Wise man

A very poor, unhappy man went to his village wise man. “Oh, wise man, can you help me? My house is so small and crowded and noisy. I have five children, a wife and two parents. I have no money to make it bigger. I need help. Can you help me?”
The wise man replied, “Yes, son, I can. Go home and move all your chickens into the house. Come back in a week.” So the man went home and moved his chickens into the house. He waited for something miraculous to happen. He returned at the end of a week.
“Well?” asked the wise man. “Oh, my house is too small and crowded and noisy.” replied the poor man. “Go home and move your goats into the house” was the wise man’s answer. So the poor man did.
Another week passed. The poor man made the long weary pilgrimage back to the wise man’s dwelling. “My house is so small and noisy and crowded. The goats did not help!” he complained. The wise man said “Move your cow into your house. Come back in a week.” So the man did.
At the end of this week, the poor man was at his wits end. “Oh, my house is so crowded I can hardly move around. It is so noisy I can’t hear myself think. It is messy and chaotic.” The wise man’s reply was to go home and take all the animals out. “Come back in a week.”
It was a new man that made the trek the following week. He was happy and light hearted. “Oh, wise man, my house is so big and clean and peaceful now. Thank you so very much!” He had learned to be content with what he had and stop longing for something more.
I was reminded of this story this week as I did battle with my own feelings of discontent. Even more foreign to me were the feelings of envy that were flooding my being. I am not a discontent or envious person in general. As a matter of fact, the last time I felt real deep down envy was about 30 years ago. So I was taken aback by these feelings now.
I’ve been helping a friend clean her son’s newly vacant home. He took a new job in another state and his family went with him. I have fallen in love with the house. Its floor plan is exact to one I cut out of a magazine and saved. It’s in a great location. It gets just the right amount of sun. In short, it appears to be custom made for me. And I can’t have it.
What made it even harder is that the woman that lived in it didn’t take care of it. She has no idea how good her life is or how much has been done for her. She has everything I’ve ever wanted and she doesn’t appreciate it. I realized that fact was the one really bothering me.
At first I tried to deny I was feeling this way but my heart wouldn’t have any part of that. I finally let the feelings out of the closet and dealt with each one at a time. I learned some things about myself. I let go of some things. And I made my trip to the Wise Man to say how much I love my life. You know what? I really do.
That’s the view from my side of the street, what’s yours?