CLUB
99
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Once upon a time, there lived a King who, despite his luxurious
lifestyle, was neither happy nor content.
One
day, the King came t a Servant who was singing happily while
he worked. This fascinated the King; why was he, the Supreme
Ruler of the Land, unhappy and gloomy, while a lowly Servant
had so much joy. The King asked the Servant, "Why are
you so happy?"
The
Servant replied, "Your Majesty, I am nothing but a Servant,
but my family and I do not need too much - just a Roof over
our heads and warm food to fill our tummies."
The
King was not satisfied with that reply.
Later in the day, he sought the advice of his most trusted
Advisor. After hearing the King's woes and the Servant's story,
the Advisor said, "Your Majesty, I believe that the Servant
has not been made part of The 99 Club."
"The 99 Club? And what exactly is that?" the King
inquired.
The
Advisor replied, "Your Majesty, to truly know what The
99 Club is place 99 Gold Coins in a bag and leave it at this
Servant's doorstep."
When the Servant saw the bag, he took it into his house. When
he opened the bag, he let out a great shout of joy... so many
Gold Coins!
He
began to count them. After several counts, he was at last
convinced that there were 99 Coins.
He
wondered, "What could've happened to that last Gold Coin?
Surely, no one would leave 99 Coins!"
He
looked everywhere he could, but that final Coin was elusive.
Finally, exhausted, he decided that he was going to have to
work harder than ever to earn that Gold Coin and complete
his collection.
From
that day, the Servant's life was changed. He was overworked,
horribly grumpy, and castigated his family for not helping
him make that 100th Gold Coin. He stopped singing while he
worked.
Witnessing
this drastic transformation, the King was puzzled. When he
sought his Advisor's help, the Advisor said, "Your Majesty,
the Servant has now officially joined The 99 Club."
He
continued, "The 99 Club is a name given to those people
who have enough to be happy but are never contented, because
they're always yearning and striving for that extra "1"
telling to themselves: "Let me get that one final thing
and then I will be happy for life."
We
can be happy, even with very little in our lives, but the
minute we're given something bigger and better, we want even
more!
We
lose our sleep, our happiness, we hurt the people around us;
all these as a Price for our growing needs and desires. |