A boy was watching his grandmother write a letter. At one point, he asked:
''Are you writing a story about what we've done? Is it a story about me?''
His grandmother stopped writing her letter and said to her grandson:
'' I am writing about you, actually, but more important than the words is the pencil I'm using. I hope you will be like the pencil when you grown up.''
Intrigued, the boy looked at the pencil. It didn't seem very special.
''But it's just like any other pencil I've ever seen!''
''That depends on how you look at things. It has five qualities which, if you manage to hang on them, will make you a person who is always at peace with the world.''
''First quality : you are capable of great things, but you must never forget that there is a hand guiding your steps. we call that hand, God, and He always guide us according to His will.''
''Second quality: now and then, I have to stop writing and use sharpener. That makes the pencil suffer a little but afterwards, he's much sharper. So. you too, must learn to bear certain pains and sorrows, because they will make you a better person.''
''Third quality: the pencil always allows us to use an eraser to rub out our mistakes. This means that correcting something we sis is not necessarily a bad thing; it helps to keep us on the road to justice.''
''Fourth quality: what really matters in a pencil is not its wooden exterior, but the graphite inside. So, always pay attention to what is happening inside you.''
''Finally, the pencil's fifth quality: it always leaves a mark. In just the same way, you should know that everything you do in life will leave a mark, so try to be conscious of that in your every action.''
(The story of the pencil is my most favourite read from ''The Flowing River'', Paulo Coelho. Besides the question that the boy asked his grandmother also similar as to what my eldest son, Kavin asked when he was just 2 years old. Thus, the lines in this short story resonates powerfully with me, writing as I do, in a similar situation, but more now.)
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