Self-Evaluation - The Mantra to Success

A King once went for hunting with his soldiers. While hunting, the hunting party met with an accident in which the king lost his way in the jungle. He was in a severe condition when an old wood cutter found him lying in an unconscious state.
The old man carried him to his hut and treated him with the local herbs and medicines. For over a month the king lied in unconscious state, but the old man took good care of him. Finally one day the king was fully recovered, he was very grateful to the old wood cutter who had saved his life without even knowing who he was. He thanked him for his kind gesture and returned back to his kingdom. There were celebration all over his kingdom seeing their beloved king alive.

One day the king called his minister and pointing from his window he ordered to grant the entire forest to that wood cutter who had saved his life. The minister was surprised and suggested to grant some other land instead. But the king refused to change his mind and hence the order was followed.

Three months went by and the king thought of revisiting that old man to see how he was doing now. On reaching the same place he was shocked to see the same small hut. On entering the hut he noticed and was even more surprised to see that old man in same untidy torn clothes. Unable to hide his curiosity, he finally asked the old man that why was he still in the same condition.

To this the old man refuted, "What else do you expect me to be in?" 

The king still puzzled queried, "What did you do with the entire forest I granted on your name?"

To this the old man irritatingly replied, “That's none of your business in first place, once you granted me why are you bothered to know. Still if you want to know, I am a wood cutter not a gold merchant, to be in lavish clothes, I cut trees, then burn them to produce charcoal and then sell it. 

The king was aghast listening to this and out of sheer disbelief he questioned, “What!!! you burnt the entire forest?” 

To this the old man calmly replied, “Yes I did.” 

The king still in disbelief, nodding his head, could only utter, “That was a sandalwood forest!” 

How often we find ourselves in the same situation? We all have potential, we all get opportunities to succeed, but not knowing our own value and underestimating the opportunity in front, we ignorantly behave like the old wood cutter of the story. We keep cursing and complaining for our state, for the lack of growth, for lack of opportunities. There are others, who believe “Ignorance is bliss”, they remain happy underachieving because they don’t feel the need to improve owing to their laid back attitude. Both these cases are reason for failure in achieving our goals in life. Without a goal, life is meaningless and a goal without determination and planning is directionless. The most critical part in setting a goal is gauging our potential, self-evaluation. Underestimating ourselves would lead to under utilization of our potential, which will further lead to lesser growth, leading to unhappiness. The only solution to the problems mentioned is Self-Evaluation. 

It’s we who know ourselves better than anyone else. We know our limitations, we know our strengths. If we succeed in proper self-evaluation, combined with proper planning and determination, we will surely achieve our goals and live a happy stress-free life. To sum it up, let’s not depreciate our value anymore and remind ourselves that we all are sandalwood, capable of spreading our fragrance which will last till eternity. 

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