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As a farmer lay dying, his four sons sat by his bedside awaiting his final words. “There is a vast treasure buried in the family’s field,” he whispered.
“Where is it, father?” the sons pleaded. But it was too late. Their father was gone.
Soon after his passing, the sons set to the field, trying to unearth the treasure. For many days the sons desperately worked pick and shovel, digging everywhere in search of their promised legacy. Eventually they turned over every inch of the field, but alas, no treasure was to be found. Finally, dejected and discouraged, they gave up their search and returned to their families and vocations.
The next year the farm yielded its greatest harvest ever.
This parable yields a lesson richer than the treasure the sons so fervently sought: The fortune their father hinted at was not a magical boon that would transform the sons’ lives in one glorious instant. The treasure was the untapped potential of the field, capable of yielding riches to the family if they worked with the materials and natural potential before them. The power of the treasure lay not at the end of the rainbow, but in the journey toward it.
I hear people talking about waiting for their big break; or for Oprah to hold up their book on television; or to win the lottery.
Certainly these events would be wonderful if they occurred, but if you sit on your duff waiting for a record producer, Oprah, or a lottery number to save you, you may wait for a very long time and miss the wonder and gifts of the journey. Wisdom-guided action and integrity build success far more substantially than a magic pill.
The apparent goal of a journey is simply the carrot the universe dangles before you to call you to the adventure and learn the lessons the journey yields. Martin Buber declared, “All journeys have destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” If you think about most of the things you have striven for, you will realize that the
