The Story of the Pencil

A boy was watching his grandmother write a letter. At one point he asked: "Are you writing a story about we've done? Is it a story about me?

 

His grandmother stopped writing her letter and said to her grandson:

"I am writing about you, actually, but more important than the words is the pencil I am using. I hope  you will be like this pencil when you grow up".

 

Intrigued, the boy looked at the pencil. It didn't seem very special. " But it's just like any other pencil I've ever seen!".

 

"That depends on how you look a things. It have five qualities which, if you manage to hang on them, will make you a person who is always at peace with the world".

 

"First quality: you are capable of great things, but you must never forget that there is a hand guiding your steps. We call that hand God, and he always guides us according to His will"

 

"Second quality: now and then, I have to stop writing and use a sharpener. That makes the pencil suffer a little, but afterwards, he's much sharper. So you, too, must learn to bear certain pains and sorrows, because they will make you a better person".

 

"Third quality: the pencil always allows us to use an eraser to rub out any mistakes. This means that correcting something we did is not necessary a bad thing; it helps to keep us on the road to justice."

 

"Fourth quality: what really matters in a pencil is not its wooden exterior, but the graphite inside. So always pay attention to what is happening inside you".

 

"Finally, the pencil fifth quality: it always leaves a mark. In just the same way, you should know that everything you do in life will leave a mark, so try to be conscious of that in your every action".

 

by Paulo Coelho