Ancient Story, Modern Message

Mrs. Wong's Problem

There once was an old woman named Mrs. Wong. She had two sons: her older son sold umbrellas for a living and the younger son had a stand in the village open-air market, where he sold fruits and vegetables to support himself and his family.

Leaving her house one rainy morning, Mrs. Wong bumped into her new next-door neighbor, Mr. Cheng. "Oh my, what will I do?" exclaimed Mrs. Wong upon seeing the heavy rain. "My poor son who sells food at the market won't do well today. How will he ever support his family in weather like this?" she cried. "Try not to worry too much," said Mr. Cheng calmly.

The following day, which was beautifully sunny, once again Mrs. Wong ran into her neighbor as she left her house. "It's just so terrible," she complained to Mr. Cheng, who was sitting on the steps of his house. "There's no rain today, who will buy an umbrella from my oldest son on a day like this?" she wailed.

Seeing the woman's obvious distress—and its cause—Mr. Cheng leaned toward Mrs. Wong and said softly, "Why don't you think of your youngest son, who sells food, on sunny days and your oldest son, who sells umbrellas, on rainy days—that way you'll be content with the weather no matter what!"

Sometimes all it takes is a change in perspective.