November 15, 2023

Notes by Saamya Deo

Review

A thief wanted to be a better person, so when a sage told him to break one of his bad habits, he decided to stop lying. The thief then met the king who was disguised in commoner’s clothes and robbed the king’s treasury with the help of his comrade. The next morning, soldiers came rushing in and told the king the treasury had been robbed. The king told the minister to check to see if everything was gone. The minister slipped a diamond in his pocket and told the king that everything was gone. Meanwhile, the soldiers found the robber and escorted him to the king’s court. The king asked whether he had robbed everything. The robber said that he and his accomplice had taken everything except a diamond. The king ordered his soldiers to pat down the minister. They found the diamond! The king asked the robber why he had told the truth. The robber had said that he made a promise that he wouldn’t lie anymore. The king was impressed, he made the robber a minister and threw the old minister in jail. 

We learned that we should keep the promises that we make to ourselves because lying to someone else is the same as lying to ourselves. 

Story

Once, there was a boy who couldn’t see. So he sat on the stairs of an old building with his hat, and a sign that he needed help. Every day, people walked by and dropped some coins into his hat. They were busy with their own lives and didn’t pay much attention to the boy. One day, a young man walked by and put some coins in, just like every other day. He took the boy’s sign and wrote something on it. In the next few days, people put a lot more coins in his hat. They stopped by and actually talked to him. The boy was confused – what had happened? The young man came back and the boy asked what he had done to his sign. The young man said that he had only written the truth. The boy’s sign read “It is a beautiful day and I can’t see it”. 

Lesson

We should have gratitude for everything that we have been given in life because some people might not have those things. Some people don’t have a home or enough food to eat. So we should be grateful for the things we have and the moments that light up our faces. 

RAW – Create a gratitude jar and every day, fill in with a piece of gratitude. When we are not smiling, take a piece out of the jar and smile.