I am a microcosm of the macrocosm!
Once upon a time there was a wood cutter, Wood cutters make excellent heroes for old time stories because they go into forest so much alone and you know, good opportunity for gods to contact them and all. Anyway this wood cutter went as usual into the forest and did a good deed, like the heroes do. He didn't cut a branch which had a nest, or saved a rabbit from wolf or may be it was when he went to cut an old tree the tree said please don't cut me, I am a cursed goddess. The nest, rabbit or the tree goddess was pleased with the wood cutters good deed and blessed him with 7 pots of gold. Poor wood cutter was very happy, he carried the pots home. His wife saw the gold pots and exclaimed loudly! wow!! I can't believe our luck! We are rich! and Then she saw, one of the pots was only half full! ( as the old story writers were misogynistic) She said Oh no!! Why is this pot only half full!?
Wood cutter used the money got a big house, car, carriage may be, ate wonderful food and invested money made more money and was very happy. Wife kept nagging, we are so rich but one of our pots is still half empty! So he decided now that I have money I should fill that bugging half pot with gold! He bought gold now, lots of it and put it into the half pot. Come morning the pot was half empty again!! Wife taunted him! Aha You are a rich man, famous man, powerful man but our 7th pot is half empty. He worked really hard, made more money, more investments and then more gold and half pot... remained half empty! That was annoying! He sold his house, all property bought gold and tried to fill the pot, it still remained half empty! His wife was crying on the street that they were ruined.
Then the goddess appeared to the wood cutter and she said, haven't you noticed that there is something strange about The half pot? No matter how much you put into it, it always remains only half full? You had everything and 6 full pots of gold, but you decided to focus on the half pot! Instead of feeling happy about what you have, you decided to cry about what you don't have! This had ruined you. I will take away all your pots.
Then the wood cutter started going into to forest cutting wood and decided to be happy with what he had, living a happy life. There was no half pot to fill anymore. ( His wife also I presume :-P )
Why I remember this is, We as a society have become like this. Earth as a whole now has enough prosperity for everyone to lead a good, healthy and comfortable life. Never in the history of humanity did anyone have such good health care, so much food, so much warmth, so much safety, so much peace. But are we happier than before? No, we are as miserable or as happy as before. If we look at the news and the media, what we hear is about what all is wrong with us. We cannot shop, we cannot go on vacations abroad, we don't have a 3 bed house and a garden. There is discrimination, there is inequality. I am not saying there isn't. There is! but It is not the outside things that will make us satisfied, It is a state of mind. If we do not appreciate what we have, How can we be happy? We cannot change the inequality and discrimination until we stop being insecure about our half pots.
We should tell the world that this is the case, that we have everything! we should look at what we have and be happy ! :-)
Then I realise, Do I know this? I know it intellectually but Do I know know it? Do I know how safe, how warm, how healthy, how peaceful, how full I am? Am I thankful?
I am the microcosm of this macrocosm, I am the bellwether, If I know this, others will know. I should tell myself first about this half pot, that it is unfillable. Then.. others.
