A SPOON AND SPILLED OIL

As the legend goes, a father once sent the son to the wisest man in the land. The objective? To teach the young lad the meaning of life. Now the young fella who I am going to call Mark was pleasantly surprised that the wise man lived in a palatial residence and that he hosted on the regular rich merchants and dignitaries from across the land. The place was lit! A reference Mark would probably have used if he lived in our times. Food was in plenty, booze on the free flow and there were generally good vibes.

So Mark spots the wise-man, of course as a wise man he had a presence of sorts and the room seemed to gravitate around him. Took him about two hours to get to him and when he finally asked his  Million quid question, (well… quid because dollar is too mainstream haha) the wise-man drew from his fountain of wisdom for bit of extended dramatic moment and handed young Mark a spoon full of oil and told him to take a tour of the lavish residence.

Young Mark in his own self defeating wisdom thought well, this is obviously a test huh! This old man here thinks he is so wise! I will prove him otherwise. He fixated on the spoon full of oil as he roamed the wise man’s house, he made sure that not a single drop fell. Came back grinning gleefully from ear to ear feeling that he had beat the old man to his test. I am back, he announced matter-of-factly and here is your spoon full of oil.

Wise-man, who we will call Ezekiel, looks at Mark ruefully and asks him whether he had seen the fancy chandelier in the ballroom, or the Monalisa hanging unguarded by the main aisle or better yet the portrait of him and Jesus before he was even born!! Mark had seen none of that, he had seen nothing. All this while he thought this was a test about his balancing skills, it was not.

Mark set off again, spoon full in hand and boy did he marvel at all the display of opulence! Indeed there he was with Jesus, he looked nothing like the dude we see today  on TV but well, wise man Ezekiel can’t possibly be lying. As he poured over and exclaimed at every nook and cranny of Ezekiel’s mansion and totally became oblivious of the spoon full of oil in his hand. I mean what did Ezekiel expect of teenage Mark with all those exotic Ethiopian and Rwandese babes milling all over dressed fancy and smelling heavenly!

Mark came back and regaled Ezekiel with how much of a wonder his house was. True to his wise-manly stature, Ezekiel listened keenly to every detail quite bemused. I mean, even if it were you, accomplished as Ezekiel, you still would want to get a teenagers perspective of the ongoing haha! Once done, Ezekiel asked him, so where is the oil?? Looking at the spoon for the first time since leaving the room, Mark realized he had messed up. He had spiled it all! Not even a single drop remained. 

Wise-man Ezekiel adjusted his garb and stared blankly into space for a minute as if tapping for one last time into the fountain of wisdom and delivered with nonchalance his point. Well Mark, the meaning of life is enjoying every bit of it, including Monalisa’s almost showing cleavage…I know ..I know… you young lads and your active imagination …… without spilling the oil.

This is a tongue in cheek recount of an excerpt in a book by Paulo Coelho that I enjoyed reading so much. From cover to cover I was hooked but this particular bit did it for me. That bit made things clear for me. Life has a lot of intricacies that will leave you gaping as you navigate through.. 

My biggest takeaway from the excerpt I just shared was that, find what you hold dearest (Oil) and while you journey through life marvel at the wonders,the ups and downs, but whatever you do, do not lose sight of what means the world to you. The emotional trauma that ensues is the reason you have to fight and protect what is important to you. 

We attach varying degrees of Importance to different things and people in our life. To most, family is paramount. To others their job and others their business. I grew up knowing that nothing can be of more Importance than family. After watching Kevin Spacey’s stellar performance in House of cards, I realized not everyone places value on family. Yes it’s fictional but it helped me understand a great deal why some people act the way they do.

A self audit easily brings forth what matters most. People in public spaces tend to be hit hardest by this issue of balance. How many stories have we heard of high flying musicians, actors and even sportsmen/sportswomen that got sidetracked by the flare and forgot their core. While at their peak they withdrew from the emotional bank accounts of family and friends to the extent that when they came crushing no one was available to soften the landing.

Please promise me that you will define what is dearest and that you will not spill any oil haha!