Parables are stories that illustrate a moral or lesson. From the Greek parabolē, meaning “comparison, illustration, analogy,” parable was the name given by Greek rhetoricians to an illustration in the form of a brief fictional narrative.
Self-help books, the bible, and zen texts are all filled with parables, and just reading one every now and then can do wonders for a person’s powers of positive thinking. Here’s one I came across that has stuck with me for a while, reminding me that simply deciding something one way or another in advance has enormous power over the outcome.
The 92-year-old, petite lady was poised and proud. Fully dressed each morning by eight o’clock, with her hair fashionably coifed and makeup perfectly applied even though she was nearly blind, was moving to a nursing home today. Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary.
After waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready. The nurse walking with her provided a visual description of her tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on her window.
“I love it,” stated the lady with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.
“Mrs. Jones, you haven’t even seen the room yet,” the nurse said.
“That doesn’t have anything to do with it,” the lady replied. “Whether I like my room or not doesn’t depend on how the furniture is arranged … it’s how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it.”
