The Boy & The Stone

There once was a young boy who was struggling to understand his worth. While loved by his parents, he didn't particularly feel deserving of it. After all, what made him more loveable than the next person? One day, in his frustrated confusion, the son asked his father, "Am I someone worth loving?"

Instead of answering, the wise father gave him an odd-looking rock that had been in the family since the boy was born. The father told the boy, "Take this rock and show it to the people at the market. If anybody asks for the price, raise two fingers and don't say anything else. Bring the rock back and tell me what happens."

The boy took the rock and began showing it to the people at the market. Not long after, a man walked up to the boy and asked, "How much do you want for the rock? I want to put it in my garden." As instructed, the boy didn't say anything and raised two fingers. The man replied, "2 dollars? I'll take it." The boy went home and told his father, "A man at the market wanted to buy the rock for 2 dollars."

The father smiled and told him, "Now, take the rock to the museum and offer it to the curator. If they ask for the price, raise two fingers like before and don't say anything else. Again, don't sell the rock. Bring the rock back to me and tell me what happens."

The boy went to the museum, found the curator, and showed them the rock. They eagerly asked, "How much?" The boy didn’t say anything. He raised two fingers as his father instructed. The curator replied, "200 dollars? I’ll take it!” The boy was shocked. He walked home carefully with the rock grasped tightly in his hand. When he made it back home, he reported to his father, “The curator wanted to buy this rock for $200.”

The father smiled and said, “There is one last place I’d like you to take this rock. Go to the precious stone store, ask to see the owner of the store, and offer him the rock. If he asks for the price, don’t say a word and raise two fingers. Bring it back and tell me what happens.”

Eager to find out how much the owner would offer, he quickly made his way to the store. When he showed the owner, the owner was taken aback. He asked the boy, “Where on earth did you find this? I've never seen anything like it before. It's one of the most rarest gems I've seen. I must have it. What price would you take for it?”

Sharing the owner's surprise, the boy took a moment to process what the owner asked. When he came to his senses, he raised two fingers like his father instructed and didn't say anything else. The owner replied, “Two million dollars? What a bargain! I’ll take it!” The boy ran anxiously home, clutching the rock with both hands, terrified that he might lose it.

When the boy finally got home, he breathlessly told his father, “The owner of the precious stone store wants to buy this rock for two million dollars!” The father, understanding his son's excitement, bent his knee to look at his son in his eyes and said, “The value of your life is much like the value of this rock. It depends on who you ask. If I were to ask you about the value of your life, how much would you say it's worth?”

After seeing his son struggle to think of an answer, the father continued, "The people who hold the greatest value for the rock know more about the rock than anyone else. They do not wonder about its price because they know what qualities make the rock unique and why it is incomparable with anything else. You, like this rock, are unique. There is no one else like you. However, if you do not know that for yourself, you will waste away your life questioning your value."

The father gave his son to process what he said. He then grabbed his son's hands and said, "Throughout your life, there will be a lot of people who will ignorantly try to tell you what you are worth to them. However, you must remember they only say those things because they know little about you and not enough about themselves. Don't let them dishearten you. Instead, forgive them and seek to help them realize they are as unique as you are."

This story was inspired by Raymond D. Longoria Jr. and brought to you by The Mentorship Letters.