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Once upon a time, a fortunate young man, Tom, chanced upon a deity. The deity told him, “In the years to come, you’ll have the opportunities to gain a fortune, make yourself a name, and marry a beautiful wife.”
Tom was very happy to hear all the good things coming. He couldn’t wait to live his life. Instead, he went on to lead a hard life till he passed away.
As soon as he left the earthly world, Tom met the deity again. Angrily, Tom questioned the deity, “You said you were giving me a fortune, a respectable social status and a beautiful wife. But what did I get? Nothing! Not one of them came true in my whole life!”
“I only promised you the opportunities to get them, and not to give them to you direct,” the deity replied. “You had your opportunities but you were too afraid to try or to take action, you let them all slipped by.”
Tom was baffled, “I don’t understand…”
“Do you remember the time when you had a great business idea?” the deity said. “You were so scared of failure you didn’t pursue it. A friend of yours picked it up and went ahead to do it. He became the wealthiest man in town later, right?”
Tom thought back, then nodded his head.
“How about the time when there was a famine?” the deity asked again. “You had a warehouse stocked full of grain. You were so worried that you wouldn’t have enough for yourself you just held on to it. You could have used it to help save a few hundred lives and won a lot of respect and honor.”
Tom lowered his head in shame and nodded.
“Remember? You were once attracted to this beautiful young lady?” the deity continued asking. “You were so afraid she might reject you, you didn’t dare to woo her at all. Actually, she was attracted to you too. But finally she couldn’t wait anymore she married someone else.”
Tom gave the slightest movement of a nod. And tears started dripping down his chins.