Today I read a short story that I have heard years before. Whenever I feel low, defeated or think I need that extra strength to overcome my shortcomings and achieve more, I get reminded of the message from this story.
Some of the nice things that I have learnt in my life so far are those that one should treasure for life long.

Here is the story:

Once a King called upon all of his wise men and asked them "Is there a
mantra or suggestion which works in every situation, in every circumstance,
in every place and in every time? Tell me is there any mantra?"

After a lengthy discussion, an old man suggested something which appealed to
all of them. They went to the king and gave him something written on paper.
But the condition was that king was not to see it out of curiosity. Only in
extreme danger, when the King finds himself alone and there seems to be no
way, only then he’ll have to see it. The King put the paper under his
Diamond ring.

After a few days, the neighbors attacked the Kingdom. It was a collective
surprise attack of the King’s enemies. King and his army fought bravely but
lost the battle. King had to flee on his horse. The enemies were following
him. He could hear many troops of horses following him and the noise was
coming closer and closer. Suddenly the King found himself standing at the
end of the road - that road was not going anywhere. Underneath there was a
rocky valley 1000 feet deep. The sound of enemy’s horses was approaching
fast. The King became restless.

Then suddenly he saw the Diamond ring shining in the sun, and he remembered
the message hidden in the ring. He opened the diamond and read the message.
The message was very small but very great. The message was – “This too will
pass."

The King read it. Again read it. Again & again he read it. Suddenly
something struck him- Yes! It too will pass. Only a few days ago, I was
enjoying my kingdom. I was the mightiest of all the Kings. Yet today, the
Kingdom and all the pleasure have gone. I am here trying to escape from
enemies. However when those days of luxuries have gone, this day of danger
too will pass. Calm come on his face. The revelation of the message had a
great effect on him. He relaxed and forgot about those following him.

After a few minutes he realized that the noise of the horses and the enemy
coming was receding. They moved into some other part of the mountains and
were not on his path. The King was very brave. He reorganized his army and
fought again. He defeated the enemy and regained his lost empire. For a
moment King said to himself," I am one of the bravest and greatest Kings. It
is not easy to defeat me..:

People were dancing and singing. With all the reception and celebration he
saw an ego emerging in him. Suddenly the Diamond of his ring flashed in the
sunlight and reminded him of the message. He opened it and read it again:
"This too will pass" He became silent. His face went through a total change
-from the egoist he moved to a state of utter humbleness.

“If this too is going to pass, it is not yours. The defeat was not yours,
the victory is not yours. You are just a watcher. Everything passes by. We
are witnessing all this. We are the perceiver. Life comes and goes.
Happiness comes and goes. Sorrow comes and goes.”

PS: There is nothing permanent in this world. Nothing is real. Everything is
an illusion. Every thing changes except the law of change. If there are
problems in the present, they too will pass away. Because nothing remains
forever. Joy and sorrow are the two faces of the same coin. They both will
pass away.

Few years back, I attended a yoga class and that helped me learn lot of things.
One of the lessons from that was “When there is an expectation out of something, there is a probability of disappointment”. I cannot lie that I stopped expecting. But my perception has definitely changed. Always when something expected happens I feel happy. But when it does not happen, I started believing that I have no gain out of it and never know what harm in it was.

I enjoyed reading this story after a long time and thought would share this with all the readers.