[SF] The Wise Man, The Young Soul, and The Three Monkey
Once, a wise old man asked a troubled young soul,
“What is it that you seek so deeply,
that you are willing to risk everything you have ever achieved?”
The young man looked confused.
“Do I look like someone who risks everything?” he replied.
The old man smiled gently.
“Then why are you so desperate to prove yourself?
Whom are you trying to impress?”
The young man lowered his eyes. His voice trembled with exhaustion.
“I’ve always wanted good things for myself.
I wanted to be like the people who seem happy — people who enjoy life effortlessly.
Be it academics, looks, love, health, luck… anything.
Yet I feel nowhere close to achieving any of it.
My desires consume me, and even when I realize it, I cannot control them.
I lack confidence.
I live like a frightened mouse hiding inside the burrows of a hell I created myself — an anxious mind.
Everything about me feels insecure.
And I don’t know how to change it.”
The old man quietly walked away.
The young man assumed he had disgusted him with his weakness. Left alone, he drowned in his thoughts, replaying every mistake and every possibility of what he could have done differently.
He wanted to cry, but even tears refused to comfort him.
Leaning back, he stared toward the ceiling.
That was when he noticed three monkeys fighting among the rafters above him.
Their squeaks echoed endlessly as they fought over something small and bright.
Curious, the young man observed carefully.
It was a rock.
A strangely beautiful rock, shining brilliantly in the dim light.
A baby monkey clutched it tightly while the other two desperately tried to snatch it away.
After a violent struggle, one monkey finally stole the rock, but it slipped from its hands and fell into a nearby lake.
The moment it touched the water, its shine disappeared.
Suddenly, it looked ordinary.
The two monkeys searched frantically for the glowing treasure they once fought over. Ironically, they even found the rock again — but because its shine had vanished, they discarded it, believing it worthless.
The young man picked up the dull stone from the lake and approached the crying baby monkey.
The baby monkey immediately recognized it.
It hugged the rock tightly, not caring whether it shined or not.
And when the two older monkeys approached again, the baby monkey handed the rock back to the young man, almost as if it trusted him.
The young man sat silently, confused by what he had witnessed.
Just then, the old man returned.
“What is it that you seek the most?” he asked softly.
The young man answered immediately.
“I want success.
I want to become someone admired by others.
I want wealth.
I want to build myself from nothing and give my family a beautiful life.
Is that too much to ask?”
The old man laughed gently.
“That is what you want.
But what do you truly seek?”
For the first time, the young man hesitated.
Then quietly, he admitted:
“I want to be happy.
I want to feel loved.
I want people to want me around.
I want validation.
I want to feel seen.
I’m tired of feeling anxious all the time.”
The old man nodded.
Then he whispered:
“Watch carefully.”
He picked up a silver coin and tossed it across the lake where the monkeys were searching.
The coin flashed brightly under the light.
Instantly, one monkey sprinted toward it, believing it had found the shining rock again.
The second monkey chased after the first, hoping to steal the treasure.
Soon, one escaped with the coin while the other resumed its endless search.
The old man looked toward the young man and spoke:
“If shine is all you seek,
the world will never satisfy your greed.
If power is all you seek,
your happiness will forever remain imprisoned.
If love alone is all you seek,
one day you will bleed from your expectations.
So tell me…
What do you truly want?”
The young man sat speechless.
After a long silence, he finally whispered:
“I don’t know.”
The old man smiled warmly.
“Then now you finally understand what you truly need.
You need purpose.”
The old man pointed toward the monkeys.
“None of them understood why they were fighting.
One chased shine.
Another chased possession.
Neither understood value.
The baby monkey, however, saw the rock for what it truly was.
Not treasure.
Not status.
Not power.
Just something meaningful to it.
That is why it was happy.”
The young man listened carefully.
The old man continued:
“People are distracted by shine.
Wealth.
Attention.
Beauty.
Validation.
Reputation.
The world trains you to believe these things determine your worth.
But desires borrowed from others can never fully satisfy you.
Noise from people’s opinions slowly shapes your identity until you forget who you are beneath all of it.”
The wind moved softly through the trees as the old man spoke.
“The monkey chasing shine will always suffer, because another shining object will eventually appear.
The monkey chasing the lost rock will suffer too, because it will spend its life grieving what no longer exists.
Both are trapped.
But the baby monkey…
It loved the rock without needing it to shine.”
The young man felt something inside him grow quiet.
The old man looked at him one last time.
“Nature gives innocence.
Experience gives insecurities.
But experience can also give wisdom, confidence, and courage — if you allow it to teach you instead of destroy you.
Stop chasing things without understanding why you chase them.
A life without purpose is an endless pursuit with no destination.”
The young man then asked softly:
“Then why do I crave validation so much?”
The old man answered:
“Because attention is addictive.
When people stop giving it to you, your mind begins to panic.
You start proving yourself to everyone — through achievements, appearance, popularity, or success.
But you are trying to control things that were never fully in your hands to begin with.”
The young man lowered his head.
The old man stepped closer and spoke gently:
“Listen carefully.
You are already enough.
You do not need to become extraordinary overnight.
Confidence is built slowly.
Purpose is discovered slowly.
Peace is discovered slowly.
Give yourself time.
Keep improving yourself little by little, every day.
One day, clarity will arrive quietly.
And when it does, you will realize:
happiness was never hidden inside the shine.”
“Just persevere.”