

Suddenly he heard a voice: “Let’s try, then, if this will make you happier. From now on, your every wish will be fulfilled.”

In the evening the stonemason went home and instead of his humble cottage there was a mansion in its place. Overjoyed, the stonemason threw away his equipment and began enjoying the life of the rich.

But one summer day, he saw the king pass by with his entourage. Since it was very hot, he started envying the king, who was being cooled in his carriage by his servants.

The stonemason got his wish. However, once his wish was fulfilled, the stonemason found out, to his sadness, that it was not as cool in the carriage as he had hoped for…

So, he looked out the window of his carriage and began to admire the power of the sun. He was amazed that its heat can penetrate the thick walls of the royal vehicle. “I want to be the sun,” he thought, and immediately started emanating hot rays in all directions of the universe.

For a while everything went well, but one day he noticed that, no matter how hard he tried, he wasn’t able to pierce through the thick clouds with his rays. So, he decided to become a cloud and was proud of being able to withstand the sun itself, until, one day… he turned into rain and found it impossible to evade the mountain below him.

“What?” he exclaimed. “Could it be that a simple mountain is stronger than me? I want to become a mountain.”

But he didn’t have time to rejoice in his power, since, few moments after turning into a mountain, he heard some sharp sounds somewhere below him. He looked down and was horrified: there was a little man, sitting at his feet and knocking out pieces of stone.

“What?” he shouted. “Such an insignificant creature is stronger than a whole mountain?  I want to be human!”

And, before he knew it, he turned into a stonemason for a second time.

And there was music in his heart, even more cheerful than before, because he discovered, once again, the joy of being himself and being content with what he has.

The Lesson

  • The happiness of being yourself is a special type of happiness. It can’t be compared to anything else.

Source

  • Mello, Anthony de. When God Laughed. M., 2003.
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

You might also like...

Inspiring Stories for Personal Growth

Join free to get inspiring stories to your inbox once a month.

You have Successfully Subscribed!