THE TRAP

by Richard Quek

There was a village that was attacked by wild boars.
Everyday the wild boars would enter the village to
rampage the whole village of their food. The villagers
tried various means to fight and chase away the wild
boars, but without much success.

One day a wise man approached the village headman to
offer his advice. He told the villagers that they will
have to follow all his advice and directions. Out of
desperation, the villagers agreed. The wise man told
the villagers to gather all the food from every
household and put it in the middle of a big empty
field. They followed his advice, and immediately they
saw hundreds of wild boars approaching the vicinity
where the food was placed. The wild boars were
apprehensive initially, but after a while they went for
the food. Once the wild boars had a taste of the food
they came back for the free food everyday. And everyday
the villagers would put more food in the field and the
wild boars would come to have their free meals. After a
while, the wise man asked the villagers to erect four
poles at the four-corners of the field.

The wild boars were too busy having their food that
they did not take notice of what was happening. After a
few weeks, the wild boars developed the habit of having
free food. The wise man then asked the villagers to put
fencing around the field, with a large gate through
which the wild boars can enter to have their food.
Finally once the fencing and the gate were completed
the villagers closed the gate and all the wild boars
were trapped inside the field. The wild boars were
finally defeated!

SUCCESS PRINCIPLES

Habits are easily developed but difficult to get rid
of. The wild boars were trapped because out of their
greed, they developed the habit of having free food,
and without having to work for their food. They became
so comfortable, that they did not realize they were
being trapped. Most of us are like the wild boars
because we become too comfortable with our jobs and
businesses that we do not realize we are in one way or
another being “trapped”. We seek security rather than
freedom!

MOTIVATIONAL QUOTE

"Present-moment living, getting in touch with your
'now,' is at the heart of effective living. When you
think about it, there really is no other moment you can
live. Now is all there is, and the future is just
another present moment to live when it arrives. One
thing is certain, you cannot live it until it does
appear."