Tales & Traditions

Hard Work Yields Great Results

There was a Grandmaster of the martial arts who wanted to pass his art on to his two sons. One of the boys was physically talented, but the other was just average. The boy who didn’t have the physical talent worked very hard to gain skill in what the father taught, but the other boy was lazy and relied on his physical talent. In the course of time, the boy who had less physical talent surpassed his brother in skill. The talented brother was upset, so he went to his father to complain.

He said, “Sir, I think you have treated me unfairly and showed favoritism to my brother because his skill is better than mine.”

The Grandmaster replied, “I have done no wrong to you. The problem is all in your head.”

The boy snapped back, “Father, are you trying to tell me that I’m crazy?”

Again, the boy’s father answered, “No, but you do have a problem in the way you are thinking.”

The boy asked, “What is the problem, Sir?”

The Grandmaster said, “You have chosen to think like a loser, but your brother has made winning his choice.”

Again, the boy was upset and asked, “Do you think I’m a loser?”

The father answered, “What I think doesn’t matter. Your brother doesn’t have the level of physical talent that you possess, but he didn’t get down because of that. Instead, he has worked hard. He chose to be a winner.”

Suddenly, the boy realized his father meant that his talent was being wasted because of the way he thought. The boy bowed to his father and said, “I will never think you are treating me unfairly again. I realize I treated myself unfairly by not working hard like my brother. From now on I will choose winning as my lifestyle.”

They bowed to each other and then the boy went and began to train hard like a winner.