There was a rich widower who had four teen-aged sons.  This rich man had been busy over the years struggling for his career.  Life was hard at the beginning but eventually it became better and better, but unfortunately he was diagnosed with a terminal illness and he knew that his days were numbered.

One day, he was sitting near the window and through the window he could see some other boys playing with dragonflies, he then called upon his four sons.  He told his sons that he had not seen dragonflies for many years and would like them to catch some for him.  The four sons went out to search for the dragonflies.

The eldest son returned with one dragonfly.  The rich man asked “son, you only brought back one dragonfly?”

“Dad, I exchanged this dragonfly with a boy with the remote car which you bought for me last time”.

The rich man smiled at his eldest son and gave him a pat on his shoulder.

A while later, the second son returned with two dragonflies.

“Dad, I used the remote car which you gave me last time and I rented it to a boy to play for an hour.  He gave me three dollars.  I then used two dollars and bought these two dragonflies from another boy.  See, I have a dollar extra, am I smart, dad?”.

The rich man smiled at his second son and give him a pat on the shoulder.

A little while later, the third son returned with ten dragonflies.

“Dad, I used the remote car which you gave me last time, and I displayed it at the park.  Whoever want to play the remote car they could but each must give me at least one dragonfly.  Ten boys participated, so I now have ten dragonflies, actually I could get eighteen dragonflies if you allow me to come home slightly later”.

The rich man smiled at his third son and touched his head gently.

An hour later, the youngest son returned empty-handed and he was sweating, his shirt was very dirty.

“Dad, I was searching high and low for dragonflies.  I had been looking out for the whole morning, so tiring, and I took a break and played with the remote car which you gave me.  Actually I was hoping for a dragonfly to land on the car but seems like it’s impossible, actually I wanted to try again, but I was urged by brothers to come home”.

The father smiled with tears and hugged his youngest son.

The next day, the rich man passed away.

The four sons found a paper on their father’s desk.  He wrote :

“Sons, I did not want any dragonfly, I just want to see the joy of you catching dragonflies, and if I could, to be with you catching them”.

Moral of the story :

You may be able to buy some dragonflies with money, but not the joy of catching them with people you treasure..  Happiness is found in the process, it’s a by-product, not a destination.  Enjoy what you do, treasure what you have.  Money is very important but it can never buy back the good memories, and the joy you have found in doing anything which you enjoy along the journey.

read my recent post :

http://authspot.com/poetry/when-one-is-angry/

http://authspot.com/poetry/limerick-come-take-a-break/

http://authspot.com/poetry/life-metaphors-volume-six/