A duck lived near a sea shore. She created a safe haven for her eggs under a shade near the shore. However, one night there was a storm and the cluster of her eggs was dislodged from the shade and slipped into the sea. As the cluster floated aimlessly in the sea, one of the eggs got caught in a whirlpool and was separated from others.
Under pressure of the waves, the shell broke and a little duckling poked his head out trying to breathe in the air. The relentless waves tossed the cracked egg onto a new shore separating this duckling forever from its siblings.
The tiny duckling tried hard to emerge out of the broken egg shell. After several attempts, it could come out and managed to waddle away to the dry sand of the shore. The duckling felt very frightened and abandoned on the new shore. It realized it will have to fend for itself.
As luck would have it, a kind hen whose eggs had just hatched nearby saw the duckling. She took pity on the duckling and sheltered him under her wings and took the duckling to her own chicks.
The chicks and the duckling now grew up together and all of them received the love and nourishment of the mother hen. As the duckling grew bigger, he found himself drawn to the water but was too frightened to go in. None of his siblings ever showed any interest in going to the water, they never even tried.
The duckling was surprised at this desire he had to go into the water when all of his siblings wanted to stay away from water. On some days he wanted to stay on dry land but on some days all he wanted was to get wet and roll into the water. He was unable to comprehend when he felt this way and felt whether there was something wrong with him.
So the duckling was caught in a limbo. He could not fully understand his own nature but at the same time he couldn't deny it. And so the life went on
THE END
This story is a metaphor for human life. Most of the time we humans have an intrinsic calling to do something but peer pressure/ conditioning/parents make us do/be so that we fit into the societal way of doing things.
The story is also a great allegory of how we have lost our connection to our real nature… just like the duckling has affinity for water because it being in its nature to be in water. Similarly, humans also get to see the glimpse of its real nature. However, we do not feel compelled enough or feel fear to follow that path.
Sometimes, due to misfortune in life, one is being placed on the group of hens, where one forgets what is his real nature but it is very essential to hear the voice deep inside our heart to know who we are. Hearing this voice will lead us to nullify the effect of misfortune which has befallen over us. Never drown this little voice because this is the guide we have in the vast ocean of reality..
When adversity hits, sometimes we get help from unknown/unexpected sources. The duckling was saved and taken under her wings by the kind hen. Sometimes, we feel too indebted to this kind benefactor that we meet in life and stop applying our brain for the rest of our lives. While we should always be thankful, it did not mean that we forget our own being. At the end of the day, we have to make our own decisions and be responsible for their success/failures.
Our reality always tries to find out the avenues to shine forth..It is only we, with our little mind , who try to keep it hindered
if we don't follow of own calling/follow our intrinsic nature, we will never be at peace. Following a life path shown by society is a sure shot of wasting this life
STORY CREDIT: This story has its source in the six volumes of Masnavi by Jalalu'din Rumi, translated by Maryam Mafi
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