Right is not always right; Left is not always wrong

 

Those who are hell-bent upon being the right, always! 

Do not understand that after taking a U-turn, even the right becomes left.

                                                                                                         -iimran

 

The way to the town of Lermore went through a dense forest. Somewhere about half the way, there was a diversion into "Right & Left".

 

An old man sat, just at the intersection; two people come and ask him the way to the town.

 

The old man asks the 1st person, why he needs to go to the town. He replies that his father is unwell, he needs to reach there as soon as possible; and he has lost his way, being new to the place.

 

And then the old man asks the 2nd person, why he needs to go. He replies that he is just there for a peaceful walk through the forest.

 

The old man replies 'Right' to the 1st person & 'Left' to the 2nd person. They both curse themselves for asking directions from an insane old man.

 

And they both discuss together and somehow stick to the directions provided by the old man & they proceed separate ways.

 

However, after walking for a while, the person on the 'left' path decides to go back and takes the ‘right’ path.

 

While the 1st person gets chased by a pack of wild dogs, he barely manages to escape the dogs and reaches the town on time.

 

The 2nd person gets wounded by the dogs and had to run through the forest for life; to reach the town a day later.

 

A few weeks later, on their way back both of them decide to take the ‘left’ path. And they happen to walk through a long path, but they come across the most beautiful parts of the forest.

 

Upon seeing the old man at the intersection again, the 2nd person gives ‘the old wise man’ a reverent smile & the 1st person curses ‘the old mad man’.

 

Life always points us to a path that is the best for us, given our situation & ultimate destiny. We don't always understand it till a later point in life, not until we come across a similar situation. The grief indeed is self-imposed and our failure to heed to our inner guidance. 

 

And few of us go through the life cursing and blaming it to be the reason for their sufferings, totally oblivious to the fact that they only receive what they ask for! The universe always works in favor of our good, our highest good!

 

The ‘right’ path was the right one for the 1st person, as any delay would have cost him his father’s life. Even though he had to face certain difficulties, it was his only right path & he had to endure it to fulfill a purpose.

 

However, the ‘right’ path was not the right one for the 2nd person; his purpose was to walk through the forest peacefully, reveling in the most beautiful parts of it. He didn’t have to go through the pain, but his own choice put him through it.

 

Here one person’s right was another person’s wrong. One person perceived the wiseness of the old man while the other cursed the same old man for putting him through the pain.

 

The right & the wrong are always subjective. No matter what we chose, there are consequences to each of our choices, some may be pleasant & some may not be. 

 

Some may not be pleasant & yet we need to endure them to fulfill a purpose. 

 

We may have pleasant choices & yet we are sometimes propelled in the other way to help us learn a lesson.