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picture courtesy of https://pixabay.com/

Years ago, I encountered the story of the “Parable of the Pencil”. It is  inspiring  and at the same time challenging.

The simple message of the parable is about recognizing what we have and strengthening the most critical element that we need in confronting the ups and downs of life; CHARACTER.

‘Character’ is basically about values. It is about the strength of a person’s inner core that results in effectiveness, clear purpose, great work ethics and solid commitment. The way we respond to things and events in life speaks of our ‘character’.

In the parable, the master reminded the pencil of the following;

  1. You will be able to do many great things but only if you will allow yourself to be  held in Someone’s hand.
  2. You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you need it to become a better pencil.
  3. You are capable of correcting the mistakes you make.
  4. The most important part of you will always be what’s inside.
  5. On every surface that you are used to, you should leave a mark. No matter what the condition, you should continue to write.

The reminders of the master are all inspiring, but the outcome of the scenario depends on the reaction of the pencil. It is a question of ‘character’.

I’ve met a lot of people who are just like the pencil overflowing with so much capacity and yet failed to deliver. Some know what they have but refuse to take the challenge. Some failed to know what they are made of and so never had the chance to level up; the worst scenario. Either of the cases speaks of character, which for me is the driver of all sorts of motivation.

The given is that all of us just like the pencil possess the needed skills and capacity to make it in life. We just need to work on strengthening our ‘character’ in order for us to have the courage to take the same reminders of the master in the ‘parable of the pencil’.