The Monkeys and the Hats

Once upon a time many years ago in the here and now in a far away land that’s just next door, there was a young man called, Pico. He used to roam around from town to town selling hats for a living. One day he would be in Bangalore and the next day people would find him in Mysore.

One summer afternoon, Pico had just travelled across a vast plain, so he felt tired and wanted to take a nap in the jungle. He found a mango tree with lots of branches and cool shade. Placing his bag of hats beside him, he went to sleep.

Pico was fast asleep in no time. When he woke up after a refreshing nap, he found that there were no hats in his bag! "Oh, no!" he said to himself and shook his head sadly, "Of all people, why did the thieves have to rob me?"

Suddenly, he looked up and noticed that the mango tree was full of cute monkeys wearing colourful hats. He yelled at the monkeys and they screamed back. He made faces at them and they returned the same funny faces. He threw a stone at them and they showered him with raw mangoes.

"Good grief, how do I get my hats back?" Pico wondered. Frustrated, he took off his own hat and threw it on the ground. To his surprise, the monkeys threw their hats on the ground also! Pico did not waste a second. He hurriedly collected the hats and went on his way to the next town.

Fifty years later, young Atto, grandson of the famous Hat-Seller Pico, who worked hard to maintain the family business, was passing through the same jungle. After a long walk he was very tired and found a nice mango tree with lots of branches and cool shade. Atto decided to rest a while and very soon was fast asleep.

A few hours later, when Atto woke up, he realized that all the hats from his bag were gone! He started searching for them and to his surprise found some monkeys sitting on the mango tree wearing his hats. He was frustrated and did not know what to do, but then he remembered a story his grandfather used to tell him.

"Oh, I can fool these monkeys!" said Atto. "I will make them imitate me and very soon I will get all the hats back!"

Atto waved at the monkeys and the monkeys waved back at him. He blew his nose and the monkeys blew their noses. He started dancing and the monkeys also danced. He pulled his ears and the monkeys pulled their ears. He raised his hands and the monkeys raised their hands.

Then, he threw his hat on the ground expecting all the monkeys to do likewise, but instead, one monkey jumped down from the mango tree, walked up to Atto, tapped him on the chest and said, "Do you think only you had a grandfather?"

Traditional Zen story

 

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Many people set out to look for the forest and get lost in the trees. In your dreams coaching gives you the space, time and tools to break out of this self-perpetuating cycle, get a clear picture of what you want and helps you design a suitable route map to your chosen destination.

Your first success has been recognising the need for assistance.

Your second is having the good sense to call for it.

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"One repays a teacher badly if one always remains nothing but a pupil." ~ Nietzsche