A ten-year-old boy used to go on walk with his father every day, on a nearby hill.
One day boy said, “Dad, let’s have a race today, one who touches top of hill first, wins the race.”
Father agreed.
Both of them started running toward hilltop. After running for some time, father suddenly stopped.
Boy asked, “What happened? Why did you stop suddenly? Have you accepted your defeat already?”
“No, No. Some pebbles got stuck in my shoes. I stopped to remove them.”, father replied.
Boy replied, “Some pebbles got stuck in my shoes too but if i stop now, i will lose the race. Once i reach top, then i will remove them.”, saying this, boy ran ahead rapidly.
Father removed pebbles from his shoes and moved ahead.
Boy had gone far ahead but now he started feeling pain in his feet because of pebbles stuck in his shoes and his running speed started to decrease.
Gradually, father came close to him.
Seeing his boy, father shouted from behind, “Why don’t you remove pebbles from your shoes first?”
“But i don’t have time for this!!”, said boy.
In short while, father overtook him.
Boy’s pain had increased a lot due to pricking pebbles and now he was not even able to walk.
He stopped there and screamed, “Dad, i can’t run anymore.”
Father quickly ran back and took off his son’s shoes and saw that his feet were injured because of pricking pebbles. Father took his son back to home and tend to his injuries.
When pain subsided a bit, he explained, “Son, i told you to first remove your pebbles and then continue race.”
“But i thought if i stop, i will lose the race.”, son said.
“It is not like that son, if any problems come in our life, then we should not postpone it by saying that we don’t have time right now.
What actually happens is, when we ignore a problem, it gradually grows bigger and ultimately cause us more harm than it could have caused.
It would have taken you hardly 1 minute to remove that pebble but now to save that 1 minute, you will have to bear pain for 1 week.”, father said.
Learning:
Take hold of the problem only when they are small otherwise if you delay it might gradually become bigger and cause more harm.
You May Also Like: Young Man Journey to Meet Sage – Problems of Others
Search Keywords: Father and Son Race to Hilltop – Pebbles in Shoes, Dealing with Problems Short Story, Moral Story for Kids, Story to Learn about Facing Problems in Life, Story to Share with Friends and Family, Motivational Story