September is the annual National Book Store sale and my wife bought some books for the kiddo. I was reading it yesterday and wanted to share a very interesting story from Korea.
The story is about Ru Shou. He’s an average guy living and supporting his mom. Day in day out, he works hard. One day, he took a pause and asked himself “I work hard everyday but why am I still poor?” (This is the same question I asked myself from time to time).
With that question, he decided to leave his home and ask the god of west why he remains poor despite his consistent effort to work hard.
On his way, he passed by a house. In it lived a daughter and mother. The mother invited Ru Shou inside the house for a meal. Ru Shou told her his plan of asking the god of west. The mother said “I also want to ask him a question but too busy to go there myself. Can you ask when will my daughter speak? She’s already 18 years of age but has not spoken a single worth since birth.
Ru Shou went on in his journey and he passed another house. The man invited him to take a break. Ru Shou told him about his plan of meeting the god of west and asking him why he remains poor in spite of all the hard work that he puts in. The man said “I also want to ask him a question but too busy to go there myself. Can you ask him why the huge orange tree in my backyard does not bear fruit?” Ru Shou said yes to the man and continued on his journey.
Ru Shou reached the mountain where the god of west resides but there’s a river in front of him that he needs to cross. Out of nowhere a dragon appeared and approached him. “Do not be afraid. I will not harm you”, the dragon said. Ru Shou told the dragon that he wants to meet the god of the west and ask him some questions. The dragon replied “I also want to ask him a question but too busy guarding the river to ask him myself. Can you ask him what I should do to reach the heavens?” Ru Shou said yes to the dragon and the dragon helped him cross the river.
Finally, Ru Shou met the god of the west. Weird as it may seem, the god of west told Ru Shou “I can only answer odd number of questions. You can ask three but not four. You may ask five but not six? Ru Shou was surprised by this request especially that he have fours questions to ask. He then decided to ask the god about the questions by the mother, the man and the dragon. He thought that since he is young, he can always go back and ask the god his question. The god answered the three questions and Ru Shou proceeded to go home.
He first met the dragon and told the dragon the answer to his question. “The god says you must help me cross the river back and you have to let go of the pearl you have in your head in order for you to reach the heavens. The dragon helped him cross the river and threw the pearl to Ru Shou’s arms. True enough, the dragon was able to fly high and reach the heavens.
On his way back. Ru Shou met the man and told him “The god of west says you need to dig around the tree and remove the 7 jars of gold”. The man did as he was told and like magic, the big orange tree was filled with fruits. The man was ecstatic and happy he gave one of the jars of gold to Ru Shou.
Ru Shou continued his journey way back and told the mother “The god of west says your daughter will speak once she sees the man that he will marry”. The daughter then went out of the room and saw Ru Shou. She finally was able to speak. The mother was happy and she agreed giving her daughter’s hand to Ru Shou.
Ru Shou went back to his home with a huge pearl, a jar of gold and a new wife. With all the riches he got from his journey, he does not need to go back and ask why he is poor because he is no longer a poor man.
I am also amazed because my marketing professor always shares the quote “it is the customer stupid! Or the customer is king!” He wanted to emphasize that in all business or activity that we do, we should always think of the need of the customer rather than what we want to provide or deliver. We might be clouded on what we want to provide forgetting what the customer really needed.
So there, I was just so amazed that the idea is in a folk story, in a book written at the start of the 19th century, in the bible and same concept taught by my professor. Maybe this is the perfect time to consider this in all that I do.
Hey, i know this is out of the regular posts that I do but if you liked this, do subscribe above so you get updates from me. Don't worry. No spam.
Matthew 20:16
"So the last will be first, and the first will be last."
The Story of Ru Shou
The story is about Ru Shou. He’s an average guy living and supporting his mom. Day in day out, he works hard. One day, he took a pause and asked himself “I work hard everyday but why am I still poor?” (This is the same question I asked myself from time to time).
With that question, he decided to leave his home and ask the god of west why he remains poor despite his consistent effort to work hard.
On his way, he passed by a house. In it lived a daughter and mother. The mother invited Ru Shou inside the house for a meal. Ru Shou told her his plan of asking the god of west. The mother said “I also want to ask him a question but too busy to go there myself. Can you ask when will my daughter speak? She’s already 18 years of age but has not spoken a single worth since birth.
Ru Shou went on in his journey and he passed another house. The man invited him to take a break. Ru Shou told him about his plan of meeting the god of west and asking him why he remains poor in spite of all the hard work that he puts in. The man said “I also want to ask him a question but too busy to go there myself. Can you ask him why the huge orange tree in my backyard does not bear fruit?” Ru Shou said yes to the man and continued on his journey.
Ru Shou reached the mountain where the god of west resides but there’s a river in front of him that he needs to cross. Out of nowhere a dragon appeared and approached him. “Do not be afraid. I will not harm you”, the dragon said. Ru Shou told the dragon that he wants to meet the god of the west and ask him some questions. The dragon replied “I also want to ask him a question but too busy guarding the river to ask him myself. Can you ask him what I should do to reach the heavens?” Ru Shou said yes to the dragon and the dragon helped him cross the river.
Finally, Ru Shou met the god of the west. Weird as it may seem, the god of west told Ru Shou “I can only answer odd number of questions. You can ask three but not four. You may ask five but not six? Ru Shou was surprised by this request especially that he have fours questions to ask. He then decided to ask the god about the questions by the mother, the man and the dragon. He thought that since he is young, he can always go back and ask the god his question. The god answered the three questions and Ru Shou proceeded to go home.
He first met the dragon and told the dragon the answer to his question. “The god says you must help me cross the river back and you have to let go of the pearl you have in your head in order for you to reach the heavens. The dragon helped him cross the river and threw the pearl to Ru Shou’s arms. True enough, the dragon was able to fly high and reach the heavens.
On his way back. Ru Shou met the man and told him “The god of west says you need to dig around the tree and remove the 7 jars of gold”. The man did as he was told and like magic, the big orange tree was filled with fruits. The man was ecstatic and happy he gave one of the jars of gold to Ru Shou.
Ru Shou continued his journey way back and told the mother “The god of west says your daughter will speak once she sees the man that he will marry”. The daughter then went out of the room and saw Ru Shou. She finally was able to speak. The mother was happy and she agreed giving her daughter’s hand to Ru Shou.
Ru Shou went back to his home with a huge pearl, a jar of gold and a new wife. With all the riches he got from his journey, he does not need to go back and ask why he is poor because he is no longer a poor man.
My thoughts
I wanted to share the story because this is the same message I am getting from my September book “How to Win Friends and Influence People”. If you want to get whatever you aspire for, you must help others first to get what they aspire for. It is always about helping others before helping oneself. And it also reminds me about the quote in the bible saying about those who put themselves first will be the last and the last will be the first.I am also amazed because my marketing professor always shares the quote “it is the customer stupid! Or the customer is king!” He wanted to emphasize that in all business or activity that we do, we should always think of the need of the customer rather than what we want to provide or deliver. We might be clouded on what we want to provide forgetting what the customer really needed.
So there, I was just so amazed that the idea is in a folk story, in a book written at the start of the 19th century, in the bible and same concept taught by my professor. Maybe this is the perfect time to consider this in all that I do.
Hey, i know this is out of the regular posts that I do but if you liked this, do subscribe above so you get updates from me. Don't worry. No spam.
Matthew 20:16
"So the last will be first, and the first will be last."
