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I couldn't remember where I first read the story, but the second time was from the book "The Shaolin Way" by Steve Demasco.
Here you go:
Many years ago, an old Shaolin monk would take the same walk through the forest near his home every day.
On one of his walks, he ran into a young and very fit man. The young man, thinking he was sharper than the old monk, decided to challenge the master to a fight.
The old man refused to spar with the cocky young fellow, telling him, “No thank you, young brother and may Buddha bless you.”
For months, this went on. Each morning, the young warrior would wait for the old monk and challenge him again.
Finally, even the Shaolin monk - he, of great inner peace and tolerance - could take no more. Worn down, he accepted the younger man’s offer to fight. They bowed, and then squared off.
Just before the young warrior was to make his attack, the old Shaolin monk lay down on the ground. The young warrior, puzzled, looked down at the monk. “How can I beat you if you are already down?” the young man fumed, scratching his head and shaking his fist.
Quietly, the Shaolin warrior monk looked up into the warrior’s angry eyes and replied, “Exactly.”
Confused and frustrated, the proud and foolish young man stormed off into the forest. His utter lack of self and pride demonstrated, the old monk shuffled off to complete his walk, and the young warrior never bothered the Shaolin monk again.
The big lesson? Self-worth doesn’t come from proving things to others; it comes from proving things to ourselves.
As Demasco pointed out, if you have something to prove to a parent, boss or anyone, it just shows that you don’t believe in yourself enough to know already that you can handle the situation. In the same way, if the young warrior really knew he was good enough to beat the Shaolin master, he would never have tried to fight him in the first place.
