Adopted from: https://99reallifestories.com
When you express your problem to somebody, people react with – Stop worrying. Things will be alright”. This “stop worrying” is at times given with an assurance or many a times it is said just a way to get rid of the person who needs to be listened. Their inner voice almost sounds like(though people don’t actually say it) “Hey! look, this is not my problem. Don’t go on and on with your problems” and hey by the way, “stop worrying. Things will be alright”. We bring one such story(in the form of a fable) where “colleagues” disown their friend’s problem jwith this very classic “stop worrying” reaction, only to find themselves become the victim of that problem.
Stop worrying – The Mousetrap problem
A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package. The Mouse was devastated to discover what came out of that package – It was a mousetrap. It’s heart nearly sank.
The mouse ran to the farm and started warning the others, “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”
The chicken was not bothered by this warning. It simply raised it’s head and said, “Hey mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. You just stop worrying. Things will be alright”
The mouse then ran to the pig and warned, “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!” The pig also look unconcerned with this warning and said, “I am so very sorry for you mouse, but it not something I should be bothered about. But you stop worrying. Things will be alright”.
The mouse then ran to the cow with this warning, “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!” The cow said, “Mouse. I’m sorry for you, but it’s no skin off my nose. Hey! stop worrying. Things will be alright”
The mouse was completely devastated by the cold response it got from it’s colleagues. Head down and in fear, the mouse returned to its house. It was now preparing to face the mousetrap alone.
That very night, at the farmer’s house, there was the sound of the mousetrap catching a prey. The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer’s wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital and she returned home with a fever.
Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup. So the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient. But his wife’s sickness continued. So friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig. The farmer’s wife did not get well; she died. Many people came for her funeral. The farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.
The mouse looked at all these events with great sadness.
So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn’t concern you, remember, when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another. Each of us is a vital thread in another person’s journey in their life. So, the next time your colleague or friend approaches you with a problem, don’t just respond with “Stop worrying. Things will be alright”.
Adopted from: https://99reallifestories.com
