Here’s a little short philosophical story I wrote.

A man is pushing a box filled with rocks down a road with great difficulty. A bystander sees the man and offers their advice. “Your effort may be less if you try pulling the box behind you instead of pushing”. So the man begins to drag the box behind him.

The next day the man comes upon someone else as he drags the box down the road. The person tells him, “You would have an easier time if you add some wheels under your box”.  The man takes the advice and adds wheels to his box of rocks and makes it into a cart that he can pull.

Weeks go by and everyday the man pulls his cart of rocks past the same people who previously advised him, and each gives him their nod of approval as he passes.

One day the man comes upon a stranger who says, “you look so tired pulling your cart full of rocks.” The man replies, “Yes but this use to be much more difficult. Thankfully some very nice people advised me to pull instead of push, and add wheels to make the box roll.” The stranger inquires further. “Why do you pull your cart of rocks up this road everyday?” to which the man replies, “I have done so all my life, this is just what I’ve always done.” 

The stranger continues to question the man.
“Do these rocks serve any purpose?” “No, they are just rocks” replied the man.
“How would you feel if you continued up the road each day without pulling this cart of rocks?” asks the stranger. The man replies, “Well I’m sure I would be less tired.” The stranger tells the man, “If these rocks are not necessary then perhaps your answer is to stop pulling them up the road. Instead, leave your cart of rocks here and continue on.” So the man continues on his way up the road without the cart of rocks.

The next day the man briskly walks up the road and comes across the stranger alongside the cart of rocks. “I feel great, the burden of pulling these rocks is gone” exclaimed the man. “Why didn’t anyone tell me this before?”
The stranger pauses and replies, “The others only provided you with solutions on how to ease your effort. I instead asked you to reconsider the reasons behind your efforts so you could improve the quality of your journey.”

Maybe the burdens we carry over our lifetimes are nothing but a box of meaningless rocks. We continue to seek new ways to make the effort easier when the truth is we shouldn’t be carrying them in the first place. How we look at the world and approach life can be the difference between walking down the road with energy and purpose, or dragging a box of rocks that slow our progress.

This is a really long way of saying that right now I’m just sorting rocks, soaking in feedback that makes me look at life differently, and evaluating my burdens to improve my journey.