This man lived in absolute poverty in a remote village with his wife and two children. Carpentry was a dying business, but he didn't know anything else. So, to meet ends, he frequently visited the village moneylender. The moneylender had been helpful, knowing that he was a good man and shall return his money in good time until now. The man was in distress, as the family had hardly eaten anything since the last two days.
That night he cried himself to sleep, praying to God for help. In his dream, He saw an old man sitting under a tree with two small earthen green pots in his hand. The tree and its surroundings looked familiar to him.
The man woke up the following day, thinking about his dream but soon shunned it, thinking it was only a dream. Maybe some past incident that his mind had subconsciously replayed in his dream.
He set out to seek work. By noon he had none. So, he helplessly sat down under the shade of a tree to think but soon dozed off. Again the tree, old man and the two green pots flashed. He got up with a startle. This is the second time he had that vision in his dreams. He wondered if it was a message. Before he knew he had gotten up and started walking to the spot he had seen in his dream. All he was thinking was, "I have nothing to do, so let me explore, and if I don't find anything, I shall not speak a word of this to anyone."
In an hour, he reached the spot, which quite looked like the one he had seen in his dreams. He looked around for the tree and the man. Finding no one, he smiled to himself and thought, "crazy of me to think that there shall be an old man waiting for me." He wasn't sad but rather amused at himself. Just as he was about to set back home, he heard a feeble voice "Son," he stopped in hells. He looked back, and at about ten paces away was the tree and the man.
The man walked up to the old man and greeted him, "Namaste." The old man smiled, nodded his head in approval and said, "what took you so long? I was expecting you in the morning. Come sit beside me." The man did. Before the man could speak, the old man said, "I know your problem. Here take these two pots, and each shall grant you a wish. Each time you make a wish, break a pot, and your wish shall come true. Now go home; your family is waiting for you." The old man sternly said, "Youngman make sure to choose wisely, or the blessings might become a curse."
The man paced back home with the pots. On reaching home, he took his wife into confidence, shared everything with her, and showed her the green pots. The wife said, "I managed to get some food today. Let's feed the children, and then at night, we shall see what these pots can do for us." After they had tucked the children in, they both sat down on the floor mat with the pots between them. Each thinking what should they ask for.
The man said, "let's use one pot to help us get out of debt, and the other for a decent study income." The wife said, "why do you always think small? Let's ask for a big house, and the second one for enough money that our great-grandchildren even don't have to work." The man said, "that's being greedy." And he narrated what the old man had said in the end "choose wisely, or blessings might become a curse."
The wife scorned him and said, "choose wisely, don't you understand? No wonder you can't find work. You can't even ask for something properly when God is giving you the world, you idiot." This was far too much for the man to handle, and in Anger, he said, "To hell with you and the kids, I have had enough." Saying that, he threw the pot that was he was holding. The pot broke, and poof, his wife and children vanished into thin air in front of his eyes. The man couldn't believe what he had done. He had to use the second pot to get his family back.
The Moral of the story
When opportunity knocks, Some see it, some don't. Some chose to use their limited judgment, knowledge, and logic to shun it way. They are crippled with self-pity that nothing special can happen. Those who grab it suffocate it with greed or burn everything with Anger.
