The Right Path

A young boy was walking down a path. He came to a fork in the path. The fork to the left lead up the mountain and was a steep walk. The fork to the right was a gentle decline into the valley below. The boy, who was very spoiled, choose to go to the right.

After a little while he encountered a fox. The fox stopped in front of him and spoke to him. By the way, if you have not yet made this determination, the area is magical, to some extent, as all animals are able to talk and interact with humans, though why is indeterminable. Any way, the fox did speak and he said to the young boy, "Hello there. I am very hungry. Give me all your food. If you don't, I will be most upset."

The boy replied, "I am not inclined to do so. Please step aside."

The fox then responded, "If you do not do as I ask I will eat you instead. I know your mother probably made your lunch and she will replace your loss easily, so what is the big deal anyway?"

Well, the boy thought about this for a moment and saw the logic of the fox's words and so he agreed and turned over his food to the fox and the two of them parted company. The boy proceeded down the path into the valley. Eventually he met a bear. The bear held up a paw to stop the boy. When both had stopped walking the bear looked at the boy, who was wearing a lovely necklace, a gift from his father. The bear said, "I greatly admire your necklace, but I do believe it would look better on me then on you. Give it here or I'll rip your head off and take it any way."

Now the boy immediately understand the situation and the logic here. He knew his father would easily replace the necklace, so he handed it over quickly without discussion. Laughing the bear strolled away. Shook up a bit but unharmed, the boy began walking again. Next he ran into a wolf. Now we all know about wolves and the boy was scared as soon as he spotted the animal approaching. Before the wolf even spoke, the boy shouted out, "The fox and the bear have already taken my food and jewelry. All I have left are my clothes, Here, take them." With that, he ripped his clothes off and threw them at the wolf."

The wolf stared at the boy and the pile of clothes for a moment. Then he said, "All I wanted was to ask if you knew the way to the mountain. However, I'll take your clothes because you are foolish and deserve to be taught a lesson." With that the wolf left.

Here the boy stood, naked, with his jewelry, and with no food to eat; all because he choose the path to the right, the easy path. That is the problem for most people, they choose the path of least resistance; the one where they have to work the smallest amount. In the end, they have nothing but their own embarrassment to show for their efforts and they are living off the handouts of others and are being taken advantage of.