This is the story of the missing goat, goat number 3
One lazy Sunday afternoon, in a small town, two school mates had a crazy idea.
They rounded up three goats from their area and painted the numbers 1, 2 and 4 on their sides.
They waited until night.
Then, taking the goats to their school building, they let them loose inside and went back to their homes.
The next morning, when the school authorities entered the school, they sensed that things weren’t as they should be.
Definitely something was wrong.
They spotted the goat droppings right from the entrance and on the staircase.
Realizing that goats had entered the building, they panicked and immediately called a search.
Some time later, the three goats were found and brought to the entrance.
As soon as the authorities saw the goats, a new problem cropped up.
They saw goat number 1, 2 and 4.
Where was goat number 3?
Well, you can imagine what happened.
The rest of the day went looking for goat number 3.
Naturally the school declared a holiday, cancelling all the classes.
Of course the students were happy. The teachers, helpers, security staff, canteen staff and some of the more enthusiastic students joined in looking for the missing goat no.3.
No surprise that they didn’t find it, considering it didn’t exist in the first place.
♥
In life, it is so easy to get tricked into believing that something is missing.
Some of us, in spite of having a good life, chase after that missing element. We feel unfulfilled and hence, end up constantly looking for that elusive, missing, non-existent goat no.3.
Regardless of whether it is related to relationships, our work front, money, achievements, we have a tendency to focus on the absence of something and always blow it out of proportions in comparison to the presence of things.
Now, consider: what if we stop worrying about goat no.3 and decide to enjoy life, appreciate what we have?
Wouldn’t it be so much better?
How about ignoring that imaginary goat no.3? Why let it waste your time and steal your happiness?
Appreciate what you have.
It is nice to be ambitious and go after your goals, but not so much that you don’t notice what is already yours.
Take the time out to celebrate the present moment and cherish it. It is perfect.
♥
#WednesdayWisdom is a series with short bursts of easy-to-consume wisdom in the form of stories, quotes, anecdotes, and humor.
7 comments
Wonderful motivation…lesson learned…
Thank you. I loved the story! How relevant to our lives!
Hi Vidya
Love this story. Got my curiosity up when the mention of the title. We have goats across the street from us and there was once this crazy cute goat. He was always getting into trouble. A great escape artist until they finally fixed all his escape routes. I have seen people stop their cars and put him back over the fence. One day he was out and a pickup truck stopped and hollered at him to go home. He ran straight up the yellow line and down the road into his yard. I think he may have gone to a new home, but really miss his silliness. As for the moral of the story, we should all appreciate what we have. We have been having massive fires lately and 1079 homes were lost in a community of less than 100,000. It makes you aware of how life can change in an instant. Grateful for everyday and not to worry about simple things.
Dear Mary! So happy to see you here! Just a week ago, I was going through your 10-part positive thinking ecourse from 2013 (can you believe it?) and wondered how you were doing! Was thinking of emailing you when I went down with the flu (still down).
Very true about being grateful for what we’ve got this present moment. So cute about the little goat. Lovely to watch them!
Wow! That is so cool. I quit blogging in 2014. And 3 years ago we moved north. 2 years ago I created and started running my Lion’s club website. Been busy on that. Started my new blog and have been taking AWAI courses and now taking a travel writing course. Still trying to find out what I want to do. Like creating web content and product marketing, which I did for my daughter and a few other products. Plan on doing some DIY write-ups and videos in the near future. Done with the 9-5 (or in my case it was 7-4) and crazy bosses. Hope to make a bit of cash with some writing projects.
Hope you get better soon. I had bronchitis in January and all the way through until May. Hubby had double pneumonia which landed him in hospital for a 3 day vacation in March! Took a long time for him to recover, but our health is pretty good now. We have had a fire in our area for a month now and so the air has not been good. Staying inside and enjoying the AC.
I like this story! I’m going to share it for a laugh, as well as the wisdom. Namaste, my dear.
It’s surprising Vidya how I just find the right story in your blog to perk me up whenever I need it. I was finding it hard to go back to sleep (having got up at 3:45 am) and sleep proving to be elusive. Yes, I was looking for Goat no. 3 in my Life!!! Thanks for the right perspective.