Two monkeys decided to go on a pilgrimage to the distant Mount Huaguo to worship the Monkey King.
Before the trip, one monkey prepared enough water and food, while the other monkey had nothing with both hands.
“Hey, man, it’s 10,000 miles to Mount Huaguo, how can you walk to it with empty hands?” Monkey, who had prepared enough food, asked.
“Brother, I just did not bring water and food, who said I have empty hands?”
“You are not empty-handed, then what else did you bring?”
“Confidence! Here it is!” The empty-handed monkey slapped his chest with his hand.
“Haha! Confidence? Can confidence be eaten as food or drunk as water?”
“Indeed, confidence can’t be eaten as food or drunk as water, but in critical moments, it’s more important than rice and water!”
Along the way, the monkey with the food ate when he was hungry and drank when he was thirsty. When it was only halfway through the journey, there was very little food left in its pockets. Therefore, he began to become worried and even thought of going back.
In addition to hurrying, the other monkey was hungry and went to a nearby village to ask for a bite to eat, and was thirsty and drank from a spring on the roadside, sometimes even by gathering wild fruits to feed. Despite this, it seems very happy and eagerly looking forward to their early day to reach Mount Hague.
One day, when the monkey with food found that the last corn cob in his pocket had been swallowed by himself and there was not a drop of water left in his water bottle, his spirit was completely broken. He said to the other monkey wearily, “Man, let’s go back; how can we live without food and water?”
“You can be like me and eat some wild fruits to satisfy your hunger, right?”
“I don’t want to eat wild fruits, it’s too bitter; and I don’t want to drink raw water, it’s easy to get sick.”
So, the two monkeys parted. One returned home, while the other was firmly towards the Mountain of Flowers and Fruits.
Some years later, the old monkey king on Mount Huaguo abdicated, and the new monkey king who succeeded him returned to his hometown to save his family. The monkey that returned halfway at the beginning found that the new monkey king was the monkey that walked with it back then and had empty hands.
“Excuse me, how did you get to Mount Huaguo? And how did you become the Monkey King?” This monkey eagerly asked the Monkey King.
“Confidence!” The Monkey King patted the shoulder of his original companion, “This is the second time I answer you the same one question with the same answer.”
Some people give up on themselves when they face difficulties. The reason why he could not succeed is that he lost all his confidence after a slight setback.
On the road of life, there is no shortcut to success; in addition to hard work, it is more important to have confidence. When you encounter a problem, if you do not have the confidence to break through the “bottleneck”, but rather a sense of frustration and decadence is doomed to failure.
