The story of the pencil (Source: Like the Flowing River by Paulo Coelho)

A boy was watching his grandmother write a letter. At one point he asked: ‘Are you writing a story about what wex92ve done? Is it a story about me?x92 His grandmother stopped writing her letter and said to her grandson: x91I am writing about you, actually, but more important than the words is the pencil Ix92m using. I hope you will be like this pencil when you grow up.x92

Intrigued, the boy looked at the pencil. It didnx92t seem very special. x91But itx92s just like any other pencil Ix92ve ever seen!x92

‘That depends on how you look at things. It has five qualities which, if you manage to hang on them, it will make you a person who is always at peace with the world.

First quality: you are capable of great things, but you must never forget that there is a hand guiding your steps. We call that hand God, and He always guides us according to His will.

Second quality: now and then, I have to stop writing and use a sharpner. That makes the pencil suffer a little, but afterwards, hex92s much sharper. So you, too, must learn to bear certain pains and sorrows, because they will make you a better person.

Third quality: the pencil always allows us to use an eraser to rub out any mistakes. This means that correcting something we did is not necessarily a bad thing; it helps to keep us on the road to justice.

Fourth quality: what really matters in a pencil is not its wooden exterior, but the graphite inside. So always pay attention to what is happening inside you.

Finally, the pencilx92s Fifth quality: it always leaves a mark. in just the same way, you should know that everything you do in life will leave a mark, so try to be conscious of that in your every action.’

See also: Paulo Coelho’s Peace Post