One Thursday afternoon, Musa, a farmer, was sitting quietly by a stream. He worked hard, but nothing could take away his sadness.
Just then, an old woman walked by. She was thirsty so she stopped to drink from the stream. But the old woman was unable to bend due to her stiff back.
Seeing her discomfort, Musa helped the woman drink from his cup.
“Thank you,” said the old woman. “But I can see that you are very sad.”
“Yes,” replied Musa. “But how did you find out?”
“I have lived long enough to understand things. If you tell me what is troubling you, may be, I can help you,” the woman said.
“I am a farmer, but I am very poor. I have a house which is too small to accommodate my family. I work hard but there is not enough to feed my children. My wife is sick. I do not have friends whom I can trust,” explained the farmer.
“I have many problems and I want to fix them. But I do not know how.”
The old woman convinced Musa to come along with her to her home. Once inside, she led Musa to a room filled with all kinds of stuff.
“Sort the things in this room and I will tell you how you can solve your problems,” she said.
The room was filled with diverse stuff such as broken furniture, old rugs, utensils and wooden boxes.
Musa desperately wanted to do the job in order to find the solution to his problems, but he did not know where to start.
After a while, the old woman returned. She saw Musa holding his head in his hands.
“I do not know where to start. There is not a single thing I can fix my attention on,” Musa said.
The old woman smiled.
“Close your eyes,” she told Musa. “Then start with whatever your hand touches first.”
It didn’t make much sense to Musa, but he did it anyway.
He closed his eyes and the first thing that he put his hand on was a broken chair. He opened his eyes and started putting together all the pieces of furniture.
He closed his eyes again and groped. Soon, the room started to look organised.
When the woman came back to the room, she was happy to see Musa had done his job.
“Now go home and close your eyes. Grope for one problem at a time and fix it. Soon all your problems will be over,” she said to Musa.
Musa smiled as he knew he had got what he wanted.
