Bruised But Wiser: Lessons from Mistakes and Bad Decisions

I read the story about a hunter who once caught a bird in a trap, but released it on the condition that the bird would give him three wise suggestions. The bird assured him that although it looked worthless, it had something valuable to offer.

After gaining its freedom, the bird kept its promise.

It said,

𝟏. 𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞.

𝟐. 𝐃𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞.

𝟑. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞.

On hearing this, the hunter scoffed and said,

“I practise these things all the time. I knew you had nothing meaningful to offer.”

The bird then flew to a higher branch and replied,

“If you truly understood what I said, you would not have released me. There is a precious ruby in my heart. You could have made a fortune.”

Immediately, the hunter was filled with regret. He tried to climb the tree to catch the bird, but fell and injured himself.

From above, the bird spoke again,

“How could you believe that I have a ruby in my heart? I just told you not to accept what goes against your common sense. Why are you regretting what you cannot undo? And how did you think you could catch me when you cannot fly? You tried to do the impossible, and now you are hurt.”

At that moment, the hunter realised he had broken all three principles.

Quietly, he got up and went home.

Some experiences will bruise us deeply, but they will also teach us.

There are things that have happened in my life that I can never change, especially some bad business decisions. If I choose to dwell on everything I think I got wrong, I will only become bitter.

So I have learnt to take the lessons, even when they come with pain.

𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐨𝐦.

𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬. 𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬.

Shalom.

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